In a recent article in the February 2022 issue of Control Engineering Europe, Emerson’s vice president of global sustainability, Veronica Constantin, participated in the publication’s discussion of the role played by SCADA software in industry’s drive to achieve net zero emissions. Author of the article, Suzanne Gill, talks about the many strategies employed by companies in their attempts to reach this highly desirable goal such as renewable energy and clean fuels in addition to making operational and energy efficiency improvements. Constantin then remarks, “SCADA software has a role to play in many of these crucial elements. Within renewable energy production, SCADA is used widely to monitor and control assets, especially those in disparate and remote locations.”
“With fluctuating energy costs, improving energy efficiency and lowering consumption has been a key focus for most industries,” explained Constantin. “The implementation of energy management systems has become widespread, helping organizations to monitor their usage across a facility. SCADA software, with integrated energy monitoring function modules (such as Movicon ProLean), enables energy managers to collect and control energy data, analyze consumption and improve decision making and energy efficiency strategies.”
Constantin also cites two actual case histories, which demonstrate this functionality. Emerson recently provided SCADA software for a photovoltaic park in Azerbaijan, which has enabled management of the entire park operations through a single user interface. The solution provides real-time visualization of inverter performance, and the use of historical data helps to quickly identify and resolve equipment issues and enables less-experienced operators to maximize operational performance.
A wine producer in Italy was already using an Emerson SCADA system to monitor and control the production lines. By applying an energy function module, it has been able to measure energy consumption in real-time, and record and aggregate data in a database for subsequent analysis, ultimately leading to optimized energy efficiency, reduced costs and reduced environmental impact.
SCADA solutions are also used in industries that have widely disbursed assets such as oil and gas. “With methane being a primary component of natural gas and a powerful greenhouse gas, minimizing and preventing leaks from natural gas pipelines can contribute towards lowering overall GHG emissions,” continued Constantin. “Sophisticated modeling software that uses SCADA data provides pipeline leak detection and localization, helping to quickly identify ruptures and pinhole leaks. In addition, compressor stations supporting the natural gas pipeline themselves generate significant CO2 emissions. Greater visibility provided by SCADA can help to optimize these assets, increase efficiency and lower emissions.”
“Supporting these applications are cloud-based SCADA solutions that enable secure access from any device via a web browser. With assets remotely located, immediate access to real-time data reduces travel, saves time and allows workers to focus on value-added tasks. Cloud-based SCADA solutions are also supplemented by software as a service (SaaS) models that remove the complexity and costs of managing on-site servers,” concluded Constantin.
While we think of SCADA as a time-honored technology, it’s important to realize that the SCADA software that is playing such a key role in initiatives such as sustainability and net zero is not your grandparent’s SCADA. Rather, today’s highly modular, flexible, scalable platform goes “beyond SCADA” to meet the needs of today’s industrial companies.