Intelligent Process Control in Power & Energy Delivers Better Power Efficiency

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Market: Power & Energy

Location: Austria

Technology Partner: AutomationX

Project Introduction

As many energy companies seek to reduce their footprint on the environment, more efficient

power and energy generation is becoming a critical issue. In the power generation and distribution

market, maintenance-free power backup systems and IEC 61850-based power transmission

and distribution systems improve energy generation and distribution efficiency. Power substations

are subsidiaries of electricity generation systems where voltage is transformed from high to low

or reversed using transformers. Nowadays, multiple protocols, including many proprietary protocols

with custom communication links, exist for substation automation and interoperation

with devices from different vendors that would be a huge advantage to users of substation

automation devices.

System Requirements

The IEC 61850 international standard for substation automation systems defines the communication

protocols between devices in substations and related systems and as such any equipment

needs to be compliant with this standard. In next-generation IEC-61850 certified power substation

systems, communication gateways and managed switches play an important role. Abstract data

models, defined in IEC 61850, can be mapped to a number of protocols, and there are many

proprietary devices and networks which are defined in such a way as to link all proprietary devices

together.

System Description

AutomationX is an Austrian-based automation solution provider in the industry, infrastructure

and energy fields. They recently designed Power and Energy Modules for a substation customer

using their PLC programming tool and Advantech's acclaimed APAX-5000 series Programmable

Automation Controllers (PLC), as well as UNO series.

Advantech was chosen by AutomationX for their wide product portfolio, and because the harsh

working environments in power substations require that equipment has to meet robust design

specifications, such as wide operating temperature range, isolation I/O, dual power input, vibration

and shock protection, and rackmount installation.

The APAX-5000 series integrates control, information processing and networking in a single platform.

By leveraging the latest automation technology, AutomationX and the APAX-5000 series

PAC system provide a more reliable, scalable and flexible substation control and automation

application.