All-in-one PLC/HMI for centralised control and monitoring system

For over 20 years Rene Tomingas FIE of Estonia has been supplying PLC and SCADA systems, and engineering, development and commissioning services to industries such as water treatment, energy and heating plants.

Rene Tomingas FIE recently wanted a centralised control and monitoring system for different plants across Estonia. A new 8MW thermal oil heating and 1MW ORC electrical power plant needed to be safely connected to an existing SCADA system and also share data with the grid manager SCADA system, all while using different protocols. The ORC system is factory built so, by default, it is linked to a PLC from a different manufacturer and cannot be changed.

Engineers from Rene Tomingas FIE chose to use two Vision1040 PLCs. The first controls the 8MW woodchip boiler, while the second controls the thermal oil systems, retrieves data from the other PLC, and shares the data with a SpecView SCADA system that delivers the data via IEC104S protocol to the grid manager SCADA system. The existing plant operator control and SCADA system is managed through the Modbus-TCP protocol and a pair of local and remote Vision570 PLCs within the plant. One PLC now connects different subsystems and collects data from different sources (PLCs) with different protocols. It also shares the collected data online with a central SCADA system using generic Modbus protocols.

Founder and President Rene Tomingas says: "Since using Unitronics, we now have great connectivity using Modbus-RTU and TCP protocols. It is simple to configure different solutions, and saves us a lot of time and money, especially with their free programming software. A huge benefit is the integrated operator panel; there is no need to use separate hard and software for the visualisation purposes. We also received fast delivery, and were impressed with their stock."

Thanks to this plant, and the help of Unitronics, the city of Rakvere, Estonia will soon obtain more than 80 percent of its heat energy from renewable sources.

Follow the link for more information about Unitronics Vision1040 and Vision570 PLCs.