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• Increase in unit size, growth of interconnected and the need to maintain the
protection.
distance apart make the observation almost impossible, especially during the
Today’s power systems are very huge in terms of Installed capacity, Energy
investment. Installed capacity in India exceeds 206 GW with annual energy generated
energy exceeding 1000 Billion KWh (1000 x 1012 KWh). The power system feeds a
customers. Operation and control of such a big interconnected power system is really
challenging task and it cannot be done manually. Therefore power systems are
1. Load forecasting
2. Planning studies
3. System monitoring
4. State estimation
8. Security control
9. System maintenance
In general analog DASs are used for measurement systems with wide
bandwidth. But the accuracy is less. So digital DASs which have high accuracy, low
perchannel cost and narrow bandwidth (slowly varying signal) are designed. Figure
shows the block diagram of a digital data acquisition system. The function of the
digital data acquisition system include handling analog signals, making the
control.
Figure shows the block diagram of Data acquisiti0on system. Here, the
directly. The signal conditioner includes the supporting circuitry for the transducer.
This circuit may provide excitation power, balancing circuits and calibration elements
and an example of this is a strain-gauge bridge lance and power supply unit The
scanner or multiplexer accepts multiple analog inputs and sequentially connects them
The signal converter translates the analog signal to a form acceptable by the
analog to digital converter like an amp1ifier used for amplifying low-level voltages
converts the analog voltage to its equivalent digital form. The output of the ADC may
displayed visually and is also available as voltage outputs in discrete steps for further
The auxiliary section contains instruments for system programming and digital
data processing such as linearising and limit comparison. These functions may be
records digital information on punched cards, perforated paper tape, magnetic tape,
Proper and efficient energy management system requires lot of data about the
operating conditions. Further, many control actions are to be carried out at far off
places. Executing such control actions manually will cause time delays resulting long
outage duration and poor reliability. SCADA systems have been developed to
overcome such problems. The following are the some of the main functions of
SCADA.
and graphical user interfaces for high-level process supervisory management, but
operator.
system collapsing.
Load Restoration: To restore the loads in steps to bring the system to normal state.
Supervisory Control: To operate the circuit breaker remotely.
Sensors and Control Relays: Analog and digital sensors along with control relays
devices deployed in field at specific sites and locations. They collect necessary data
commands, such as controller set point changes, are handled through the SCADA
calculations are performed by networked modules which connect to the field sensors
and actuators. The key attribute of a SCADA system is its ability to perform a
The SCADA software exists only at this supervisory level as control actions
are performed automatically by RTUs or PLCs. SCADA control functions are usually
may control the flow of cooling water through part of an industrial process to a set
point level, but the SCADA system software will allow operators to change the set
controlled by the RTU or PLC, but the SCADA software monitors the overall
performance of the loop.Data acquisition begins at the RTU or PLC level and
Data is then compiled and formatted in such a way that a control room operator
using the HMI (Human Machine Interface) can make supervisory decisions to adjust
or override normal RTU (PLC) controls. Data may also be fed to a historian, often
analytical auditing.
SCADA systems typically use a tag database, which contains data elements
called tags or points, which relate to specific instrumentation or actuators within the
process system according to such as the Piping and instrumentation diagram. Data is
This is the core of the SCADA system, gathering data on the process and
sending control commands to the field connected devices. It refers to the computer
and software responsible for communicating with the field connection controllers,
which are RTUs and PLCs, and includes the HMI software running on operator
composed of a single PC, in which case the HMI is a part of this computer.
In larger SCADA systems, the master station may include several HMIs hosted
applications, and disaster recovery sites. To increase the integrity of the system the
malfunction or breakdown.
Remote terminal units also known as (RTUs), connect to sensors and actuators
in the process, and are networked to the supervisory computer system. RTUs are
"intelligent I/O" and often have embedded control capabilities such as ladder logic in
Also known as PLCs, these are connected to sensors and actuators in the
process, and are networked to the supervisory system in the same way as RTUs.
PLCs have more sophisticated embedded control capabilities than RTUs, and are
programmed in one or more IEC 61131 programming languages. PLCs are often used
in place of RTUs as field devices because they are more economical, versatile,
This connects the supervisory computer system to the remote terminal units
(RTUs) and PLCs, and may use industry standard or manufacturer proprietary
protocols. Both RTUs and PLCs operate autonomously on the near-real time control
of the process, using the last command given from the supervisory system. Failure of
the communications network does not necessarily stop the plant process controls, and
form of mimic diagrams, which are a schematic representation of the plant being
The HMI is linked to the SCADA supervisory computer to provide live data to
drive the mimic diagrams, alarm displays and trending graphs. In many installations
the HMI is the graphical user interface for the operator, collects all data from external
consist of line graphics and schematic symbols to represent process elements, or may
symbols.
issuing commands using mouse pointers, keyboards and touch screens. For example,
a symbol of a pump can show the operator that the pump is running, and a flow meter
symbol can show how much fluid it is pumping through the pipe. The operator can
switch the pump off from the mimic by a mouse click or screen touch. The HMI will
show the flow rate of the fluid in the pipe decrease in real time.
The HMI package for a SCADA system typically includes a drawing program
that the operators or system maintenance personnel use to change the way these
points are represented in the interface. These representations can be as simple as an
on-screen traffic light, which represents the state of an actual traffic light in the field,
system monitors whether certain alarm conditions are satisfied, to determine when an
alarm event has occurred. Once an alarm event has been detected, one or more
actions are taken (such as the activation of one or more alarm indicators, and perhaps
In many cases, a SCADA operator may have to acknowledge the alarm event;
this may deactivate some alarm indicators, whereas other indicators remain active
until the alarm conditions are cleared. Alarm conditions can be explicit—for example,
an alarm point is a digital status point that has either the value NORMAL or ALARM
that is calculated by a formula based on the values in other analogue and digital
points—or implicit: the SCADA system might automatically monitor whether the
value in an analogue point lies outside high and low- limit values associated with that
point.
coloured or flashing area on a screen (that might act in a similar way to the "fuel tank
empty" light in a car); in each case, the role of the alarm indicator is to draw the
operator's attention to the part of the system 'in alarm' so that appropriate action can
be taken.
PLC/RTU programming
simple logic processes without involving the supervisory computer. They employ
function charts and instruction list), is frequently used to create programs which run
control arrays. This allows SCADA system engineers to perform both the design and
automation controller (PAC) is a compact controller that combines the features and
PACs are deployed in SCADA systems to provide RTU and PLC functions. In
and other devices for I/O, and communicate with the SCADA master in lieu of a
traditional RTU.
PLC commercial integration
Since about 1998, virtually all major PLC manufacturers have offered
packages, offering built-in compatibility with most major PLCs, have also entered the
configure HMIs themselves, without the need for a custom-made program written by
a software programmer.
an RTU converts the electrical signals from the equipment to digital values such as
flow, voltage or current. By converting and sending these electrical signals out to
equipment the RTU can control equipment, such as opening or closing a switch or a
wired connections, although SONET/SDH is also frequently used for large systems
such as railways and power stations. The remote management or monitoring function
of a SCADA system is often referred to a telemetry . Some users want SCADA data
to travel over their pre-established corporate networks or to share the network with
other applications. The legacy of the early low-bandwidth protocols remains, though.
RTU. Typical legacy SCADA protocols include Modbus RTU, RP-570, Profibus and
Conitel. These communication protocols, with the exception of Modbus (Modbus has
been made open by Schneider Electric), are all SCADA-vendor specific but are
widely adopted and used. Standard protocols are IEC 60870-5-101 or 104, IEC
61850 and DNP3. These communication protocols are standardized and recognized
Although the use of conventional networking specifications, such as TCP/IP, blurs the
line between traditional and industrial networking, they each fulfill fundamentally
RTUs and other automatic controller devices were developed before the
advent of industry wide standards for interoperability. The result is that developers
and their management created a multitude of control protocols. Among the larger
vendors, there was also the incentive to create their own protocol to "lock in" their
centre utilizes the computer aided tools to monitor, control and optimize the
subsystems as shown namely the data acquisition and processing subsystem, the
Acquisition System) forms the front end for Energy Management Systems (EMS).
A simple SCADA provides the raw data of the operating condition of the
system to the control centre operators. State Estimation forms the backbone for
Energy Management System. Although reliability remains a central issue, the need
for the real time network models becomes more important than before due to new
These models are based on the results yielded by state estimation and are used
power flow, economic dispatch, unit commitment, automatic generation control and
by operators of electric utility grids to monitor, control, and optimize the performance
EMS/SCADA. In these respects, the terminology EMS then excludes the monitoring
and control functions, but more specifically refers to the collective suite of power
SCADA and EMS as a training tool for control centre operators. It is also possible to
commercial entities to monitor, measure, and control their electrical building loads.
Energy management systems can be used to centrally control devices like HVAC
units and lighting systems across multiple locations, such as retail, grocery and
restaurant sites.
monitoring functions that allow facility and building managers to gather data and
insight that allows them to make more informed decisions about energy activities
into the following five states. Normal, Alert, Emergency, In extremis (or extreme
emergency) and Restorative. Figure 2 depicts these operating states and the ways in
In the normal state, all system variables are within the normal range and no
component is being overloaded. The system operates in a secure manner and is able
The system enters the alert state if the security level falls below a certain limit
conditions such as the approach of severe storms. In this state, all the system
variables are still within the acceptable range and all the constraints are satisfied.
However, the system has been weakened to a level where a contingency may cause
state.
occurs when the system is in the alert state. In this state, voltages at many buses are
low and / or component loadings exceed the short-term emergency ratings. The
system is still intact and may be restored to the alert state by initiating emergency
control actions such as fault clearing, excitation control, fast-valving and load
curtailment. If the above measures are not applied or are ineffective, the system will
If the control action taken during the emergency state is insufficient, then the
system enters into in extremis state. The result is cascading outages and possibly a
shut-down of major portion of the system. Control actions, such as load shedding and
controlled system separation, are aimed at saving as much system as possible from a
widespread blackout.
taken to restore the system to the normal state. If the restorative steps do not succeed
fully, the system will move into the alert state. In case the control action taken are
effective, the system moves to restorative state in which further action is being taken
to reconnect all the facilities and to restore the system load. The system transits from
the restorative state to either alert state or normal state, depending on the system
conditions.
The control strategies which are to be adopted when the system is not in normal state
exciter control, load control, capacitor switching and all controls mentioned in alert
state.
operating state of the power system to allow the system operator to make decisions
aimed at maintaining the security of the power system. A state estimator is capable of
filtering the information to provide a more accurate picture of the status of the
system.
The traditional objective of the state estimation is to reduce measurement
particular, the objectives are to reduce the variance of the estimate and to improve the
overall efficiency. The various roles and functions of state estimation in Energy
system.
➢ Use of redundancy in order to improve the parameters for the electrical models
of the system.
State estimation stands in between the real time information and power system
control and monitor applications, playing a very crucial role in the real time power
system control and operation. The SCADA data, phasor measurement data, network
model and the pseudo measurements form the input for the power system state
analysis, optimal power flow etc., are carried out based on the estimates provided by
State estimation is a digital processing scheme, which provides a real time data
for many of the central control and dispatch functions in a power system. Its purpose
understanding the operating state of the power system. In general the state variables
in power system are the voltage magnitudes and phase angles at all the buses except
In order to ensure secure and economical operation of the power systems, the
operator must be aware of the exact state of the power system at regular intervals.
complete and reliable database. Such a database is obtained by feeding the measured
data to a central real time computer, which on the basis of a prewritten mathematical
program, filters the data and extends it to cover all information regarding the system.
measurements are inaccurate. Thus, the central task of the state estimator is to
validate the information supplied to the system operator. The major ingredients of 20
state estimation are: measurement devices located at strategic points on the system,
high speed data transfer system to convey the measured information to the control
centre, a real time computer with interfacing equipment to accept and display
Weighted Least Square (WLS) algorithm is normally used for estimating the
state of the system. The state of a system may be defined as the minimal amount of
information that one has to know about the system in order to predict its future
evaluation. From this view point, the complex voltages in all buses in a power system
taking a particular bus (preferably the swing bus) as reference, we may assign N
state variables.
Thus, for an N bus system, the dimension of the state vector is (2N – 1). The
rationale behind this choice is that, knowing these variables along with the active and
reactive power injections at the N buses (real Pi and reactive Qi at all buses except Pi
at the swing bus) and system parameters it is possible to compute all measurements
pertaining to the system. When observation errors are present the success of state
Thus, if the state variables are ‘n’ (equal 2N – 1) in number and if ‘n’ load
injections at the buses are given then the problem reduces to a load flow calculation.
State estimation is different from load flow studies in that the number of input
variables ‘m’ should be greater than (2N – 1), the dimension of the state vector.
averaging process to filter the data. The relationships between the different variables