Reliance SCADA & district heating Ede

In 2016, the Dutch company KARA Energy Systems implemented a system for the visualization and control of district heating in Ede.

Two boiler plants produce steam used in two turbines for power generation. Residual steam is converted in a condenser into condensate (water) that is pumped back into the boiler via a circuit. This condensation is done by pumping cold water from the city through the condenser. This includes a heat exchanger to keep both circuits separated. The cold water is heated by the steam and then again pumped to the city as hot water.

The boiler plants are fed with wood chips supplied by trucks. On delivery, this wood is thrown into a dump pit. Using a crane, the wood is then transported either to the storage bunker or to the hoppers. From the hoppers, the wood is transported by a worm conveyor and a scraper conveyor to the furnace.

Control system

To monitor and control the processes of power generation and heat supply, the Reliance SCADA/HMI system and five Hitachi PLCs are used.

Advantages of Reliance SCADA:

It provides a perfect overview of the entire process. Particularly in district heating, it is important that continuous heat be supplied. When this heat supply is interrupted, the Reliance SCADA system clearly shows the problem (an error list, red lights, etc.), which can thus be quickly traced and solved to minimize the duration of the interruption.
Three screens are used next to one another, which means that boiler 1 (left), the hot water circuit (center), and boiler 2 (right) can be displayed at a time.
Reliance SCADA provides email notification when a malfunction occurs. Outside working hours, operators are notified of the malfunction and, afterward, Reliance shows whether the service crew has acted correctly.
Operators can easily show graphs of various measured values to follow the process and adjust control parameters. As a result, they don't always have to rely on KARA engineers.