No matter where in the world people are found, protection of data depends on secure power supplies. The rapid adoption of information technology (IT) and dependency on sophisticated production processes has dramatically increased the importance that organisations attach to highly reliable supplies of electrical energy. For this reason, prefabricated, self-contained, energy centres such as those manufactured by emergency power specialists, Masterguard Power Systems South Africa, have become fundamental to the rollout of cellular technology in Africa and the Middle East. To ensure that each unit can run unmanned in these remote areas, Masterguard relies on the monitoring capabilities of Adroit Technologies supervisory control and data acquisition (scada) systems to ensure efficient operation.
No matter where in the world people are found, protection of data depends on secure power supplies. The rapid adoption of information technology (IT) and dependency on sophisticated production processes has dramatically increased the importance that organisations attach to highly reliable supplies of electrical energy. For this reason, prefabricated, self-contained, energy centres such as those manufactured by emergency power specialists, Masterguard Power Systems South Africa, have become fundamental to the rollout of cellular technology in Africa and the Middle East. To ensure that each unit can run unmanned in these remote areas, Masterguard relies on the monitoring capabilities of Adroit Technologies supervisory control and data acquisition (scada) systems to ensure efficient operation.
Masterguard supplies container units to a cross-section of industries where space limitations prevent the installation of new main Main Low Voltage units in a permanent facility, or if power is required in an area where infrastructure is lacking. The energy containers have also garnered considerable interest from savvy management teams who would rather invest in a portable unit, than lose a multimillion installation if they move premises - making their power centre an asset rather than a business tie-in.
Head engineer for Masterguard, Braam Pretorius says: "We use Adroit because it is supported locally. With many foreign scada packages, if you need a communications driver you can put in a request and it can take six months to a year to complete. We have even called support engineers out at 11pm on a Saturday night to assist us in configuring and testing containers due for shipping the next day."
Although other companies manufacture various components of a self-contained energy centre, Masterguard claims that it is the only supplier of its kind that can offer a full turnkey solution of this nature. The company has fallen into favour with key cellular providers who wish to optimise their capital investment by protecting their critical systems and ensuring the performance of their equipment.
Cellular service providers, and other end-users, install the self-contained energy units between cell switches and generators to ensure power continuity for the transmission of telephone calls between the cell switch and its towers. Masterguard ensures both analog and digital communications are protected from power failures, enabling constant telecommunications and electronic data transmission.
The company currently has units in Nigeria, Zambia, Rwanda, Swaziland, South Africa and Iran, where it supplies energy centres for the rollout of Iran Cell - the country's (MTN owned) second mobile operator. Continuous operation of cellular switches is critical to such multimillion dollar networks.
Dean Gibson, Masterguard scada engineer, says: "We make extensive use of the system's trending capabilities because our clients insist on the highest quality control for their power." Data is stored onsite for three months and a further five years off-site, and personnel have access to accurate records of all power operations, including power usage.
"We use Adroit's SNMP Agent with an SNMP adaptor to read values from the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and other associated devices. Generator status, fuel usage and SPS readings can also be accessed via SMS," says Gibson.
As part of the system's function, it also provides building management monitoring for the mobile unit including critical variables such as airconditioning, humidity and fire alarms.
"We make extensive use of the Command Agent to retrieve alarm trends, statuses and alarm reports. Each centre has approximately 200 alarms on a system," says Gibson. Alarms are sent via SMS to personnel thus minimising resource requirements and making continuous manning of these remote stations unnecessary.
The energy containers are PLC (programmable logic controller) intensive for purposes of N + X redundancy. Communication between PLCs is Ethernet-based with a hardwire backup in case of Ethernet failure. The scada communicates with the master PLC.
The containers measure 12 x 4,4 x 3,6 metres and weigh 28 tons, which means that three such units fit perfectly into the hold of a Russian cargo plane for transportation into Africa and beyond. These custom-made containers range in capacity from 250 to 2500 A, and are equipped with distribution boards with Masterpact switchgear, two GSM modems, UPS and batteries. They also boast high-density insulation in the container walls, computer floors with precision cooling (designed to maintain an inside temperature of 20°C in ambient temperatures of 50°C), lighting, tie-downs for travel, Adroit scada with touch screen, and even a fire system with gas release. As with the energy container, the scada is custom configured and total tag count varies from unit to unit.
For more information contact Charles Hudgson, Adroit Technologies, +27 (0)11 658 8100, [email protected], www.adroit.co.za
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