GAZPROM MODERNIZING CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM

In April 1994, AEG Daimler Benz Industries, Frankfurt, received the contract for the control center from which the entire 86,000-mile network is monitored.

The order specifies complete renewal of system technology and equipment with state-of-the-art technology.

Modernization involves close cooperation between Russian and German companies, says AEG.

On the Russian side, Informgaz operates the computer center and provides the interface for transmission of process data. Gazavtomatika bears responsibility for devising the entire range of technological software.

ZPDU RAO Gazprom operates the control room itself.

AEG manages the German portion of the scope of supply. In cooperation with partner companies, AEG devised and implemented the system concept.

Keys are the Viewstar 750 control station and basic software supplied directly by the company whose system integrates other services, such as the standard software.

Plant commissioning date for the AEG portion of supply took place in October 1994. Completion of the control room may occur as early as April 1995.

MANUAL COLLECTION

Currently, six dispatchers manually obtain all data on the operating status of the Russian network from an alpha-numeric terminal and enter them into the pipeline diagram, says AEG.

In the course of the day, this procedure yields a status report on the network. Any special evaluations that become necessary, such as statistics for the Energy Ministry, are compiled in a separate system.

For this, the data required must be reentered and evaluated.

The system is based on a GDR Robotron computer system that handles central data records. PCs that use standard software programs evaluated the data.

For data evaluation, there is no interface between the central computer and the PCs.

AEG says the new system should make it possible to perform the following assignments:

Central collection of compressed process data from the entire pipeline network
Archiving, analysis, further processing, and visualization of the data
Planning and optimization of the gas transport and distribution network for the existing network and also for any future extensions to the network
Evaluation and analysis of incoming measuring values with regard to optimum environmental protection down the length of the pipeline
Inspection of incoming supply obligations to provide foreign countries with gas (foreign orders)
Production of reports on volumes in circulation and quantities consumed
Data base for creating reports for a wide range of different bodies (for example, Energy Ministry or Ministry of Foreign Trade)
Devising specifications for different gas companies for optimum control of their gas network.

The data recorded by and stored in the central computer are available to dispatchers for subsequent evaluation, says AEG. Access is through the dispatchers' local workplace computers. Depending upon the duties they must perform, these computers can either be workstations or PCs.

Standard software, Unigraph or AutoCAD to produce graphics, for example, further process data. Such programs as MS Excel and Word perform administrative duties.

PROCESS VISUALIZATION

The AEG Viewstar 750 control station, based on workstation technology, presents incoming process data and makes it possible to monitor as well as visualize the process.

Use of this control station, says AEG, enables implementation of all functions such as process monitoring, process data archiving, display of alarms, compiling of .statistics, and reports.

Process visualization occurs in CAD quality. To provide an at-a-glance summary of the entire pipeline network, a full-sized wall display with a surface area of 18 sq m is the central component of visualization (Fig. 1).

This wall display unit replaces the mosaic panel technology currently in use. The unit presents either summaries or detailed images.

The flow diagrams can be changed, says AEG, to show immediately extensions to the pipeline network. The Overview-mX wall display unit consists of 24 projection modules with a total projection surface area of 6 x 3 m. More than 7 million pixels ensure very high resolution for these process screens.

The star-shaped design of the data network enables it to satisfy all requirements of access times and downtime protection. Standards and protocols conforming to Ethernet IEEE802.3 and Category 5 wiring combined with proven network management ensure reliable system operation.