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A virtual process control system for Emschergenossenschaft and Lippeverband (EGLV)
A virtual process control system for Emschergenossenschaft and Lippeverband (EGLV)
Water
Emschergenossenschaft Lippeverband EGLV
Germany
EGLV
is the combination of Emschergenossenschaft, Germany’s first water management
organization and Lippeverband comprising the two public-sector entities under a single organizational structure and today represents the
largest waste water management company and operator of waste water treatment
plants in Germany. The
waste water systems operated by EGLV comprise roughly 800 distributed plants
and systems, including 59 waste water treatment plants and 546 pump stations. Many
of these plants have their own process control or SCADA systems that are maintained
locally. The target of the customer was to create a future-proof foundation for the service and maintenance of
the process control systems in its plants with managing
process control systems and IT/OT networks using a holistic approach. That is why EGLV has initiated modernization
projects for the virtualization, standardization, and centralization of all
process control systems.
For the virtualization
project, the team at EGLV developed a blueprint that also drew on experience
from another water and wastewater utility based in the neighboring Netherlands,
at Water Betriev Limburg (WBL). Also on board was Siemens, which has a
long-standing partnership with EGLV in the fields of automation and process
control technology. This early collaboration helped to optimally utilize the
available know-how and facilitated a smooth transition to the new system. EGLV
and Siemens have been successfully collaborating for many years on process
automation projects, and this partnership also paid off during the
virtualization of the process control system, realized by implementing
of process control system Simatic PCS 7 (proof-of-concept) and
the corresponding control module types of the PCS 7 Water Templates,
a library of standard engineering templates that offer functionalities
specifically for the water industry as well as industry-specific attributes. The
new automation concept for the plants requires only S7-410(E) controllers on
the sites, with decentral IO stations and no local Operator Stations. The Operator
Stations for all plants automated with PCS 7 are in a central datacenter on
virtual environments and the S7 connections to the S7-410(E) are established
over public and private networks using VPN technology. This innovative
connection solution was specifically developed by EGLV and Siemens to enable a
secure, reliable, and cost-effective way of connecting to the distributed
plants and systems.
The first plants have already been migrated to
the central process control system and the virtual environment. The same
systems will gradually be implemented in other plants. This approach will allow
EGLV to limit the investment costs. The next migration projects will also include large plants
processing waste water for the equivalent of a population of more than
500,000.
The customer is open for integration of
innovative solutions and is currently testing further solutions such as web-based
process control system PCS neo and digital twin technology with
PlantSight to make the performance of its plants and processes even more
efficient.
With the modernized
process control system, the monitoring and control of all plants is now
more flexible and possible from every site. The new centralized
and virtual system with high level of standardization results
in cost savings of at least 20%, thanks to reduced costs for
hardware, less need for training, reduction of time and manpower effort for
maintenance and lower licensing fees. EGLV subsequently restructured a part of
its organization to combine the responsibility for the plants’ IT and OT
systems in one unit, which helps EGLV make more effective and efficient
use of all available expertise. The solution not only streamlines system
maintenance but also supports the daily operation of the plants in both
ordinary and extraordinary situations, through better alarm management
and remote access capabilities. Especially during extreme events such as
storms or heavy rainfall, service teams may not be able to reach the plant –
and by providing robust remote access capabilities, the centralized
process control system adds a layer of security and helps to
keep plants operating in extreme weather. The innovative connection via public
networks and secured VPN tunnel enables a secure, reliable, and
cost-effective way of connecting to the distributed plants and
systems.