Gas automation benefits from the development of urban natural gas. Driven by the continuous increase in natural gas supply and the pressure of energy conservation and environmental protection, the urban gas industry has developed rapidly and the gas pipeline network has been rapidly extended, which has also given rise to the demand of natural gas companies for gas automation systems.

This urban gas project uses SOLISCADA to create an LNG gasification station control system. It collects data from on-site tanks, vaporizers, regulators, flow meters, and gas alarms to monitor temperature, pressure, level, flow, and gas concentration, and enables electric valve control.

In addition, the system also offers alarm settings, reporting, trend curves, and user login/behavior monitoring for gas station safety management.

Cybersecurity threats - Urban gas is a critical infrastructure, and SCADA systems are vulnerable to hacker attacks.

Complex data integration and compatibility - poor compatibility of communication protocols from different device manufacturers (such as OPC UA, Modbus) leading to data silos.

Real time and reliability requirements - Gas systems require millisecond level response, but large-scale networks may experience control lag due to communication delays.

Syatem Architecture

This project adopts a two-level system architecture: station control system and dispatching center.

The station control system monitors and controls local equipment data, while the dispatch center collects and manages data from each station via SOLISCADA's data acquisition drivers. 

Normally, the dispatch center handles primary control, with local station control as backup in case of communication issues. When there is a communication failure between the on-site station control system and the dispatch center, the secondary control, i.e. local station control, can be adopted through authority switching. The two levels have different permissions for management.

Functionalities

·Data acquisition and control

SOLISCADA communicates with Siemens, ABB, Mitsubishi PLCs, and Modbus instruments via standard drivers, enabling remote valve control from the dispatch center to ensure stable gas supply and prompt response to anomalies.

·Configuration screen

SOLISCADA's user-friendly HMI with flexible operation allows for rich content display. 

Using graphic templates like pipelines, tanks, and sensors, the station control process flow is intuitively depicted, with functions like user models and historical curves for efficient drawing and data visualization.

·Alarm Management

SOLISCADA enables high/low limit and switch quantity alarms, managed by area and operation group. When gas network abnormalities or threshold exceedances occur, the system alerts maintenance staff promptly, reducing downtime and enhancing safety.

·Historical trend records

The data added to the historical database can also automatically generate historical trends in the software. In the same trend control, users can view real-time and historical trend records, facilitating fault analysis.

·Operation log record

SOLISCADA operation log software records vital operations during monitoring, such as startup/shutdown, user switches, data changes, and confirmations.

SOLISCADA empowers local automated gas monitoring with a dispatch center data interface for seamless overall scheduling. Leveraging data acquisition, configuration, alarm management, historical data, and operation logs, it upgrades station control system automation, achieving less-manned or even unmanned operation, enhancing efficiency and reliability.