In automation and control of water distribution, the opportunity to work on greenfield projects versus existing brownfield installations presents an opportunity to provide a digitally transformed solution “designed in” rather than “retrofitted in.”
For an engineering company charged with the system integration of such a project, “greenfield” represents, within the limitations of budget and time, an opportunity to employ new technologies that can optimize performance, reduce footprint, and accommodate both current and future system requirements and provide enhanced mechanism for field services and operations. These benefits are enough to make any systems integrator take another look at advanced automation and control.
A classic model of a greenfield challenge and opportunity is NEOM, the largest new urban development project in the world, which is currently under construction in Saudi Arabia. The project is a metropolitan area incorporating a large city centre, plus island, beach and mountain developments. Drakken, an engineering and systems integration company based in Dubai, UAE, was selected as the main automation contractor (MAC) to provide the automation solution for the water distribution system of NEOM.
An exceptional challenge, the NEOM system extends over approximately 65km of coastal terrain and 75km of mountains, providing a wide range of environmental stresses. A water desalination plant is the fresh water source, and the system includes pipelines, pumping stations and storage tanks. With the city currently under construction, the water system presently delivers more than 50,600 m3/day of bulk desalinated water to the core development area for construction and human consumption.
In order to supply the water needed during development as well as to prepare for expanded future demands, Drakken required a control and supervision system for the water network to ensure minimal water loss due to leakage and evaporation. It had to provide, in complex, rough terrain, a scalable solution that could expand with the extensive new development. The criticality of the project required that the control and supervisory system be cybersecure and offer high availability with no disruption. It also had to connect highly disparate third-party systems deployed in the overall architecture to provide unified monitoring and control.
Because the project was new and had no legacy hardware that had to be integrated, Drakken chose to use the latest technology in the water distribution system – edge controllers. This configuration combines deterministic and non-deterministic real-time control in a single hypervised platform, providing the capabilities of both a PLC and an edge computer system in one device, saving costs, space and integration time and complexity. Edge controller technology incorporates an “outer loop” and an “advise layer” on top of the typical “see-think-do” control loop. If the outer loop is disrupted, the real-time deterministic control remains unaffected. This capability allows users to connect to any preferred cloud service and to develop and run data processing Linux-based applications next to the control system to optimize processes and improve outcomes.
Since Drakken was able to bring edge-enabled data analytics together with real-time control, they could drive new insights in real time while providing built-in flexibility and operational efficiency and achieve higher asset performance. For further flexibility, they chose controller technology that offers a base scan rate as low as 200 μS, switchover as fast as one scan, on top of the fully deterministic control. The software platform for the control technology is pre-installed, allowing Drakken the flexibility to use the controller for a number of use cases such as Linux co-processer, local Web-based HMI, black box recorder and data logger, and for remote alerts.
Drakken implemented efficient project-wide integrated asset management software capabilities, thereby reducing failure modes, as well as for overall digital health and preventive and predictive maintenance.
Drakken employed control systems at over 20 pumping stations and the water distribution centre to control the pump and valve operations. To meet the availability demands, they chose control solutions with built-in redundancy. Redundant power inputs allow higher availability, reliability and productivity. In addition, fast network recovery technology helps protect mission-critical applications from network interruptions or temporary malfunctions.
The edge controllers installed at each location collect, analyse and filter operational data on a Linux engine and are ready to connect and send data to the cloud via the MQTT protocol. The need to interface with a wide range of third-party devices such as flow meters, RFID systems at each TFS station, and many others required that the control systems and software be highly flexible and able to communicate seamlessly with plant floor devices and supervisory systems using standard communication protocols for maximum interoperability and ease of use. Protocol options include: DNP3, IEC 61850, IEC 104, HART pass-through, EGD, SRTP, Modbus- TCP/RTU, PROFINET, OPC UA. The controllers perform high-speed data acquisition and control in a complex architecture with multiple fibre optic rings using the various industrial protocols to connect to more than 500 external devices.
Drakken selected an advanced SCADA-based software platform to interface with the controllers based in part on its scalability to support unlimited tags on redundant servers. The software collects and analyses data for leak detection and leak location across the pipeline every 10 meters. Tag data is historized with a five-year storage capacity, failure prediction and proactive redressal, leading to better capital utilization, reduced operating expenses and faster return on investment. The platform automatically imports programmable logic controller (PLC) tags, preventing errors and saving commissioning time. The web client configuration of the software allows remote access through any mobile device. This capability will continue to increase in value as the water system increases in size and complexity.
In order to meet the widely varying demands of the range of environments NEOM encompasses, Drakken opted for control systems that operate in temperature ranges from -40°C to 70°C right from start-up, and with a humidity range from 5% to 95% non-condensing. The modern control technology handles extreme environments without requiring fans which can be prone to failure. In addition, unlike standard controllers that require a throttle down to accommodate high heat, the newer technology enables applications to run consistently at very high temperatures without impacting control performance. To further meet the challenging environments, the control hardware is based on vibration-resistant components and connections to help minimize failure points and ensure reliable operation in fast moving, agitating or high-impact applications. Non-conductive conformal coating provides electrical components with a protective barrier against contamination, moisture and corrosion caused by harsh or extreme conditions.
In addition to physical security, an application like NEOM also demands the highest cybersecurity protection. The system implemented by Drakken uses a secure-by-design philosophy, including Trusted Platform Module (TPM), Secure Boot and secure firmware updates. The cohesive security strategy is built into all layers, from the hardware and software to communications and the development process. The system’s secure by design, allowing verification and validation of the integrity of vital system components. Secure communications help prevent attackers from gaining unauthorized access to the controller. Achilles 2 certification assures against denial-of-service (DoS) or man-in-the-middle cyberattacks or any unauthorized firmware changes.
Ritesh Contractor, business development manager, Drakken, said:
“The advanced control solutions fully connect the water distribution network for NEOM through an advanced Internet of Water infrastructure to ensure minimum water loss, putting NEOM at the forefront of water technology and assuring high sustainability.”
While few system integrators will be faced with an entirely new city to automate and control, the example of NEOM still shows steps that any integrator can use. Sometimes employing new technologies even in brownfield systems can provide potential savings in space and complexity that actually save money while reducing risk and increasing the level of security.
