Is communal paradise available for everyone? The story of the sad end
Hi Habr!
A few days ago I saw an article about installing a weather control system in an apartment building. Having a ReadOnly account, I could not participate in the discussion of the article, so I decided to write my own, with SCADA and regulators, but it will not be as optimistic, and - a spoiler! - will have a sad end.
The weight of the pictures under the cut ~ 1.5 MB.
I am a software engineer for the process control system. Our small but very proud company is engaged in industrial automation in the field of oil refining. I will not tell you how it brought us to the housing and utilities sector, I doubt that this story, comparable to the adventure, will be of interest to anyone.
At first we were engaged in the installation of heat metering stations with the possibility of remote reading of readings via a GSM modem, later we decided to take up weather control of the coolant. The options were considered different, I will not list the discarded ones, but stopped at the solution offered by the MZTA plant: automated thermal point based on the MS8 PLC:
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This controller buys a small (relatively) price, free software development, debugging and dispatching, communication capabilities and good technical support. The development environment for it is so simple that it seems that the most inveterate humanist can sort it out - some sort of FBD, only easier. If someone from the community shows interest - I can do a review, the thing is very interesting. Also, the manufacturer kindly provided us with a blank control algorithm AITP. Technological scheme of the weather regulator is as follows:
In short: the coolant comes from the supplier, an electric valve is installed at the entrance to the consumer’s heating system, which is controlled by a PLC. After passing through the building, the coolant returns to the AITP, where the pump, with the inverter (frequency converter), again pumps it into the supply pipeline. Further, the system includes six temperature sensors - three for measuring the temperature of the coolant (at the "flow" before and after the valve and at the return pipe) and three for measuring the air temperature (two in the extreme opposite rooms and one outside). In addition, this also includes two pressure sensors - on the “flow” and “return flow”. And, of course, there comes a heat meter. Appearance of AITP in the photo below:
Now briefly about the principle of operation of automation: on the basis of the measured air temperature on the street, according to the temperature graph, the required coolant temperature is calculated. It, according to the PID law, regulates the valve, opening and closing within 0-100%. But if you just close the valve, the pressure in the system will not be enough for the water to circulate freely, so there is a pump in the system that pumps the water from the “return” to the “supply”. Thanks to the frequency converter, the pump speed is also regulated according to the PID law, and it maintains the specified pressure drop. The regulator focuses on outdoor temperature, there is the possibility of correction for indoor temperatures - one or two of the average. In addition, it is possible to set limits on the maximum and minimum coolant temperature.
If the building has a heat exchanger for preparing hot water, then another circuit with a valve is added to maintain the set temperature and circulation pump. It is possible to introduce into the system a booster station of cold water supply, also equipped with a frequency converter, to maintain the specified pressure according to the PID law. In addition, we added features that do not directly relate to the substation - for example, managing street and access lighting on a schedule - everything is possible, there would be a desire!
Each TP was connected to the dispatching system with a single SCADA system. Communication was initially organized through GPRS-modems, later we began to gradually transfer to wire channels - the quality of communication in basements leaves much to be desired. The provider has provided us with a private VPN network, invisible from the outside, to which we have connected all the controllers and the server. In total, more than forty such regulators were installed.
This is how the SCADA interface for one house looks like - here there is a heating regulator, a hot water circuit, and a booster station for cold and street lighting:
And so - the control room. Sorry for the mess, there was no better photo:
Naturally, the first question that arises from the reader: how reliable is the system? What happens if the controller fails? What if the light goes out? Will people start to freeze? I answer: Nothing bad will happen - the valve is equipped with a self-return mechanism and opens 100% when the power is turned off, the pump stops and the coolant enters the house as if there is no control system. The dispatcher receives a notification from SCADA that the connection with the object has disappeared and is taking action. But in practice, I will say - for several years, none of the dozens of installed controllers failed, the connection usually disappeared for other reasons, more often, everything “repaired by itself” rather quickly. But, despite the high reliability, each circuit, each mechanism can be transferred to manual mode on the spot, it is impossible to hope for “random”.
The next question, of course, is savings. Is the game worth the candle? It all depends on the house itself - in what state of communication, how well insulated apartments and rooms. We tried to install the regulators in the houses after the overhaul - the savings in them was maximum. I cannot give real numbers in gigacalories and rubles, because I am far from a working computer - on a business trip - but I can say for sure that in some houses it reaches 50%, compared to previous seasons. In other houses in which cap. repair has not been for many years, this figure rarely exceeds 10% - large losses affect the "street heating". The greatest savings come in the warmer months, AITP saves from overheating.
The activity of our company was not limited to the automation of heat points, and in test mode we built the dispatching of elevators in two houses on the basis of the Ob complex . Faults and elevator stops were detected by the dispatcher before the lifters who were in the building! Also voice communication booths of the elevators and the control room were organized. Dispatch System Interface:
The next stage was planned organization of automatic apartment accounting of resources (hot, cold water and electricity). In addition, the plans included the integration of all three areas into one information system based on MasterSCADA , TraceMode or the like - the final decision has not yet been made.
Here again the question arises: where to get the money? Again with the unfortunate tenants? No, the financing was supposed to be received from the governor’s energy conservation program — I’m not going to tell you exactly what it’s for — I had no business with financial issues.
But for everything that has a beginning, there will always be an end. The end of our activities in this area came quickly. And this is a very unpleasant story. Habr is not for politics, so I don’t name any names and places of action, only facts. At the beginning of our activity, the head of the district really enjoyed the initiative, (with his submission we got there), the local press was full of descriptions of our innovations and achievements, the future was bright and cloudless. But suddenly everything changed. I do not know why the relationship between my leadership and the district administration deteriorated, but from the side it is clear that the question was selfish. At some point, the persecution began in the same newspapers that yesterday glorified us, and the management companies and municipalities one by one began to refuse our services. Regulators were ineffective, and remote elevator dispatching was impossible. Six months later, by the summer of 2013, it was all over. Now our company has returned to the automation of oil refining and utilities perceived as a terrible, but, fortunately, ended the dream. Currently, most regulators are disabled, and those that work are serviced by organizations from the regional center (180 km). Elevators from the dispatch system are disabled. Apparently it's better. Communal paradise is not yet available to everyone.
A few days ago I saw an article about installing a weather control system in an apartment building. Having a ReadOnly account, I could not participate in the discussion of the article, so I decided to write my own, with SCADA and regulators, but it will not be as optimistic, and - a spoiler! - will have a sad end.
The weight of the pictures under the cut ~ 1.5 MB.
I am a software engineer for the process control system. Our small but very proud company is engaged in industrial automation in the field of oil refining. I will not tell you how it brought us to the housing and utilities sector, I doubt that this story, comparable to the adventure, will be of interest to anyone.
At first we were engaged in the installation of heat metering stations with the possibility of remote reading of readings via a GSM modem, later we decided to take up weather control of the coolant. The options were considered different, I will not list the discarded ones, but stopped at the solution offered by the MZTA plant: automated thermal point based on the MS8 PLC:
')
This controller buys a small (relatively) price, free software development, debugging and dispatching, communication capabilities and good technical support. The development environment for it is so simple that it seems that the most inveterate humanist can sort it out - some sort of FBD, only easier. If someone from the community shows interest - I can do a review, the thing is very interesting. Also, the manufacturer kindly provided us with a blank control algorithm AITP. Technological scheme of the weather regulator is as follows:
In short: the coolant comes from the supplier, an electric valve is installed at the entrance to the consumer’s heating system, which is controlled by a PLC. After passing through the building, the coolant returns to the AITP, where the pump, with the inverter (frequency converter), again pumps it into the supply pipeline. Further, the system includes six temperature sensors - three for measuring the temperature of the coolant (at the "flow" before and after the valve and at the return pipe) and three for measuring the air temperature (two in the extreme opposite rooms and one outside). In addition, this also includes two pressure sensors - on the “flow” and “return flow”. And, of course, there comes a heat meter. Appearance of AITP in the photo below:
Now briefly about the principle of operation of automation: on the basis of the measured air temperature on the street, according to the temperature graph, the required coolant temperature is calculated. It, according to the PID law, regulates the valve, opening and closing within 0-100%. But if you just close the valve, the pressure in the system will not be enough for the water to circulate freely, so there is a pump in the system that pumps the water from the “return” to the “supply”. Thanks to the frequency converter, the pump speed is also regulated according to the PID law, and it maintains the specified pressure drop. The regulator focuses on outdoor temperature, there is the possibility of correction for indoor temperatures - one or two of the average. In addition, it is possible to set limits on the maximum and minimum coolant temperature.
If the building has a heat exchanger for preparing hot water, then another circuit with a valve is added to maintain the set temperature and circulation pump. It is possible to introduce into the system a booster station of cold water supply, also equipped with a frequency converter, to maintain the specified pressure according to the PID law. In addition, we added features that do not directly relate to the substation - for example, managing street and access lighting on a schedule - everything is possible, there would be a desire!
Each TP was connected to the dispatching system with a single SCADA system. Communication was initially organized through GPRS-modems, later we began to gradually transfer to wire channels - the quality of communication in basements leaves much to be desired. The provider has provided us with a private VPN network, invisible from the outside, to which we have connected all the controllers and the server. In total, more than forty such regulators were installed.
This is how the SCADA interface for one house looks like - here there is a heating regulator, a hot water circuit, and a booster station for cold and street lighting:
And so - the control room. Sorry for the mess, there was no better photo:
Naturally, the first question that arises from the reader: how reliable is the system? What happens if the controller fails? What if the light goes out? Will people start to freeze? I answer: Nothing bad will happen - the valve is equipped with a self-return mechanism and opens 100% when the power is turned off, the pump stops and the coolant enters the house as if there is no control system. The dispatcher receives a notification from SCADA that the connection with the object has disappeared and is taking action. But in practice, I will say - for several years, none of the dozens of installed controllers failed, the connection usually disappeared for other reasons, more often, everything “repaired by itself” rather quickly. But, despite the high reliability, each circuit, each mechanism can be transferred to manual mode on the spot, it is impossible to hope for “random”.
The next question, of course, is savings. Is the game worth the candle? It all depends on the house itself - in what state of communication, how well insulated apartments and rooms. We tried to install the regulators in the houses after the overhaul - the savings in them was maximum. I cannot give real numbers in gigacalories and rubles, because I am far from a working computer - on a business trip - but I can say for sure that in some houses it reaches 50%, compared to previous seasons. In other houses in which cap. repair has not been for many years, this figure rarely exceeds 10% - large losses affect the "street heating". The greatest savings come in the warmer months, AITP saves from overheating.
The activity of our company was not limited to the automation of heat points, and in test mode we built the dispatching of elevators in two houses on the basis of the Ob complex . Faults and elevator stops were detected by the dispatcher before the lifters who were in the building! Also voice communication booths of the elevators and the control room were organized. Dispatch System Interface:
The next stage was planned organization of automatic apartment accounting of resources (hot, cold water and electricity). In addition, the plans included the integration of all three areas into one information system based on MasterSCADA , TraceMode or the like - the final decision has not yet been made.
Here again the question arises: where to get the money? Again with the unfortunate tenants? No, the financing was supposed to be received from the governor’s energy conservation program — I’m not going to tell you exactly what it’s for — I had no business with financial issues.
But for everything that has a beginning, there will always be an end. The end of our activities in this area came quickly. And this is a very unpleasant story. Habr is not for politics, so I don’t name any names and places of action, only facts. At the beginning of our activity, the head of the district really enjoyed the initiative, (with his submission we got there), the local press was full of descriptions of our innovations and achievements, the future was bright and cloudless. But suddenly everything changed. I do not know why the relationship between my leadership and the district administration deteriorated, but from the side it is clear that the question was selfish. At some point, the persecution began in the same newspapers that yesterday glorified us, and the management companies and municipalities one by one began to refuse our services. Regulators were ineffective, and remote elevator dispatching was impossible. Six months later, by the summer of 2013, it was all over. Now our company has returned to the automation of oil refining and utilities perceived as a terrible, but, fortunately, ended the dream. Currently, most regulators are disabled, and those that work are serviced by organizations from the regional center (180 km). Elevators from the dispatch system are disabled. Apparently it's better. Communal paradise is not yet available to everyone.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/233639/
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