Augmentation of gas pipeline and metering station
PLC and SCADA for the augmented gas receiving and metering station that supplies the cement plant and its power plant.
- Gas metering
- Redundant PLC
- International
Case study
Redundant PLC and SCADA, VSPL dispatch terminal
Upgrade of the dispatch terminal at the head of the Vizag to Secunderabad LPG pipeline from another PLC make to GE, in a fully redundant configuration.
- ClientGAIL
- LocationVisakhapatnam
- IndustryOil and gas
- PlatformsGE PLC redundancy, redundant SCADA, gas chromatograph integration
The brief
GAIL's dispatch terminal at Visakhapatnam sits at the head of the Vizag to Secunderabad LPG pipeline. Its control system ran on another PLC make. The terminal had to move to GE in a fully redundant configuration, with the cutover planned around operations.
What we built
Two PLCs and two SCADA nodes in master and standby. About twenty screens: harbour receipt, receipt lines for HPCL, EIPL and GAIL, mainline pumps, interlocks, fire water, gas chromatography, rack diagnostics, vibration and power distribution.
Two of everything
Two GE PLCs and two SCADA nodes run as a master and standby pair with the same live database. If the master fails, the standby takes over within the scan time and the operator sees a role switch, not a shutdown. A Switch SCADA Role control lets maintenance move the master role on purpose.
Migrating a running terminal
We pre-built and tested the new system against the existing I/O list, then cut over in planned windows, area by area.
Custody transfer and pipeline data
Product for HPCL, EIPL and GAIL is received and measured at the terminal, so custody transfer between the parties runs through this system. Live data is shared with the pipeline under OISD-STD-214.
Outcomes
2 + 2PLCs and SCADA nodes in master and standby
~20Operator screens in the terminal SCADA
Role switchNot a shutdown, when a controller fails
Screens and photographs
From the commissioned system. Select an image to enlarge it.
Capabilities used on this project
Pipeline terminals and redundant SCADA
Dispatch and receipt terminals on redundant PLC and SCADA, so a single failure never stops the line.
Custody transfer and fiscal metering
Metering skids, flow computers and meter provers, where the measurement settles money and has to stand up to audit.
AMC, support and migration
Annual maintenance for running iFIX and GE PLC systems, and migration of legacy control systems without a long shutdown.
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