Hydro Power Plant Automation

1. Hydro Power Plant Automation “Bitlis-MEN” presenting

2. BITLIS-MEN Company offers safe and simple engineering solutions for the automation of small HPPs. Ease of operation will be with you from now on and you can see and manage your business anytime and anywhere, from home, office and even when travelling. Our experience and competence, as well as the innovations and advanced technologies used by our Company, serve to meet the needs of our clients all over the world. Our high-skilled consultants, who lecture at and collaborate with the State Engineering University of Armenia, the Yerevan State University, the State Engineering and Construction University of Yerevan, the Institute of Energetics and other research institutions, will help you to achieve the best results. The Company can study your HPP with the help of up-to-date technologies and draft a complete automation plan for your HPP in a short space of time. We can also provide for a partial automation of the HPP, namely the automation of the assemblies and units which you regard as basic. The offered System implies the following, • Diagnostics • Monitoring • Operation control • Improvement of water consumption • Improvement of plant units operation • Increase of economic efficiency • Detection of emergencies and pre-emergency situations and quick response • Transfer of the information relating to the HPP-generated power and the basic quantities thereof to any place in the world upon Your request. HPP Automation

3. HPP Automation Below are the major tasks faced by the small HPP and the solutions offered by BITLIS-MEN Company.

4. 1. Task: Water level maintenance The maintenance of the operating level of water in the intake basin is important for the provision of the maximal efficiency of the assemblies, which requires a definite height and quantity of water. The excess water is removed through an outlet and the bigger quantities of the excess water are removed through a disaster outlet. The problem is that the excess water may flow out of the basin and flood the area by causing serious damage if the operator fails to notice the water surplus and fails to open the emergency outlet in time. Solution: Automated system for the optimal management of level BITLIS-MEN Company will design and install an automated control system of the intake basin’s disaster outlet’s valve, which will provide for the maximum permissible water level in the intake basin in case if the water level exceeds the required operating levels set for the HPPs. The System may store the collected information in the database for the purpose of further monitoring, upon Your request. The System may also send an e-message or a short message on emergency situations, to the operator or controller. HPP Automation

5. 2. Task: Trash screen blockage HPP's intake basins are located far from the mechanical engineering assemblies’ hall and often in high and hard-to-access areas. The pipeline joins the water basin at the depth of 5-10 meters of the water level so that to exclude the possible penetration of air into the pressure line. The intake trash screen designed to prevent the penetration of trash into the line, should also be built on the above-mentioned depth. It is required to provide for a regular and timely cleaning of the screen to prevent possible dangers. The failure to clean the screen may result in decrease of the capacity, which implies ineffective operation of the assembly, and the excess decrease of the capacity may bring to the penetration of air into the pipeline and occurrence of emergencies (water hammer). To avoid suchlike situations it will be necessary to provide for frequent cleaning of the trash screen irrespective of the degree of the blockage and this may be regarded as an effective solution. Solution: Automated cleaning system BITLIS-MEN will design and install an automated system for trash screen clogging detection that may alarm and/or launch the automated cleaning system in case of blockage of the screen. The System may automatically store the clogging-relating information in the database for the purpose of further monitoring, upon Your request. The System may also send an e-message or a short message on emergency situations, to the operator or controller. HPP Automation

6. 3. Task: Determination of water quantity in the pipe There are a number of methods to determine the quantity of flowing water. Some of them, like the Doppler-effect-using ultrasound metering equipments, are expensive (the cost of the equipment varies within Euro 10,000-20,000), the others imply availability of additional artificial obstacles in the line (for example, Ventura or diaphragm water meters) and are difficult to implement, as well as bring to the loss of mechanical power and reduction of the HPP’s efficiency. Solution: Automated water-metering system BITLIS-MEN Company suggests a new optimal and cost-effective solution of the problem. The approach is based on the physical phenomenon used in the Ventura water meter, but it does not imply the installation of additional obstacles. The System may automatically store the water- clogging relating information in the database, for the purpose of further monitoring, upon Your request. The System may also send an e-message or a short message on emergency situations to the operator or controller. HPP Automation 1 – intake basin, 2 – intake line, 3 - manometer Hm, 4 – pump or a turbine, 5 – diffusor , 6 - water, 7 - Hs, 8 - Ho, 9 - level(for metering Hs - Hû)

7. 4. Task: Emergency closing of intake valves The electric power generation and distribution standards require an immediate shutdown of the electric power generating assemblies in case of an emergency cutout of the electrical network. The HPPs are not provided with the power supply required for their own needs and this makes it impossible to quickly close the intake valves of the assemblies. The assemblies are likely to get into a tremor and may be damaged by endangering the surroundings. Solution: Automated emergency closing system The assembly intake valves' emergency closing system, offered by BITLIS-MEN Company, is comprised of a direct current rechargeable battery, a direct current engine and a drive belt designed for the closing of the assembly's valves. The valve closing speed should be taken into consideration when selecting the direct current battery and engine, so that «to prevent the tremor» and «to avoid a water hammer». The encoder installed in the drive belt of the valve notifies the system on the degree of opening of the valve. HPP Automation Battery-driven valve mechanism; 1 - reductor, 2 – control panel, 3 - alternating current motor, 4 – constant current motor, 5 – constant currency battery

8. 5 Task: Accident detection Accidents are usually preceded by pre-accident situations. Thus, the detection of pre-accident situations will help us to prevent the emergencies. For example, the turbine's bearing- breakage-caused accidents may be prevented by regular monitoring of the temperature and fluctuations level thereof. Or the accidents caused by the breakage of the intake valve may be prevented by monitoring of the load and the position of the closing plates. The excess load of the engine implies availability of a mechanical obstacle in the valve opening or closing process. Thus, the engine should be switched off immediately so that to prevent the burning out of the engine or breakage of the valve. Solution: Accident detection automated system BITLIS-MEN Company offers the assembly monitoring and management automated system, which can check the temperature and fluctuations of the turbine, generator and engine bearings, as well as the temperature of the generator turns. The System can also check the degree of load of the engine installed on the assembly’s intake valve and can switch it off, if required, to prevent the breakage of the valve. The System will follow the readings of the electronic water meter installed on the exit of each radiator designed to cool the oil of the pump, as well. This allows regulating the water discharge and provides for the sufficient cooling of the bearings. HPP Automation

9. 3 4 1 2 6. Task: Remote and direct control The human-factor-caused accidents are likely to occur at the HPPs in case of manual operation of the assemblies by operators, especially when there is a necessity of synchronization of the assembly and the network's parameters prior to switching on the power system. This is rather difficult to do though the operator has to solve the task every time when switching on the assembly. Meanwhile, a short circuit may take place if the operator fails to switch on the assembly in time, that is, when the assembly is not synchronized with the network, and this may have negative consequences (up to burning out of the assembly). Solution: Automated control system The solution offered by BITLIS-MEN Company implies the implementation of an automated system that will make it possible to automatically synchronize and connect the assembly to the network. The System will also make it possible to automatically bring out the assembly out of the network. The above-mentioned functions may be performed both by remote and direct control, upon Your request. HPP Automation

10. 7. Task: Effective operation of the assemblies As a rule, the number of assemblies available at the HPPs exceeds one. And this is a rather difficult task to provide for the effective operation of the assemblies, that is the generation of maximal capacity with the available water quantity. The incoming water quantity is constantly changing. The decrease (increase) of the incoming water quantity requires the switching off (switching on) of some assemblies or the decreasing (increasing) of the intake valve openings by maintaining the operating level of the water height in the intake basin. Besides, the working curves of the assemblies are changing with the lapse of the time due to the wear and repairing of the assemblies. It is necessary to use the highest efficiency ranges /working curve/ to provide for an effective operation. The operator may not solve the above-mentioned problems and there is a necessity to set up an automated operation system that may effectively operate the HPP based on the incoming water quantities. Solution: Automated operation system The System offered by BITLIS-MEN Company can make an optimal selection of the number of the HPP's assemblies and the operation mode thereof based on the incoming water quantity to provide for the maximal generation of the electric power provided that the working curves of the assemblies are available. The System may also determine the actual values of the working curves for the given assembly. HPP Automation

11. Technologies used BITLIS-MEN Company makes use of advanced office and production microcomputers (including the National Instruments Company’s cRIO and PXI platform-based and real-time-working microcomputers), sensors and actuators by ABB, Siemens, LEM and other known companies as its hardware and the text and graphic, Windows and Web programming languages and technologies (LabView, C#, PHP) as a software support. HPP Automation

12. Distributed systems (SCADA) One of the key tasks of the HPP is to provide for a complete and centralized control and monitoring. The HPP's control and monitoring distributed system (SCADA) offered by BITLIS-MEN Company makes it possible to control and monitor the operations of the HPPs at any level. The systems, which are comprised of separate units located far from each other, are considered to be distributed. The typical models of the HPPs are comprised of a head, pipeline, mechanical engineering assemblies’' hall and offtake. Two of the mentioned units have sub-units. Namely, the head consists of an intake, intake basin, trash screen and outlet valves, the components of the mechanical engineering assemblies' hall are the intake assemblies, power cables and el.substation. The assembly in its turn has subunits, such as the intake valve, turbine and generator. The generator has a rotor-stator, control panel. Thus, a HPP is a complex multilevel (multilayer) distributed system. HPP Automation Our contact information BITLIS-MEN Ltd. Armenia, Yerevan Manandyan street 16, #7 Tel. +374 (10) 21-97-53 Fax +374 (10) 21-97-82 El-address: Bitlis.MEN@gmail.com