Remote Monitoring and control

Brief overview

Electrical power is a major part of any business infrastructure. Nowadays success of the business

is very heavily dependent upon assets like Grid, Generators, batteries and fuel etc. Data about the

performance of these assets is mostly overlooked. This data about the power infrastructure system is

logged manually that is generally never analyzed. Failure of such assets cause huge loses to business.

What is Remote Monitoring and Control?

Remote monitoring and control is a field of industrial automation that offers organizations tools

to quickly identify problems and remotely manage and control equipment and processes . Remote

monitoring can also be explained as an availability of digital information from one unit or a system to

another at a different, or distant geographical location, thereby minimizing the efforts to achieve any

desired result. Remote monitoring has three basic entities as show in the figure below.

1. Equipment monitoring

2. Communication channel

3. Monitoring station

Communication Channel

Monitoring station

Equipment Monitoring

Instruments(Temper

ature/pressure/flow/

Level/speed etc)

Valves

Electrical Intruments

Advantages of RMC

Large Companies have a huge geographical sprawl, which can be a challenge sometimes. They have their headquarters located in one city and facilities and sites in another. Managing the processes, systems, and assets without personnel being on site is very difficult. Remote monitoring and control in Industries like these where the equipment and assets are networked and spread across a wide geographical area is very advantageous. Some of the potentials of using RMC are as follow

Minimizing peak load requirements

Lowering cost of electricity supply

Lowering costs of asset maintenance

Reducing the staff requirements at individual site

Reduce efforts on travel to several sites

Automate control from a centralized location

Enhancing scope of optimization

Fuel theft control

Improving customer satisfaction

Overall reduction in OPEX

Providing operational visibility across the support processes

How does Remote Monitoring and Control works?

Site load is connected with the grid. When the grid turns off, power is supplied from the battery

bank until the generator starts. Battery bank supplies power to the load for generally 5-10 minutes and

then the generators kick in, but in countries like Pakistan with power shortage and high fuel prices the

battery timing can reach up to 2-3 hours.

Power Supply Infrastructure of BTS sites

In a network like this generator is turned on/off manually. Health and working of the battery

bank is rarely monitored. In battery banks a single bad cell if remained unchecked can cascade into a big

problem and can result into replacing of the whole bank, which is a big burden on industry’s capital. Fuel

Tanks are also monitored manually.

Fuel consumption, shortage and leakage are all subjected to human error. Theft of fuel from

remote sites is also a huge problem which needs a constant surveillance.

PMT

Meter

DB

AMF

ATS Generator

Fuel Tank

Site Load

Rectifier

Battery Bank

-48 V

Crank signal

Power Supply Infrastructure of BTS sites with Remote Monitoring and Control

In this network a remote terminal unit (RTU) is the main controlling and monitoring device. It contains a

multimedia memory card (MMC). Data collected from all the censors is stored in it. This Data is

transmitted through GSM from the RTU.

A Remote Terminal Unit is an electronic device that is controlled by a microprocessor. This

device interfaces with physical objects to a Control System Control a by transmitting highly automated

communications process data to the system.

PMT

Meter

DB

AMF

ATS Generator

Fuel Tank

Site Load

Rectifier

Battery Bank

-48 V

ARM

Remote Terminal Unit GSM

BAM

MMC

Main assets that are monitored and controlled remotely

Generators

Generators are a core infrastructure component of many communication networks. They are useful to

provide a redundant means of powering a remote site especially where electricity is scarce. Different

parameters of generators are controlled and monitor remotely.

Health and readiness

Configuration

Alarm management

Voltage and power output

Engine’s temperature

Run time

RPM and oil pressure

The temperature and vibration thresholds

Power output and voltage drops

Battery Bank

For uninterrupted power supply, battery banks are mostly used. The best way to ensure the integrity of

your backup power system is battery maintenance and a sound battery management program, which

identifies and predicts battery failure. The battery management program includes monitoring and

control of following features

Voltage outputs monitoring

Charging and discharging rates

Single cell health

high/low voltage alarms

Fuel Tanks

Fuel cost is ever on the rise. Remote sites mostly come across the problem of fuel management

and fuel theft. Monitoring of the fuel tank is the best way to get peace of mind. Fuel tank is installed

with different sensors which helps to,

prevent fraud of fuel;

prevent unauthorized use of fuel;

provide high-precision measurement of fuel level in a fuel tank;

give detailed information about fuel tank fueling and draining;

give detailed information about fuel consumption;

collect and store information about fuel in tank for detailed analyzing;

give detailed fuel usage history.

Environmental Factors

There are various other factors which are monitored and controlled remotely which are not part

of power supply network. Some of them are as follow

Temperature of site

Humidity

Air flow/ Air Conditioning

Smoke

Water level/leakage

Ventilation

Security (Camera and alarm etc.)

Conclusion

The main challenge with connecting assets is managing the vast amounts of data which can become

overwhelming making it impossible to drive value from the data. Using this technology the automation

process makes it very feasible and because of this, new business models and completely new revenue

streams are introduced. This comprehensive management solution stops a business from facing

unnecessary complexity, operational inefficiency and additional cost