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The District of
Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA) is in the midst
of a multi-year capital investment program at its Blue Plains
Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. An important part
of this overall program is adoption of a long-term
automation strategy that calls |
for an
integrated approach for monitoring and controlling plant
processes, water distribution and wastewater collection.
Emerson Process Management’s Ovation® expert
control system is an integral component of this comprehensive
automation strategy.
For high-resolution images, click
here.
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A
centralized control room located within DCWASA’s
Blue Plains Plant enables operators to monitor and control
processes. |
 |
Integrating controls for the
entire plant, instead of relying on separate islands of automation,
coupled with making the information accessible from a central
location, will translate into more efficient and effective
monitoring and control of critical processes.
For high-resolution images, click
here.
|
PITTSBURGH (October 31, 2005) — The District of Columbia
Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA) is in the midst of a multi-year
capital investment program at its Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater
Treatment Plant to enhance operational efficiency and assure long-term reliable
treatment and compliance with environmental regulations. An important part
of this overall program is adoption of a long-term automation strategy that
calls for an integrated approach for monitoring and controlling plant processes,
water distribution and wastewater collection. Emerson Process Management’s
Ovation® expert control system is an integral component of this comprehensive
automation strategy.
DCWASA’s Blue Plains Plant is the world’s largest
advanced wastewater treatment facility with a rated annual average
capacity of 370 million gallons per day and a peak wet weather
capacity of 1,076 billion gallons per day. The plant, built in
the 1970s, utilizes a sophisticated nitrification/denitrification
and filtration process.
In 2002, Emerson won a $35 million contract to engineer and install
three Ovation systems for DCWASA – one to control operations
at the Blue Plains treatment facility, and two separate Ovation
SCADA systems to monitor DCWASA’s water distribution and
wastewater collection system. Emerson’s Power & Water
Solutions industry center is managing the project.
Emerson’s Ovation solution represents a step change in
technology for the district. The new systems will allow DCWASA
to assure adequate treatment capacity through linked systems controlling
on-site and remote processes, maintain process control infrastructure,
protect against component obsolescence, and operate and manage
its entire water/wastewater network efficiently and economically
through seamless process integration and redundant configurations.
Emerson now reports that the first phase of the control system
modernization project is nearly complete, and the second phase
is well underway. In the first phase, Emerson installed its Ovation
system to automate monitoring and control of primary sedimentation
basins and pumping stations at Blue Plains. In addition, a centralized
control room enables operators to monitor and control processes.
There are also three separate operational area control centers – primary/secondary
treatment, filtration, and solids handling. Integrating controls
for the entire plant, instead of relying on separate islands of
automation, coupled with making the information accessible from
a central location, will translate into more efficient and effective
monitoring and control of critical processes.
After automating the backwash process with the Ovation system,
DCWASA staff now has the ability to quickly review and modify the
control logic as needed to ensure efficient operations. This is
a key functionality that they did not have with the previous PLC
systems.
Automating processes previously performed manually has already
proven to be beneficial in terms of staff utilization. Once fully
implemented, DCWASA expects to experience additional savings in
water and chemical usage.
Furthermore, the integrated control system, which features comprehensive
alarm management, quickly and efficiently provides operators with
crucial data regarding plant operations, making it easier to troubleshoot
and diagnose problems. Plant staff find their ability to point
and click to real-time data and trending information priceless.
Phase two encompasses solids processing, including the complete
central monitoring and control of the Blue Plains liquid treatment
train, chemical addition and dewatering, and integration with the
collection system. Outside the plant, SCADA implementation for
wastewater collection and the water delivery system is in process.
Finally, phase three will incorporate monitoring and control of
the world’s largest egg-shaped anaerobic digesters, completing
integration of the plant.
When the multi-phase project is completed, the Ovation control
and SCADA systems will consist of more than 60 remote terminal
units, 25 redundant controllers, two off-site operator control
centers, three in-plant operation area centers, 11 hardened operator
interface terminals in strategic plant areas, and one central control
facility. In total, an estimated 40,000 input/output points will
be interfaced to the Ovation process control and SCADA systems.
“Implementing an integrated control architecture as part
of a multi-year automation master plan enables municipalities,
like DCWASA, to build on resources they already have so they can
easily meet future needs,” said Bob Yeager, president of
Emerson Process Management’s Power & Water Solutions
division. “Whether adopting newer treatment technologies,
expanding to meet future population growth, or adjusting to increasingly
complex financial and environmental regulations, the Ovation-based
integrated control architecture will help ensure that DCWASA is
well equipped to meet the needs of the more than 500,000 residential,
commercial and government customers it serves.”
About
Emerson Process Management
Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com),
an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate
their production, processing and distribution in the power,
water and wastewater treatment, chemical, oil and gas, refining,
pulp and paper, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and other
industries.
Emerson's Power & Water
Solutions division (www.emersonprocess-powerwater.com)
is a global supplier of advanced distributed process control
and information systems. The Pittsburgh-based company is a recognized
leader in developing plant-wide process control solutions for
the power generation, water treatment and wastewater treatment
industries. Power & Water
Solutions plays a key role in the Emerson mission of combining
superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering,
consulting, project management and maintenance services. Emerson
brands include PlantWeb® , Ovation®, SmartProcess®,
Fisher® , Micro Motion® , Rosemount®,
Mobrey®, Daniel®, DeltaV™, and AMS™Suite.
About
Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, is a global
leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide
innovative solutions to customers through its network power,
process management, industrial automation, climate technologies,
and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2004
were $15.6 billion. For more information, visit www.GoToEmerson.com.
# # #
Ovation, SureService, SmartProcess, PlantWeb,
Fisher, Micro Motion, Rosemount, Mobrey, Daniel, AMS™ Suite
and DeltaV™ are
marks of Emerson Process Management. Other marks are the property
of their respective owners.
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