320 On 7, No.: Transactions
320 On 7, No.: Transactions
320 On 7, No.: Transactions
Eng-Kiat Chan
Public Utilities Board
Singapore
Abstract - Automation of power distribution systems has
increasingly been adopted by power utilities worldwide in recent
years. As part of its effort to provide a more reliable supply to its
customers and to enhance operational efficiency. The Public
Utilities Board of Singapore has recently completed an important
step in this direction by procuring and putting into service a
SCADA system for its 22 kV distribution network.
The SCADA system was commissioned and became operational
in mid 1988. However. due to the continuous network expansion
and increasingly higher expectations of the customers for a
reliable supply, the system has been constantly undergoing
extensions and upgradings to incorporate more remote terminal
units (RTUs) as well as improved functional enhancements.
This paper presents the approach adopted in implementing the
SCADA system and the benefits accrued through incorporating
such a system It also describes the subsequent development of
integrating a real-t:me expert system to the SCADA system in
preparation for the next steps in the progressive automation of the
22 kV distribution network.
KEYWORDS
NETWORK SIZE
Large distribution network, SCADA system, on-line database
management, distribution automation, expert system.
INTRODUCTION
The Public Utilities Board (PUB) is responsible for the generation
and supply of electricity to almost 850.000 customer accounts in
Singapore with a peak demand of about 2.450 MW. Electricity
generated in power stations is fed into PUB'S transmission
network at 230 kV and 66 kV levels. From the 66 kV network, it is
then stepped down for distribution at 22 kV level and further
stepped down to 6.6 kV or directly to the low voltage levels before
being supplied to its customers.
91 SM 430-9 PWRS
A paper recommended and approved
by the IEEE Power System Engineering Committee of
the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation
at the IEEE/PES 1991 Summer Meeting, San Diego,
Manuscript
California July 28 - August 1, 1991.
submitted January 24, 1991; made available for
printing June 5, 1991.
SubstationsiRTU's
Status/Alarm Pts
Commands
Measurements
0885-8950/92$03.0001992IEEE
t
initial
Present
1.000
1.330
3.000
30.000
41.000
120.000
6.300
8.500
23.000
7.000
9.200
28.000
321
To effectively implement a full SCADA system for such a large
and ever-changing distribution network the chosen system must
be modular and versatile in Software and Hardware design such
that it is able to be freely adapted to all network changes and
expansions. without causing disruption to its operation. or
resulting in any impairment in its effectiveness
22kV
Substations
Area
SM
RTU
TCI
hA
operator
Puo BuiIdNng
Fig. 1:
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION'
The initial setup called for a system with 1,000 RTUs with a
capacity to ultimatoly extend up to 2,400 RTUs. Subsequently,
this capacity has been further extended to 3,000 RTUs with the
intention to provide remote monitoring and control facilities for all
the major 6.6 kV substations and to extend the network
management functions to the 6.6 kV network and cover some
4,000 substations.
In order to serve such a high number of RTUs by a control centre
and to avoid any communication bottleneck at the master station,
a "distributed system" approach was adopted. Here. two sets of
dual-computer systems were installed at two geographically
separated locations. One system, located at the Distribution
Control Centre, serves the overall network control functions as
well as performs the data acquisition and remote control functions
for the central and west area networks. The other system, located
at the City Operation and Maintenance Depot, performs the data
acquisition and control functions for the east and city area
networks.
The SCADA system hardware mirrors the network level concept
to achieve a high degree of system availability and modularity
(see Figure 1 for the initial system configuration). These levels
can be classified as follows:
Master Station:
Main computer systems
Front-end (Telecontrol Interface) systems
- Man-Machine Interface (Operator Consoles/
Workstations)
322
Remote Station:
Submaster stations
Remote. Terminal Units
Main Computer Svstems
The two remotely 'located computer systems sit at the same
hierarchical level and form the core of the entire SCADA system.
They are coupled to each other by two X.25 data links over public
telephone lines for data exchange.
This arrangement allows real-time network data received by one
system from its respective area network to be transmitted to the
other system for processing and updating of its database. thus
enabling the databases in both systems to be identical at any
point of time. Furthermore in the command direction. output
command to a station not belonging to its own area will
automatically be sent to the other system for execution. Thus
remote control as well as monitoring of the entire distribution
network can be carried out from any operator console connected
to any control centre of the system.
Each computer system consists of two identical main computers
operating in an onlineihot-standby mode to provide redundancy
within each system and minimize system downtime. Their
opera-tion is coordinated by the watchdogiswitch-over unit.
Telecontrol Interface (TCI)
On the level between the RTUs and the main computers are the
Telecontrol Interface front-end preprocessors. The TCls are
responsible for the acquisition of the network data via the RTUs
and the local preprocessing of these data. For modularity and
simplicity purposes. two sets of dual telecontrol interface units
are used for each computer system. each serving one
geographic area of the network. Similar to the main computers. a
dual redundant arrangement is also adopted at the telecontrol
interface level which operates in a onlineihot-standby mode to
ensure highest system availability.
Man-Machine Interface (MMI)
At the man-machine interface level, a total of 6 local and 7
remote display consoles are utilized to support the operations at
the Distribution Control Centre (DCC) and the four Area Control
Centres (ACCs). These consoles are allocated as follows:
Connected to comouter svstem 1 located at DCC:
-
and the other with 1 colour monitor and a video hardcopy unit.
These support the data entry and modification work.
-
323
There is, therefore, no direct communication taking place q between the small RTUs and the telecontrol interface unit and all
information is exchanged through the submasters.
All submasters are configured in party line mode. They are
connected to the telecontrol interface in a loop circuit of no more
than 16. The loop arrangement is to enhance the availability of
the submasters against the failure of a communication line.
Hence, during such instances, communication is still possible Via
the other end of the loop. Similarly, the small RTUs are also
configured in loops with no more than 16 RTUs in a loop to a
submaster. The layout is illustrated in Figure 2.
-+
U
NOTE:
1 up to 16 submaster loops
I
U
2 up to 16 submaster per
submaster loop
3 Up to 16 small RTU per
RTU loop
-+
U
' RTU-LCOP
U
Fig. 2:
324
Thus only minor changes are needed in defining the new data
point or display, thereby saving much time and effort. At each
input field, data validity checks are performed and plausible
values are suggested and presented to the operator, thus making
the data entry work easier and at the same time minimizing the
risk of possible entry mistakes.
required.
Substation
Area
22kV Substation
Area
Host Computer
System 2
(KALLANG BASIN)
IAYER RAJAH)
LEGEND
ACC
B
CHC
DBMS
DCC
FGC
LAN
M
PUB Building
OSS
RTU
SM
SU
TCI
WS
-.-
/y
FGC
325
form of jobs and are also transmitted to the partner and remote
systems automatically for updating.
The new configuration is shown in Figure 3.
THE EXPERT SYSTEM
I
Pro;essI
SCADAlEMS
Database
Expert System
326
all the activities. such as. to filter and split the different events
according to the network topology: to decide whether the
disturbance analysis and fault should be triggered and when
should the reasoning process be started. The process data flow
is demonstrated in Figure 4. An algorithmn will also be
incorporated to support the load restoration and load transfer
functions.
CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
'
References
11) Dy Liacco. T.E..
"Toward a Functional Control Centre Design"
IFAC-Symposium, Beijing, August 1986
121 Eng-Kiat Chan, Chee-Kiong Koh.
"supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System for the 22 kV
Distribution Network in Singapore"
International Symposium on Electrical Distribution and Energy
Management, Singapore, 26. - 27. Oct. 1988
131 Wolfgang Flandorfer, Jochen Frick and David North,
"Energy Data Management in Realtime"
Energy & Automation Vol. XI. No. 4, JulyiAugust 1989
The authors would like to thank the Chief Executive of the Public
Utilities Board for his permission to publish and present this paper.