User Solutions
(Issue 16, 2010)
Evolution of the ChemFreePro®
Ion Generator
By Jerry Nivens, Technical Services
Environmentally Engineered Equipment,
Dallas, Texas
___________________________________________________________________________
In the 1960s, NASA conducted a research program to develop a small lightweight water purifier. The purifier was for use in the Apollo spacecraft, so low power usage and minimal maintenance were a must. The 9-ounce purifier, slightly larger than a cigarette pack and completely chlorine-free, was designed to dispense silver ions into the spacecraft’s water supply to kill bacteria.
NASA’s ingenious device for controlling microbial contamination caught on quickly, opening the doors for safer methods of controlling water pollutants on Earth. Numerous independent lab tests from NASA, health departments and universities along with many years of field testing have confirmed the exceptional sanitizing ability of copper/silver ionization. Studies showed that using a combination of copper and silver was effective against many water borne contaminants, even those resistant to high levels of chlorine.
One of the most promising application areas for this technology is large industrial cooling towers, 15 million of which are installed in the U.S. alone. These towers, some containing several hundred thousand gallons of water, have historically used chemicals to kill algae and to prevent and remove lime and scale deposits.
Chemical treatment of cooling tower water requires huge blow-downs of treated water to continually renew the water in use. Some of this chemically contaminated water must be dumped into drains, thereby causing severe damage to anaerobic digesters in sewer systems.
To resolve these cooling tower issues, Environmentally Engineered Equipment developed the ChemFreePro Ion Generator. Starting with a simple prototype, the product has evolved into a highly successful and reliable solution, with testing of the technology already completed in the U.S. and other countries.
The use of water ionization as a maintenance treatment for cooling towers provides operational and maintenance savings. Water ionization acts as a powerful biocide, and ionization eliminates the need to remove and treat cooling tower water.
Ionization of cooling tower water eliminates algae, bacteria and viruses that cause serious health and maintenance problems. In the Ion Generator, ionization is produced through a process where copper ions are emitted into the water by an electrical current. The ions kill algae, bacteria and viruses – all of which are then removed from the water by filters.
The copper alloy ions also strip the bonding properties of the existing scale that adheres to tower pipes and components, reducing the scale to fine particles that can be removed by an automated filtering system. Bacterial counts are also reduced along with a subsequent minimization of the buildup of biofilm on heat exchanger surfaces.
The ION Generator uses an AutomationDirect DirectLOGIC D0-06AR PLC, F0-04AD-1 analog input modules and RS4N-DE electromechanical card relays. Current is measured by an ACT005-42L-F current transformer, and the generator also employs an H0-ECOM100 Ethernet Module. For the entire generator control and monitoring system, only the pH and conductivity sensors are sourced from other vendors.
These sensors are connected to the PLC analog inputs to allow continual monitoring of water copper content, conductivity and pH levels. Based on these readings, the PLC makes adjustments to the relay outputs to control current to the generator plates. Because the control system is Internet enabled, it can be monitored, programmed and controlled remotely. For locations without Internet connectivity, an MDM-TEL industrial serial modem is used.
As the need to treat drinking water is influenced and increased by bacterial pollution, this technology could migrate from cooling towers to treatment of fresh water for human use, just as NASA first envisioned.
In all our experiences with supply companies, AutomationDirect has always been helpful and prompt with technical assistance, or whatever might be needed at the time. Much of our success in this project must be attributed to that impressive service and dedication.
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User Solutions
(Issue 16, 2010)
M.M. & I., Inc provides production
information 24/7 to Pratt Industries
By Michael Miles
Founder/President
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Michael Miles and Investors (M.M. & I.) has been in the commercial and industrial electrical markets since 1986. The company began by offering Web-based database and Visual Basic applications supporting school systems. In 1994, we ventured into the computer market, becoming proficient in information technologies and high level programming. In 2002, we saw a need in the market to combine our IT programming services with our PLC/Controls and controls programming. This allowed us to offer our customers the ability to get factory information up into the IT world, over intranets or even over the Internet. We also added a panel shop, giving us the ability to provide complete “turnkey” solutions, with all the control components mounted and wired in a panel. We are also uniquely suited to offer reliable yet affordable UL certified motor control solutions containing integrated data collection and reporting; this technology does not require an IT department to maintain.
Several months ago, Pratt Industries, one of the industry’s largest manufacturers of paper and corrugated products, and a company committed to recycling, approached us to install a control and data collection system for a new material recovery recycling plant being built in Shreveport, Louisiana. A sister plant was being implemented in another location, and controls were being installed there by another firm, but they wanted a second solution for comparison. Their request was not only to provide the automation and controls, but to make plant information available to their management teams on a 24/7 basis from anywhere in the world using Web technologies.
A material recovery recycling plant is quite simple. Recyclable material such as cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum cans arrives at one end of the plant, usually all mixed together from a variety of sources. The plant uses many sorting devices, including screens, magnets, separators, magnetic conveyors and scanners, that sort and separate each of the disparate materials, then convey the material to a series of balers. Each of the materials is baled and moved to their own processing plants, or sold to other plants for producing finished goods and products with recycled content.
Figure 1, Material handling equipment at the materials recovery facility
While the plant footprint was quite large, we were able to consolidate the controls to a single four-bay control cabinet. Over 65 AC induction motors are used in conjunction with numerous variable frequency drives to control the various conveyors, material handling equipment and processing equipment. Our client wanted the capability to monitor each of these motors, their status, any faults, and be able to view and change variable frequency drive parameters.
Figure 2, One of the bays in the main control
cabinet contains the PLC system, a second smaller
PLC and some of the motor control components.
We selected AutomationDirect to provide the core of our automation solution, principally due to their “ease-of-use” and flexibility. All of AutomationDirect’s components use Ethernet as the network topology; this provided the flexibility to add the plant networking, as well as the upstream communications. We used several C-more touch screen operator interface panels at various locations throughout the plant; information from each panel is readily available in real-time. We installed C-more touch panels in the pre-sort area, post-sort area, baler, and the main operator console. Each C-more panel is networked via Ethernet to the main PLC, which is a DirectLogic D2-260 unit with two racks of I/O installed. The PLC system also communicates via Modbus (over Ethernet) to 16 AC variable frequency drives. We installed a DL06 unit to serve as an “E-stop” PLC dedicated to monitoring the E-stops; it captures the fault conditions and reports them to the main control system. This PLC also communicates via Ethernet to the main D2-260 PLC.
Figure 3, The main Operator Console is a 15” C-more panel mounted
on the 4-bay cabinet that houses the PLC, drives, motor controls and
other control components.
As a committed recycling company, Pratt ultimately plans dozens of these material reclamation centers nationwide. Since these will be geographically dispersed, their management team had a requirement to acquire up-to-date information and instant production data from anywhere in the world. The C-more panel has an FTP function that allows us to transfer production data, status information, up-time and down-time statistics, C-more screen captures, trend graphs, and data securely to a server at our facility. We wrote custom software that allows Pratt management the ability to securely and instantly look at nearly any data, any C-more screen, and production statistics, over the Web.
Figure 4, This fault screen monitors the status of every motor and variable frequency drive in the plant, and can be viewed securely over the web by management on a 24/7 basis.
Figure 5, The main operator console allows the operator
to manage the follow of all material throughout the plant,
as well as call up any maintenance or set-up screen.
(Figures 4 & 5)
The AutomationDirect control system provided all the connectivity we needed in a control system that included 67 motors, 16 variable frequency drives, four C-more touch screen operator interfaces and a mid-range PLC system. We were able to use the FTP transfer function from C-more to provide our customer with the ability to continually monitor production data, plant statistics and fault conditions, all securely over the Web. In the end, the solution achieved all goals the customer had outlined, and we are continuing to add remote monitoring features at the customer’s request, while enhancing the solution that we already have in place. We will be adding the C-more remote feature in the near future which adds additional capabilities to the system. We were extremely pleased that AutomationDirect added this feature which greatly enhances our solution, and we are able to offer it to any of our customers with a simple download.
Comment on or read comments on this article
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