block text image

AVEVA aiming to drive sustainability by helping industries digitally transform

As an AVEVA Select partner we are proud to be the sole AVEVA distributor for the sub-Saharan region and drive the approach AVEVA is taking when it comes to sustainability.

At AVEVA, sustainability has never been higher on the agenda! Our partner is taking actions to embed sustainability into our operations and our core business strategy. They are committed to leading sustainable innovation and to work in partnership with others to make a more just, net-zero world a reality for the next generation.

They will manage sustainability through the lens of their technology handprint, operational footprint, and inclusive culture. This approach was delivered to our region in Southern Africa at our Annual X-Change User Conference that took place in May 2022.

Our media partner, Engineering News, covered this topic in further detail in an article below:

Read Full Article
block text image

AVEVA aiming to drive sustainability by helping industries digitally transform

As an AVEVA Select partner we are proud to be the sole AVEVA distributor for the sub-Saharan region and drive the approach AVEVA is taking when it comes to sustainability.

At AVEVA, sustainability has never been higher on the agenda! Our partner is taking actions to embed sustainability into our operations and our core business strategy. They are committed to leading sustainable innovation and to work in partnership with others to make a more just, net-zero world a reality for the next generation.

They will manage sustainability through the lens of their technology handprint, operational footprint, and inclusive culture. This approach was delivered to our region in Southern Africa at our Annual X-Change User Conference that took place in May 2022.

Our media partner, Engineering News, covered this topic in further detail in an article below:

Read Full Article

“This agreement enables clients to kindle a cultural shift towards anti-fragility and resilience. It accelerates their digital transformation journeys while ensuring alignment to global and regional marketing trends as well as technology. Being chosen for the Select Partnership program is not only a testament to the value that IS³ brings to AVEVA but also signifies the incredible progress that has been made in the reshaping of the industrial automation market”

Dion Govender – CEO, Digital Industries (Pty) Ltd

“An AVEVA Select partner can leverage the full breadth of our portfolio to empower customers as they double down on their digital strategies. Designed for our distributors, the unique AVEVA Select program helps them to optimize on opportunities and support customers to succeed in their digital transition. “We are pleased to welcome IS³ to the AVEVA Select family and look forward to developing and capitalizing on mutually beneficial growth strategies.”

Kerry Grimes – Head of Global Partners, AVEVA.

About IS³

About IS³

Driven by their ability to see the limitless potential of technology to empower people and transform businesses, IS³ provides industry software solutioning and support that enables individuals, teams, and businesses to move efficiently, seamlessly, and compliantly through their digital transformation journey. Their superior industrial software solutions include production, operations, production performance, manufacturing, intelligence, and business process management.

About AVEVA

About AVEVA

AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software, driving digital transformation and sustainability. By connecting the power of information and artificial intelligence with human insight, AVEVA enables teams to use their data to unlock new value. We call this Performance Intelligence. AVEVA’s comprehensive portfolio enables more than 20,000 industrial enterprises to engineer smarter, operate better and drive sustainable efficiency. AVEVA supports customers through a trusted ecosystem that includes 5,500 partners and 5,700 certified developers around the world. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with over 6,500 employees and 90 offices in over 40 countries.

About AVEVA Select

About AVEVA Select

The AVEVA Select program is designed for partners with full access to AVEVA’s comprehensive software portfolio, enabling them to help companies accelerate their digital transformation journey. AVEVA Select aligns to both market and technology trends, with programs designed to suit every product and solution specialization in the engineering and industrial segments. By leveraging the breadth of the AVEVA software portfolio, AVEVA Select partners can now help customers simplify design, optimize production, and maximize performance.

About IS³

About AVEVA

About AVEVA Select

About IS³

Driven by their ability to see the limitless potential of technology to empower people and transform businesses, IS³ provides industry software solutioning and support that enables individuals, teams, and businesses to move efficiently, seamlessly, and compliantly through their digital transformation journey. Their superior industrial software solutions include production, operations, production performance, manufacturing, intelligence, and business process management.

About AVEVA

AVEVA is a global leader in industrial software, driving digital transformation and sustainability. By connecting the power of information and artificial intelligence with human insight, AVEVA enables teams to use their data to unlock new value. We call this Performance Intelligence. AVEVA’s comprehensive portfolio enables more than 20,000 industrial enterprises to engineer smarter, operate better and drive sustainable efficiency. AVEVA supports customers through a trusted ecosystem that includes 5,500 partners and 5,700 certified developers around the world. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with over 6,500 employees and 90 offices in over 40 countries.

About AVEVA Select

The AVEVA Select program is designed for partners with full access to AVEVA’s comprehensive software portfolio, enabling them to help companies accelerate their digital transformation journey. AVEVA Select aligns to both market and technology trends, with programs designed to suit every product and solution specialization in the engineering and industrial segments. By leveraging the breadth of the AVEVA software portfolio, AVEVA Select partners can now help customers simplify design, optimize production, and maximize performance.

Experience the Limitless Potential of Technology

We love seeing our customers succeed. On the road to excellence, their success is ours. Find out how AVEVA software solutions from IS³ are helping companies all over the world to work better, faster and greener – all while reducing costs.

IS³’s Customer Success Stories

AECI Mining Explosives – Raw Material and Product Tracking
AECI Mining Explosives – Raw Material and Product Tracking
AEL (now AECI Mining Explosives) gives its customers a bigger bang for their buck with help from IS³

Speak to an Expert

Contact one of our highly qualified sales representatives to see how we can assist with maximising your potential!

    +27
    • United States+1
    • United Kingdom+44
    • Afghanistan (‫افغانستان‬‎)+93
    • Albania (Shqipëri)+355
    • Algeria (‫الجزائر‬‎)+213
    • American Samoa+1684
    • Andorra+376
    • Angola+244
    • Anguilla+1264
    • Antigua and Barbuda+1268
    • Argentina+54
    • Armenia (Հայաստան)+374
    • Aruba+297
    • Australia+61
    • Austria (Österreich)+43
    • Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan)+994
    • Bahamas+1242
    • Bahrain (‫البحرين‬‎)+973
    • Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ)+880
    • Barbados+1246
    • Belarus (Беларусь)+375
    • Belgium (België)+32
    • Belize+501
    • Benin (Bénin)+229
    • Bermuda+1441
    • Bhutan (འབྲུག)+975
    • Bolivia+591
    • Bosnia and Herzegovina (Босна и Херцеговина)+387
    • Botswana+267
    • Brazil (Brasil)+55
    • British Indian Ocean Territory+246
    • British Virgin Islands+1284
    • Brunei+673
    • Bulgaria (България)+359
    • Burkina Faso+226
    • Burundi (Uburundi)+257
    • Cambodia (កម្ពុជា)+855
    • Cameroon (Cameroun)+237
    • Canada+1
    • Cape Verde (Kabu Verdi)+238
    • Caribbean Netherlands+599
    • Cayman Islands+1345
    • Central African Republic (République centrafricaine)+236
    • Chad (Tchad)+235
    • Chile+56
    • China (中国)+86
    • Christmas Island+61
    • Cocos (Keeling) Islands+61
    • Colombia+57
    • Comoros (‫جزر القمر‬‎)+269
    • Congo (DRC) (Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo)+243
    • Congo (Republic) (Congo-Brazzaville)+242
    • Cook Islands+682
    • Costa Rica+506
    • Côte d’Ivoire+225
    • Croatia (Hrvatska)+385
    • Cuba+53
    • Curaçao+599
    • Cyprus (Κύπρος)+357
    • Czech Republic (Česká republika)+420
    • Denmark (Danmark)+45
    • Djibouti+253
    • Dominica+1767
    • Dominican Republic (República Dominicana)+1
    • Ecuador+593
    • Egypt (‫مصر‬‎)+20
    • El Salvador+503
    • Equatorial Guinea (Guinea Ecuatorial)+240
    • Eritrea+291
    • Estonia (Eesti)+372
    • Ethiopia+251
    • Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)+500
    • Faroe Islands (Føroyar)+298
    • Fiji+679
    • Finland (Suomi)+358
    • France+33
    • French Guiana (Guyane française)+594
    • French Polynesia (Polynésie française)+689
    • Gabon+241
    • Gambia+220
    • Georgia (საქართველო)+995
    • Germany (Deutschland)+49
    • Ghana (Gaana)+233
    • Gibraltar+350
    • Greece (Ελλάδα)+30
    • Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)+299
    • Grenada+1473
    • Guadeloupe+590
    • Guam+1671
    • Guatemala+502
    • Guernsey+44
    • Guinea (Guinée)+224
    • Guinea-Bissau (Guiné Bissau)+245
    • Guyana+592
    • Haiti+509
    • Honduras+504
    • Hong Kong (香港)+852
    • Hungary (Magyarország)+36
    • Iceland (Ísland)+354
    • India (भारत)+91
    • Indonesia+62
    • Iran (‫ایران‬‎)+98
    • Iraq (‫العراق‬‎)+964
    • Ireland+353
    • Isle of Man+44
    • Israel (‫ישראל‬‎)+972
    • Italy (Italia)+39
    • Jamaica+1
    • Japan (日本)+81
    • Jersey+44
    • Jordan (‫الأردن‬‎)+962
    • Kazakhstan (Казахстан)+7
    • Kenya+254
    • Kiribati+686
    • Kosovo+383
    • Kuwait (‫الكويت‬‎)+965
    • Kyrgyzstan (Кыргызстан)+996
    • Laos (ລາວ)+856
    • Latvia (Latvija)+371
    • Lebanon (‫لبنان‬‎)+961
    • Lesotho+266
    • Liberia+231
    • Libya (‫ليبيا‬‎)+218
    • Liechtenstein+423
    • Lithuania (Lietuva)+370
    • Luxembourg+352
    • Macau (澳門)+853
    • Macedonia (FYROM) (Македонија)+389
    • Madagascar (Madagasikara)+261
    • Malawi+265
    • Malaysia+60
    • Maldives+960
    • Mali+223
    • Malta+356
    • Marshall Islands+692
    • Martinique+596
    • Mauritania (‫موريتانيا‬‎)+222
    • Mauritius (Moris)+230
    • Mayotte+262
    • Mexico (México)+52
    • Micronesia+691
    • Moldova (Republica Moldova)+373
    • Monaco+377
    • Mongolia (Монгол)+976
    • Montenegro (Crna Gora)+382
    • Montserrat+1664
    • Morocco (‫المغرب‬‎)+212
    • Mozambique (Moçambique)+258
    • Myanmar (Burma) (မြန်မာ)+95
    • Namibia (Namibië)+264
    • Nauru+674
    • Nepal (नेपाल)+977
    • Netherlands (Nederland)+31
    • New Caledonia (Nouvelle-Calédonie)+687
    • New Zealand+64
    • Nicaragua+505
    • Niger (Nijar)+227
    • Nigeria+234
    • Niue+683
    • Norfolk Island+672
    • North Korea (조선 민주주의 인민 공화국)+850
    • Northern Mariana Islands+1670
    • Norway (Norge)+47
    • Oman (‫عُمان‬‎)+968
    • Pakistan (‫پاکستان‬‎)+92
    • Palau+680
    • Palestine (‫فلسطين‬‎)+970
    • Panama (Panamá)+507
    • Papua New Guinea+675
    • Paraguay+595
    • Peru (Perú)+51
    • Philippines+63
    • Poland (Polska)+48
    • Portugal+351
    • Puerto Rico+1
    • Qatar (‫قطر‬‎)+974
    • Réunion (La Réunion)+262
    • Romania (România)+40
    • Russia (Россия)+7
    • Rwanda+250
    • Saint Barthélemy+590
    • Saint Helena+290
    • Saint Kitts and Nevis+1869
    • Saint Lucia+1758
    • Saint Martin (Saint-Martin (partie française))+590
    • Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon)+508
    • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines+1784
    • Samoa+685
    • San Marino+378
    • São Tomé and Príncipe (São Tomé e Príncipe)+239
    • Saudi Arabia (‫المملكة العربية السعودية‬‎)+966
    • Senegal (Sénégal)+221
    • Serbia (Србија)+381
    • Seychelles+248
    • Sierra Leone+232
    • Singapore+65
    • Sint Maarten+1721
    • Slovakia (Slovensko)+421
    • Slovenia (Slovenija)+386
    • Solomon Islands+677
    • Somalia (Soomaaliya)+252
    • South Africa+27
    • South Korea (대한민국)+82
    • South Sudan (‫جنوب السودان‬‎)+211
    • Spain (España)+34
    • Sri Lanka (ශ්‍රී ලංකාව)+94
    • Sudan (‫السودان‬‎)+249
    • Suriname+597
    • Svalbard and Jan Mayen+47
    • Swaziland+268
    • Sweden (Sverige)+46
    • Switzerland (Schweiz)+41
    • Syria (‫سوريا‬‎)+963
    • Taiwan (台灣)+886
    • Tajikistan+992
    • Tanzania+255
    • Thailand (ไทย)+66
    • Timor-Leste+670
    • Togo+228
    • Tokelau+690
    • Tonga+676
    • Trinidad and Tobago+1868
    • Tunisia (‫تونس‬‎)+216
    • Turkey (Türkiye)+90
    • Turkmenistan+993
    • Turks and Caicos Islands+1649
    • Tuvalu+688
    • U.S. Virgin Islands+1340
    • Uganda+256
    • Ukraine (Україна)+380
    • United Arab Emirates (‫الإمارات العربية المتحدة‬‎)+971
    • United Kingdom+44
    • United States+1
    • Uruguay+598
    • Uzbekistan (Oʻzbekiston)+998
    • Vanuatu+678
    • Vatican City (Città del Vaticano)+39
    • Venezuela+58
    • Vietnam (Việt Nam)+84
    • Wallis and Futuna (Wallis-et-Futuna)+681
    • Western Sahara (‫الصحراء الغربية‬‎)+212
    • Yemen (‫اليمن‬‎)+967
    • Zambia+260
    • Zimbabwe+263
    • Åland Islands+358

    Success Stories

    Infrastructure

    Transnet National Ports Authority

    Read the success story below

    Transnet’s Port of Durban outwits load shedding and plans for the future

    Goals

    • Mitigate the effect of power outages from the national grid
    • Centralised engineering
    • Implementation of standards
    • Stable, scalable and flexible operational information and control software platform
    • Increased security
    • Operational safety
    • User-defined reporting facilities
    • Traceable cause-and-effect scenarios

    Solutions and Products

    • AVEVA System Platform
    • AVEVA InTouch
    • AVEVA Historian
    • Software Toolbox’s TOP Server I/O suite

    Challenges

    • Multiple contractors
    • Resistance to change
    • Limited time for full functional test

    Results

    • Power outages reduced from hours to minutes
    • Secure remote access and switching of MV switchgear
    • Reduced solution deployment time and costs
    • Scalable solution will cater with port expansion
    • Rapid data analysis through real-time reporting
    • Fault finding down to the device level
    • Early involvement of relevant personnel for the resolution of issues
    • Remote VPN for faster service provider support.
    • Fail-safe operation through extensive redundancy measure

    Background

    Durban, South Africa

    A 40-minute national grid power outage in the Port of Durban in 2007 due to load shedding resulted in an estimated R20-30 million loss as the complex’s 30 square kilometre facility first plunged into chaos and then took two hours to resume normal operations after the power was restored.

    Grid-locked cargo traffic, including container trucks and chemical trucks, was only the start, as shipping itself ground to a standstill. Even electricians couldn’t get to the substation to switch to the alternative incoming supply to restore power.

    Project Requirements and Goals

    Quite obviously, the first priority was to mitigate the effects of load shedding and minimise the downtime of port operations through the monitoring and control of the electrical grid network and generators. But it soon became clear that this was not the only goal.

    Transnet needed a vision to keep capacity ahead of demand and this meant taking a holistic view of the port’s operational needs, which went beyond limiting the effect of power outages. This meant including the sand dredging and pumping scheme, the central fire system, the millennium tower and the air conditioning plant.

    This would require a system that was scalable, adaptable and that would support quick and well-informed control decisions. The criteria included:

    Centralised engineering

    The system would need to be simple to maintain, able to cope with future growth and provide for the quick rollouts of projects without downtime. The original topology consisted of 15 stand-alone AVEVA (formerly Wonderware) InTouch HMI/SCADA stations distributed over the 30 square-kilometre area of the port, with each one connected to the local area PLC. Not only did this present major difficulties with updating and maintenance, but such a topology was insufficient to realistically handle the planned rapid expansions and developments at the port.

    Stable industrial software platform

    This would have to improve processing speed and provide redundancy on both data storage and end device communications. The speed of the network had decreased as more equipment, data, tags and systems were added to a SCADA system that was already struggling to cope because of the lack of a supportive infrastructure.

    Robust and flexible security

    The ability to switch power sources remotely at any site while allowing authorisation to be changed as and when and needed all within the strict 33/11/6.6 kV switching regulations.

    Operational safety

    The system must have the ability to step through automatic control sequences to safely set up the network and allow synchronisation of the diesel generators with the port’s grid feeders.

    Improved power supply efficiency and cost

    Power Factor Correction (PFC) is a key element to getting the most from available supplies, so a key requirement was that the system must be able to not only manage power factor control in local sub-station zones but also globally override and adjust PFCs where necessary, to manage total port power factor correction.

    The introduction of user-defined reporting facilities

    This would be based on trend data which would be used for analytical purposes.

    Implementation of software standards

    With the changes envisaged during the port’s expansion, it was important to introduce and maintain standards which would reduce engineering time and costs while minimising errors and rework and speeding up project deadlines.

    Traceable cause-and-effect scenarios

    Immediate access to real-time and historical data would help analyse what went wrong and what caused the failure.

     

    “The introduction of standards has definitely reduced engineering time and costs and also ensured more accurate and correct work in the port.”

    Warren Hofland, CSS Systems Engineer

    Implementation

    The port’s complex electrical system uses medium voltage (MV) circuit breakers from a variety of manufacturers, various power monitoring meters and protection relays, as well as synchronising relays and engine management controls. It is comprised of:

    • Two separately located primary 33kV supply feeds from the municipality
    • One 33kV ring main unit link as backup
    • 33kV to 11kV transformers
    • 33kV to 6.6kV transformers
    • Four 2.5MVA diesel generators
    • Ten power factor correction banks
    • Feeders, bus couplers, regenerative cranes at the berths and more

    TNPA chose systems integrator Convenient Software Solutions (CSS) to implement the extensive upgrade project because of the company’s experience and knowledge of the AVEVA ArchestrA technology, provided by IS³, and their local presence, which meant good support and access to professional services when needed.

    CSS chose to continue with the IS³ | AVEVA solution set by adding System Platform based on ArchestrA technology and the real-time AVEVA Historian. This would not only integrate seamlessly with the existing InTouch systems but also ticked all the boxes of flexibility, scalability, centralised software engineering, redundancy and the enforcement of standards in TNPA’s list of system requirements.

    Bearing in mind the key system requirements, the design phase included numerous meetings to establish and finalise the software structure, the network and communication layout, tag naming convention, the HMI and its navigation facilities, documentation requirements, security provisions, data logging and trending needs as well as alarm management.

    “Using the agreed operational criteria, CSS then developed a thin-slice implementation as proof of concept,” says Transnet electrical engineer Johan Sauerman. “This helped to confirm that we were on the right track with respect to our overall design philosophy and that the inherent flexibility of the chosen solutions could meet our current control and information needs. Equally important was that the same solutions would meet our changing needs in the future with regard to the port’s planned expansions and increased complexity.”

    “The system as it stands today is quite extensive,” says CSS systems engineer Warren Hofland. “It comprises 13 PLCs, 8 remote I/O drops, 3 servers, 13 SCADA control stations with local Application Object Server (AOS), 5 Historian Client stations, over 2000 physical I/Os and 65 SCADA/HMI screens.”

    Software Toolbox’s TOP Server I/O suite is used to communicate with various equipment such as Schneider PLCs, deep-sea controllers, CAT engine control panels, GE protection relays, Landis and Gyr power meters, IFM vibration monitoring instrumentation and a Cogent OPC Datahub.

    “We paid particular attention to redundancy as this was a critical requirement,” says Hofland. “40 km of redundant fibre optic network now links the key elements of the system such as the hot standby controllers and the redundant AOS peer network to 13 local stations which will fail over to the centralised AOS server in case of problems. ‘Store and forward’ functionality protects the data while a wireless VPN is used for the remote control and operation of MV switchgear and generators.”

    The wealth of organised information available in the real-time Historian is designed to support operational decisions and in this regard, Transnet personnel were able to diagnose the past and plan for the future. “We have found immense value in using the historian client to access historical trend information for investigative and diagnostic purposes,” says Sauerman.

    A project of this scale will naturally involve many players and this was clear from the start. So the goal was to keep one’s eye on the objective and to ensure that all the various contractors did the same while respecting one another’s contributions. “Change is always a challenge,” says Hofland. “The trick is to make it exciting rather than threatening by showing that end-user needs are truly being addressed through everybody’s collaborative contributions.”

     

    Conclusion
    Perhaps the most significant benefit of all for the TNPA is the peace of mind that the Port of Durban, the most important international import/export hub in the country, is now master of its own fate with respect to the reliability of its electrical supply. But, while the effect of power interruptions by the national grid has been reduced from hours to minutes, perhaps the wisest decision the TNPA took was to review their operational information and control infrastructure in its entirety and adopt a solution with the flexibility and scalability to deal with the port’s ambitious expansion plans.

     

    Benefits

    • Far more secure and controllable power supply to the port
    • Secure remote access and switching of MV switchgear
    • Centralised development environment greatly reduces solution deployment time and costs
    • System capability to easily handle future port expansions
    • Rapid data analysis through real-time reporting
    • Fault finding down to the device level from any InTouch view station
    • Accurate diagnostics enable operators to involve the right people the first time
    • Remote VPN for faster service provider support
    • Redundancy on historian SQL server using ‘Store and Forward’ function – provides guarantee of data trail
    Success Stories

    Infrastructure

    Transnet National Ports Authority

    Read the success story below

    Routing optimisation at Saldanha’s bulk ore terminal with help from IS³ | AVEVA

    The ongoing expansion of Transnet’s bulk iron ore terminal at Saldanha Bay has meant that the routing of vast quantities of material from the rail receiving stations to the shipping points had become a logistical nightmare that was expanding exponentially – and prone to expensive errors. It was time for a change.

     

    Background
    Iron ore is delivered to the port along a dedicated ore railway managed by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) from the mines near Sishen in the Northern Cape. Several world records have been set at the Sishen mines, including the largest single blasting operation, where 7.2 million tons of rocks were broken during a single blast in April 1981. The ore is usually transported to Saldanha by trains 2.3 km long, comprising 214 wagons, each carrying 100 tons of ore, (i.e., a total of 21 400 tons per train). A train with 660 wagons recently set a new world record for the longest train and heaviest load from Sishen to Saldanha, with a total load of 68 640 tons of ore and a length of over 7.5 km.

    From the rail delivery points, the iron ore is transported by conveyor to stockpiles where it is handled by stacker-reclaimers into fine, coarse and lumpy ore piles, from which it will then be transported onto ships for export on 2.5km-long conveyors.

    The existing system consisted of pages upon pages of hard-wired routes which was totally user-unfriendly, unmanageable and a nightmare to update in view of the continuous expansion of the terminal. For example, the introduction of each new conveyor would result in the possibility of another 40 routes (yet another page of buttons).

    Although selecting the appropriate route was an exercise in patience, it could prove useless because there was no guarantee that the selected sequence of conveyors was available for any number of reasons ,including maintenance, being in manual mode or part of another selected route.

    Another consideration is that of the stakeholders. The iron ore is actually the property of various mining houses such as Kumba Iron Ore, Assmang, ArcelorMittal and Sedibeng, all of whom need to know about the status of shipments and their location (e.g., stockpiled, loaded onto ships, etc.).

    About Transnet and the Saldanha Bay bulk iron ore terminal

    Transnet is the largest and most crucial part of the freight logistics chain that delivers goods to each and every South African. Every day Transnet delivers thousands of tons of goods around South Africa, through its pipelines as well as to and from its ports.

    The new Transnet is made up of five operating divisions: Transnet Freight Rail, Transnet Rail Engineering, Transnet National Ports Authority, Transnet Port Terminals and Transnet Pipelines.

    Project Requirements and Goals

    Quite obviously, the first priority was to mitigate the effects of load shedding and minimise the downtime of port operations through the monitoring and control of the electrical grid network and generators. But it soon became clear that this was not the only goal.

    Transnet needed a vision to keep capacity ahead of demand and this meant taking a holistic view of the port’s operational needs, which went beyond limiting the effect of power outages. This meant including the sand dredging and pumping scheme, the central fire system, the millennium tower and the air conditioning plant.

    This would require a system that was scalable, adaptable and that would support quick and well-informed control decisions. The criteria included:

    Centralised engineering

    The system would need to be simple to maintain, able to cope with future growth and provide for the quick rollouts of projects without downtime. The original topology consisted of 15 stand-alone AVEVA (formerly Wonderware) InTouch HMI/SCADA stations distributed over the 30 square-kilometre area of the port, with each one connected to the local area PLC. Not only did this present major difficulties with updating and maintenance, but such a topology was insufficient to realistically handle the planned rapid expansions and developments at the port.

    Stable industrial software platform

    This would have to improve processing speed and provide redundancy on both data storage and end device communications. The speed of the network had decreased as more equipment, data, tags and systems were added to a SCADA system that was already struggling to cope because of the lack of a supportive infrastructure.

    Robust and flexible security

    The ability to switch power sources remotely at any site while allowing authorisation to be changed as and when and needed all within the strict 33/11/6.6 kV switching regulations.

    Operational safety

    The system must have the ability to step through automatic control sequences to safely set up the network and allow synchronisation of the diesel generators with the port’s grid feeders.

    Improved power supply efficiency and cost

    Power Factor Correction (PFC) is a key element to getting the most from available supplies, so a key requirement was that the system must be able to not only manage power factor control in local sub-station zones but also globally override and adjust PFCs where necessary, to manage total port power factor correction.

    The introduction of user-defined reporting facilities

    This would be based on trend data which would be used for analytical purposes.

    Implementation of software standards

    With the changes envisaged during the port’s expansion, it was important to introduce and maintain standards which would reduce engineering time and costs while minimising errors and rework and speeding up project deadlines.

    Traceable cause-and-effect scenarios

    Immediate access to real-time and historical data would help analyse what went wrong and what caused the failure.

     

    “The introduction of standards has definitely reduced engineering time and costs and also ensured more accurate and correct work in the port.”

    Warren Hofland, CSS Systems Engineer

    Implementation

    The port’s complex electrical system uses medium voltage (MV) circuit breakers from a variety of manufacturers, various power monitoring meters and protection relays, as well as synchronising relays and engine management controls. It is comprised of:

    • Two separately located primary 33kV supply feeds from the municipality
    • One 33kV ring main unit link as backup
    • 33kV to 11kV transformers
    • 33kV to 6.6kV transformers
    • Four 2.5MVA diesel generators
    • Ten power factor correction banks
    • Feeders, bus couplers, regenerative cranes at the berths and more

    TNPA chose systems integrator Convenient Software Solutions (CSS) to implement the extensive upgrade project because of the company’s experience and knowledge of the AVEVA ArchestrA technology, provided by IS³, and their local presence, which meant good support and access to professional services when needed.

    CSS chose to continue with the IS³ | AVEVA solution set by adding System Platform based on ArchestrA technology and the real-time AVEVA Historian. This would not only integrate seamlessly with the existing InTouch systems but also ticked all the boxes of flexibility, scalability, centralised software engineering, redundancy and the enforcement of standards in TNPA’s list of system requirements.

    Bearing in mind the key system requirements, the design phase included numerous meetings to establish and finalise the software structure, the network and communication layout, tag naming convention, the HMI and its navigation facilities, documentation requirements, security provisions, data logging and trending needs as well as alarm management.

    “Using the agreed operational criteria, CSS then developed a thin-slice implementation as proof of concept,” says Transnet electrical engineer Johan Sauerman. “This helped to confirm that we were on the right track with respect to our overall design philosophy and that the inherent flexibility of the chosen solutions could meet our current control and information needs. Equally important was that the same solutions would meet our changing needs in the future with regard to the port’s planned expansions and increased complexity.”

    “The system as it stands today is quite extensive,” says CSS systems engineer Warren Hofland. “It comprises 13 PLCs, 8 remote I/O drops, 3 servers, 13 SCADA control stations with local Application Object Server (AOS), 5 Historian Client stations, over 2000 physical I/Os and 65 SCADA/HMI screens.”

    Software Toolbox’s TOP Server I/O suite is used to communicate with various equipment such as Schneider PLCs, deep-sea controllers, CAT engine control panels, GE protection relays, Landis and Gyr power meters, IFM vibration monitoring instrumentation and a Cogent OPC Datahub.

    “We paid particular attention to redundancy as this was a critical requirement,” says Hofland. “40 km of redundant fibre optic network now links the key elements of the system such as the hot standby controllers and the redundant AOS peer network to 13 local stations which will fail over to the centralised AOS server in case of problems. ‘Store and forward’ functionality protects the data while a wireless VPN is used for the remote control and operation of MV switchgear and generators.”

    The wealth of organised information available in the real-time Historian is designed to support operational decisions and in this regard, Transnet personnel were able to diagnose the past and plan for the future. “We have found immense value in using the historian client to access historical trend information for investigative and diagnostic purposes,” says Sauerman.

    A project of this scale will naturally involve many players and this was clear from the start. So the goal was to keep one’s eye on the objective and to ensure that all the various contractors did the same while respecting one another’s contributions. “Change is always a challenge,” says Hofland. “The trick is to make it exciting rather than threatening by showing that end-user needs are truly being addressed through everybody’s collaborative contributions.”

     

    Conclusion
    Perhaps the most significant benefit of all for the TNPA is the peace of mind that the Port of Durban, the most important international import/export hub in the country, is now master of its own fate with respect to the reliability of its electrical supply. But, while the effect of power interruptions by the national grid has been reduced from hours to minutes, perhaps the wisest decision the TNPA took was to review their operational information and control infrastructure in its entirety and adopt a solution with the flexibility and scalability to deal with the port’s ambitious expansion plans.

     

    Benefits

    • Far more secure and controllable power supply to the port
    • Secure remote access and switching of MV switchgear
    • Centralised development environment greatly reduces solution deployment time and costs
    • System capability to easily handle future port expansions
    • Rapid data analysis through real-time reporting
    • Fault finding down to the device level from any InTouch view station
    • Accurate diagnostics enable operators to involve the right people the first time
    • Remote VPN for faster service provider support
    • Redundancy on historian SQL server using ‘Store and Forward’ function – provides guarantee of data trail
    Success Stories

    Infrastructure

    Transnet National Ports Authority

    Read the success story below

    Routing optimisation at Saldanha’s bulk ore terminal with help from IS³ | AVEVA

    The ongoing expansion of Transnet’s bulk iron ore terminal at Saldanha Bay has meant that the routing of vast quantities of material from the rail receiving stations to the shipping points had become a logistical nightmare that was expanding exponentially – and prone to expensive errors. It was time for a change.

     

    Background
    Iron ore is delivered to the port along a dedicated ore railway managed by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) from the mines near Sishen in the Northern Cape. Several world records have been set at the Sishen mines, including the largest single blasting operation, where 7.2 million tons of rocks were broken during a single blast in April 1981. The ore is usually transported to Saldanha by trains 2.3 km long, comprising 214 wagons, each carrying 100 tons of ore, (i.e., a total of 21 400 tons per train). A train with 660 wagons recently set a new world record for the longest train and heaviest load from Sishen to Saldanha, with a total load of 68 640 tons of ore and a length of over 7.5 km.

    From the rail delivery points, the iron ore is transported by conveyor to stockpiles where it is handled by stacker-reclaimers into fine, coarse and lumpy ore piles, from which it will then be transported onto ships for export on 2.5km-long conveyors.

    The existing system consisted of pages upon pages of hard-wired routes which was totally user-unfriendly, unmanageable and a nightmare to update in view of the continuous expansion of the terminal. For example, the introduction of each new conveyor would result in the possibility of another 40 routes (yet another page of buttons).

    Although selecting the appropriate route was an exercise in patience, it could prove useless because there was no guarantee that the selected sequence of conveyors was available for any number of reasons ,including maintenance, being in manual mode or part of another selected route.

    Another consideration is that of the stakeholders. The iron ore is actually the property of various mining houses such as Kumba Iron Ore, Assmang, ArcelorMittal and Sedibeng, all of whom need to know about the status of shipments and their location (e.g., stockpiled, loaded onto ships, etc.).

    About Transnet and the Saldanha Bay bulk iron ore terminal

    Transnet is the largest and most crucial part of the freight logistics chain that delivers goods to each and every South African. Every day Transnet delivers thousands of tons of goods around South Africa, through its pipelines as well as to and from its ports.

    The new Transnet is made up of five operating divisions: Transnet Freight Rail, Transnet Rail Engineering, Transnet National Ports Authority, Transnet Port Terminals and Transnet Pipelines.

    Project Requirements and Goals

    Quite obviously, the first priority was to mitigate the effects of load shedding and minimise the downtime of port operations through the monitoring and control of the electrical grid network and generators. But it soon became clear that this was not the only goal.

    Transnet needed a vision to keep capacity ahead of demand and this meant taking a holistic view of the port’s operational needs, which went beyond limiting the effect of power outages. This meant including the sand dredging and pumping scheme, the central fire system, the millennium tower and the air conditioning plant.

    This would require a system that was scalable, adaptable and that would support quick and well-informed control decisions. The criteria included:

    Centralised engineering

    The system would need to be simple to maintain, able to cope with future growth and provide for the quick rollouts of projects without downtime. The original topology consisted of 15 stand-alone AVEVA (formerly Wonderware) InTouch HMI/SCADA stations distributed over the 30 square-kilometre area of the port, with each one connected to the local area PLC. Not only did this present major difficulties with updating and maintenance, but such a topology was insufficient to realistically handle the planned rapid expansions and developments at the port.

    Stable industrial software platform

    This would have to improve processing speed and provide redundancy on both data storage and end device communications. The speed of the network had decreased as more equipment, data, tags and systems were added to a SCADA system that was already struggling to cope because of the lack of a supportive infrastructure.

    Robust and flexible security

    The ability to switch power sources remotely at any site while allowing authorisation to be changed as and when and needed all within the strict 33/11/6.6 kV switching regulations.

    Operational safety

    The system must have the ability to step through automatic control sequences to safely set up the network and allow synchronisation of the diesel generators with the port’s grid feeders.

    Improved power supply efficiency and cost

    Power Factor Correction (PFC) is a key element to getting the most from available supplies, so a key requirement was that the system must be able to not only manage power factor control in local sub-station zones but also globally override and adjust PFCs where necessary, to manage total port power factor correction.

    The introduction of user-defined reporting facilities

    This would be based on trend data which would be used for analytical purposes.

    Implementation of software standards

    With the changes envisaged during the port’s expansion, it was important to introduce and maintain standards which would reduce engineering time and costs while minimising errors and rework and speeding up project deadlines.

    Traceable cause-and-effect scenarios

    Immediate access to real-time and historical data would help analyse what went wrong and what caused the failure.

     

    “The introduction of standards has definitely reduced engineering time and costs and also ensured more accurate and correct work in the port.”

    Warren Hofland, CSS Systems Engineer

    Implementation

    The port’s complex electrical system uses medium voltage (MV) circuit breakers from a variety of manufacturers, various power monitoring meters and protection relays, as well as synchronising relays and engine management controls. It is comprised of:

    • Two separately located primary 33kV supply feeds from the municipality
    • One 33kV ring main unit link as backup
    • 33kV to 11kV transformers
    • 33kV to 6.6kV transformers
    • Four 2.5MVA diesel generators
    • Ten power factor correction banks
    • Feeders, bus couplers, regenerative cranes at the berths and more

    TNPA chose systems integrator Convenient Software Solutions (CSS) to implement the extensive upgrade project because of the company’s experience and knowledge of the AVEVA ArchestrA technology, provided by IS³, and their local presence, which meant good support and access to professional services when needed.

    CSS chose to continue with the IS³ | AVEVA solution set by adding System Platform based on ArchestrA technology and the real-time AVEVA Historian. This would not only integrate seamlessly with the existing InTouch systems but also ticked all the boxes of flexibility, scalability, centralised software engineering, redundancy and the enforcement of standards in TNPA’s list of system requirements.

    Bearing in mind the key system requirements, the design phase included numerous meetings to establish and finalise the software structure, the network and communication layout, tag naming convention, the HMI and its navigation facilities, documentation requirements, security provisions, data logging and trending needs as well as alarm management.

    “Using the agreed operational criteria, CSS then developed a thin-slice implementation as proof of concept,” says Transnet electrical engineer Johan Sauerman. “This helped to confirm that we were on the right track with respect to our overall design philosophy and that the inherent flexibility of the chosen solutions could meet our current control and information needs. Equally important was that the same solutions would meet our changing needs in the future with regard to the port’s planned expansions and increased complexity.”

    “The system as it stands today is quite extensive,” says CSS systems engineer Warren Hofland. “It comprises 13 PLCs, 8 remote I/O drops, 3 servers, 13 SCADA control stations with local Application Object Server (AOS), 5 Historian Client stations, over 2000 physical I/Os and 65 SCADA/HMI screens.”

    Software Toolbox’s TOP Server I/O suite is used to communicate with various equipment such as Schneider PLCs, deep-sea controllers, CAT engine control panels, GE protection relays, Landis and Gyr power meters, IFM vibration monitoring instrumentation and a Cogent OPC Datahub.

    “We paid particular attention to redundancy as this was a critical requirement,” says Hofland. “40 km of redundant fibre optic network now links the key elements of the system such as the hot standby controllers and the redundant AOS peer network to 13 local stations which will fail over to the centralised AOS server in case of problems. ‘Store and forward’ functionality protects the data while a wireless VPN is used for the remote control and operation of MV switchgear and generators.”

    The wealth of organised information available in the real-time Historian is designed to support operational decisions and in this regard, Transnet personnel were able to diagnose the past and plan for the future. “We have found immense value in using the historian client to access historical trend information for investigative and diagnostic purposes,” says Sauerman.

    A project of this scale will naturally involve many players and this was clear from the start. So the goal was to keep one’s eye on the objective and to ensure that all the various contractors did the same while respecting one another’s contributions. “Change is always a challenge,” says Hofland. “The trick is to make it exciting rather than threatening by showing that end-user needs are truly being addressed through everybody’s collaborative contributions.”

     

    Conclusion
    Perhaps the most significant benefit of all for the TNPA is the peace of mind that the Port of Durban, the most important international import/export hub in the country, is now master of its own fate with respect to the reliability of its electrical supply. But, while the effect of power interruptions by the national grid has been reduced from hours to minutes, perhaps the wisest decision the TNPA took was to review their operational information and control infrastructure in its entirety and adopt a solution with the flexibility and scalability to deal with the port’s ambitious expansion plans.

     

    Benefits

    • Far more secure and controllable power supply to the port
    • Secure remote access and switching of MV switchgear
    • Centralised development environment greatly reduces solution deployment time and costs
    • System capability to easily handle future port expansions
    • Rapid data analysis through real-time reporting
    • Fault finding down to the device level from any InTouch view station
    • Accurate diagnostics enable operators to involve the right people the first time
    • Remote VPN for faster service provider support
    • Redundancy on historian SQL server using ‘Store and Forward’ function – provides guarantee of data trail

    IS³ Blog

    Welcome to the IS³ blog, a hub of informative and inspiring, industry-related content from around the globe.

    Staying Ahead

    IS³ Media Hub

    Stay ahead of the curve by being up to date on all the latest IS³ industry news and events.