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“Supervision
& Alarm Fault Logging - As Seen on TV Screens” Background When Ocean Technical Glass (OTG), suppliers of finished
glass panels for Sony TV screens, commissioned a new control system at their
glass works in Cardiff, they requested special attention be paid to a highly
sensitive alarm system. Opened
in November 1995, the new processing plant polishes and finishes TV screen glass
panels, which are shipped from Japan. Since then OTG, a joint venture between
Nippon Electronic Glass (NEG) and Schott Glasswerkes of Germany, have opened a
second polishing and finishing line, and are now manufacturing their own glass
panels from raw materials. The Problem The
management of Ocean Technical Glass had identified that any efficiency gains
made through the implementation of a new control and automation system could be
seriously affected by substantial delays in isolating and remedying a breakdown
in the electrical supply - much of which is located underground. Main
contractor, Groupe Schneider, were commissioned to install a system that could
immediately notify production area operators of any electrical supply problem
and, perhaps more importantly, pinpoint its precise location. Solution Automation
Software Engineering
(ASE), were specifically brought in
to provide supervision and alarm
communications fault logging as part of the new control system. ASE’s bespoke PLC and SCADA software enables operators in
two separate control units in the main production area to monitor the status of
electrical supply, transformers, temperature sensors, circuit breakers and pumps
in eleven different locations around the site. In the event of an electrical
fault, a message will appear instantly on overview screens in each control unit.
The system is further backed up with strategically located beacons and hooters,
which flash and sound off to provide a high degree of accuracy in finding the
cause of an electrical failure. |
