Significant changes have been happening in the utility business. The Vertically Integrated Utilities and their traditional way of doing business are being replaced by new market based Power Companies. These new Power Companies are looking for ways to compete as they deal with stranded assets, deregulation, and open access as well as a myriad of mergers, acquisitions and company breakups and divestitures.
Utilities need to find new ways to maintain reliable service and to pay acceptable dividends to the stockholders. Hundreds of innovative utilizes are staying on top of their business by using a real-time plant information management system (PIMS) to collect and share real-time information about all parts of their operations including generation, transmission, energy control centers and customer usage patterns.
Real-time Information Management Systems in the Power Industry
For any utilities corporation, the generating plants and transmission and distribution facilities are critical sources of information needed to optimize business operations across the enterprise. To optimize plant operations, operators, engineers, and managers need access to relevant information from the plant floor. The analysis and trending of the data provides the basis for making informed and logical decisions that affect not only the plant, but more importantly the profitability of the corporation.
The sources of information available in a power plant are vast and diverse. They range from real time control systems such as SCADA, DCS and PLC to intelligent relays, smart meters, manual log sheets, laboratory data, operator inputs, weather stations, and computer files. Typically there are very limited facilities for analyzing real time and historical plant information from theses sources. For major corporations with geographically distributed plants these sources are virtually inaccessible without the use of an enterprise wide PIMS.
The result of not having real time awareness of plant information means that the corporation is missing significant business opportunities. To be an industry leader requires more than the corporation aim to be the lowest cost producer. Many of the competitors have similar portfolios of plant, people, and working practices. So to differentiate themselves from their competitors, companies must rethink their business goals and have in place a way not only to achieve these goals, but to verify their success.
Companies using a state of the art PIMS report that instant access to years of plant data allows them to increase operational efficiencies by reducing fuel consumption and managing controllable losses. Using the powerful tools provided with the PIMS the user (or third party systems integrators) can design and implement applications that monitor and measure the losses in financial terms. The plant or enterprise can then set measurable achievable goals to reduce the losses.
Installing a PIMS provides a great deal of information to both the operators and to the business units of the corporation resulting in better management of plant assets and improved plant availability. Everyone involved gains the ability to monitor the process.
Emergency repair costs for a unit can be compared to the cost of replacement power so that an informed decision based on effects on the bottom line can be made about whether to proceed with the emergency repair.
Maintenance can be based on equipment run times and starts and stops thus providing the basis for predictable maintenance. Staff can properly analyze equipment failures and forecast the probability of the same equipment failing in the same plant or other business units.
A PIMS system that is properly installed, applied and maintained will rapidly become the one source for real time information across the enterprise.
Selecting a Real Time Information Management System
Companies that are considering an enterprise wide real-time plant information management system can objectively evaluate what they are planning to buy by asking the following questions:
Is the product a world class “Industry Best” solution? Does the software company have hundreds of satisfied utilities customers using their system? Do customers repeatedly tell of the success of their installation and how they have harnessed the power of the PIMS to bring value to their business? Are they happy to discuss their experiences with you?
Is the product easy to install? Can the PIMS software be installed along with the interfaces to the control systems in less than one week? Can this be accomplished without disruption to the plant operations? Does the product typically begin to generate “Enhanced Value Added” for the enterprise immediately following installation?
Does the PIMS supplier have a well developed software support and upgrade capability? Are existing customers happy with the support services available from the supplier? Were previous software upgrades successfully completed without major disruptions to their operations? Are they informed and happy with the suppliers’ plans to further develop the capabilities of the product?
Is the product easy to use? Does the PIMS have Microsoft certification and have the look and feel of familiar products? Does the standard product have links for reporting and analysis to the most popular spreadsheets such as MS Excel and IBM Lotus? Can an average PC user be trained to use the Graphical User Interface and reporting tools in a maximum one-day training session?
Is the product a true time series database? Does it allow for storage by exception and filtering of worthless values? Can it store more than three years of the entire collection of plant information at the same resolution as it was monitored?
Does the client-server architecture make sense? Does the server and client software for the real-time database work together in a seamless fashion? Have the results proven to be highly acceptable to existing customers? Is the Server software open and accessible not only to the PIMS client software but also to other methods such as standard queries from transactional databases (ODBC, OLEDB)?
Is the software scalable? Does an out of the box PIMS system use the same software whether it is 1000 tags or 100,000 tags? If you initially install only part of the plant or corporation is it only a licensing issue to then later increase the size of the system? When the system grows to hundreds of thousands of tags or millions of tags can you simply add more servers? Can the PIMS client software simultaneously read data from multiple servers including servers geographically distributed across the enterprise?
Can the system be Intranet/Internet enabled? Does the product have standard web enabled software clients that allow for data to be viewed in real-time over the corporate intranet or over the Internet? Does the web-enabled client use the latest Internet standards for security and to transmit the data (XML, SVG)? Does it support a fully interactive real time graphical user interface and trending in real time?
Is the supplier likely to be in business in 5 or 10 years? Is the supplier financially stable? How long have they been in business? What are their sales growth and profitability records over the last 4-5 years? Do they have a stable workforce including senior people familiar with the history of the development of the product? How long have they supplied their product to the power industry?
Getting the Most From your PIMS
Once the PIMS has been installed it will provide the collection of data from the sources to which it is connected. Connecting all of the plant process points (tags) to the PIMS server provides the most comprehensive results. The ability to instantly trend and view data from the DCS, and from other plant systems such as the electro static precipitators, soot blowers, ash handling, environmental and water treatment will greatly improve plant operations. Vertically integrating the PIMS into the plant and to the systems affecting the plant like substations and power trading provide the maximum benefit.
A state of the art PIMS should provide all the tools needed to analyze the process data from the plant control systems as well as the performance of the control systems. The PIMS should also provide a platform and tools for users (or third party integrators) to build core applications that support critical business functions by reducing costs, and improving reliability. Many corporations with multiple plants will want to build applications relevant to all their plants. These include applications such as unit optimization, controllable cost applications, and predictable maintenance schedules.
An excellent way to learn what use others in the power utilities have done with their PIMS is to attend the annual users conferences held by the PIMS supplier. You can also check the web sites of the major suppliers where past user conference papers are often listed and available for review.
The Bottom Line on PIMS in the Power Industry
Companies such as British Columbia Hydro, Duke Energy, Texas Utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric, Calpine, Detroit Edison, Innogy, and Florida Power and Light have installed PIMS systems to collect, historize and distribute plant information to every level of their enterprises.
Any major utility corporation operating today without an enterprise wide real-time information management system is severely handicapped in their race to compete in today’s market.
About the Authors
Larry Phillips has extensive experience in operations and engineering management in the power industry. He has worked for OSIsoft since 1998.
David Stockford has worked most of his career in engineering and marketing roles for industrial automation and information systems companies. He has been with OSIsoft since 1998.
Utilities need to find new ways to maintain reliable service and to pay acceptable dividends to the stockholders. Hundreds of innovative utilizes are staying on top of their business by using a real-time plant information management system (PIMS) to collect and share real-time information about all parts of their operations including generation, transmission, energy control centers and customer usage patterns.
Real-time Information Management Systems in the Power Industry
For any utilities corporation, the generating plants and transmission and distribution facilities are critical sources of information needed to optimize business operations across the enterprise. To optimize plant operations, operators, engineers, and managers need access to relevant information from the plant floor. The analysis and trending of the data provides the basis for making informed and logical decisions that affect not only the plant, but more importantly the profitability of the corporation.
The sources of information available in a power plant are vast and diverse. They range from real time control systems such as SCADA, DCS and PLC to intelligent relays, smart meters, manual log sheets, laboratory data, operator inputs, weather stations, and computer files. Typically there are very limited facilities for analyzing real time and historical plant information from theses sources. For major corporations with geographically distributed plants these sources are virtually inaccessible without the use of an enterprise wide PIMS.
The result of not having real time awareness of plant information means that the corporation is missing significant business opportunities. To be an industry leader requires more than the corporation aim to be the lowest cost producer. Many of the competitors have similar portfolios of plant, people, and working practices. So to differentiate themselves from their competitors, companies must rethink their business goals and have in place a way not only to achieve these goals, but to verify their success.
Companies using a state of the art PIMS report that instant access to years of plant data allows them to increase operational efficiencies by reducing fuel consumption and managing controllable losses. Using the powerful tools provided with the PIMS the user (or third party systems integrators) can design and implement applications that monitor and measure the losses in financial terms. The plant or enterprise can then set measurable achievable goals to reduce the losses.
Installing a PIMS provides a great deal of information to both the operators and to the business units of the corporation resulting in better management of plant assets and improved plant availability. Everyone involved gains the ability to monitor the process.
Emergency repair costs for a unit can be compared to the cost of replacement power so that an informed decision based on effects on the bottom line can be made about whether to proceed with the emergency repair.
Maintenance can be based on equipment run times and starts and stops thus providing the basis for predictable maintenance. Staff can properly analyze equipment failures and forecast the probability of the same equipment failing in the same plant or other business units.
A PIMS system that is properly installed, applied and maintained will rapidly become the one source for real time information across the enterprise.
Selecting a Real Time Information Management System
Companies that are considering an enterprise wide real-time plant information management system can objectively evaluate what they are planning to buy by asking the following questions:
Is the product a world class “Industry Best” solution? Does the software company have hundreds of satisfied utilities customers using their system? Do customers repeatedly tell of the success of their installation and how they have harnessed the power of the PIMS to bring value to their business? Are they happy to discuss their experiences with you?
Is the product easy to install? Can the PIMS software be installed along with the interfaces to the control systems in less than one week? Can this be accomplished without disruption to the plant operations? Does the product typically begin to generate “Enhanced Value Added” for the enterprise immediately following installation?
Does the PIMS supplier have a well developed software support and upgrade capability? Are existing customers happy with the support services available from the supplier? Were previous software upgrades successfully completed without major disruptions to their operations? Are they informed and happy with the suppliers’ plans to further develop the capabilities of the product?
Is the product easy to use? Does the PIMS have Microsoft certification and have the look and feel of familiar products? Does the standard product have links for reporting and analysis to the most popular spreadsheets such as MS Excel and IBM Lotus? Can an average PC user be trained to use the Graphical User Interface and reporting tools in a maximum one-day training session?
Is the product a true time series database? Does it allow for storage by exception and filtering of worthless values? Can it store more than three years of the entire collection of plant information at the same resolution as it was monitored?
Does the client-server architecture make sense? Does the server and client software for the real-time database work together in a seamless fashion? Have the results proven to be highly acceptable to existing customers? Is the Server software open and accessible not only to the PIMS client software but also to other methods such as standard queries from transactional databases (ODBC, OLEDB)?
Is the software scalable? Does an out of the box PIMS system use the same software whether it is 1000 tags or 100,000 tags? If you initially install only part of the plant or corporation is it only a licensing issue to then later increase the size of the system? When the system grows to hundreds of thousands of tags or millions of tags can you simply add more servers? Can the PIMS client software simultaneously read data from multiple servers including servers geographically distributed across the enterprise?
Can the system be Intranet/Internet enabled? Does the product have standard web enabled software clients that allow for data to be viewed in real-time over the corporate intranet or over the Internet? Does the web-enabled client use the latest Internet standards for security and to transmit the data (XML, SVG)? Does it support a fully interactive real time graphical user interface and trending in real time?
Is the supplier likely to be in business in 5 or 10 years? Is the supplier financially stable? How long have they been in business? What are their sales growth and profitability records over the last 4-5 years? Do they have a stable workforce including senior people familiar with the history of the development of the product? How long have they supplied their product to the power industry?
Getting the Most From your PIMS
Once the PIMS has been installed it will provide the collection of data from the sources to which it is connected. Connecting all of the plant process points (tags) to the PIMS server provides the most comprehensive results. The ability to instantly trend and view data from the DCS, and from other plant systems such as the electro static precipitators, soot blowers, ash handling, environmental and water treatment will greatly improve plant operations. Vertically integrating the PIMS into the plant and to the systems affecting the plant like substations and power trading provide the maximum benefit.
A state of the art PIMS should provide all the tools needed to analyze the process data from the plant control systems as well as the performance of the control systems. The PIMS should also provide a platform and tools for users (or third party integrators) to build core applications that support critical business functions by reducing costs, and improving reliability. Many corporations with multiple plants will want to build applications relevant to all their plants. These include applications such as unit optimization, controllable cost applications, and predictable maintenance schedules.
An excellent way to learn what use others in the power utilities have done with their PIMS is to attend the annual users conferences held by the PIMS supplier. You can also check the web sites of the major suppliers where past user conference papers are often listed and available for review.
The Bottom Line on PIMS in the Power Industry
Companies such as British Columbia Hydro, Duke Energy, Texas Utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric, Calpine, Detroit Edison, Innogy, and Florida Power and Light have installed PIMS systems to collect, historize and distribute plant information to every level of their enterprises.
Any major utility corporation operating today without an enterprise wide real-time information management system is severely handicapped in their race to compete in today’s market.
About the Authors
Larry Phillips has extensive experience in operations and engineering management in the power industry. He has worked for OSIsoft since 1998.
David Stockford has worked most of his career in engineering and marketing roles for industrial automation and information systems companies. He has been with OSIsoft since 1998.
