Showing posts with label Infrastructure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Infrastructure. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Municipal Financing Tools for Smart City Projects

The Smart Cities Council, an industry coalition to improve the livability, workability and sustainability of the world’s cities, recently announced the Smart Cities Financing Guide. This new resource helps cities understand the financing options available for investments in smart technologies. Developed for the Council by the Center for Urban Innovation at Arizona State University, the Financing Guide outlines 28 of the most promising financing tools for urban infrastructure enhancements, including some techniques that do not require any upfront money from a city. It “Knowledge of financial instruments and the processes to engage in sustainable financing of technologies is vital, yet few know how to navigate these complexities”offers criteria for evaluating financing options and allows city leaders to differentiate which approach is best for their project and community.
 


The Financing Guide is part of the Council’s premium resource library, which also includes the Smart Cities Readiness Guide that provides 27 best practices for launching a smart city initiative. Both Guides are available on the Smart Cities Council website for free, following a very brief registration.

Schneider Electric, which acquired Invensys in January 2014, is an Associate Partner of the Smart Cities Council.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Enhancing Driver Safety and Maintenance on Italy's A12 Motorway with Wonderware Software

Italy’s A12 motorway takes drivers from Genoa through Tuscany and then on to Rome. It's a beautiful region, and the road challenges drivers with high speeds, hilly terrain, 24 tunnels, and more than 45 miles of “B-class mountain” roads. Società Autostrada Ligure Toscana p.a., or S.A.L.T., is responsible for managing the A12. With the primary goals of improving safety, reducing energy use and lowering overall maintenance costs, S.A.L.T. uses Wonderware® software for remote monitoring and control.


“Adopting an industry grade automation solution was the first step to the successful implementation of a project characterized by a large number of controls, and mostly, by the need to guarantee uninterrupted operation.”
– Eraldo Benedetto, Automation Manager, Giordano & C. S.p.A.

Lighting & Ventilation – With 24 tunnels, lighting is critical to driver safety. Proper levels of visibility must be assured in relation to current weather conditions and time of day. Critical lighting processes are automated and controlled using Wonderware System Platform. Proper ventilation is also essential, as concentrations of exhaust gas can quickly build up in busy tunnels, reducing visibility and making air unbreathable. With Wonderware software applications, operators can determine the proper air extraction direction according to environmental conditions outside the tunnel, enabling efficient removal of noxious fumes.

Emergencies – In case of emergencies, the control room operator in charge of launching rescue operations is informed about current events through a highly intuitive alarm system. High-resolution graphics provided by Wonderware InTouch® HMI deliver clear visualization on the operator panel of any system failure or issues on the roadway such as a car crash, enabling the operator to immediately summon skilled workers or rescue squads.

Maintenance – All equipment, from lamps to fans, is monitored remotely from the control room in Viareggio, where two redundant servers store data collected via Wonderware Historian. Using a dedicated optical fiber link, information is collected by PLCs that supervise the operation of each system locally. This provides control room staff with critical information on the condition of any piece of equipment in real time.

The ability of the S.A.L.T. team to remotely control the entire system using Wonderware technology has been key to successfully managing this complex motorway system. Wonderware industrial applications have enabled the real-time management of intricate activities, especially under emergency conditions.

For more information, read the success story or visit our Transportation Industry page or Wonderware Software page on software.invensys.com.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Wonderware Software Helps AENA Manage Operations at Barcelona El Prat Airport

The gateway to the beautiful city of Barcelona is the El Prat Airport. In a typical year, over 35 million passengers and 96 thousand tons of cargo pass through the airport. AENA is responsible for the operations of the Barcelona El Prat Airport. AENA is one of the world's top airport operators, in terms of the number of passengers handled. More than 200 million travelers pass through AENA's 46 domestic and 15 international airports.

"Our systems allow us to be aware of what is going on in the airport infrastructures, and we manage the airport as an intelligent environment. The 'smart city' concept is very much in vogue nowadays. We can say without any doubt that the Barcelona airport is a smart airport - intelligent, able to manage its infrastructures and always self-aware."
José Luis González, Director de Informática  
 
  
 


AENA's smart airport solution boasts a dynamic, intelligent infrastructure. The control environment for the airport management system handles over 1,000,000 signals. It includes the control of all escalators, elevators and passenger moving walkways; power management; air conditioning; and fire safety systems. It also involves monitoring support for the automated luggage transport system. This fully integrated, multi-hardware solution was made possible with the help of Wonderware.

Wonderware System Platform lets AENA manage a large number of processes in an integrated and simultaneous manner under a single platform. It provides an easy-to-use, flexible and scalable solution that allows AENA to create control templates that can easily be deployed by any of its multiple system integrator contractors.

Today, Wonderware is being used in all 46 airports that AENA manages all over Spain.

For more information, watch the new video, read the success story, or visit our Smart Cities Industry page on software.invensys.com.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Ensuring Efficient Water Distribution in Paris with Wonderware® InTouch® Software


Eau de Paris is the municipal authority in charge of the production and distribution of water in Paris and management of the city’s unique network of water pipelines and aqueduct structures. The water processed by Eau de Paris comes from 102 collection points situated to the west and south of Paris, with the furthest being more than 90 miles away, as well as from the Seine and Marne rivers. The ground water is treated in four plants, with two plants processing water from the rivers. The Eau de Paris central supervision station processes 20,000 variables of information from 120 local technical stations all over the city as well as from the Paris environs.
 
In 1995, Eau de Paris installed Wonderware InTouch to provide advanced visualization and monitoring of its vast network of water distribution pipelines. With Wonderware InTouch, Eau de Paris is able to easily and quickly create standardized, reusable visualization applications and deploy them across its entire enterprise. With unequaled device integration and connectivity to virtually every device and system within the city’s water system network, operators, administrators and management can more effectively assess data and increase productivity.
 

More recently, Eau de Paris decided to take advantage of the latest Wonderware InTouch upgrade and the changes included advanced video capabilities. The idea was to use detailed, large-dimension block diagrams of the installations that were created with AutoCAD and already in use by Eau de Paris. These AutoCAD diagrams were easily integrated with the Wonderware InTouch HMI, turning them into a powerful supervisory tool. The information displayed from InTouch on a large video wall includes the values of useful parameters for the control functionality, as well as other sources such as surveillance videos.
 
“InTouch provides our staff with ‘Hypervisory’ capabilities by animating the large blocks of diagrams from the HMI, and projects them onto our innovative operator management video wall. The displayed information provides details to effectively manage the city’s extensive water system.”
– Frank Montiel, Head of the Regulation - CTM project in the Information Systems Department, Eau de Paris

For more information, read the complete success story. Or, reference our collection of Wonderware Water & Wastewater Industry success stories.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Remotely Controlling Rail Station Operations in Spain with Invensys Wonderware Software

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) is responsible for providing safe, reliable and efficient rail transportation to more than 80 million passengers each year. Operating two of the country’s major transport lines, Barcelona-Vallès and Llobregat-Anoia, FGC must manage not only 120 miles of track, but also the 76 train stations which service the businesses and residents in the region.

 
As a public company managed by the Catalan Regional Government, the mission of FGC is to operate these rail services and infrastructure efficiently and effectively. Based on these goals, the company began an extensive organizational and technological reform strategy to enhance the management of its overall operations.
 
The creation of the Station Monitoring Center, operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, enabled FCG to manage the operation of all stations from a central location. Through the new remote-controlled model, the Center began overseeing the operations of everything related to a station such as ticket vending machines, CCTV, public address system, opening and closing of entrance doors, air conditioning, lighting, and numerous other functions.
 
Integrating all controlled operations into a single supervisory system through a common management interface was the next stage of the project. The Integrated Command Center was created for joint management of the two network Lines – Barcelona-Vallès and Llobregat-Anoia.
 
“The challenge we have set for ourselves as a company is one of excellence in customer service. Each year, we seek to achieve higher satisfaction levels from our users and Wonderware technology is an essential tool in achieving this.”
Alicia Coca, Head of the Systems Development Department,
   Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
 
For more information, read the complete success story. Or, reference our collection of Wonderware Transportation Industry success stories.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

South Africa’s Eskom Centralizes Critical Power Generation Data with Invensys Wonderware Software

Eskom is responsible for generating and distributing approximately 95% of South Africa’s electricity. Operating power generation stations 365 days a year, 24-hours a day is no easy task, and when more than 50 million people are relying on one company to “keep the lights on,” that task can be daunting. That is unless they’ve employed state-of-the-art monitoring and automation systems. Eskom’s network of power plants required an integrated, reliable software solution to ensure its facilities were operating at peak performance and enabling access to critical plant data to those that needed it, anywhere, any time.


The Plant Data System (PDS) initiative was developed to centralize all plant management activities via a standardized software solution. Built on Invensys Wonderware® software, Eskom management, plant technicians and administrators now have access to real-time information to more effectively make operation and business decisions that directly affect service to customers, as well as the company’s bottom line. Plant data is openly accessible and in a standard format, enabling workers in every area of the business to access and use the real-time data collected from each of Eskom’s plants. Wonderware software is able to convert the collected data into useful information to meet the specific needs of personnel at different levels within the company. By providing refined performance indicators, Wonderware software provides better plant optimization and improved resource allocation. By accessing data in real time and directly sending operations data to plant engineers, Eskom has improved overall plant performance and improved its staff’s incident response capabilities.

Key to effectively accessing and evaluating plant data and operations information is standardizing on information technology systems using a single, integrated software platform. With Wonderware software, Eskom is able to comply with ISA-95, an international standard for the integration of enterprise and control systems.

“Wonderware software provides our engineering and management teams with access to usable data that before was not readily available. We can now make decisions in real-time on our electricity generation capabilities, enabling Eskom to continue to improve the quality of life of more than 50 million people.”
– John Viljoen, Corporate Consultant for Generation Business, Eskom Holdings Ltd.

For more information, including about the Eskom application of a variety of Wonderware software products – System Platform, InTouch®, Historian and Information Server – read the complete success story. Or, reference our collection of Wonderware Power Industry success stories.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Wonderware Software Reduces Waste and Justifies Investment for Calabria Water Resources


For over 30 years, Società Risorse Idriche Calabresi (So.Ri.Cal.) has supplied drinking water to the people in the Calabria Region of Italy. The agency is responsible for a far-reaching system that covers approximately 6,000 kilometers and is comprised of 200 aqueduct systems, four dams, 10 derivation crossbars, 14 wastewater plants, 300 lifting stations and almost 1,000 tanks. In this region, water conservation is emphasized, but the challenge is compounded by the mountainous geography of Calabria and the remote location of much of the system.
 
 
Recognizing a substantial opportunity to reduce waste and improve efficiency, So.Ri.Cal organized a new department to tackle the project. The goal was to create a pilot system that would incorporate innovative remote control and automated solutions to optimize water production and better conserve this precious resource. From the beginning, the strategy was focused on finding the most efficient way to manage and unify this complex aqueduct system. The best solution would be flexible; it would prove itself in the pilot and then scale to the larger operation, which is divided into three macro-areas and ten different management areas.
 
With Wonderware, So.Ri.Cal. found a flexible, open and scalable software platform. They chose the software because it provides comprehensive capabilities, plus great investment protection. Not only is Wonderware known for its ease of use, but its independent, open platform will allow So.Ri.Cal. to expand by integrating any hardware, control systems and automation products on the market.
 
So.Ri.Cal. now has precise, real-time data on the lifting and supply network. They can manage events in the field and guarantee water and energy savings. With the great success of the pilot program, the Wonderware solution will be implemented across the entire system. 
 
"By the end of the test phase, the Wonderware solution will provide immediate ROI and justify our investment."
- Sergio De Marco, General Director, Società Risorse Idriche Calabresi 
 
For more information, read the complete success story here and/or access any of our Wonderware Water & Wastewater Industry success stories.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Managing Road Infrastructure in Italy

Tecnositaf, a SITAF S.p.A. company, is an integrated engineering company based in Italy that designs, develops and manages systems and tools for mobility control, road, rail and industrial safety. Invensys and Tecnositaf experience and technologies were combined to ensure maximum safety for drivers along Italy's A32 Torino-Bardonecchia motorway infrastructure, a major road connecting Italy to France.
 
 
 When traveling on a motorway, drivers are particularly concerned with traffic and road conditions, but their safety depends on an almost invisible technology infrastructure that needs to always be working. In order to ensure safety, improve service levels and limit maintenance costs, SITAF (Società Italiana Traforo Autostradale del Fréjus), as contractor, invested in the expansion of the technology infrastructure. Influencing the decision was the fact that 18 of the 73 kms are tunnels, a potentially hazardous environment for vehicles and a place where rescue interventions are extremely difficult.

Constant event monitoring and automated management systems were key requirements. Invensys Wonderware System Platform and InTouch HMI (Human Machine Interface) represented the ideal solution for supervising the entire road section. The solution is particularly innovative, as it allows SITAF the freedom of customizing the application in order to develop all the necessary controls, as well as to reach the expected integration level, all while providing a reliable solution.

“We invested in the deployment of the most modern systems available on the market today, developing solutions enabling us to go far beyond international standards.”   Giuseppe Celia Magno, Sales and Quality Manager, Tecnositaf

For more information, read the complete success story here and/or access any of our Wonderware Transportation Industry success stories.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Invensys Joins New Smart Cities Council as Associate Partner

Helps accelerate global shift to smart, sustainable cities


JUNE 06, 2013 / HOUSTON, TEXAS Invensys, a focused supplier of state-of-the-art industrial software, systems and control equipment to the world’s major industries, has joined the new Smart Cities Council as an Associate Partner. The Council is comprised of leading global technology companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, IBM and others working in partnership with advising experts from the world of research, academia and advocacy.
 
Urbanization is a global trend. More than 50 percent of people today live in cities, and according to the United Nations, the number is increasing. Urbanization poses significant short-term and long-term challenges to governments and municipalities, including retrofitting aging infrastructure, relieving traffic congestion, meeting energy demand, rising energy costs and more...
 
“Invensys is proud to be a part of the growing global smart cities movement through the new Smart Cities Council,” says Steve Garbrecht, vice president of software marketing for Invensys. “Our Wonderware® software, including the world’s leading human machine interface software, InTouch®, is ideally suited for cities. It allows secure management of virtually any infrastructure system, like power, water, wastewater, transportation and other networks, from a single, integrated real-time platform. Our software lets cities use valuable information to make better, faster decisions and improve efficiency of small or city-wide applications.”...
 
For more information, see the complete Invensys news release. Recent news about the launch of the Smart Cities Council can also be found on the Council's website here.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Infrastructure 2013 Report Released by Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young

Last week, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) held its Spring Meeting in San Diego, California. At the event, Infrastructure 2013: Global Priorities, Global Insights was released, the seventh in a series of global infrastructure reports produced by ULI and Ernst & Young. The 72-page report assesses the state of infrastructure globally and includes research and analyses on the latest trends, challenges, and innovations, along with insights from experts. It includes coverage of the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions.

100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge Announced by The Rockefeller Foundation

On May 14th, The Rockefeller Foundation announced a $100 million commitment to build urban resilience in cities around the world. The Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge will select one hundred cities and, through technical support and resources for developing and implementing plans for urban resilience, help them leverage billions of additional dollars in infrastructure financing.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Long Beach Water Department Increases Efficiency with Wonderware SCADA Solution

Long Beach Water Department (LBWD) in Long Beach, California, is responsible for keeping the city's 487,000 residents supplied with clean, good-tasting water that meets stringent federal and state regulations for drinking water quality. As the largest groundwater treatment plant in the U.S., the department’s facility is considered one of the most modern plants in the world. LBWD also operates and maintains nearly 765 miles of sewer lines, removing more than 40 million gallons of wastewater per day from throughout the city and delivering it to Los Angeles County sanitation district facilities.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Timelapse Video of a Smart City at Night

The city of Barcelona, Spain, has been mentioned a few times on this blog. In fact, we kicked off the blog last December with a post about Invensys' participation at the Smart Cities Expo World Congress held there. That major international event will be held in Barcelona again this coming November, and Invensys will be there.

Midnight Barcelona is a stunning timelapse video by Pau García Laita that offers a fast, modern look at the city at night. According to the description on YouTube, more than 20,000 pictures were taken and five months of work required for the project. It is an impressive reminder of city dynamics, and in this case those of a city widely recognized as a leading smart city.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

2013 World Airport Awards by Skytrax

Airports are a critical part of the transportation infrastructure. Last month, the 2013 World Airport Awards were announced by air transport rating organization, Skytrax Research of London, UK. The Airport Survey has operated since 1999, and this year it garnered 12.1 million airline passenger nominations, and included 395 airports worldwide. The survey evaluates 39 airport Service and Product key performance indicators - from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration through to departure at the gate. This year, Singapore Changi Airport came out on top as "The World's Best Airport." This is the fourth time the airport has achieved the top prize; it last claimed victory in 2010.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Remote Monitoring of Transportation Tunnel System in Wuxi, China

Wuxi earned its nickname “Little Shanghai” for its proximity to China’s most populous city and for its booming economy and rapid growth. To manage a complex series of roads, bridges, and tunnels, city officials required a technology management system that could observe and manage tunnel conditions, manage equipment operations including power, lighting, ventilation and drainage, and handle emergency response procedures.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

U.S. Infrastructure Financing for Cities Task Force Launched

On April 17, the United States Conference of Mayors and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) announced the launch of the Infrastructure Financing for Cities Task Force (IFC Task Force) that will address critical issues facing American cities. Thus far, 17 mayors with a combined constituency of more than 17 million people have joined the IFC Task Force. Collaborating with CGI – which brings together leaders from business, government, labor, and civil society to address the world's most pressing challenges – the mayors will explore solutions to current obstacles to public infrastructure investment, look at existing models of leveraging private capital to finance projects such as road and water system improvements, and deliberate innovative investment models such as the creation of an urban infrastructure bank.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Managing Infrastructure Through One Platform ... Enabling the Cities of the Future

Touch magazine is a Microsoft industry publication covering public sector activity within the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. It offers insight into advances being made by Microsoft and its partner ecosystem. The Spring 2013 issue's article "Urban Innovation" by Karen McCandless takes a look at the technology and innovation driving the development of cities of the future.

 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

China targets first batch of Smart Cities

Feb 2013 – Smart Cities in China –  The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) released a list containing the first batch of pilot smart cities [90, included on list] …



Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Ouch! AP claims grid spending is making power LESS reliable

A new utility spending analysis offers up a startling conclusion. It suggests customers are paying more for power and getting less reliability. How did we get to this point?

Invensys Joins Smart Cities Council

Invensys recently joined the Smart Cities Council as part of an effort to work with other similar minded technology vendors who are passionate about making the cities we live in, more sustainable. Wonderware Smart Cities Solutions help clients utilize critical data to make better, faster decisions and improve efficiency – and these are precisely the kinds of benefits smart cities are looking for.


The Smart Cities Council shares our vision.

We envision a world where digital technology and intelligent design have been harnessed to create smart, sustainable cities with high-quality living and high-quality jobs. We promote cities that embody our three core values:
  • Livability: Cities that provide clean, healthy living conditions without pollution and congestion. With a digital infrastructure that makes city services instantly and conveniently available anytime, anywhere.
  • Workability: Cities that provide the enabling infrastructure -- energy, connectivity, computing, essential services -- to compete globally for high-quality jobs.
  • Sustainability: Cities that provide services without stealing from future generations.