Profibus communication technology in wastewater treatment

The key factor driving investment in wastewater treatment all over the world is cost reduction, and the only way to maintain high standards while reducing costs is to utilise highly sophisticated measurement and process control technology. The introduction of fieldbus communication technologies has dramatically boosted the monitoring of instrument status, maintenance and diagnostics.

Profibus is now a $60 billion market and is dominant in a number of sectors of industrial and process automation. “The demand for high-tech automation in the water sector continues to grow rapidly in Australia and throughout Asia–Pacific,” says Nick Smith, Manager, Tyco Process Automation Division. The company has been accredited by Profibus International (PI) as the first Profibus International Competence Centre (PICC) in Australia. “The Tyco Process Automation Competence Centre will play a major role in spreading the technology throughout this region,” says Smith, who is also PICC Manager.

To date, one of the country’s most comprehensive applications of the Profibus philosophy is at the $28 million Water Corporation-owned Kwinana Water Reclamation Plant (KWRP). It is one of Australia’s largest municipal wastewater reuse plants, and Profibus DP and PA communications are integral to the facility’s success in improving both water efficiency in the Perth basin, and environmental management in the Kwinana industrial area.

Water Corporation has been implementing Profibus DP and PA networks for over five years in its water and wastewater treatment plants. Profibus DP and PA will become an integral part of its planned networking of all the metropolitan water treatment plants over the next five years.

The corporation’s Principal Engineer, Electrical, in the Mechanical and Electrical Services Branch, is driving a philosophy to intelligently connect the five largest water treatment plants within a 50 km radius of Perth, to enable after-hours operation from the corporation’s operations centre in Leederville. To be successful, it is critical that an experienced operator in Leederville can perform detailed diagnostics of any instrumentation or control problem, and then decide what action is required. Profibus technology in the plants makes much of this possible.

As more companies look at enhancing their operational effectiveness, the PICC will support companies in design, implementation and new product development, as well as provide technical support for Profibus manufacturers and users, demonstrate interoperability of products and provide a comprehensive range of certified training programs.

Tyco Automation commenced its Profibus training program in January this year with the internationally accredited, certified one-day Profibus Installer course. The next 3.5-day certified Profibus Engineers course covering network design, commissioning and live fault finding will be scheduled for March. Course information and enrolment forms can be obtained from www.profibuscentre.com.au.