Water and wastewater applications and PLCnext Technology

“With increasing awareness of climate change and sustainability in society, the focus is increasingly turning to water management. New challenges such as falling water table levels, increasing pollution, micro-plastics, and increasing storms are causing an increase in requirements. Solutions from Phoenix Contact are increasing the level of transparency, efficiency, and resource conservation.”

Phoenix Contact develops automation, communication, and remote control technologies for all forms of water treatment plants and wastewater treatment plants. From the control room, through the network and control level, all the way to the field devices and machines. Our customer-specific and ready-to-use solutions are based on an open system and open interfaces that guarantee future-readiness.

Automation of a waterworks and wastewater treatment plants, require new levels of transparency and efficiency for these processes. Furthermore the automation is necessary to meet the requirements of future challenges of a digitalized world.

PLCnext Technology as a basis for solutions in the water and wastewater sector

PLCnext Solution App – PumpStation Control

Application

Pumping stations are mostly de-central facilities including pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. A variety of infrastructure systems, use them while equipped with electrical instrumentation to detect the level of wasterwater. These include canal water supply, drainage of deeper areas, and wastewater disposal from processing plants. When the wastewater level in the shaft rises to a pre-defined level, the pump starts lifting the wasterwater up in a sewage system.

Solution idea

Ready-to-use solution app to control and monitor a typical pumping station with up to three pumps. You can download the app from the PLCnext Store and download it directly to a PLCnext Control. The PLCnext Control uses standardized I/O modules and interfaces to collect the data from the field level. The app contains industry-specific functions. You can set the parameters via the integrated PLCnext eHMI. The eHMI also visualizes all important information about the pumping station. The integrated Proficloud interface transmits all important information, alarms and operating data to a dashboard or to the customers’ scada system. In addition, you can send all data directly to the customer’s scada system via OPC UA. Read more…

Water Functions – the process library
for water management

Application

Water management technologies and procedures are constantly being developed and adapted. Due to the changing conditions, process systems are subject to a continuous process of change.

This requires existing systems to be optimized and adapted in order to ensure the best possible supply and cost-effectiveness for operations. With a modern and efficient solution, you will meet these these challenges.

Solution

Water Functions, the process library for water management, enables you to ensure the efficient engineering of your systems based on preprogrammed function blocks. The library contents range from a basic function for the simplest applications to complex drive, valve, and measurement blocks as well as blocks for connection to a SCADA system. Water Functions includes function block and HMI libraries for PLCnext Engineer which supplement the PLCnext Technology from Phoenix Contact with useful functions for the water and wastewater treatment. The Water Functions libraries are the continuation of the old Waterworx library on the classic system with many useful functions such as regulation, control of field devices like motors and valves and many others for process automation.

A wide range of technologies, such as PROFIBUS, PROFINET, Modbus, and OPC UA, allow the user to integrate new and existing field devices into the overall system without any problems. Thanks to close cooperation with manufacturers of typical field devices for the water management industry, the user is able to integrate field devices in an efficient, verified manner.

Thanks to the continuous further development of the Water Functions process library, the number of possible connections is constantly growing.

Join our live webinar on Tuesday 6th April to find out more and learn how our sophisticated system solutions for water supply and wastewater treatment, can help you reach your goal of sustainable market success and experience long-term success.

For more information, please contact Pradeep Menon at pmenon@phoenixcontact.com.