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What Is SCADA

The document discusses the history and components of a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system. A SCADA system allows for remote supervision and control of industrial plants through the collection of real-time data from field devices like pumps and valves. It consists of software, hardware, remote terminal units/programmable logic controllers that communicate with field devices, and human-machine interfaces that allow operators to monitor and control the system from remote locations. SCADA systems have evolved from standalone mainframe systems to modern networked systems using standard IT protocols and databases.

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26 views

What Is SCADA

The document discusses the history and components of a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system. A SCADA system allows for remote supervision and control of industrial plants through the collection of real-time data from field devices like pumps and valves. It consists of software, hardware, remote terminal units/programmable logic controllers that communicate with field devices, and human-machine interfaces that allow operators to monitor and control the system from remote locations. SCADA systems have evolved from standalone mainframe systems to modern networked systems using standard IT protocols and databases.

Uploaded by

Fi Na
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The SCADA acronym stands for Supervisory

Control and Data Acquisition.

When considering this term, you can


conjure varying images and you should.

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A SCADA system is a collection of


both software and hardware components

that allow supervision and control of


plants, both locally and remotely.

The SCADA also examines, collects,


and processes data in real time.

Human Machine Interface (HMI) software


facilitates interaction with field devices

such as pumps, valves,


motors, sensors, etc.

Also within the SCADA software is the ability


to log data for historical purposes.

The structural design of a standard SCADA


system starts with Remote Terminal Units

or (RTUs) and/or Programmable


Logic Controllers (PLCs).

As you know, RTUs and


PLCs are microprocessors

that communicate and interact with field


devices such as valves, pumps, and HMI’s.

That communication data is routed from


the processors to the SCADA computers,

where the software interprets


and displays the data

allowing for operators to analyze


and react to system events.

Before SCADA, plant personnel had to


monitor and control industrial processes
via selector switches, push buttons,
and dials for analog signals.

This meant that plants had to


maintain personnel on site,

during production, in order


to control the processes.

As manufacturing grew and sites


became more remote in nature,

relays and timers were used to assist in


the supervision and control of processes.

With these devices employed, fewer plant


personnel were required to be on site

in order to oversee and


control operations.

While relays and timers did


provide some level of automation,

the panels required for these devices


took up valuable real estate,

troubleshooting was a nightmare, and


reconfiguring was difficult at best.

These issues, in conjunction with the need


to grow even larger industrial plants,

helped to facilitate the


birth of automation.

As you may know from previous videos,

controlling industrial plants via


processors became a reality in the 1950s.

Gas and oil, utilities, and manufacturing

were major users of these new


technologies and supervisory control.

About a decade later, telemetry came on the


scene to offer even more remote capabilities

with automated communication and data


transmission to remote monitoring locations.

Another decade later the term SCADA was used to


describe systems with PLC’s and microprocessors

that were being used for the monitoring


and control of automated processes
on an even greater scale
than ever before.

SCADA, back then, was


anything but practical.

They were colossal machines,


mainframes really,

and since networking was not yet in the


picture, they were stand-alone units.

In the next couple of decades, the ’80s and


90s, with computer systems getting smaller,

the advent of Local Area Networking


(LAN), and HMI software,

SCADA systems were able to


connect to related systems.

Unfortunately, though, the communications


were typically proprietary

which meant that connections outside of the particular


vendor of the SCADA system were not allowed.

This early SCADA was coined


distributed SCADA systems.

Later in the ’90s and 2000s, SCADA began


to implement open system architectures

with communication protocols


that were not vendor specific.

As you can imagine, this opened up SCADA’s


ability to connect with varying vendors.

This newer, more improved SCADA was


then called a networked SCADA system.

Newer and improved SCADA,


unfortunately, didn’t last long.

With computer technology growing rapidly,


IT development quickly gathered steam.

The default database for IT became


Structured Query Language (SQL) databases.

SCADA developers didn’t implement


these standard databases

so SCADA became out of date rather quickly


when other technologies so rapidly changed.

Current day SCADA systems have


adapted to the changing technologies
and have a great advantage
over the older SCADA systems.

With the adoption of modern IT standards


such as SQL and web-based applications,

today’s SCADA allows for real-time plant information


to be accessed from anywhere around the world.

Having this data at the operator’s fingertips


facilitates improved plant operations

allowing for responses


to SCADA system queues

based on field collected


data and system analysis.

These operator interactions can be from


a computer right on the plant floor

to an office building in some


other region in the world.

Advancing technologies have indeed made the world


seem like a very small place, relatively speaking.

And because the current SCADA system software


has typically adopted the SQL database model,

historical collection of data may be


logged and used in trending applications

to further improve plant processes

as well as creating mandated record keeping


for some of the industries out there.

Essentially, SCADA is a collection


of hardware and software components.

This collection of components begins with


real-time data collected from plant floor devices

such as pumps, valves, and transmitters.

These components don’t have to


be from a particular vendor,

they just need to have a communication


protocol that the processor can utilize.

Data collected from the field devices is


then passed to the processors such as PLCs.

From the processor, the data is distributed


to a system of networked devices.
These devices may be HMIs,
end-user computers, and servers.

On the HMI and end-user computer,

graphical representations of the


operations exist for operator interactions

such as running pumps


and opening valves.

This data may also be analyzed and used to enhance


plant production and troubleshoot problems.

Want to learn PLC programming


in an easy to understand format

and take your career to the next level?

Head on over to realpars.com

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