What Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
What is SCADA?
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is a system of software and hardware elements that allows industrial organizations to:
- Control industrial processes locally or at remote locations.
- Monitor, gather and process real-time data.
- Directly interact with devices such as sensors, valves, pumps, motors and more through human-machine interface (HMI) software.
- Record events into a log file.
SCADA systems are crucial for industrial organizations since they help to maintain efficiency, process data for smarter decisions, and communicate system issues to help mitigate downtime.
A Basic SCADA Diagram
Modern SCADA Systems
Modern SCADA systems allow real-time data from the plant floor to be accessed from anywhere in the world. This access to real-time information allows governments, businesses and individuals to make data-driven decisions about how to improve their processes. Without SCADA software, it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to gather sufficient data for consistently well-informed decisions. Also, most modern SCADA designer applications have rapid application development (RAD) capabilities that allow users to design applications relatively easily, even if they do not have extensive knowledge of software development.
Advantages of using SCADA System
- The system provides a facility to store large amounts of data.
- The data can be displayed in various formats as per user requirements.
- It provides an interface to connect thousands of sensors across a wide region for various monitoring and controlling operations.
- It is possible to obtain real data simulations with the help of operators.
- Many types of data can be gathered from RTUs (Remote Terminal Units) connected with the master unit.
- With the advanced protocols and application software, the data can be monitored from anywhere and not just from local sites.
- The redundancy of units is incorporated in the SCADA system to have backup in the event of faults or failures. This makes the system more robust.
- It is fast in obtaining responses.
Industrial Applications of SCADA Systems
SCADA Systems plays a vital role by providing utilities for various Industrial applications and are useful in oil & gas, petroleum, food and textile, telecommunications, water and waste control, energy, solar and transportation. A SCADA system for power companies ensures delivery of power in a reliable and safe manner. The SCADA system for the oil and gas industry has remote data collection, real time processing, storage, alarming, display, call-out and reporting capabilities. The SCADA capabilities can be further utilized to:
- Monitor grid protection relays
- Stations monitoring weather
- Energy meters
- Transformers
- DC switches and Valves.