LUANSHYA TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS COLLEGE MANAGEMENT BOARD

DIPLOMA IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENTATION (DEE 231)

INSTRUCTION: Study the lesson notes carefully. You will be required to answer an assignment
from the lesson.

1.0 REAL-TIME CONTROL SYSTEMS

Real-time control pertains to the performance of a computation during the actual time that the
related physical process transpires. Real-time control refers to the response of the control
system to changes in the process. A real-time control system introduces no time delay (or dead
time) between the reception of a process measurement and the outputting of a control signal.

Nearly, all control systems must introduce some time delay. However, those that introduce an
amount without any measurable effect are called real-time control systems. Batch mode
control is the opposite of real-time control.

Most systems that control continuous processes operate in real-time. A SCADA system has
elements of both real-time and batch operation.

The figure below shows a real-time control system;

6.0 SCAN INTERVAL OF A SCADA SYSTEM

Scan interval of a SCADA system is the time taken for the MTU to scan all RTUS in a sequence
before coming back to scan the first RTU. Consider the figure below showing a simple SCADA
system with the MTU scanning three RTUs;

The MTU asks RTU #1 for flow information about the flow through FE-101, and then it asks each
of the other RTUs about the flow through their flow elements. The scan interval (or scan period)
is the time between one conversation with an RTU and the next conversation with the same
RTU. The decision whether to allow the control to be affected by the scan interval can only be
made by the operator who is familiar with the process.

6.1 Determining scan interval of a SCADA system

Control should not be compromised by excessive time delay. However, there are time
constraints imposed by the rate at which data can be transferred between the MTU and the
RTU. Therefore, there must be a desired rate at which to scan the TRUs for data.

The following are factors that must be considered when determining the scan interval of a
SCADA system;

i. The number of RTUs that have to be scanned;

ii. The amount of data that must be passed on each conversation;

This will be determined by the size of the facility at each remote site and the amount of control
the remote site is capable of exercising.

The data to be gathered can be as little as one status point or as much as several hundred
status points, hundreds of alarm points and dozens of meter tatalizers and analogue values.

To communicate each status point or alarm point usually requires one or two bits of data. Since
each meter or analogue point will be transcribed to a binary word, each point will require about
sixteen bits. Therefore, when determining the scan interval, it is best to select the largest RTU
when evaluating points. Multiply this point count by the total number of RTUs to get the count
of all data coming back from all RTUs.

It is also important to include the time taken for the MTU to talk to each RTU. This will include
both the time for the MTU to ask the RTU for information and the time for the MTU to give
other instructions to each RTU.

iii. Data rate;

The number of bits per second (bps) that can be transmitted over the communications medium
is important in determining scan interval. Nevertheless, this number may be flexible at the early
design stages.

iv. Communications efficiency;

Communications efficiency is the ratio of the time spent on moving the data of interest to the
total time spent communicating. Inefficiency will result from, for example, moving a part of
each message such as the RTU address which is data of no interest.

The following communication systems have the given approximate values of communication
efficiency;

Dedicated telephone lines; 70 percent

Radio; 40 percent

Dial up telephone; less than 1 percent

Calculate a scan interval for the following SCADA system;

i. The system will initially have seven RTUs but will likely increase eventually to twenty
ii. The largest RTU has the following point counts;
140 Status points
30 Alarm points
10 measurement meters at sixteen bits each
10 Analogue points at sixteen bits each

The MTU will send the following point counts to the RTU;

150 Discrete control (valves, motors) points

6 Stepping motor positions at sixteen bits each

10 Valve controller set points at sixteen bits each

iii. Data rate is based on the likelihood that UHF radio will be used for communication.
The data rate for the UHF radio-modem communication system is 1200 bps.
iv. Communications efficiency, based on UHF radio is 40%

SOLUTION

The number of RTUs equals 20 (Consider maximum)

The largest RTU has the following point counts;

Status points 140

Alarm points 30

Measurement meters 160 (10 X 16)

Analogue points 160

490

The MTU will send the following point counts to the RTU;

Discrete control points 150

Stepping motor positions 96 (6X16)

406

Total point counts = 490 + 406 = 896

Thus;

Total bits = 20 X 896 = 17 920 bits

Time taken to move data at a rate of 1200 bps will be;

17 920/1200 = 14.9 seconds at 100% efficiency

At 40 percent efficiency, the scan interval will be;

100% - 14.9 s

40% - more

100/40 X 14.9 = 37.25 s

It will be good design practice to round off the scan interval to 1 minute.

Having calculated the scan interval, it would be wise to ensure that no process functions will be
adversely affected by a delay of one minute. If such functions existed at one or two of the RTUs,
the problems may be addressed by scanning each of those RTUs twice in a scan. For example, if
the scan rate were acceptable for all except RTU no. 5 in a system of five RTUs, the scanning
program could be set up as follows;

RTU 1, RTU 2, RTU 5, RTU 3, RTU 4, RTU 5, RTU 1 …

EXERCISE

In the above example, what would be the scan interval if a dedicated telephone line were the
communications medium?