Gheorghe Florea

From bridge to control hub — The power Smart Grid evolution

Smart Grids vision is about a bold program of research, development and demonstration that charts a course towards an electricity supply network that meets the needs of Europes future. The Smart Grid will include automation software and intelligent electronic hardware systems that control the transmission and distribution power grids. For developing distribution management and functionality of electricity market one essential objective is to make the customer active for efficient use of energy. The evolution from grid to Smart Grid is based on different functions and on the complexity of the nodes starting from interconnection between local control and central control and arriving to the Smart Grid control hub with a great level of independence and a complex functionality. The Smart Grid of the future will act much more like an interactive web, or “energy Internet,” with two-way communication, multi-directional power flow, distributed intelligence including close-loop control, stability and balance performed on site and optimization at its core. The paper presents the authors view about Smart Grid state of the art and point out the stage in standardization and practice. The contribution is on defining the functions performed by each development stage of equipment: bridge, gateway, node and control hub, the control hub architecture and the demonstrator for the gateway and protocol converter.

Library of Reusable Algorithms for Internet – Based Diagnose and Control System

Abstract This paper describes the architecture for a library of complex poly-functional process control algorithms in a generic representation so that they could be adapted to different classes of practical systems, with the associated program performances and process interface capabilities. The algorithms will be represented in a reusable format, based on a predefined methodology. Possible data structure and the storage mechanisms are discussed, as well as possible process interfaces that will allow direct implementation in the control strategy. The library will be used by a remote control center introduced to give solutions for predictive control, plant optimization, diagnosis and creating new control strategies for industrial plants.

Open cloud solution for integrating advanced process control in plant operation

This paper presents a model for integrating an advanced process control library in a cloud-based environment. The aim is to lower the development times, to reduce maintenance effort and decrease the complexity of process control applications by adopting a modular approach consisting of generic, reusable control strategies following an IEC 61499 representation. The solution uses open cloud technologies based on Heroku for the deployment in a public cloud structure and Docker for increased portability of the designed solution. The conceptual architecture of the system is presented, as well as the details of the execution module.

Modeling Complex Industrial Systems Using Cloud Services

The large computational and storage capabilities of a cloud platform offer challenging opportunities to address advanced process control techniques and algorithms. This paper presents a cloud framework for a library of advanced control sequences and algorithms. This library can be used for online or offline model identification. The work presents the basic concepts of cloud computing and how they can be applied in the industrial process modeling using a modular structure based on open technologies. Details on how to apply the proposed architecture for plant model identification are also provided.

A Fractal Model for Power Smart Grids

Smart grid technology is the future of electricity ordered by computers. This article presents the characteristics of the new technological developments in this area and reveals the fractal nature of this architecture, leading to a holonic structure which presents smart grid as a system bottom-up organized from autonomous entities that are recursively clustered at various aggregation layers. Taking into account the novelty of the subject, this paper should bring new opportunities to explore and develop this domain.

Contributions to the Development of Communication Protocols Conversion Equipment

Abstract This paper presents the most used communication solutions between national dispatchers in the power and energy field and local controllers for wind parks and the main issues encountered. To solve these problems we propose a gateway for network protocols conversion that implements functions like interconnectivity, protocol data type and format conversion and scaling, data validation, management of local/remote commands, simulation of data packets transmission and requests, communication packets analysis and redundant communication links. This solution is applied on a specific case – study on the interconnection of a wind park to the Romanian national dispatcher.

PHcenter: A Platform for Process Diagnosis and Control via Internet

The paper presents a platform, which offers to the possibilities to connect remotely via Internet to an industrial process in order to monitor, diagnose and control it remotely. In this way, several expensive resources like experts and powerful computers that simulate the complex processes from the customer site can be shared at distance through Internet in order to optimize the costs and to increase the stability and reliability of the process by reducing the time to intervention. This solution has the advantage of a great flexibility created by the use of complex models of the processes. Also it is free of dangerous events. The experts from the diagnosis center can extrapolate the data collected from the real process in order to estimate the behavior of the system and prevent the possible dangerous situations. In case of observing a potential danger the experts will contact the operators from the control room of the real process in order to inform about the potential dangers and take the appropriate actions. The paper presents the architecture of the diagnosis platform we proposed, its performances and the advantages related to the solutions currently used.

Communication Technologies for Complex Industrial Systems

In case of industrial sites located in isolated geographical areas, access to wired internet connection can be a challenge. This paper presents an evaluation of possible configurations for a remote monitoring and control of a wastewater plant. The plant does not have a public IP and the internet is acquired using a mobile connection on a router directly connected to the plant PLC. Two possible solutions are presented, using a VPN router and through an OPC tunnel.

Towards total integration based on OPC standards

Abstract In this paper we present the degrees of integration for process control and safety systems, based in OPC standards. In the second section we describe the OPC standards that have been developed so far, including the latest one, OPC UA, based on “Service Oriented Architecture” technology. In the end, we present the system architecture that had been implemented for an LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Terminal, at Midia – Navodari.

Methodology and Framework for Development of Smart Grid Control

To better serve customers, operators need to identify ways to improve the reliability of their electrical service. This paper provides a methodology and framework for the development of new control architectures based on uncertainty management and self-reconfigurability. We designed an architecture for Smart Grid able to integrate the standard control strategy with safety and security aspects. A case study presents details on how the current methods for the assessment of the system security can be applied on the proposed architecture.