Engineered Systems Group

Water Treatment Facility Pump Controller

Initial Design Phase

When the main lift station for a Forsyth County, GA water reclamation facility needed to be upgraded, Engineered Systems was brought in to help determine the best course of action.

The facility needed to add capacity to an existing duplex reduced-voltage soft starter system. The initial design brought to Engineered Systems involved variable frequency drives housed in an outdoor-rated enclosure. However, outdoor VFD designs can create several challenges, with heat dissipation being the primary concern. Given the size of the motors and drives involved, the heat dissipation requirements would have been cumbersome.

After reviewing the proposal, Engineered Systems helped develop an E-house design that required less maintenance and had a lower upfront cost. Engineered Systems used a modular enclosure design that optimized airflow while reducing the overall space required.

There was also a telemetry element that needed to be addressed during the initial design phase. Engineered Systems engineers worked with the plant’s SCADA expert to plan and implement a communication scheme that would be simple, modern, and reliable.

Because the existing SLC 500 PLC controller at the plant was a rapidly aging platform, the decision was made to use a CompactLogix L18 controller in the new system. Paired with a PanelView Plus HMI, this approach allowed the new lift station controls to be modern, scalable, and reliable for years to come.

Building and Programming

Schematic and mechanical drawings do not always capture the full vision of the design engineer. That is why, at Engineered Systems, the design engineer remains available for consultation throughout the entire production process.

We take pride in using high-quality components and delivering high-quality construction, and this project was no different. The modular design helped simplify installation while making future maintenance easier in the event of equipment failure. As an added benefit, each section could be assembled separately and then joined together once construction and wiring were complete.

After the control panel was fully built and wired, the programs were functionally tested and debugged. The SCADA technician was consulted during the process to ensure the IP addresses and communication scheme would interface smoothly with the existing system.

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Machine Safe-Guarding

Project Description

Engineered Systems has helped companies across many industries upgrade their systems to meet today’s machine safety standards.

In many cases, safety standards are misapplied or regulations are misunderstood. Engineered Systems can help you evaluate machine and product risk, understand the steps required to mitigate those risks, and identify the right safety approach for your application.

By using industry-approved control and automation components from leading machine safety manufacturers, Engineered Systems can help make your system safer, less complicated, and easier to install.

Paper Line Speed Monitoring

The Challenge

Paper breaks are one of the biggest challenges in paper mill operations. At a facility the size of Austell Boxboard Mill #2, a single paper break can shut down production across the entire facility for up to an hour.

The mill’s long production line included speed adjustment stations at strategic points, allowing operators to adjust line speed as the paper dried. Previously, operators relied primarily on the “feel” of the paper to determine how much speed to add or reduce at each station. This method contributed to higher-than-average breakage rates, especially during shift changes.

The Solution

Engineered Systems provided a more scientific method for speed adjustment using nine PLCs to monitor 10 different zones. Each PLC received one or two signals from an incremental encoder. A master PLC communicated with nine slave PLCs to collect speed data, which was then polled over Modbus by the plant’s Matrikon OPC server system. This allowed the data to be viewed at the main monitoring station and stored for historical analysis.

Local Operator Displays

In addition to plant-level monitoring, each PLC control panel included three displays showing the speed of the section on either side of the panel and the draw between the two sections. These local displays gave operators hard data to support their adjustments, alongside their experience and feel for the paper.

Web-Based Adjustments

Because the system did not include a full digital operator interface, Engineered Systems also incorporated a web server into the master PLC. This allowed plant personnel to adjust settings if the rollers were ever changed to a different diameter.

Project Challenges

The project also presented several unique challenges. Some control boxes had to be installed close to the mill line, where they would be exposed to temperatures above 70° C. This meant all components had to be able to withstand high-heat conditions. After extensive research, Engineered Systems identified displays that could withstand the elevated temperatures while remaining legible.

Another challenge was integrating the system into the existing plant DCS. Engineered Systems engineers worked closely with the Austell team to integrate the Matrikon OPC server with the individual controllers. The entire system was tested with Matrikon before it left the Engineered Systems facility, helping minimize the commissioning effort required by the customer.

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