An integrated control system for automating four centrifugal gas compressors
With a growing population and rapidly expanding industrial footprint, Bahrain is seeing rapid expansion of its electrical infrastructure, with the commissioning of new plants and modernization of existing facilities. According to the Oxford Business Group: “Bahrain has an available electricity capacity of nearly 3,921 MW, with peak demand hitting 3,418 MW in summer 2016. At the same time, top estimates have peak demand reaching around 4,500 MW in 2020 [...] this will require significant new power supplies coming on-line in the near future, as well as upgrades to the distribution network.”
Centrifugal compressors are vital assets in gas-based applications, delivering proven reliability. However, while requiring less maintenance than other compressor formats, their performance characteristics are more easily affected by changes in gas conditions, so tight control must be maintained, to help ensure optimum operation.
The primary requirements in this project were for a control solution that would deliver high reactivity, integration and reliability. It also needed to manage a diverse range of communication protocols and provide interconnection with a higher-level DCS. For this task, the power plant selected SEID srl, an Italian Control System Integrator that specializes in the supply of control systems and electrical equipment for production lines or complex processes.
Founded in the 1980s, SEID serves customers all over the world from its headquarters in Bergamo. Originally specializing in industrial electrical engineering and installation, SEID evolved – gaining experience in the design, engineering, production and supply of services in the field of industrial automation processes. This evolution means that the company now operates at a global level, collaborating in the realization of large-scale international projects.
Its focus on process control and its recognized ability to provide added value, were the basis for the company being selected to supply the integrated control system for this new power plant, with the interoperability, flexibility and scalability of the PlantPAx® distributed control system from Rockwell Automation, being the obvious candidate for the control architecture.