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http://electrical-engineering-po rtal.co m/an-intro ductio n-to -scada-fo r-electrical-engineers-beginners

An Introduction To SCADA For Electrical Engineers

Beginners
Bipul Raman

An Intro d uc tio n To SCADA (Sup e rvis o ry Co ntro l And Data Ac q uis itio n ) Fo r Be g inne rs // O n p ho to Mo nito r iFIX By
Se rviTe c no via Flic kR

Control and Supervision

It is impossible to keep control and supervision on all industrial activities manually. Some automated tool is
required which can control, supervise, collect data, analyses data and generate reports. A unique solution is
introduced to meet all this demand is SCADA system.
SCADA stands for supervisory control and data acquisition. It is an industrial control system where a
computer system monitoring and controlling a process.
Another term is there, Distributed Control System (DCS). Usually there is a conf usion between the
concept of these two.
A SCADA system usually ref ers to a system that coordinates, but does not control processes in real
time, but DCS do that. SCADA systems of ten have Distributed Control System (DCS) components.

Component s of SCADA

1. Human Machine Int erf ace (HMI)

It is an interf ace which presents process data to a human operator, and through this, the human operator
monitors and controls the process.

2. Supervisory (comput er) syst em

It gathers data on the process and sending commands (or control) to the process.

3. Remot e Terminal Unit s (RTUs)

It connect to sensors in the process, converting sensor signals to digital data and sending digital data to
the supervisory system.

4. Programmable Logic Cont roller (PLCs)

It is used as f ield devices because they are more economical, versatile, f lexible, and conf igurable than
special-purpose RT Us.

5. Communicat ion inf rast ruct ure

It provides connectivity to the supervisory system to the Remote Terminal Units.

SCADA Syst em Concept

T he term SCADA usually ref ers to centralized systems which monitor and control entire sites, or complexes
of systems spread out over large areas (anything between an industrial plant and a country).
Most control actions are perf ormed automatically by Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) or by programmable
logic controllers (PLCs).
Host control functions are usually restricted to basic overriding or supervisory level intervention. For
example, a PLC may control the f low of cooling water through part of an industrial process, but the
SCADA system may allow operators to change the set points f or the f low, and enable alarm conditions,
such as loss of f low and high temperature, to be displayed and recorded.
T he f eedback control loop passes through the RT U or PLC, while the SCADA system monitors the overall
perf ormance of the loop.
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A s imp le SCADA s ys te m with s ing le c o mp ute r

SCADA/PLC Video Introduction/Example

Wast e Wat er Treat ment SCADA Syst em Raising your Plant IQ
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Int roducing st udent s t o Indust rial Programmable Cont rollers

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