Having been operating in the industrial automation market for over 40 years, Altus has a wide range of products capable of optimizing processes in the most various segments. The versatility of the equipment produced and sold by the company allows them to be used both in machinesand industrial plants and in infrastructure and urban mobility projects. Recently, Altus product technology was applied in the modernization of a road tunnel on the north coast of Rio Grande do Sul.
The project, developed and implemented by SNEF Brasil, a company that integrates projects and solutions technological, involved the modernization of the tunnel's automation, communication, control and supervision system, which was obsolete, presented slowness and several operational problems, such as lack of signaling, false alarms and, in some cases, activation failures. As it is a vital resource for mobility of the local road network, the system was replaced while the tunnel was in operation. This availability required that all stages of the project had to occur in a planned and organized manner, avoiding the unavailability of critical systems such as fire fighting, cameras and sound systems.
High-availability solution with Nexto PLC
With availability being a fundamental factor for the process, the applied architecture was developed using Nexto series of programmable controllers. With high processing capacity, network redundancy, tropicalized construction and hot swap, the Nexto family products were the PLCs chosen to be the central part of the application, enhance system availability.
The architecture used has a redundant, high-availability communication network controlled by two racks with an NX3030 CPU and different communication modules each. The control units operate with hot stand-by redundancy mode, method in which a CPU acts as the primary (active) unit, responsible for controlling the system in operation , while the other is in reserve (stand-by) and remains in a waiting state, checking the correct functioning of the primary CPU.
The application also has 22 racks with field remotes and Nexto I/O units, equipment responsible for data collection and activation of devices that are part of the control network. The architecture also has industrial switches interconnected in ring format, which guarantees communication between the CPU and the field remotes even if one of the switches stops working.
In this application, Altus equipment is responsible for interacting with generators, UPSs, visibility sensors and CO2 and Nox levels, soft starters, energy meters and the power factor controller. Communication with these devices using different technologies is carried out using the MODBUS RTU communication protocols, which uses the Serial physical medium, and MODBUS TCP/IP, via Ethernet. This equipment is part of the electrical, ventilation and tunnel safety systems, critical processes for the operation that do not can stop.
Nexto Series PLCs use MasterTool IEC XE as programming software. We recently launched a new version of the software, with new features and support for more communication protocols.
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Enhanced safety and reliability with Altus technology
Felipe Moreira, electrical engineer at SNEF, comments that after modernizing the system, the concessionaire responsible for managing the project reported a significant increase in the speed of monitoring and commanding the operation. With the implementation of the new solution, the system update time, which varied between 20 and 30 seconds in some processes, became instant. Today, the customer can operate the tunnel in a reliableand safe manner, with maintainers properly trained to maintain system availability.
In addition to the high technology embedded in our PLCs, the technical support from Altus' sales and support team was a differentiator that led to the company being chosen as a supplier for the project. “We considered Altus from the beginning of the process, as it is a Brazilian company and has a technical team that is extremely qualified and able to assist us in any incident”, declared Felipe. Another point highlighted by the customer is the availability of equipment for quick replacements that Altus can provide.
“SNEF has been an Altus customer for a few years, so we had experience with the equipment since Hadron Xtrom Series to Nexto Xpress. Therefore, we were sure of Altus' capabilities, both in terms of the representatives who serve us and the technical support”, commented Felipe. In this supply, our Technical Support team also needed to be contacted by the customer to assist in an urgent demand: “we had a quick and efficient return, we believe in the ties we have and we want to continue through many, many infrastructure projects”, he added.
Project manager Marcos Vendramin, project coordinator Edson Costa, automation and control engineer Mauricio Cerdeira and Fernando Silva, from commissioning, also participated in the project.
