Customer application 26 July 2019
Cloud-Based Asset Management of Decentralized Systems

Data relating to error reports and monitoring is sent to the cloud to enable better monitoring of both the Saarlouis central energy supply and a well system. The program’s success has led the German city to consider expanding the cloud projects.

Between 1824 and 1829, when the Prussians expanded parts of the old fortifications from the Thirty Years’ War into command posts and housing for soldiers, horses and provisions, they created a bomb-proof project. To this day, the historical ramparts, the so-called casemates, form an important part of the Saarlouis cityscape. However, their use has changed fundamentally: Restaurants have been set up under the arches and attract visitors from near and far to the longest buffet in the Saarland. But though the casemates are easy to reach from the center, they are far from the telecommunications network. Data connections are therefore difficult to establish, even though they are important for regulating the local district heating used by ten cafes and restaurants. The energy control center, with two pumps for providing hot water to the restaurants, is installed at the head of the casemates. If they fail, guests will get cold feet, since a great deal of time can pass before the damage is reported, a city employee gets to the site and the problem is solved.

At a Glance:

Easy Cloud Use without Programming Knowledge
Many Additional Monitoring Functions
Data as the Basis for Trend Analyses

Easy Cloud Use without Programming Knowledge

Therefore, the city administrators in Saarlouis had to act. “System availability is important to me“, says Bodo Jenal, building automation project manager in the Saarlouis building department. Because tearing up the street was not cost-effective, a mobile solution was selected. Together with specialists from the building technology company, BVT Bellmann, from the neighboring town of Dillingen, city administrators developed a cloud-based solution for fault reports and data collection. A WAGO PFC200 Controller with a mobile radio module forms the project's core.

“We are beginning with fault reports for now,” says Jenal. Fabian Klauck, electronics project manager at BVT Bellmann, believes that the combination of the PFC200 with the WAGO Cloud will ease them into digital asset management. “The dashboard enables convenient and intuitive operation of all windows. However, the biggest advantage is that no programming knowledge is necessary to get the data to the cloud,” says Klauck.

Many Additional Monitoring Functions

Jenal sees another advantage in the demand-driven scalability of the cloud system. “In the future, we’ll undoubtedly think of several different tasks we can handle using this cloud-based technology.” For example, additional monitoring functions are available that would be quite useful for drinking water sanitation. Early warnings are especially critical for preventing a Legionella outbreak.

Not much was required from the in Saarlouis in order to be able to take advantage of the benefits of the WAGO Cloud. “We no longer need to worry about it from an administrative and safety point of view,” says Jenal. “We retrieve the values from the cloud and visualize them as we want; WAGO handles everything else in the background.”

With the PFC200, the casemates and city park now have a powerful PLC, which can also be freely programmed – that opens up many possibilities.

Fabian Klauck, Electrotechnology Project Manager at BVT Bellmann

Data as the Basis for Trend Analyses

Change of location: Out of the casemates, to the green belt of Saarlouis – the city park outside the old fortification walls. Here a WAGO PFC200 Controller with an integrated mobile radio module is used to collect level data from a freshwater well from the 1950s. The city administration uses the well to replenish a pond and for general irrigation – in other words, watering flowers. “When drawing off the water, we need to make sure that we are not overtaxing the well's capacity and endangering the aquifer,” explains Jenal.

Thanks to the cloud solution, the people in charge have everything reliably under control. The fill-level data can be securely retrieved from anywhere. The data can also be used to create trend analyses, which allow for better predicting dry periods, and thus better irrigation planning.

Fabian Klauck from BVT Bellmann envisions further applications for the PFC200 and WAGO Cloud: For instance, the controller could be used to control entire ventilation systems and send data that is relevant for building technology to the cloud for further processing. “With the PFC200, the casemates and city park now have a powerful PLC, which can also be freely programmed – that opens up many possibilities,” says Klauck.

Text: Jens Königsamen
Photo: Thorsten Sienk

About the WAGO Cloud

The WAGO Cloud, based on Microsoft Azure, is an IoT solution optimally matched to WAGO hardware. The WAGO Cloud was developed by M&M Software (WAGO Group), our partner for integrated development of industrial and technical software solutions.

Compatible Products