[ { "uid": "link_contact", "linkName": "Contact", "url": "/global/contact#wago-support-contact-anchor", "target": "_self", "classAttributes": "phone" } ]
On this page:
WAGO at Work
[{"term":"Libraries_BA","id":0,"type":"QUICKLINKS"},{"term":"Instructions","id":1,"type":"QUICKLINKS"},{"term":"WAGO-I/O-PRO","id":2,"type":"QUICKLINKS"},{"term":"Building","id":3,"type":"QUICKLINKS"},{"term":"221","id":4,"type":"QUICKLINKS"}]

Topics 5 October 2018
Standardized Pump Control Reduces Engineering Time

During the design of pump stations for wastewater treatment, the top priority is to equip the pumps with sufficient output. This is the only way for them to transport the wastewater as reliably as gravity would on a gradient. Despite the advances offered by technology over the decades, nothing has altered this core task.

Yet, while the function remains the same, the execution has changes. And over years, this leads to extremely heterogeneous plant structures that can complicate servicing. Solutions that support engineering and maintenance are particularly in demand during modernization work. To meet these demands, WAGO has developed application software for pump controls in which even the smallest detail has been taken into account.

In Germany, pump stations are among the oldest public infrastructure elements, next to streets and railway bridges. Some pumping stations that have carried out their tasks for more than 100 years have been converted into cultural centers or even museums. The possibilities offered by technical progress can be seen in pump stations: Where gas motors functioned as drives a century ago, pumps are now driven by electricity and largely operated by automation technology. The development of new types of impellers and sensors has led to significantly higher output and efficiency, as well as better monitoring options.

Sophisticated pump control with WAGO:

  • WAGO’s new application software for pump control facilitates engineering, servicing and maintenance.
  • The new software combines pre-programmed basic functions with a large degree of freedom for setting individual parameters.
  • The application software is designed for pump stations with two to six pumps with different outputs.
Solutions that support engineering and maintenance are particularly in demand during modernization work.

Kay Miller, WAGO

Modernization as an Opportunity

However, the modernization and automation of pump stations has grown organically over the decades, and this is precisely the origin of the extremely heterogeneous automation structures that we currently find in pumping stations. This is especially common in large wastewater treatment facilities, where the operators may run 70 pump stations that include pumps or motors from three different manufacturers, which are in turn regulated by three or four different control systems.

In the course of modernization, the opportunity presents itself to standardize the hardware and software in pumping stations – while the motor and other mechanical parts are generally retained during refurbishing, the sensors, electronics and automation are replaced. However, this is complicated by the fact that most operators convert their pumping stations in stages, and not all at once. Instead, the system operators bundle up to 20 pumps into a batch, and bids are solicited for modernizing these.

Even if the operator intends to take advantage of the modernization to convert the pumps to one system, the tender can specify which hardware should be used during the renovations, but there is still no certainty that the software installed on the devices will itself be programmed in a uniform, standardized fashion – not least because every application engineer or programmer writes their software code differently. In the worst-case scenario for operators, the expenses for maintenance can be as high as those for modernization, because the service technicians have to examine the programming for each controller separately in order to search for potential errors during maintenance or servicing.

AdobeStock_20323783_2000x1500.jpg

By using variable operating parameters, it is possible to largely protect pump systems from contamination, such as fat deposits.

Standardized Control Thanks to Sophisticated Application Software

In order to reduce these expenses, WAGO developed application software for controlling pumps that combines basic functions for recurring tasks with a large degree of freedom for setting individual parameters. Project-specific variants of the software only need to be configured, not programmed. This significantly reduces software engineering costs. The hardware base for the application software is the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750, which can easily link systems that developed heterogeneously, thanks to its over 500 different I/O modules and numerous interfaces.

The pump control can thus be used universally and reliably ensures that the system is connected to the overall drinking water treatment or wastewater plant network. The application software is designed for pump stations with two to six pumps with different outputs. Based on the experience that WAGO has gained through numerous projects in wastewater treatment facilities, it meets the exact demands that typically occur during pump operation: load management, corrosion protection and ensuring redundant operations.

WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750:

  • Flexible, fieldbus-independent use

  • Tested and approved worldwide

  • More than 500 modules available, including functional safety and Ex i

The pump control can be used universally and reliably ensures that the system is connected to the overall drinking water treatment or wastewater plant network.

Kay Miller, WAGO

Redundant Operation

Different types of pumps are generally provided in pumping stations to continue to ensure the availability of the station in the case of interruptions or during maintenance work. These include base-load pumps, peak-load pumps, rest drainage pumps and reserve pumps. However, the additional pumps within a facility must not be reserved exclusively for peak loads or redundant operation – they need to run at regular intervals to prevent faults. Otherwise, faults are inevitable, because pumps that remain motionless are subject to dirt loads, connections can seize due to corrosion, and mechanical components can clog.

The different uses for pumps can be defined correspondingly using the application software from WAGO. If a reserve function is configured for one of the pumps, the WAGO controller ensures that this assignment is changed after every operating cycle so that the affected pumps are still regularly operated. In addition, the application monitors the pump runtimes and starts them automatically after a long period of inactivity to run for a pre-defined amount of time to prevent corrosion.

Flexible Level Switching and Load Spike Prevention

When the pumps are switched on, they should start up not all at once, if possible, but rather sequentially in order to prevent unnecessary loading on the electrical network. The WAGO controller supports this with a start-up delay. A second pump of the same type is therefore only started up after the first pump runs for a predefined time period. The length of this time period depends on the individual application and on the effective load management on site – and can therefore be easily parameterized in the pump controller. This minimizes loads on the electrical network and also accommodates emergency power operation with generators.

By using changing operating parameters, it is also possible to largely protect pump systems from contamination, such as fat deposits, which are a serious problem for operators when they accumulate on the walls of the pump shaft. Fats from households or food service establishments are discharged into the sewer system and float to the surface of the water in the pump shaft. Because the water is held at the same level in the pump shaft by the pump, conditions are ripe for the fat floating on the water to settle in the pump shaft. If the fats are already in a lipophilic phase, this facilitates the process even further. The layer grows from outside to inside, threatening to clog the pump sump, and can only be removed mechanically.

To prevent this process from occurring, or at least to delay it, the switch-on/off points of the pumps are configured to be flexible. The settings can be customized with the aid of the e!COCKPIT engineering tool, which is integrated into the PFC200 and PFC100 controllers of the WAGO-I/ O-SYSTEMs 750. If this is implemented, then the actual switching point randomly falls slightly above or below the specified water height in the sump. This varies the water level in the pump shaft and distributes the fat deposits better.

software_ecockpit_2000x1500px.jpg

Pumps can be customized with the aid of the e!COCKPIT engineering tool, which is integrated into the PFC200 and PFC100 Controllers of the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750.

Project-specific variants of the software only need to be configured, not programmed.

Kay Miller, WAGO

Everything at a Glance

With a view toward convenient operation, the new standardized WAGO application software for pump stations includes an intuitive Web-based visualization. The pumps can be monitored and controlled both from the control center and directly on site using a touch panel connected to the controller. Users can freely select how the pumps should be identified for the purpose of the assignments. The pump control, programmed using IEC 61131-3 standardized languages, merely provides general functional frameworks for controlling up to six different pumps of different types; the details of the control program are part of the customer-specific design.

These include the relevant system availability requirements. More than ever, demands for system availability are prompting operators and service companies to consider new maintenance strategies and to introduce effective measures derived from them. Conventional maintenance approaches, like reactive or even preventive maintenance, are changing in the direction of predictive maintenance in the age of Industry 4.0. With its software solution, WAGO provides the basis for this – a reliable prediction of what the future will bring. Key data like phase currents, flow rate values, pressure, temperature and cos phi, as well as load and alarm management, form the basis for predictive maintenance. At the same time, the standardized software solution reduces operator investments in different software packages and recurring updates, as well as training for service employees.

Text: Kay Miller | WAGO

Photo: Adobestock, WAGO

Pumpensteuerung_AdobeStock_57360886_2000x1500.jpg

In order to equip pumps with sufficient output, WAGO has developed application software for pump control in which even the smallest detail is taken into account.

Your WAGO Contact

Industry Management

unternehmen-market-management-industry-process-gettyimages-154894764-435

Additional service offerings:

WAGO at Work

Customer Applications: Process Engineering

As a partner and innovation leader, WAGO implements many interesting projects. Learn about the creative, efficient solutions we make possible in the process engineering area.

Automation for Pipelines

Trace heating prevents pipelines from freezing in Siberian temperatures. Explosion-protected components from WAGO play an important role.

process_landschaft_brunnen_schnee_2000x1500.jpg
Customer Application

Regulated Wastewater Treatment Plants

Need-based control saves electricity, lowers the nitrogen concentration and increases operational reliability. Made possible with WAGO technology.

process_referenz_ortner_explosionsschutz_klaeranlage_becken_filter_2000x1500.jpg
Customer Application