Software speeds water plant project

Jan. 22, 2018
Aqua+ engineers exploit automated workflow, collaboration, error checking and documentation

Khabarovsk Municipal Unitary Enterprise Vodocanal (Khabarovsk Vodocanal) provides water supply and sewerage facilities for the city of Khabarovsk in Russia’s Far East Federal District, an area covering some 400 km2 with more than 600,000 residents.

As part of a program to shift from surface to underground water sources, Khabarovsk Vodocanal constructed the 10-billion-ruble Tunguska Groundwater Intake Facilities to deliver 106,000 cubic meters per day (m3/d) of water to the city of Khabarovsk. Aqua+ performed design, construction, installation and commissioning of the intake facility’s automated water quality monitoring and control system, which reduced facility staffing requirements by a factor of 10. The project used Bentley Systems’ Promis.e electrical system design software, which allowed Aqua+ to complete the design work quickly and accurately, and deliver approximately 6,000 pages of high-quality project documentation in 10 months—two months ahead of schedule.

Automated quality control

As one of the largest water and sewer service providers in the Far East, Khabarovsk Vodocanal has more than 1,200 kilometers of municipal networks, 47 water and 33 sewer pump stations, and the capacity to treat 374,000 m3/d of potable water and 220,000 m3/d of wastewater. Khabarovsk Vodocanal’s shift to underground water sources can be attributed, in part, to the utility’s early adoption of intraformational water treatment technology, where groundwater is treated within the geologic formation (see sidebar, “The subterranean plant”). This innovative treatment process costs 80% less than conventional treatment methods, requires less infrastructure than surface water treatment, uses no chemical reagents, requires no solid waste disposal, and eliminates the high-volume use and release of wash water.

The Tunguska Groundwater Intake Facilities are one of the industry’s major projects of the past decade and comprise 12 wells, five sections for water treatment, and two pumping stations. Construction of the intake facilities began in 2006, and the first phase was commissioned in 2012 with a capacity of 25,000 m3/d. As part of the second phase of the project, which was completed in 2015, Khabarovsk Vodocanal implemented advanced monitoring and control technology to automate operation of the intake facilities, reduce staffing requirements, and eliminate human error. Challenges during design of this complex system included selection, connection and programming of precision instrumentation for reliable supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA).

Software streamlines collaboration

[sidebar id =1]Khabarovsk Vodocanal retained Aqua+ to design, construct, install and commission the works for the automated water quality monitoring and control system at the Tunguska Groundwater Intake Facilities (Figure 1). The Moscow-based specialist in SCADA for water supply was qualified to design a system capable of providing direct control of the groundwater wells and treatment process. Moreover, Aqua+ was charged with integrating the local automation facilities with Khabarovsk Vodocanal’s existing water utility management system to provide a single, automated enterprise management system for the city of Khabarovsk.

Aqua+ selected Promis.e to provide a collaborative design environment for the project team. Developing the industrial-grade control system (ICS, Figure 2) required Aqua+ to generate more than 6,000 diagrams, drawings and reports. Promis.e streamlined the workflow among the various specialists, who were able to simultaneously work on different types of documents. The software’s intelligent design capabilities allowed transfer of product information from one document to another, ensuring the accuracy of project data.

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The software enabled Aqua+ to store all project information in a connected data environment, giving professionals access to the most current version of documentation, whether they were working locally or remotely. Its deeply integrated electrical design process facilitated selection and positioning of the most reliable and accurate equipment. The process ensured constructive and purposeful use of space—from placing equipment in the large pumping stations to locating terminals and devices in control cabinets (Figure 3).

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Quality documentation

Aqua+ used Promis.e to produce 29 volumes of project and design documentation, with each volume comprising 220 pages of diagrams, drawings and reports. Promis.e provided significant time savings in several areas, allowing the project team to complete the design work quickly and accurately. In about half the usual time, Promis.e automatically generated some 2,000 documents specifying equipment, cables, connections and other items. Using the flexibility of Bentley’s electrical system design software, Aqua+ also developed a fully open API to input data from Excel tables into the PLC generator, enabling the software to produce PLC schematics in 40% less time than conventional methods. Cabinet specification and labeling took 30% less time using Promis.e, while the navigator function simplified item placement.

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The technology allowed Aqua+ specialists to concentrate on core tasks without being distracted by routine operations. Automated functionality such as built in error-checking, which helped avoid more than 30 types of mistakes, elevated the design quality. The localization module ensured design documentation was in full compliance with local standards. By preventing divergence of project and design documentation, Promis.e contributed to significant savings during assembly and installation.

50% faster design speed

[sidebar id =6]Bentley’s collaborative, interoperable applications streamlined workflows, enabling Aqua+ to issue project documentation for automating the water intake facilities in 10 months. Using Promis.e increased project design speed by 50% and improved documentation quality by 70%. Minimization of errors and quick correction of inaccuracies significantly reduced the time spent on installation and commissioning of the SCADA system (Figure 4), which contributed to overall project cost savings.

The automated water quality monitoring and control system has proven to be reliable and accurate, helping to minimize facility operating costs and deliver better water for the city of Khabarovsk. The project team’s attention to details, such as proper specification of equipment for sample selection and preparation, helped ensure Khabarovsk Vodocanal achieved its water quality goals, while reducing the facilities’ staffing requirements by tenfold.

Khabarovsk Vodocanal plans to repurpose the engineering of the Tunguska Groundwater Intake Facilities for use at underground water treatment facilities in other areas, ensuring the benefits of advanced technology and engineering are realized throughout the region.

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