What is SCADA?
SCADA is a software communication system that allows oil and gas production sites to communicate. SCADA stands for Supervisory Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition.
What Does SCADA Allow Me to Do?
The capabilities of SCADA include:
1. Gather real-time data.
SCADA allows you to gather’s real time information from field controllers. This is presented to operators on a graphic interface, called a Human Machine Interface (HMI)
2. Control processes remotely.
Seeing this data in real time, even from a remote location, tells operators what adjustments they need to make on a given site to maintain production uptime. It allows them to interact with devices like valves and sensors through human-machine interface (HMI) software
3. Store historical data.
Another benefit of SCADA system is it allows you to efficiently log historical data. This means producers can examine production, look for patterns, and predict future realities based on those patterns.
How Does SCADA Work?
SCADA is a general term for the grouping of technology hardware and software that senses conditions at an oil and gas site and communicates those to a central place. This communication is often two-way, so you can both monitor conditions on your site as well as make adjustments to operation.
For example, an operator sits in his office with a couple of screens in front of him. On the screens he sees a visual representation—similar to CAD drawings—of the various vessels and instrumentation in his field.
As level controllers and pressure sensors in the field sense conditions, they send that data via SCADA to his screens, where he watches the levels rise or fall.
He can also set a minimum and maximum set point alarm, so if he’s not watching it at his desk it can send an alert to a phone or other device that tells him he’s over or under a limit, such as liquid temperature.
At this point he can control a process through a touch screen, closing a burner valve, for example, to lower a vessel’s temperature.
To speak with an expert about how to get started using SCADA at your operation, contact your local Kimray store or authorized distributor.
