The project of installation of the system for collection of data from gas accounting devices (DAPDS IS) of the gas transmission system has been successfully completed – the system has been put into operation. The DAPDS allows the Lithuanian gas transmission system operator AB Amber Grid to automate a complex gas accounting process, collect, process and provide customers with operative and highly accurate information on the quantities of gas transmitted.
During the implementation of the project, the unified but technologically obsolete control system of the gas transmission system, which had served for more than 20 years, was divided into two separate systems. The control of technological processes, including collection of technological data, which was taken over by the new SCADA IS, was physically and technologically separated from gas accounting, including collection of data from gas accounting devices and parameters of gas chemical composition. This step allows to optimize the operation of both critical systems, significantly reduce the load on the technological network and thus increase the security and reliability of the control of the entire gas transmission system.
The main components of the new DAPDS IS:
- „Yokogawa Electric Corporation“ FAST/TOOLS® (Flexible Advanced System Techniques) software product for efficient industrial process control (key component);
- Gas Accounting Module (GUI) – web-based application (graphical user interface), used for configuration of gas accounting devices located in the objects, analysis and (re)calculation of gas amount from various sources and to evaluate chromatographic data;
- Oracle DB (Historian) – database for historical data storage and for calculation and adjustment of gas amount according to various algorithms (business models);
- SAP Business Objects BI Suite – a powerful business analytics and reporting tool that allows to perform drill-down analysis of available data and create customized reports.
The DAPDS system collects data from various gas metering devices – flow computers, gas volume conversion devices (PTZ/TZ-correctors), chromatographs or gas composition analyzers installed in technological objects – gas distribution, metering and compressor stations. The system reads more than 10,000 different parameters (data points).
The new DAPDS is integrated with 3 internal customer systems (GIS, SCADAS, GDPAS).
As DAPDS is very important part of gas transmission system, special attention is paid to ensuring system availability, reliability and security. The system ensures the highest requirements and indicators:
- 999% (“five nines”) system availability, i.e. the system may not be available to users for only 5 minutes per year;
- Double system reliability. Protection of critical IT equipment components from failures, accidents, natural disasters) is ensured by using a redundant dual HAC (High Availability Computing) configuration, i. the system is installed on 2 servers and operates in the “Active-Hot Standby” mode;
- Highest database reliability – Oracle DB Extended RAC cluster implementation;
- IT security using IBM Qradar SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solution. It provides an opportunity to proactively fight with internal and external threats. The tools used for the solution collect logs in real time, generated by the customer’s internal (technological) network equipment and system application software, analyze them and, upon detecting anomalies or potential threats to IT security, send an alert to specific cyber security officers and persons.
Successful implementation of new DAPDS IS allowed to take a qualitative step forward – to increase the efficiency, flexibility and reliability of the control of gas metering devices and the accuracy of gas metering in order to achieve the goals set in the National Energy Independence Strategy.
The implementation of this extremely complex system was carried out jointly by UAB Elsis TS (main contractor), UAB Elsis PRO and Yokogawa Polska Sp. z o.o. (subcontractors).