Situation: A
number of power stations use seawater in their operations.
Nature it seems can adapt to any environment. Forms of
shell life within the seawater deposit and grow inside the
power station's water pipes which require periodic
cleaning and repairs. This may lead to unacceptable
downtime.
Solution: As it enters the power station, the
seawater goes through a type of environmentally-friendly
cleaning process. This is performed at the station's water
treatment plant, which was once manned around the clock.
This costly-manpower was reduced through the introduction
of the UNIMETER range of products, replacing
old-style chart recorders, and directing data via a single
twisted pair cable to a control room. The Uni-Mux XQL
(four are shown above) is a 16 channel data acquisition
unit and is cascadable, allowing for a large number of
sensors and measurements to be monitored.
Benefits: Operating costs are greatly reduced
because there's no need to use paper chart recorders.
Cleaning of the pipe work is minimized with the present
day remotely monitored water treatment plant. Instead of
having general staff manning the station, it can be
monitored by one person via a PC. Appropriate staff need
only be sent in when there is a problem. And if the
operator goes to lunch? No problem! The Unimeter's
logging and reporting software alerts the operator of
major problems, by recording the measurements around the
clock.
