EP2875190A2

EP2875190A2 - Telemetric hydrant for measuring, collecting and wireless transfer of measured values to the database on the remote computer

Info

Publication number: EP2875190A2
Application number: EP13762544.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Igor IGNAC; Boro Markic
Original assignee: Ignac Igor; Markic Boro
Current assignee: Ignac Igor; Markic Boro
Priority date: 2012-07-23
Filing date: 2013-07-15
Publication date: 2015-05-27
Also published as: WO2014016625A2; WO2014016625A3; HRP20120603A2

Abstract

The telemetric hydrant is a unique unit that is composed of the following elements: working housing (13) of the water supply hydrant, measuring device - sensor (1), logical control device - PLC (2), communication device (3), power storage - battery (7) and photovoltaic cells (5) as a source of electric power and battery chargning and discharging controller (6). All devices except the sensor (1) are mounted into a common housing (11), (12), (13) or (14). Apart from its function to take water, telemetric hydrant is also an energy-independant device for detection of measured quantities, such as pressure, temperature, flow, water quality, detection of opening, etc., to the center for controlling and monitoring the water supply system (dispatch center). The power supply of the telemetric hydrant device is realized by batteries (7) which are charged by photovoltaic cells (5). This technical solution can be applied to overground and underground hydrants, provided that in the overground hydrants the photovoltaic cells (5) are mounted on or in the housing while in underground hydrants the photovoltaic cells (5) are placed in the road lids (10) of various shapes whose purpose is closing the hydrants, valve chambers, deep reservoirs of cathodic protection, piezometers, drains and shafts, etc. By applying this solution measuring points can be placed on the pipelines in a simple and inexpensive way, as well as collecting numerous data on the state of the water supply network which are necessary for proper and efficient management of the water supply system.

Description

TELE ETRIC HYDRANT

FOR MEASURING, COLLECTING AND WIRELESS TRANSFER OF MEASURED VALUES TO THE DATABASE ON THE REMOTE COMPUTER

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical field

This invention relates to fire hydrants installed in the water supply network, industrial plants, refineries, power plants, chemical industry, etc. In addition to the basic function of enabling the water supply to firefighting purposes, the integration of this invention into a standard hydrant allows measuring, collecting, processing and transfering the data to the center for monitoring and management of the water supply system. An important feature of this invention is that the collection and submission of data is enabled without power connection, using the independent battery system or batteries that are recharged by renewable energy sources such as solar and photovoltaic cells.

Scope of implementation of this patent solution can be modified to road lids of various shapes and uses, such as for example road lids for closing hydrants, water chambers, road lids for closing deep anode reservoirs in cathodic protection systems, chambers of drainage systems, piezometer wells, etc.

Technical problem

Water supply pipelines are indented structure which basic purpose is water distribution from water wells to the end user. In water distribution through pipelines there is a common need for monitoring of the pressure, flow, temperature and water quality in all parts of the supply system. Water supply pipelines are infrastructural installations that are buried in the ground a minimum of 1 metre, but often the buried depth exceeds that depth due to the terain configuration and because of interpolation of the existing buried (constructed) installations such as pipelines, dtk cables, power cables, sewage collectors.

Due to the location of the pipelines deep underground, in concrete columns or suspensions under bridges, casing colons under highways, roads, tram or railways tracks, it is almost impossible to meassure, collect and transfer data without communication devices connected to measuring devices on pipelines. In general communication devices are located in the overhead racks above or near the pipelines. The water supply network consists of pipelines, fittings and various plumbing fixtures. The pipelines are used to transport water and distribution within the water supply areas. Fittings are the elements of the water supply system which serve to direct the water flow, regulate the section (flux) through which water flows, and implement the compounds with other elements. A very important element of the system are fittings which are used for proper functioning, operation and maintenance of the water supply systems. There are three different types:

Fittings for closing and regulating

Fittings for taking water

Safety fittings This inovative solution deals with improving the function of „fittings for taking water", which are underground and overground hydrants, as well as road lids for various purposes.

Hydrants provide water for firefighting, street washing, watering the public green spaces, technicall irrigation of the water supply network and water tanks cleaning, rinsing and cooling of energy systems, water sampling for water safety control (sampling). They used to be constructed on pipelines as underground hydrants, but today they are almost exclusively constructed as overground hydrants. On the water supply network they are set to the mutual distance of 80 to 150 meters.

A very important element of the water supply system are measuring and valve chambers. Valves that allow manipulation of pressure, flows and regulate the water flow direction, are implanted into the valve chambers. The chambers are important parts of the system, because to a large extent they define the hydraulics of the water supply system. Due to their importance, the chambers should be constructed at the same time as the water supply pipelines (system). They are usualy constructed within the public transportation areas (roads, pathways, squares, ...), so it is required to obtain a building permit for their construction if the chamber is going to be built as an independent structure. Basicaly the chambers are under the building permit for the construction of the pipelines.

Chambers are subjet to considerable load and vibration caused by traffic, so statics calculations are made. Placing of chambers in public traffic areas resolves the issue of property rights but requires regulation of traffic in order to be accessable for maintenance, reconstruction or any upgrades of measuring instruments. All of this affects the high price of building a chamber, so they are designed and constructed only if there are technical and economic justification.

This solution allows the construction of measuring point on the hydrant, which is also the most accessible element of the pipeline. Measuring (meter) and telecommunications equipment, batteries and charge controller will be placed in or on the hydrant housing. This avoids the construction of the chambers to set the meter to the pipeline. This solution can be applied to the road lid on already exisiting chambers. The solution can be provided through a photovoltaic cells under multilayered bulletproof glass on the lid of the chamber. Measuring and telecommunication equipment, batteries and charge controller will be placed in the chamber independently of the road lid and insulated from the effects of moisture in the area that does not interfere with the manipulation of fitting elements that are in the chamber. The antenna of the telecommunication device is placed on the upper surface of the road lid near photovoltaic elements and is protected by transparent wall or epoxy filler.

Water losses

In Western European countries water losses amount to 15-20 %, while in the countries of Southeast Europe they significantly exceed 40 %. The structure of water losses is determinated by the following factors; unauthorized manipulation, illegal connections, technical flushing, firefightning activities, street cleaning, watering of public green areas, but the most important factor is the quality, maintenance and age of the pipelines and fittings. Urban water supply systems are giving the increasing importance to measuring and activities intended to reduce losses to an acceptable level. Reducing the losses has directly the function of sustainable development because it reduces the need for additional amounts of drinking water and wells, and it tries to rationally manage the water resources, which is also consistent with the principles of sustainable water management.

Water quality

Apart from water losses, in the water supply system it is even more important to monitor the quality of drinking water. Water is the second most required element (after air) for human life, that is to meet basic human needs. Therefore, the quality of drinking water must be controlled at wells, after the conditioning process and disinfection, in water tanks and distribution network at specific locations.

Frequency of sampling is legally defined. Things measured are the amount of chlorine and residuall chlorine, turbidity, colour, odour, conductivity, temperature, pH of the raw and conditioned water. Particular attention to measuring the water quality should be given after major reconstructions on the water supply network, droughts or periods of high rainfall.

To control the modern water supply system with quality, a large amount of information about that system should be aquired, such as the measurement of the pressure, flow, temperature, chlorine and other previously mentioned factors.

State of the art Central monitoring and management of the water supply system is derived from the center for managing and monitoring via telemetry devices which communicate with devices placed on specific points on the pipelines. Usually the measuring points of the pipeline are installed in underground chambers and are connected with the telecommunication equipment located in the electric cabinets overground (less often in the chamber itself) together with the electric connector. Communication is carried out in several ways, for eg. via UHF radio modem, dail-up, and recently WiFi and GSM networks via GPRS, HDSPA, EDGE, LTA technology that enables communication between the center and the measuring and regulating devices.

Hydrants can be used as measuring points as shown in the patent WO2012/000088 Al, in which the author describes the use and placement of the pressure sensors inside the hydrant, or the detector of unathorised usage as described in the patent US 7.099.781 Bl. None of the two mentioned solutions doesn't solve the data transmission using the equipment located in the hydrant, but they use the external devices for data transfer. The usage of various electro acoustic methods for detecting leaks in a large extent depends on the intensity of the noise from the enviroment, so this measuring method is usually performed at night when the noise level is much lower and the water consumption is minimized. Noise loggers are cheaper and more efficient alternative. The mentioned equipment uses short range communication devices, and batteries should be charged often which prevents the continued use and requires the occasional presence of the operator. Solving the problem of water losses often seeks a multi-disciplinary experts and the use of a particular methodology for more accurate definition of the current situation. Generally, there are different approaches, such as the preparation of the balance sheet, the computation of certain indicators, division of the system into zones, emergency interventions, active leakage control, analysis of minimal flow especially in the night mode meassurement, and other. A prerequisite for the implementation of the minimum flow analysis is to collect information on consumption, leakage and pressure dependence. The practice has shown that the usage of the existing equipment and devices (colectors, geophones, loggers) isn't effective enough, so the measurement of the flow and pressure is needed.

Flow measurement is an expensive way of collecting information. The precondition for installing the sophisticated flow meters is the construction of chambers for measuring and regulation and defining the place of installation while keeping in mind that meters should be grounded in a laminar area. Construction of new chambers in urban areas is subject to obtaining location and construction permits, getting electricity consents, static calculations and are therefore built with special care.

Pressure measurements are performed mainly on wells, pumping stations, buster stations, while they are rarely done on the distribution network. The collection, processing and transmission of data via telemetric hydrant will allow the collecting of a large amount of pressure data in the distribution network.

The development of the water supply systems requires continuous measurement and control of the pressure on the system. Large number of measurement points, collecting large amounts of information and the processing of the same shall be resolved by applying the GIS technology. Modern GIS tools enable the dana integration obtained from SCADA systems, data obtained by mathematical model, with other databases while giving users valuable technical information as well as a visual component. The essence of the invention

Hydrants are the most common and most accesible elements of the water supply system. Hydrants are also significantly cheaper than the regulatory and meassuring chambers with fittings. Therefore, their usage, apart from water supply and firefighting needs, by using this patent solution - integration of meassuring and communication equipment in the hydrant housing, becomes technically and economically acceptable as well as irreplaceable part of the future water supply meassuring and regulation system.

The main purpose of this invention is the integration of meassuring, cummunication and electrical equipment into hydrant housing (underground or overground), which operates using the measuring device, logical device for management, communication device, rechargeable batteries (fuel consumption) and photovoltaic cells as an energy source and thus represents a single hydrant measuring alarm circuit. Other than the water supply for firefighting purposes and water supply, this hydrant has the option of monitoring measurement values, such as pressure, flow, temperature, water quality, collecting and trasnmitting the gathered data to center for monitoring and management.

To achieve meassuring-communication functionality it is required to install the following items into the hydrant housing: the measuring device -sensor, PLC (programable logic controler), modem with TCP/IP, battery and photovoltaic cells, controller for managing charging and consumption of the battery.

The point of performance of the telemetric hydrant is reading the measured values and transmitting those data via public GSM network to a target (server) computer. The data downloaded to the target (server) computer are stored in the database and are available for further use.

The operating system is as follows: Sensor (or a couple of them) reads the value which is transferred to PLC; the PLC processes tha data (datas) and via RS232 or RS485 protocol forwards the data to GSM/WiFi modem which establishes the connection and transfers tha data to the target (server) computer on the network.

The connection between the hydrant and the target computer can be constant or temporary. The constant connection is energy demanding and is more difficult to achieve in continuity, so the charging and consumption controller is used which in certain intervals switches on and off the measuring and communication devices to save power and the possibility of creating a sufficient number of data transfers.

The communication device, batteries, PLC and controller are located inside the housing above which the photovoltaic cell is placed for better exposure to sunlight. The whole housing, together with the mentioned equipment, is located on the highest point of the hydrant and is shaped to allow the opening and closing of the hydrant. Since there are several different hydrant designs, this equipment can be incorporated inside the hydrant housing or in a separate housing which together with the hydrant makes a whole and has the possibility to be separated.

By using this integration it is achived to build a cheap and effective measuring point without additional construction work. All the above mentioned is applicable to road lids of various shapes and purposes, which close the chambers in which underground hydrants and other fittings are located.

A short list of drawings

Fig.l is a schematic view of communication and energy complex and the interaction of

telemetric hydrant device

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of separable housing for storing the telemetric hydrant device

Fig. 3 is a layout of telemetric hydrant with separable housing for storing the device

Fig. 4 is a side view of telemetric hydrant with an attached housing for storing the device

Fig. 5 is a cross-section of telemetric hydrant with devices built into the hydrant housing

Fig. 6 is a layout of telemetric hydrant with devices built into the hydrant housing

Fig. 7. is a side view of telemetric hydrant with devices built into the hydrant housing

Fig. 8 is a layout of road lid with photovoltaic cells which closes the chamber in which the

underground telemetric hydrant is located

Fig. 9 is a side view of the hydrant and cross-section of the road lid with photovoltaic cells

which closes the chamber in which the underground telemetric hydrant is located

Fig. 10 is a schedule of devices in the housing unit

Detailed description of the invention nature

As seen from the drawing, to create a telemetric hydrant it is necessary to ensure the housing (12) for mounting the battery (7), photovoltaic (5), communication, regulation and monitoring equipment, and insulate that equipment. Such housing (12) can be detached from the hydrant and located outside of the working area of the hydrant housing or it can be located in the hydrant housing (13) itself.

Sensors, depending on their usage, can be installed within the hydrant housing and connected with a wire connection (8) with PLC circuit (2) which transfers the data received from the sensor to a wireless modem (3) based on radio, GSM or WiFi mode of data transmission which transfers those data to the target computer via wireless network. Sensors can be analog or digital.

PLC (2) processes the gathered data and transfers them to the modem (3). Modem via antenna (4) transmits the data to wireless base stations.

Modem (3) uses one of the technology of data transmission for wireless transfer of data, such as UHF or VHF radio connection, GSM connection or wireless connection. Antenna of the modem (4) is located along photovoltaic cells for stronger connection with base stations which transfer the data. Modem (3) ensures the communication with the server computer via TCP/IP protocol.

In order to operate, PLC (2), modem (3) and sensors (1) use the power from the built-in battery (7). To achieve the continuos supply of electricity it is necessary to install the photovoltaic cells (5) in the hydrant which will charge the batteries (7) with electricity and thus achieve energy independence of telemetric hydrant.

Photovoltaic cells (5) are located on top of the hydrant and are therefore most exposed to daylight required to generate the electricity for battery charging (7). Because of its location, they must be insulated from the elements.

Controller (6) has several functions. First function is to ensure proper charging and discharging of the battery (7), which includes limiting the charging power of the battery (7) and proper discharging as a protection from the damage to the battery (7) due to overflow. In case of the excessive battery (7) drain, controler has the function to turn off the appliance (6) and to periodicaly turn it on to achieve continuity in the data transmission until the battery (7) is full.

Battery (7) must be rechargeable and have sufficient capacity to ensure smooth operating of all the appliances during the period when photovoltaic cells (5) can't produce electricity due to darkness or low insolation. Application of the invention

Modern water supply systems are basically the integration of civil, mechanical, electrical, telecommunications and IT knowledge, experience and equipment. The complexity of managing large water supply systems is best seen in big cities.

To ensure flawless functioning, it is necessary to include the knowledge of various experts (mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, constructors, etc.) in order to collect, process, transfer and interpret the various measured data. The spread of internet technology, new software solutions, considerable lower prices of PLC (and hardware in general), photvoltaic cells, batteries, and transfering the collected data without obtaining special permits, enables a new way of managing the water supply system. Collecting the data (on water quality, pressure, flow, etc.) on a large number of measuring points in the distribution system will enable more efficient and cost-effective management.

Installation of the telemetric hydrant allows active participation in global trends to achieve minimum standard of the water supply for the population achieved with minimal pressure. In addition to reducing the water losses, reducing the pressure in the system will directly affect the prolonging of the installation, will reduce the amount of leakage, the creation of new fractures, stabilization of existing leaks, it'll reduce the amount of human labour required to maintain the system, and there will be significant energy savings.

Installation of the telemetric hydrant will enable a lower pressure, collecting the information about leakage, data processing, pressure analysis and prediction of fractures using GIS tools, controlling the minimun and maximum pressure on each microlocation (section) or within a particular zone.

Underground and overground hydrants are elements which are installed into water supply system to collect water, which purpose is multiple but it's mostly used to control the safety of drinking water, the firefighting purposes, street washing and watering the public green areas. They are installed on mutual distances of 80 to 150 meters. All this makes them the most common fittings elements which are built above the ground and must be visible, easily accesible and easy to operate.

The density of the existing hydrants on the water supply distribution network represents the potential for gathering the information on water supply system in general but especially on precisely defined micro-locations.

Construction of most of the hydrants allows a very simple and easy replacement of the part of the existing hydrant (on the field) with fitting elements, which allows measuring, collecting data (measured values), transmitting the data to the center for further processing. In this manner, by integrating the photovoltaic cells, batteries, battery charge controller, telecommunication and measuring equipment into the hydrant housing we get the telemetric hydrant.

In each telemetric hydrant one or more probes can be installed which are used to measure (pressure, chlorine, temperature, etc.) depending on performance and available space for installation. Each telemetric hydrant can be precisely positioned in space, thus allowing continuous monitoring and spatial analysis. Collected data obtained by measuring the telemetric hydrant will be transfered via wireless networks and automatically entered into a database which can be used by GIS, or other appropriate programs that are used for spatial analysis and can also be used for the remote control and monitoring of the water supply system.

Collecting the data via telemetric hydrants can fully be realized by using the remote communication in two ways; via direct connection between each hydrant and the monitoring center or by collecting the data from several telemetric hydrants (pressure, flow, temperature, ...) in each DMA (District Metered Area) and transfering large amount of data to the monitoring center. The data can be transferred via UHF/VHF radio connection, Wi-Fi or GSM communication.

GIS Web navigation

Collecting and storing the data is possible by establishing SCADA system which has been monitoring the changes in the distributive network. However, a large amount of the collected data can be vast, so the sistematization and visualization of the data will be resolved with connecting SCADA and GIS systems. Visualization is necessary for geographic location and spatial analysis.

SCADA control systems consist of a complex network of electronic devices for measuring and transfering data via LAN, WAN to the control center. SCADA system is going to monitor the hydrant network in real time, while GIS, as an upgrade, will make the integration of different systems highlighting their advantages. This will allow better monitoring and maintenance of the distribution network, as well as system management. GIS technology will enable rapid, accurate and spatially unique display of network data, and it can be used to visualize the distribution network, mathematical modeling, optimization, system debugging, spatial analysis, strategic planning assistance.

Suppose there has been a leakage on some part of the network, in practice it'll be displayed so that the telemetric hydrant reports the pressure drop to SCADA system, and GIS system will, with the help of an application system for determing and managing the losses, determine on which part of the network losses have occured (leaks, theft, legal or illegal procedure) and show the location. Historical data and frequency of pressure drop, caused by the rupture, will allow the operator who monitors the system to quickly obtain the information and notify the users how much time is required to eliminate the failure and which area is going to be without water. The main point of this inventive solution is continuous data transfer and proof of a real-time monitoring of the water supply distribution network. These solutions can be applied to underground hydrants and road lids. Applying this solution to other elements and fittings (hydrants, hydrant road lids, road lids on chambers, connectors covers) new products will be gained which, apart from the mechanical function, can also measure, collect and transfer information.

Development, implementation and monitoring of the water supply system by using the telemetric (overground or underground) hydrant will provide a significant progress and allow:

Lowering the costs of managing and maintenance

Quality monitoring and lager amount of collected data, such as water quality and pressure on a particular part of the water supply system

Collecting and transfering data at a predetemined regime

Low power consumption

Large number of measured values sensing

Possibility of a remote information collection

Possibility of a remote access using the software for data collecting

Telemetric hydrants enable continuous monitoring and measuring on the water supply system, transfer of those data to SCADA and GIS while pointing out geo-referenced locations and recurrence of water losses.

List of used reference signs

1 - Sensor

2 - PLC (Programable Logic Computer)

3 - Modem

4 - Antenna

5 - Photovoltaic cells

6 - Charging and discharging controller

7 - Rechargeable battery

8 - Wire sensor connection

9 - Transparent wall

10 - Road lid

11 - Road lid housing - Removable housing

- Working hydrant housing

- Housing for underground placing of the device

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. Telemetric hydrant for measuring, collecting and wireless transfer of measured values to the database on the remote computer, which includes the overground water supply hydrant housing (13), measuring device - sensor (1), rechargeable battery (7), photovoltaic cells (5), modem (3), PLC (2) and charging controller (6), characterized by the fact that the hydrant housing is fitted as a separate and detachable part in which the above mentioned devices are located which function is to transfer the sensed value of the sensor (1), or more of them which are built-in in a working part of the hydrant housing (13) and are in contact with the media, to PLC (2) which processes the received data by using the set program and transfers it to modem (3) which transfers the data to the target computer via wireless connection.

2. Telemetric hydrant, specified in claim 1 , characterized by the fact that for power supply all devices uses a rechargeable battery (7) which uses the charging controller (6) to recharge itself with the power generated from the photovoltaic cells (5) that are located on the top of the hydrant and are exposed to sunlight through the transparent wall which protects the photovoltaic cells (5) and devices from elements.

3. Telemetric hydrant for measuring, collecting and wireless transfer of measured values to the database on the remote computer, which includes the overground water supply hydrant housing

(13), measuring device - sensor (1), rechargeable battery (7), photovoltaic cells (5), modem (3), PLC (2) and charging controller (6), characterized by the fact that the working hydrant housing (13) the above mentioned devices are located which function is to transfer the sensed value of the sensor (1), or more of them which are built-in in a working part of the hydrant housing (13) and are in contact with the media, to PLC (2) which processes the received data by using the set program and transfers it to modem (3) which transfers the data to the target computer via wireless connection.

4. Telemetric hydrant, specified in claim 3., characterized by the fact that for power supply all devices uses a rechargeable battery (7) which uses the charging controller (6) to recharge itself with the power generated from the photovoltaic cells (5) that are located on the top of the hydrant and are exposed to sunlight through the transparent wall which protects the photovoltaic cells (5) and devices from elements.

5. Telemetric hydrant for measuring, collecting and wireless transfer of measured values to the database on the remote computer, which includes the underground water supply hydrant housing (13), measuring device - sensor (1), rechargeable battery (7), modem (3), PLC (2) and charging controller (6), characterized by the fact that the chamber of the road lid (11) the above mentioned devices are located in a separate insulated housing which function is to transfer the sensed value of the sensor (1), or more of them which are built-in in a working part of the hydrant housing (13) and are in contact with the media, to PLC (2) which processes the received data by using the set program and transfers it to modem (3) which transfers the data to the target computer via wireless connection.

6. Telemetric hydrant specified in claim 5., characterized by the fact that for power supply all devices uses a rechargeable battery (7) which uses the charging controller (6) to recharge itself with the power generated from the photovoltaic cells (5) that are located on the top of the road lid (10) which closes the chamber in which the telemetric hydrant is located and are exposed to sunlight through the transparent wall which protects the photovoltaic cells (5) and devices from elements.