October - December 2003
Redundancy - Enhanced dependability
In our earlier articles, we have
seen the benefits Intelligent
Electronic Devices (IEDs) offer
when employed for plant
automation.
Modern automated process plants
have hundreds of such IEDs
controlling and monitoring the
entire plant. A large amount of data
is getting transferred on the data
bus. Continuous data monitoring
without interruption is the need of
the hour. This requires a standby
system to take care of any
inadvertant failures or planned
shutdowns on the active network.
Continuous process plants cannot
face network breakdowns that can
disrupt the data acquisition and
control system and may result into
Wish all the readers a Very Happy New Year
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system breakdown in case of any
fault.
For improving reliability of the
Elecrama
network, use of redundant
connections and integrating
2004
devices become all the more
important.
Hall No. 6
Hence, redundancy is built to
ensure smooth and uninterrupted Stall No. R-3
flow of information including
execution of commands that go
on highest priority. Pragati Maidan
In this issue, we have discussed
issues like :
New Delhi
* What exactly is meant by
redundancy
* Different methods of achieving
redundancy 3rd to 7th February,
* Pros and cons of these 2004
methods
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Dual Redundant Communication System
Modern automated process plants
use numerous Intelligent
Electronic Devices (IEDs) for
remote monitoring and control. A
large amount of data is getting
transferred to Remote Terminal
Unit (RTU). The risk of complete
communication failure due to a
single link is unacceptable. This
calls for a standby / backup
system in addition to the main or
active network. Today’s trend,
hence, demands a shift from non-
redundant to redundant systems.
Non Redundant systems
When the IEDs are coupled to the
data monitoring system, there is
more than one arrangement
possible to achieve this. The
simplest and easiest would be to
connect all the relays to a single
running cable and hook the cable
up to the PC via the interfacing
devices. This is basically a stand
alone system or more popularly
known as a non redundant
system.
If we go into the innards of this
system, we will see that the
deficiencies attached to the
system are plenty. There is no
protection against the failure of one
of the interfacing devices between
IEDs and the data monitoring
software (HMI). In fact, there is no
backup even against the breakage
of data cables. In addition to this,
if one of the interfacing devices is
taken out for repair / maintenance,
the complete data monitoring is
disrupted.
Before we move further, we will
just discuss here a few devices
available as data concentrators in
the market. A star coupler (Fig. 1)
is one of the options. It is used for
the connection in star topology to
a central master. In a modular star
coupler, failure of a single module
leads to the loss of entire data of
the IEDs connected to that
module. This cannot offer
redundancy at data concentrator
level which is a must for a critical
process.
Fig.1
A B B N e tw o r k P a rt n e r
A B B T ra n s m it O y
N e tw o rk P a r tn e r
F R
Quite often, one RS485/232
converter is connected as a data
concentrator. It should be
understood that in no way a mere
485/232 signal converter can do
the purpose of a data concentrator.
The primary function of a data
concentrator is fast and sequential
polling of the IED data. Additional
features in a modern day data
concentrator like discrimination
between the critical & non-critical
data makes it an ideal choice for
an integrated system. Both the
star coupler and converter are far
from achieving these
specifications.
Seeing the intricacy and criticality
attached to a modern plant, need
for more reliable system is felt for.
FEATURE
- Mr. Anshuman Mallya
Electrical Systems & Equipment
Redundancy
If we perceive the literal meaning
of the word ‘redundant’, it says
‘superfluous’ – something which
is extra. In our context, it shall
mean an additional path / backup
system for data and control
commands to / from the HMI /
Supervisory Control & Data
Acquisition (SCADA). Failure of
one of the components or paths
is annunciated and taken care by
the second one to preclude
complete failure. If we just sketch
a rough model of a redundant
system, it shall be as given in
Fig.2.
F E E D E R T E R M IN A L R EF54 1 A B B N e tw o r k P a rt n e r F E E D E R T E R M IN A L R EF54 1 A B B N e tw o r k P a rt n e r F E E D E R T E R M IN A L R EF54 1
O
I
O
I
O
I
Fig.2
A B B T ra n s m it O y A B B T ra n s m it O y
N e tw o rk P a r tn e r N e tw o rk P a r tn e r
L L L
L F R L F R L
R R R
C
E
C
E
C
E
U a u x = 8 0 . ..2 6 5 V d c /a c I on = 1 /5 A ( Io ) 1 M R S x xx xx x
U a u x = 8 0 . ..2 6 5 V d c /a c I on = 1 /5 A ( Io ) 1 M R S x xx xx x U a u x = 8 0 . ..2 6 5 V d c /a c I on = 1 /5 A ( Io ) 1 M R S x xx xx x
fn = 5 0 H z U n = 1 00 /11 0 V (U ) 98 15 0
fn = 5 0 H z U n = 1 00 /11 0 V (U ) 98 15 0 fn = 5 0 H z U n = 1 00 /11 0 V (U ) 98 15 0
In = 1 /5 A (I) U o n = 1 0 0 /1 1 0 V ( U o ) 95 0 9
In = 1 /5 A (I) U o n = 1 0 0 /1 1 0 V ( U o ) 95 0 9 In = 1 /5 A (I) U o n = 1 0 0 /1 1 0 V ( U o ) 95 0 9
It can be seen that, there are ‘n’
number of paths from the source
"s" to destination "d" which employ
d1 …. dn devices. Only one of the
devices / path will be active at a
specified time. The active device
is called the Master and its
standby partners are dubbed as
Slave. The system runs smoothly
under a Master-Slave
configuration. In the event of failure
of the Master device or the
connecting data cable up to the
Master device, the Slave becomes
active. It starts polling the data and
transmitting it to the HMI/SCADA,
thus ensuring continuous
availability of the IED data.
Meanwhile, the fault in the main
network can be identified and
rectified.
It should be noted that security
should be provided both against
data cable breakage and failure of
interfacing device or its
accessories. Mere duplication of
connections / cables will not
suffice this requirement. This
model can be called a ‘n’ degree
redundant system. When the
number of paths in the above
model is ‘‘two’’, it becomes a Dual
Redundant System. Critical
process like Nuclear Power Plants
even employ Triple or Quadruple
redundant systems.
For ensuring data and status
change information from all IEDs
plantwide, a data concentrator
facilitating parallel poling on all
drops is essential. Data bus and
data connections should be Dual
Redundant. In the event of one of
the conductors breaking, data
transmission changeover should
be smooth, without any inadvertant
operation i.e. bumpless.
Redundancy can be achieved at
the three levels:
Data Cable Redundancy: This
level of redundancy is applicable
Fig.3
between IEDs and data
concentrator (Fig.3). Consider
the system below where DC1
is acting as a master and
DC2 as slave.
In case cable breakage at the
point indicated occurs, the
DC1 polls the data for IEDs 1 Fig.4
& 2 and DC2 becomes active
and starts doing the same for
IEDs 3, 4 and 5 thus ensuring
complete availability of all IEDs. available to achieve redundancy
Additionally, if we connect an for the MMI. The less popular one
additional communication cable is to have two separate PCs with
between the relays, the above each one having its own MMI
system can promise the security software. (Fig.4) Thus here, a
of a quadruple redundant system complete PC with MMI is available
at communication cable level. as a standby. This system is not
preferred much for the cost
Data Concentrator Redundancy: implication and space
Data concentrator is the second consideration it carries with it.
member in the communication
hierarchy. It is the sole mediator In the second architecture, two
between the IEDs and upper level cables are laid from the data
(MMI/DCS) system. Hence, concentrator to MMI and
redundancy at data concentrator connected to different ports of PC
is of utmost importance. (Fig.5). One port is configured as
Master and continuously polls the
In Fig.3, either DC1 or DC2 is data. In case this port doesn’t
Master and in active state. If either receive any response from the
of them fails, the other becomes connected slaves for a preset
master/active and starts polling time, which may be either due to
data and issuing commands the communication cable
received from MMI. Moreover, the
redundancy of the power supply
to data concentrator is as
important as the data concentrator
module itself. Hence, in the above
scheme, 2 PSUs are shown. If
one of them fails, the other
unit should drive the
necessary power for the
cards.
Redundancy at MMI level:
The software residing in the
PC which displays and Fig.5
stores the IED data forms a
breakage or PC port failure, the
part of MMI system. User can
second port of the PC becomes
also issue specific
active and automatically starts
commands to the IED
polling the data. This is a more
through the MMI. Two
economical solution and provides
primary configurations are
adequate redundancy at MMI level.
Before we move further, we will
discuss a few systems here which
are sometimes incorrectly
considered as equivalent
Redundant Systems.
Use of Optic Fibre cable
Often it is popularised that using
an optic fibre cable between IEDs
and data concentrator / star
coupler may be a replacement for
a dual redundant network. There
have been cases reported about
the breakage of such cables.
Though its immunity to noise is
better when compared to STP
cable, its breakage cannot be
prevented. Moreover, by just using
a more noise immune cable we
are not ensuring a suitable backup
against a part or complete failure
of the data concentrator / star
coupler.
In all, for a network to provide the
safety and security of dual
redundancy, it is mandatory that it
should have that additional path /
standby setup for data
transmission between the source
and destination. Moreover, optic
fibre cable laying and termination
calls for specified skills. Also, the
cable is quite expensive and
recommended only above 1 km
or when the environment is noise
polluted and where high bandwidth
is required. When used under 1
km where STP can be used, it
necessitates additional hardware
such as converters to be used
even for smaller distances. This
can cause further time delays and
disturbance in communication.
On the other hand, STP cable is
easy to lay and its termination is
simple. Shielding provides
excellent immunity to interference
and is a cost effective solution for
data transfer.
Use of shared processor
Different system integrators
suggest different ways of
configuring a system. One of
them is based on sharing of data
between two processors. To
elaborate it, consider a data of 2
IEDs to be collected and
transferred to MMI. For this, two
processors A & B will be used.
Each shall poll a data of 1 IED
and transmit it. In this
configuration, the data is shared
equally between the two
processors. In the event a
processor or link to the processor
failing, 50% of the data shall be
lost. Hence, it is not a secure
system. Considerable data is at
stake if either processor or link to
the processor fails.
This configuration is employed
basically where a PC based data
concentrator is used. The
reliability of the data concentrator
system is always a question mark
when we are going for PC based
data concentrator. The probability
attached with the breakdown of PC
is in turn attached to the failure of
data concentrators.
Today, with entry of new viruses
daily, the software in those PC
concentrators tend to get corrupt
in the course of time.
Generally PC based data
concentrators and MMI systems
share data on TCP/IP. Often it is
desired to have this data at other
places too, at the desk of the plant
manager for e.g. These auxiliary
PCs share the data on the same
network making the PC data
concentrators all the more
vulnerable. Additional problems
like PC hanging do add to the
problems. Moreover, even an
industrial PC requires a suitable
environment to work with and a
good regular maintenance.
With the advancement of
technology, hardware based data
concentrators have been
introduced and have proven to be
more reliable and robust. Unlike
PC based data concentrators,
these require minimum
maintenance and have a much
longer life.
One of the most powerful features
only available with these advance
data concentrators is the facility
of Hot Swapping of modules. It is
possible to take out one of the data
concentrator cards for
maintenance and replace it with
another with the system running.
While the swapping of modules is
in operation, complete IED data is
available to the monitoring system
and control can be accessed over
the IEDs without disruption. This
feature is unavailable with any PC
data concentrator.
Conclusion:
Since numerous such options
and configurations are available
today, the user should be alert in
selecting a system so that the
plant security meets the desired
level.

For further details on this subject, please contact:

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