SCADA IN ELECTRICITY BILLING

ABSTRACT:

Modern control systems are being developed day to day in such a way to attain a

sophisticated control & a maximum error free system. SCADA is commonly used in power

system control & protection. SCADA is one such system, which is being familiar along with

new features of computational intelligence, embedded systems etc.

SCADA represents Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition. It can cover a larger

web. It is used in substation, transmission control & maintenance.

We have mentioned the most common tasks of SCADA, which along with its additional

features allows us to apply SCADA in the conventional electricity billing, to obtain a most

error free system.

The over all view of the system is given through a well explanary schematic

representation. The tasks of SCADA break the system into a no of blocks such as BCU,

MTU, MMI, and DM etc. Here we have connected all these in a Metropolitan Area Network.

Because of this network concept we go for security policies to secure the system from

snoopers. SCADA along with the newer technical concepts will give a new frame to the multi

element systems.

INTRO TO SCADA:

Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition system (SCADA) technology has

evolved to successful multipurpose data utility management & control tools. SCADA is one

such system that is being familiar along with computational intelligence. SCADA is a

successful miscellaneous system that provides the reliability, data accuracy, control security

with intelligent application.

SCADA IN POWER SYSTEMS:

SCADA system enables an electricity utility to remotely monitor, coordinate,

control & operate transmission & distribution components in a real time mode from a remote

location with acquisition of data for analysis and planning from one control location. For

example SCADA system is to allow operators to control circuit breakers, disconnect

switches, tap changing of transformers & phase shifter position (remotely).

At a central load dispatch center data such as current, voltage, power factor &

breaker’s status are telemetered & displayed. This gives the operator an over all view of the

distribution network. SCADA can provide status & measurements for distribution feeders at

the substation. Distribution automation equipment can monitor selectionalising devices like

switches, interrupters & fuses. It can also operate switches for circuit reconfuration, control

voltage, read customers’ meters, implement time-of-day pricing & switch customer

equipment to manage load. This equipment significantly improves the functionality of

distribution control center SCADA can be used extensively for compilation of extensive data

& management of distribution systems. Distribution automation through SCADA directly

leads to increased reliability of power for consumers & lower operating cost for the utility.

The key features of the system are viz;

Faster execution of decisions.

Manual errors & oversights are eliminated.

Periodic reports for performance analysis of the power system.

TASKS OF SCADA:

Other than the above features there are certain tasks in SCADA through which

the entire control network is activated.

They are
 Data collection:

It is responsible for periodically acquiring data from remote

terminal units at the appropriate rate. In addition, data collection monitors the various

scans to make sure they initiate & complete within the current time period.

Data transmission:

It refers to telemetry. The telemetry system comprises of an

electronic equipment which converts the data received from the transducers into

analogue or digital signals & transmits it to the control room for the use of computers.

Data monitoring:

Data monitoring is the process of periodic check up of the

status of the data such as position of the CB, switches, fuses etc.

• Man / Machine interface: The Man-Machine interface provides a link between the

operator & the software/hardware used to control/monitor the power system.

APPLICATION OF SCADA IN ELECTRICITY BILLING:

The current features of SCADA is off-line processing with extensive manipulation of

historical data, high processing power. It is quick in responding with high data throughput.

These features allow us to apply SCADA in Electricity Billing.

Before viewing of SCADA application in this task, we have to see the major uncertainties in

it.

They can be accounted as follows,

Chances of human errors.

Presence of malpractices.

Failure in tariff collection.

Delay in tripping functions.

 Human resource wastage.

SCADA clears out all the black outs in the conventional billing system. In this paper we

made a wide view over this topic. The system description is as follows.

With the due consideration of the tasks of the modern

SCADA, we can divide the SCADA billing system as follows,

 Data acquisition.

 Data transmission.

 Remote Terminal Unit.

 Master Terminal Unit

 Man Machine Interface

Data Acquisition:

Consumers as reference point the necessary data for billing is collected

from the energy meter in the form of pulses. The digital meter is integrated with relay, micro-

controller& modem.

On the basis of computational algorithm the data is collected &

transmitted to the common media. The computational algorithm depends upon the meter

constant (rev/kwhr for electromechanical meter & pulse/kwhr ). If the meter constant is 1000

pulse/kwhr the algorithm is in such a way that the data output is in the terms of 100 pulse

ie(.1 kwhr). This is done via micro-controller programming. The data transmitted is of the

following format,

ADDRESS WORD UNITS

 Address word -> refers to the consumer identification no.

Units -> refer to the no of units consumed at the time of request.

The data from the micro-controller is not of transmittable form. It is in the logic levels of a

chip circuitry. Because of this, a modem or data conditioning is interfaced with the micro-

controller. Now the data is fed to the common media, which is linked with the RTU via any

network topology (preferably star network).

Data transmission:

Data transmission in SCADA billing is done in two ways,

 Between consumers & RTU.

 Between RTU & MTU.

RTU & Consumer Communication:

The data-word from the meter circuit of the consumer is transmitted to the

RTU for updating activities. Similarly a command-word is transmitted from RTU to the

meter circuit. These two transmissions take place in a single common media such as co-axial

cable, optic fiber, and power line carrier.

MTU & RTU communication:

The data collected in the RTU are transmitted to the MTU for further processing

& similarly the processed data has to be fed back to the RTU for the process of bill

collection. This is achieved by providing a server–client communication between MTU &

RTU. In the MTU side routers are placed so that the high speed MTU processer is capable of

communicating with a larger no of RTUs.

Depending on the media used the other accessories differ.

NETWORKING TOPOLOGY:
 The whole system is based on MAN (Metropolitan area network). Here it’s a

combination of two. This two can be extended between the regions are

 Consumers’ & RTU

 RTU & MTU.

The bus topology is a pertinent topology that can be utilized between consumers and RTU.

The multipoint bus topology uses along cable to link the entire consumer’s in the network. In

this way the network is established effectively. Here the bi-directional process can be done.

Following this the star topology is extended between RTU & MTU. In this topology,

each RTU Is connected to a central controller called MTU. The link between these two can

be accomplished through modem &router.

REMOTE TERMINAL UNIT:

The SCADA system consists of one or more computers with appropriate

application software (master station) connected by a no of communication system to a no of

remote terminal units placed at various locations to collect data, for remote control.

Remote terminal units play a vital role in this system in data acquisition, which is

collection of the readings from a no of consumers’ meters & also behaves as a zonal

collection center for the bills. The data from the consumers’ meters are stored in their

respective web pages (Fig: web page in the RTU)

 In the web page there are different fields in regarding the role of data acquisition,

for instance the starting & current reading are used to store the data from the consumer, while

the fields units, charge, fine are used to store the data results from the MTU. The field ‘paid’

is to register the payment of the consumer.

The RTU is otherwise called as Bay control unit when the tasks like remote

control & monitoring are added with the RTU. The interfacing devices like modem are added

depending upon the need on communication.

MASTER TERMINAL UNIT:

The data from the RTU are collected in the MTU for further processing.

Depending upon the application software in the MTU the collected data get processed. The

application software is developed using a high level language like c, c++ etc. the data from the

RTUs are collected on the basis of the priority table in the priority table is made on the basis

of the algorithm in the router i.e, priority may be

on the basis of shortest distance.

 Depending on this, the prior RTU is selected & the consumers’ details are updated

in their web pages .The web page in a MTU differs from the web page in the RTU.

The programming algorithm works on the basis of the data from the fields. The

algorithm can be described in a simpler way as ,

SELECTION OF THE PRIOR RTU FROM THE ROUTER’S PRIORITY TABLE.

DATA UPDATING.

DATA PROCESSING.

 CALCULATION OF NUMBER OF UNITS.

 CHECK 1: FOR LIMIT SELECTION & SELECTION OF

CHARGE PER UNIT.

 CALCULATION OF CHARGES.

 CHECK 2: FOR POWER FACTOR.

• PENALTY CALCULATION.

 CHECK 3: FOR LAST BILLED DATE.

 FINE IF IT IS AFTER THE DUE DATE.

  TOTAL CHARGE CALCULATION.

DATA DESPATCHING.

MAN/MACHINE INTERFACE:

MMI allows the RTU operator to trip the consumer’s power supply, when he fails to

pay the bill within the due date. This made possible from the status of the ‘paid’ field in the

consumer’s web page. An internal timer is set to the no of days, for bill payment. At the end

of the last day, the status of the ‘paid’ field is verified & the appropriate command word is

sent back to the consumers’ meter. The command word is in the following format,

111011 000000
Where 111011 address word representing the consumer.

000000 command word to the tripping unit in the meter.

In this example, the command word is to connect the consumer with the

supply, else we can use an another code to trip the supply.

MEASURES TO SECURE SCADA:

Security policies are becoming essential in today’s incorporate network. As a starting

point, an organization should have an incorporate security policy and ensure that its SCADA

network falls under the jurisdiction of this policy not only exposes the company to cyber

attacks but may also lead to illegal action.

The necessary steps to be taken to secure the SCADA network. The steps are

Defining a security policy

 Securing the SCADA network &operating environment

 Securing the SCADA application

 Detecting the unauthorized intrusions

  Regulating the physical access to the SCADA network.

They can be accomplished through the following security policies,

• Fire walls.

• Virtual private networks.

• Demilitarized zones.

• Authentication.

FUTURE TRENDS OF SCADA:

The SCADA is a wonderful concept of controlling which can be used

wherever a large network of elements come. Moreover the following additional features in

SCADA make it sophisticated to use:

SCADA with intelligent database processors speed up the process such as search,

retrieval & updating activity.

SCADA with a concept of artificial intelligence, embedded systems can be used in

automatic power monitoring, automatic restoration of power networks, load

compensation in distribution & real time control.

IT enabled SCADA systems have a higher operational efficiency & maintain

The security of the power system network.

CONCLUSION:

The New Era has been already started from the reference point with the minimum

source. SCADA associated with the computational intelligence will bring out the new
revolution. With the support of the practical considerations, qualitative & quantitative

analysis this can be implemented in the user area.