Situated on the Bivane River, approximately 35 km east of Vryheid, lies the Paris Dam. With a capacity of 120 million cubic metres, this dam is key to water availability for sugar cane and other farmers in the Pongola district.
The monitoring and management of the dam's capacity and the outflow of water from the dam is crucial to the success of the Impala Irrigation Board's ability to provide water all year round to the farmers. The project to design and commission a successful monitoring system that could be operated from the Board's control room in the town of Pongola was awarded to Bosch Instrumentation & Control (BIC), a subsidiary of the Bosch & Associates Group of Companies in Natal.
In order to monitor over 100 km of canals distributing water to the area, a radio telemetry network was first put in place. This part of the project was awarded to Spectrum Communications, who worked closely with BIC in selecting the correct locations for the 25 outstations. Some of the sites were so remote that a number of them have to operate on solar powered energy in the absence of electricity.
The Adroit Technologies' scada system was chosen as the most effective control system. It was programmed to monitor and capture the data at the dam and surrounding areas via the radio telemetry and to log this data on a daily basis, graphically and in report format. The parameters monitored include river flow, dam level, reservoir levels, gate and valve positions, and pump status.
"Water officials and operating personnel at the Impala Irrigation Board's control room agree that the new Adroit scada system is a great asset in the management and control of water flow from the Paris Dam", says BIC's Syd Thoresson. "The system has been operational since February 2001, and despite damage to one of the four sleeve valves controlling outflow from the dam, has been extremely successful. We were confident that the choice of Adroit Technologies' scada system was the right one for this application."
Smarter motor technology for high-performance industrial automation Adroit Technologies
Motion Control & Drives
Adroit Technologies is bringing Mitsubishi Electric’s EM-A series permanent magnet motors to Africa, offering servo-like speed and position control at a lower cost by combining patented sensorless control with the FR-E800 inverter to eliminate encoders while achieving IE5 efficiency.
Read more...Software-defined automation is overcoming hardware interoperability limits Schneider Electric South Africa
SCADA/HMI
Schneider Electric’s Kobus Vermeulen and Sydney Higgo explain how open communication standards and software-defined architectures are enabling industrial operators to integrate legacy equipment, new control systems, and cloud platforms without disrupting operations.
Read more...Cybersecurity must become part of the next era of industrial automation Adroit Technologies
IT in Manufacturing
The EU’s Cyber Resilience Act is setting a global benchmark for connected products, making cybersecurity a core engineering requirement in industrial automation. Adroit Technologies and Mitsubishi Electric explain how building security into controllers, PLCs and drives from the outset helps South African manufacturers protect production and meet international expectations.
Read more...Siemens modernises WinCC Unified engineering
SCADA/HMI
Siemens has launched SIMATIC AX WinCC Unified Elements, an IT-style engineering application for the WinCC Unified system that lets automation engineers build and deploy visualisation projects using code-based workflows, Git integration and AI-generated configuration
Read more...The control room used to run one plant, now it runs the world
SCADA/HMI
Industrial control rooms are evolving from single-site interfaces into network-wide command centres. Modern SCADA and HMI platforms now deliver real-time visibility, dynamic forecasting and cross-facility coordination, fundamentally reshaping how industrial operations achieve resilience.
Read more...Effective alarm management for safer, more productive operations Adroit Technologies
SCADA/HMI
Adroit Technologies addresses alarm flooding and nuisance alarms with its Adroit Alarm Management solution.The platform combines performance dashboards, mobile escalation via Adroit AIR, and an integrated digital logbook to turn alarms into actionable operational intelligence.
Read more...What you need is a nerve centre for your building Schneider Electric South Africa
SCADA/HMI
Schneider Electric’s Anoop Hariparsad explains how a building management system acts as a single nerve centre, cutting energy use and improving safety and guest experience.
Read more...How a digital foundation can overcome the LNG trilemma Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing SCADA/HMI
The LNG sector is racing to add capacity, but without a digital backbone, growth creates complexity rather than capability. Christophe Begat of Schneider Electric explains how connecting data, systems and analytics across the LNG value chain can resolve the trilemma of secure supply, lower emissions and tighter costs.
Read more...Building efficiency into cement production with SCADA and IIoT Adroit Technologies
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
For decades, Adroit Technologies has worked alongside leading cement producers, helping them gain greater visibility into their operations through advanced SCADA and IIoT solutions.
Read more...How integrated EMS platforms are redefining risk management in mining Adroit Technologies
IT in Manufacturing
As mining operations become deeper, more mechanised and increasingly data-driven, the role of technology in safeguarding workers has never been more critical. For Adroit Technologies, this shift has driven the evolution of its environmental management and safety system into a fully integrated, enterprise-level platform that supports both real-time safety and long-term occupational health.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version