SCADA USED TO
AUTOMATE FIRE
TRAINING FOR
STAFFORDSHIRE
FIRE & RESCUE
SERVICES
This is used to show
fire fighters how fire
spreads through
buildings, where
temperatures build
up fastest and which
parts can be expected
to remain relatively
cool (Photo courtesy of
Staffordshire Fire and
Rescue Service).
PC based SCADA system
has been used to upgrade a
fire behaviour training rig at
Staffordshire Fire & Rescue
Services Headquarters.
This is used to show fire fighters how
fire spreads through buildings, where
temperatures build up fastest and which
parts can be expected to remain relatively
cool.
A
The control system monitors the
temperature within a number of training
rigs to drive read outs that display the
temperature at a number of different points
in a burning building. It also logs readings
to a real-time archive and sounds an alarm
if the temperature in any area approaches
a defined safety level. The rigs can be used
individually or integrated to simulate a
larger fire.
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PECM Issue 31
At the heart of the control system is a PC
based Progea Movicon SCADA operator
interface station, which is located near the
training rig in a classroom environment.
This was supplied through Progea’s UK
representative P4A (Products4Automation)
to systems integrator S&H Systems Design
and Installation Ltd, who managed the
upgrade project.
P4A has supplied Movicon SCADA systems
to many different applications, from the
traditional industrial process industries,
to dairies, distilleries and other food
and beverage plants. The software has
proved itself for water treatment works
and distribution networks, marine man
overboard locators, green energy plants,
steel mills and automotive plants.
At Staffordshire Fire & Rescue the Movicon
system monitors and records the operating
temperatures, displays real-time figures and
trend graphs of the temperatures, archives
and analyses the readings, and allows
configuration of the alarm set-points.
The archiving is in real-time and coupled
with the high-speed graphics, which allows
the temperature trends to be replayed back
to the trainees straight after an exercise.
They, and