SCADAConnect Simulator
SCADAConnect Simulator provides a way for users to modify and run a model scenario from a very simple user interface without the need to interact with some of the more sophisticated features of WaterGEMS/CAD with the option of loading initial conditions from SCADA data. With SCADAConnect Simulator, an operator can take an existing WaterGEMS/CAD model, make some simple changes to simulate for example a fire, pipe break or shutdown, override any controls or demands, and quickly make a model run to determine such properties as pressures, flows, tank levels, water quality and energy use depending on how the model was set up.
There are essentially two roles in SCADAConnect Simulator: a modeler who sets up the model as described in the preliminary setup section below and a user (intended to be an operator or someone who may not have all the background of the modeler who can use the model to generate results).
Preliminary setup
In order to run the simulator, it is necessary to have a model with an existing Extended Period Simulation (EPS) scenario already created with the Calculation type "SCADAConnect Simulator" in the calculation options for the scenario(s) that will be used as the baseline starting point for SCADAConnect Simulator runs.
The model to be used in SCADA Simulations should be calibrated well enough for its intended purposes so that users will have reasonable confidence in the results. It is helpful to give SCADA scenarios informative names such as "average day", "weeklong water age run" or "peak summer day". The model needs to be updated to include important facilities as they are added such as a new pump station or a new transmission main but usually does not need to have every small new pipe included if it is not expected to affect results. Using the SCADAConnect Simulator on a routine basis can provide insights as to how well the model simulates the real system and can even be used to indicate SCADA signals that may be inaccurate.
The scenarios that are set up to be baseline starting scenarios should reflect the purpose of the run. If disinfectant residual is to be calculated, then decay rates for the disinfectants should be specified. If energy runs are to be made, the pricing for energy should be set up.
The modeler should also anticipate and set up any symbology such as color coding or annotation that the user may be expected to want to view. It may be helpful to create some predefined graphs where the user would only need to select which scenario is being displayed in the graph and named views which enable the user to quickly zoom to a view of a particular area of the system (see Graphing and Named Views).
If values for initial conditions are to be imported for use in a simulator run, the import mappings need to be set up using the SCADA Signal setup (see SCADA Signals Setup). The modeler may also want to set up any Alarms and Alerts that the user may need (see Alarms and Alerts help) which can indicate if there is an alert at the current time step or at any time step.
If the results of model runs are going to be published to a SCADA OPC server for display in a SCADA Human Machine Interface (HMI), the modeler needs to create the mappings from the model to the server (see SCADA signals results publishing) and set up the HMI to display those results.
Using SCADAConnect Simulator
Once the model has been set up, it can be used in the simple SCADAConnect Simulator. To use SCADAConnect simulator, start HAMMER CONNECT and open the file for the model. Select Analysis > SCADAConnect Simulator or pick the SCADAConnect Simulator button.
The simulator opens to the Home tab where a user can set up and control individual runs. The user should first select the baseline scenario on which the SCADAConnect Simulator run will be built by clicking the drop down button on the Baseline Scenario field. If the drop down does not contain any entries, it means that no SCADA Simulations have been established. See the section above for instructions for creating a SCADA simulation using Calculation Options.
Once the Baseline Scenario has been selected, the user can run it or preferably can make changes to it to reflect the situation to be modeled. The simulator manager is shown below:
If a user wants to compare the results of a run using the SCADAConnect Simulator with the results of the baseline scenario without the adjustments, it is best to create a copy of that scenario with a name like AveDaySCADA (if the baseline is AveDay) so that the results of the two runs can be compared. If this is not done, the results of the SCADAConnect Simulator runs will overwrite the results of the baseline which may or may not be desired. It is also advisable to create a duplicate of the Calculation Options with the Calculation Type set to SCADAConnect Simulation.
If the user gets this screen below upon opening SCADAConnect Simulator, it means that they do not have a SCADAConnect Simulator scenario in the model.
The user needs to create a scenario with the Calculation Type set to SCADAConnect Simulator as shown below. Picking this calculation type gives the user the ability to make model runs from the SCADAConnect Simulator.
Upon starting SCADAConnect Simulator, the use sees the manager below:
The middle pane of this manager is the location where the user can make changes to the baseline scenario for the model run of interest. There are four ways in which the baseline can be modified.
- Daily demand adjustments where the user can change demands to reflect special conditions or events (see Demand Adjustments-SCADAConnect Simulator).
- Control overrides where the user can insert control statements to change how pumps and valves are operated (see Control Overrides-SCADAConnect Simulator).
- Pipe breaks where a user can specify the location of a pipe break and the approach for shutdown and repair (see Pipe Break-SCADAConnect Simulator).
- Fire response where the user can place a fire and view their impacts (see Fire Response-SCADAConnect Simulator).
Each of these selections opens a manager where the user provides the details which are described in the particular Help topics. Unchecking the check box indicates that the given overrides are not to be used for a run.
The upper portion of the SCADAConnect Simulator manager contains buttons to quickly navigate to tools in WaterGEMS/CAD that can help the user view results. These include:
- Time Browser - adjusts the time step to that selected by the user
- User notifications - displays errors and warning associated with the current run
- SCADA Elements - enables the user to view results for SCADA elements
- Graphs - provides the user access to the graphing manager
- Named views - zooms to a predefined view
See the help for these individual features which explain how to use them.
The right side of the top pane contains buttons to navigate within SCADAConnect Simulator including New type of run, Edit highlighted run, Delete highlighted run, Zoom to element, highlight elements in a map and expand or collapse the tree view.
The bottom portion of the SCADAConnect Simulator manager contains a description of the calculation options for the current run.
Simulation mode indicates which of four different ways the scenario handles initial conditions with regard to such properties as tank water levels, pump status and settings and valve status (The default value is baseline):
- Baseline initial uses the baseline scenario initial settings with no modifications
- Historical loads the model with initial conditions from the simulation start date and time for data found in an historical source
- Historical (Live Training) loads the model as from an historical run but increase the start time of the historical run by the auto compute interval shown in the property grid before loading and running the model again
- Live loads the model with initial conditions from current data provided from an OPC server or the latest value from a database source
- Live (Auto Compute) loads the data as from a Live run but will reload and rerun the model at a user specified time interval
If no values are available from the SCADA system for an initial setting, the values from the baseline scenario are used.
SCADA Calculation Type which identifies if the model run is to be Hydraulics Only, Age, Constituent or Trace type runs. This overrides the calculation option in the baseline scenario. If one of the water quality type runs is selected, the user must have set the properties of the run in the appropriate water quality alternative. Default value is Hydraulics only.
The value for Calculation Times is used to set the simulation start date, start time and duration and depends on the simulation mode. For historical and baseline mode, a start time is required while for Live runs only the duration is required.
The Emergency Response tab provides the user with a quick way to set up a pipe break (shutdown) (see Pipe Break) or Fire response run (see Fire Response). The other buttons in the top pane behave as they do in the Home tab.
The first two buttons in the top pane provide a way for the user to quickly create pipe break or fire response runs.
The Configure tab provides the user with a way to easily get to tools to set up a SCADAConnect Simulator run.
SCADA Signals button opens the SCADA Signals setup manager (see SCADA Signals setup) where the user can map SCADA tags to model elements using SCADA Signal elements (see SCADA signal elements).
View Log opens text file with messages that can be useful in debugging SCADA Signals.
Alerts opens the Alerts manager (see Alerts) where the user can set up alerts which the user can view after a run in the user notifications (Alerts and Alarms tab).
The Import Initial Settings button enables the user to manually import initial settings to override those in the baseline scenario (see Importing Initial Conditions with SCADAConnect). The user can either import initial conditions from historical or real time data sources. SCADA Signal elements must exist and be linked to SCADA Signals (tags) before this can be used. Doing a manual import is not normally necessary within SCADAConnect Simulator since this will be done automatically at the start of a calculation (all types except the Baseline Initial Condition type). A manual import may be used to test/debug the import process from SCADA data. Any errors encountered will be displayed in the SCADA log.
The Results Publishing button is used to optionally publish results from a SCADAConnect Simulator run in an OPC server to be provided to the SCADA system Human Machine Interface (HMI). The button enables the user to specify the mapping from the model results to a tag in the OPC server. The OPC server must already be set up (see SCADAConnect Results Publishing).