2008-12-08 - Remote drive access from an Ethernet network or mobile communications
NEW BERLIN, Wis., December 8, 2008 . . . ABB Low Voltage Drives today released the SREA-01 Ethernet Adapter for the company’s low voltage AC drive line. The din rail-mounted SREA-01 enables access remotely to drives. If a process alarm or fault occurs, the internal web server of the SREA-01 provides an easy-to-use user interface for accessing the drives and other process variables. Installing an SREA-01 in complement with ABB drives can reduce significantly downtime, costs and site visits where drives are controlling motors.
With drives increasingly being installed in remote locations ( windmill farms, water & waste water pumping stations, irrigation pumps, oil fields, and mining applications), “operational data from the process needs to be acquired and sent to a central location for process monitoring and analysis,” notes Greg Semrow, product manager for ABB Low Voltage Drives. “Further, if no qualified service personnel are onsite, it is vital to be able to monitor and configure the drive or process variables remotely. This makes the SREA-01 an extremely valuable tool for plant engineers & managers, system integrators, OEM’s and service personnel who demand to be connected to the process no matter if they are on-site or across the globe.”
Access to What You Operate From Wherever You Are
ABB’s SREA-01 Ethernet adapter performs all these remote access tasks. Designed to optimize the remote interface to ABB AC drives that have a Modbus-RTU port, the SREA-01 can send process data, data logs and event messages independently -- without a PLC or a dedicated on-site computer. The SREA-01 ethernet adapter has a built-in internal web server for configuration and drive access.
The adapter can connect a maximum of 10 drives to an ethernet or GPRS(1) network. The SREA-01 comes equipped with an ethernet port and a serial port for connecting to a standard GSM/GPRS(1) modem for internet connectivity in isolated places. The modem connection can be used for sending e-mail or SMS(2), messages, uploading data files via FTP(3), or accessing the web pages of the module.
Connects to Multiple Drives
The SREA-01 can be connected to the panel port of ABB ACS350, ACS550, ACH550 or, alternatively, to the Modbus interface of a drive. A maximum of 10 drives can be connected to a single SREA-01 module, although an additional RS-485 converter is needed for each drive, if several drives are connected by their RS-232 panel port interface.
Via the adapter, users also can receive event messages, alarms -- and access the drive remotely. The SREA-01 adapter can be used to monitor situations, such as out-of-tolerance process flow, pressure, motor torque or any number of drive or process variables, and then send alarm messages to support personnel. The event and alarm messages can be sent as SMS(2) messages or by e-mail. The event conditions and messages can be configured by the user to make them suitable for a number of applications.
Users can collect data logs and integrated drive data in SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) applications, via the interface, as well. For collecting data from the drive for process monitoring or further analysis, the SREA-01 has a fully configurable data logger that can store values from the drives to a file, with sample intervals from 10 seconds to one hour. The files are stored in a standard Comma Separated Values (CSV) format that can be imported to applications such as Microsoft Excel for processing.
The collected data logs can be sent by e-mail or FTP(3), either through a local area network or the internet. The sending interval also can be configured by the user, with logs being sent, for example, every hour or once a week. In addition to providing data logging functionality, the SREA-01 also has an internal Modbus-TCP gateway, providing a standard interface that can be used by SCADA applications to display drive information in real-time.
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