A new Paluguillo water treatment plant in Ecuador has replaced a number of smaller potable water schemes in the region. Supporting the advanced automation capabilities of the USD 4.6 million-project, AUMA Generation .2 electric actuators with a Modbus loop have been incorporated for valve control.
Developed by Empresa Pública Metropolitana de Agua Potable y Saneamiento, the plant has a capacity of 600 litres per second and serves a population of 210,000 inhabitants. To ensure maximum flexibility, the entire scheme can be operated locally or remotely from a main control room: communication is achieved via a SCADA system using Modbus RTU.
Providing the responsiveness required for the hi-tech scheme, a high baud rate of Bus communication up to 115Kbit/sec is offered by AUMA’s actuators. Other actuation features that support the project’s advanced automation requirements include automatic start-up of the communication loop and cyclic feedback. Additionally, easy configuration is afforded via Bluetooth or AUMA’s CDT (Commissioning and Diagnostic Tool).
The project is the latest in a series of water industry installations for AUMA around the globe. The company has supplied electric actuators to wide ranging potable and non-potable applications for five decades.