ConsultJR were engaged by Sunwater to undertake an upgrade of the control PLC for the Eletele Liquid Rheostats at Pump Station 3 on the Burdekin to Moranbah Pipeline. The Sunwater Burdekin to Moranbah Pipeline was constructed in 2006-2007 and primarily consists of four pump stations with balance tanks, one dam, one storage tank, and ten surge tanks along the length of the pipeline. The Rheostat PLC has been in operation since initial construction and was obsolete, operating past nominated lifecycle period. The pipeline covers 218km delivering water as both irrigation and to mine sites.
The Eletele Liquid Rheostats were installed in the initial construction of the pipeline and have been operating as installed since. The project required that the existing Allen Bradley MicroLogix 1200 PLC be upgraded and replaced with the latest Allen Bradley Micro850 platform. Along with the hardware upgrade, the existing RSLogix 500 code had to be upgraded to the Micro850 compatible Connected Components Workbench.
The obsolete MicroLogix 1200 PLC in each of the Eletele Rheostat control panels was replaced with a modern Allen Bradley Micro850. There were significant challenges in ensuring the new PLC interfaced with the legacy wiring and that the pipeline could be cut over to the new system while limiting the impact on operational capability. Throughout the design process, ConsultJR worked collaboratively with Sunwater Stakeholders to ensure that the design and changeover met technical, operational, and maintenance requirements.
Scope of Works included:
- Detailed design of the translation from MicroLogix 1200 to Micro 850 platform.
- Code migration from RSLogix 500 to Connected Components Workbench.
- Installation and commissioning on each of the four Eletele Rheostat control panels.
Project Details:
