IRJET- Distant Monitoring and Controlling of Gated Dams using PLC and SCADA

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 04 | Apr 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.211 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 2900
Distant Monitoring and Controlling of Gated Dams using PLC and
SCADA
Jagdish Kale¹, Pradnya Moon¹, Chandrakant Jadhav¹,
Vikramsinh Patil¹, Komal Jadhav¹, Rohan Shinde2
¹Student, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere, Maharashtra,
India
2Assistant professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere,
Maharashtra, India
----------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract- Dams are important to a country’s economy as
they are means of power generation, irrigation, enhancing
of tourism, water conservation and many other purposes.
The technological progressions in the present world has
affected most of the processes of efficient and communal
infrastructure which aims to work and make human life
more suitable, comfortable and easier. However, there are
still lots of areas such as water controlling where many
powers that use manual systems for monitoring as well as
controlling the gated dams. As the manual one is less
accurate and time-consuming process, this proposed
Automation System will permit the end user to observe as
well as control the gated dams distantly using PLC device
and SCADA software which minimizes the error and time
while reducing the cost and increasing the quality of
monitoring and controlling with added human safety
measures.
Keywords: Dam Automation, Spillways, PLC, SCADA, etc.
1. INTRODUCTION
75% of Earth’s resources constitutes by water and has
been harnessed by human beings for various
determinations; one of them is to generate electricity
through dams. Hydroelectric power stations produce
nearly 17% of electricity in India. Hence, it is an essential
part of daily lives. The structure of dam may be of any size
or to serve the purpose that they had been intended for. But
it should require proper planning and allocation of assets.
Any type of dam is able to give the results that are
unsatisfactory or in extreme cases, even unfavorable to
human welfare. In India, hydroelectric dams fulfil a major
role of electricity generation requirements. India’s
generated power by hydroelectric sources is about 46GW
in 2016-17 [6]. There are around 3200 notable large
reservoirs and dams in India, few of famous dams are
Bhakra Nangal, Tehri Dam, Hirakud Dam, Khadakwasla Dam,
Radhanagari Dam, Ujjani Dam and Koyana Dam, etc [2].
Dams are the functional income possibilities that
they serve as great places of conserving forests and
wildlife while attracting tourists. Sometimes these dams
may put these tourists or residents’ lives under risk. The
present flood gates do not serve this purpose of spreading
tourism, while at the same time, guaranteeing safety of
human lives in and around the spillwayof these dams [1].
Dam operation to manage the floodsshould guarantee
the dam safety, minimize the risk of flood downstream and
operate and sustain the reservoir at full operative capacity
once the flood is over. However, water management system
is now a matter of growingconcern. Rationallylimited water
supply, conservation and durability policies along with the
infrastructure difficulty for achieving consumer and
irrigation requirements with quality level help to make
water management a challenging regulation problem.
The negligence to tourist safety concerns resulted into
the Larji dam disaster in 2014. It is therefore crucial to
implement an automated controlling and monitoring of
gates which considers the presence of human beings. The
aim of this paper is to provide a distant monitoring and
control of gated dams using Delta PLC and SCADA software.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Design and development of an Autonomous
floodgate using Arduino Uno and motor driver controller
has been presented in [4] using level sensors situated at
the drain side, which is used to detect the water level and
deliver a signal to the Arduino. There is a use of micro
switch incorporated here to detect the position of gate, it is
either open or close. Arduino UNO is used here as the main
processor, which examines the data provided from the
water level sensor and micro switch. After completion of
analysis process, a signal is sent to the L293D motor
driver, which controls the motor to open and close the dam
conferring to the output.

A paper on PLC based Dam Automation System has
been presented in this system [2]. Here the targeted devices
can be controlled by PLC. The main purpose of this project
is to develop a PLC based system which detects the water
level in dam and thereby automatically controlling the
movement of gates. Only one dam has partial automated
dam controlling system (Ukai dam on Tapi River at Surat).
In all over India only one canal has fully automated gates.
The programmable logic controller is used as an industrial
computer playing a role of control device while micro
switch provides incoming signals to the control unit where
the real time implementation of gate is controlled by DC
motor.
3. METHODOLOGY
The main aim of this project is to open or close the
gates automatically and the main objective of this paper
is to establish a system to control dam as well as
monitor it distantly so that it can control the water flow
autonomously to make an effective use of water to control
the flood and serve other purposes. Figure 1 shows basic
block diagram of the proposed system.
Fig- 1: Block Diagram of the proposed System
The overall process of the system where
volumetric water level sensors are used to sense the
level of water and deliver a signal to the PLC using relays.
The DELTA PLC works as a main control system which
controls the position (sequentially) and time counting by
analyzing the signals sent by the sensors. Signal further
sent to the automotive lock actuator. A separate supply
is given to the volumetric water level sensors as well as
actuator. There are four water level sensors situated at
different levels. When water level reaches to the critical
level or goes beyond it, the buzzer/alarm gets activated
and buzzes for 5 seconds resulting into the opening the
gates. Similarly, when the water level reaches to the drain
side, the signal will be sent back to the PLC and the gate
will be closed by actuator.
The SCADA screen is available to visualize the real
time status of water level along with gate position and
indication of alarm.
4. DESIGN AND OPERATION
4.1 Hardware interface
In this project, PLC is used as the main processor.
Volumetric water level sensors are used to detect water
level as Automotive Lock Actuator is used to open or close
the gate, both of which are supplied by rectified DC
supplies. The inputs are given to the PLC from volumetric
water level sensors when water level does get sensed by
the corresponding ones. The hardware interfacing is
illustrated in figure 2. The processor PLC receives the
continuous 24V DC supply through SMPS (Switched Mode
Power Supply). PLC is then connected to the SCADA
software in real time via Rs-485 Mod bus. The output
actions are shown by Actuator-up, Actuator-down and
buzzer. Y0 and Y1 outputs from the PLC activate PCB relays
which then controls the gate position.
4.2 Circuit diagram
Figure 2 shows the complete circuit diagram of
the project which consists of water level sensor,
automotive lock actuator, Delta PLC, SMPS, SCADA
software, Songle and PCB relays. The X0, X1, X2, and X3
input ports of PLC are connected to the outputs of
volumetric water level sensors. The Y2 output port of PLC
is connected to buzzer and Y0, Y1 ports are connected to
the actuator-up and actuator-down respectively. PLC and
SCADA are connected to each other through Rs-485
Modbus.
Fig- 2: Circuit Diagram of the proposed system

The sensors and actuator are both supplied by
rectified 12V DC supplies. The 12V rectified DC supply
consists of primary 230V, secondary 12V 1A stepdown
transformer, diode bridge rectifier, capacitor and a
LM7812 voltage regulator. SMPS supplies continuous 24V
DC to PLC. The connections of output relays are inverted
to get ‘up’ as well as ‘down’ movement.
4.3 Circuit operation
Normally water level is at X3 and gate position is
closed. When water level starts increasing, SCADA shows
the real time status of water level. When water level
reaches X0, i.e., the critical level or goes beyond it, the
alarm gets activated and buzzes for 5 seconds resulting
into the opening of gates. As water level decreases, one can
view it in SCADA. When water level reaches X3, gate
automatically closes to keep water at normal level.
5. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Figure 3(a) shows the overview of the system.
Delta DVP14SS2 PLC is used as a processor for handling
data from the sensor and for taking decisions for gate’s
movement. Volumetric water level sensors are employed
for sensing level of water. For powering up the complete
unit, two 12-volt power supplies are used. A SCADA
software is used for showing the real time status of the
water level and the position of dam gates. Figure 3(b)
shows the circuitry of the system.
Fig- 3(a): Overview of the system
Fig- 3(b): Control circuitry
5.1 Gate movement
The movement of the dam gate is shown in figure 4.
If the water level is above critical and the gate which is
closed usually, the PLC sends a signal to open the dam gate
and vice versa. Figure 4(a) shows the closing of the gate and
4(b) shows the opening of the gate. Figure 5 illustrates the
water level sensors.
Fig- 4(a): Closed position of Gate Fig- 4(b): Opened position of Gate
Fig- 5: Water Level Sensors
5.2 SCADA status
Figure 6 shows the display of the gates and water
level. When the water level is from X1 to X3, the gate
remains closed, the display shows the closed status and
when the water goes beyond X0 level, the gate opens, the
display shows the opening and closing status in figure 6(a)
and figure 6(b).
Fig- 6(b): Opening of Gate

Fig- 6(b): Closing of Gate
6. CONCLUSION
PLC and SCADA are the better tools for controlling
and monitoring actions. Delta PLCs offer a broad range of
controllers and modules which all feature high
performance, multiple functions and efficient program
editing tools in addition to the user- friendly programming
software and faster execution speed. For small scale it is
costly but for large scale it is efficient. Our proposed
method conserves water and ensures efficiency. The data
is recorded in real time which will help the user to analyze
the water level. This technology is much more user-
friendly, easily operable, simple to implement, and robust.
This system is capable of fulfilling the described goals of
the project with the added focus on human safety, in order
to prevent disasters.
As the advantages overshadow the drawbacks and it
is more beneficial, reliable as well as economical, easy to
operate though the skillful workers are required, it can be
said as it is a need of the rapidly changing automated
world.
REFERENCES
[1] Vandana Sahu, Nagendra Tripathi, “Automation of
Gates of Water Reservoir Using Programmable Logic
Controller (PLC),” International Journal for Research
in Applied Science & Engineering Technology
(IJRASET), April 2018.
[2] Rajat R.Sorte, Rahul R. Sonwane, Nikhil L. Thakur,
Swapnil A. Akhade, Shashwat N. Kawale, Nikhil R.
Dusawar, Kapil K. Lalwani, “PLC based Dam
Automation System,” International Journal of
Engineering Research in Electronics and
Communication Engineering (IJERECE), March 2015.
[3] Mahesh Nandaniya, “A Review Paper of Automatic
Canal Gate Control of 3-ø Induction Motor with PLC
and VFD, Powered by Solar System and Monitoring by
SCADA,” International Journal of Emerging Trends in
Electrical and Electronics (IJETEE), March 2015.
[4] S. M. Saifur Rahman Faisal, Iftekhar Uddin Ahmed,
Humayun Rashid, Remon Das, Md. Mobarak Karim, S.
M. Taslim Reza, “Design and Development of an
Autonomous Floodgate using Arduino Uno and Motor
Driver Controller,” 4th International Conference on
Advances in Electrical Engineering, September 2017.
[5] Rajeev Kumar, M. L. Dewal, Kalpana Saini, “Utility of
SCADA in Power Generation and Distribution System,”
3rd International Conference on Computer Science and
Information Technology, 2010.
[6] Gareeyasee Saha, Anjana Pama, Sushmitha R,
Shilpa Bhat, “Automatic Floodgates Control Using
PLC with Added Focus on Human Safety,”
International Conference on Control,
Instrumentation, Communication and
Computational Technologies (ICCICCT), 2015

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