According to company data, today over 60% of the electricity is generated in Argentina with Siemens equipment. From its new center, the first in the Latin American region, but the number 50 company in the world, aims to optimize the huge amount of data collected by its teams and develop digital solutions for its customers in the energy sector. In fact, yesterday’s inauguration was attended by representatives of many of the companies Siemens already works with: Pampa Energía, Grupo Albanesi, Araucaria Energy, YPF, EPEC, Porto Central, PAE, Oldelval and AES Corporation, among others. .
The new center is made up of a space of four environments, but its fundamental value is not strictly in any one: it is the cloud, the information. However, the place where all this ethereal data is malleable is the operating room. Here, ten screens form an illuminated wall of data that currently shows, with mechanical precision, the indicators of the 12 gas turbines located at the four Araucária Energy plants to which the system is linked: San Pedro, Las Palmas, Luján II and Matheu III. Just having one person in front of the screens will monitor and operate the four plants and only eventually will the intervention of site maintenance personnel be required.
The information collected serves not only to open or close circuits, but also to resolve those times when an “E” of “event” appears on the screen. As now: At one point in the scheme, there is “high pressure in the difference filter”. “We take care of it,” says one of the men in charge of the space.
But above all, the information allows us to anticipate possible failures. “Of trivial things like the level of lubricating oil in the machine. But before you know it, you may have thrown 5000 liters of oil. These are problems that are underestimated but that can cause an environmental disaster on a daily basis. “explains Federico Heine, the company’s Gas & Power digitization manager.
All information is shared within the company, which creates a global data network and allows you to verify the operation of a team against the performance of any other globally. “No one can beat the analysis. One may have a very bold, very skilled operator, but one always has a bad day, goes to the bathroom, needs to do some homework and wastes some time. Besides, he has a capacity very limited. correlate variables, “adds Heine.
According to estimates based on other Siemens experiences, after implementing the smart power asset operation and maintenance solution in small and medium gas turbine plants, unplanned downtime can be reduced by 13%, while costs labor and operation can be reduced by up to 33%.
Javier Pastorino, CEO of Siemens Argentina, said the company is based on the “German model”. “A global study showed that, in relative terms, German industry today uses two to three times more digitization, more robotics and more automation, but at the same time is employing twice as many people. The model is showing that it generates quality jobs in replacement of certain routine activities, that is why the key has to do with continuing education, “he said.
The center also has a virtual reality development in steam turbines. In this virtual space, which is a digital model made according to the same plans with which the plant is built in the tangible world, training is performed. This way, when the factory is inaugurated, there are already trained people to operate it. The training – which requires equipment consisting of a viewfinder, two controls and two sensors that detect the location of each thing – can be delivered by specialists from Germany, for example, who can be in the same virtual space with the learner, saving logistics. and transatlantic travel costs.
The information gathering and reporting system includes drones, robots and also smart glasses. “These are glasses with sensors that read the pulse of the person who has them to see if they are able to operate the plant and also to know if they are at risk because they have thermographic vision and voltage detection,” explains Heine. “You have facial recognition, orientation, GPS functions. It can read QR codes and provide information from each team to see if there are any pending tasks. You can also say with the voice ‘open this diagram’ and access this information. You has the information you may have carrying a laptop or set of papers, but you also have both hands free, “he added.
By: Delfina Torres Cabreros
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