Digitalization Empowers Intelligent Water Services - Interview with Director of Water Industry, National Sales Department of Schneider Electric

In recent years, with the increasing demand for energy saving, consumption reduction, and improvement of operation and management level, the demand of water enterprises for intelligent water services has begun to show explosive growth. On this road of change, Schneider Electric, relying on the Internet of Things-based EcoStruxure, continues to deepen its two strategies of "Digital Transformation Leader" and "Industry Application Specialist", enabling continuous innovation in multiple dimensions of smart water services, and solving the energy-efficiency operation problems of water utilities.

Taking off: the digital wings of intelligent water services

Five years ago, Schneider Electric has vigorously laid out the intelligent water market, "if the solution then more focused on pipe network optimization, scheduling and leakage monitoring and processing, now digital technology to empower the intelligent water more 'intelligent' capabilities. 'Wisdom' ability." Yang Hujin said, "EcoStruxure three-layer architecture based on the Internet of Things, production control, operation scheduling and enterprise management combined together, with hardware + software + service overall solution to achieve the water industry full life cycle coverage, enriching the connotation of intelligent water."

Green smart manufacturing on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform is promoting digital connectivity and management change in the water industry, "For industry, the Internet of Things is the idea of the solution, while the Internet is a technology. Intelligent manufacturing based on industrial IoT is driving companies to change from asset-focused to data-driven. On the basis of equipment interconnection and interoperability, it allows the collection and analysis of data to play a value and improve production efficiency. The most urgent problem solved by Chinese water enterprises is how to make data work, one of the biggest problems encountered in the process of promoting intelligence and digitization is the information silo, if there is no data and effective analytical methods as a basis, it is impossible to talk about the cloud and interconnectivity." Yang Hujin said. Schneider Electric heavy EcoStruxure architecture platform includes interconnection products, edge control and applications, analysis and services three-tier architecture, a wide range of energy, automation and software products to integrate the industry's complete solution to form a closed-loop management of intelligent water from connectivity, collection to analysis, processing, optimization, and to help water companies to achieve leapfrog improvement in operational efficiency and asset performance. Today, Schneider Electric's intelligent water solutions have landed more than 20 cases in domestic water supply, watershed management, heating and other industries, with more than 40 projects under construction.

***Together to build a smart water ecosystem

"***CREATE*** WIN, BUILDING THE DIGITAL FUTURE" is the theme of the 2019 Schneider Electric Innovation Summit, and innovation and cooperation are the keywords of the profound changes in China's industrial revolution at the moment. "Water is not only an economic behavior, but also a social behavior, is the drinking water quality up to standard? Is there any leakage of water pipes? Water supply peak season will not stop? Not only affects the survival of the water business, but also affects the experience of the whole society. Water field brings together owners, design institutes, engineering contractors, process providers and system integrators and many other participants, we all have a **** the same goal, that is, to improve the utilization of water resources and safeguard the public's safe use of water, around this goal, the industry division of labor to determine the establishment of an organic ecosystem." Yang Hujin said, "In the traditional water industry, Schneider Electric through the realization of multiple dimensions, all levels of continuous innovation, with automation technology to solve the dilemma of energy-efficient operation of the water business, for the users and partners of the digital transformation of empowerment."

Yang Hujin used a South-North Water Diversion Project as an example, "This project contains more than a dozen pumping stations, is the key to the deployment of water supply, the owners need to carry out intelligent management and control, to minimize energy consumption. In this process, our joint design institute, the general contractor and Schneider Electric integrated a number of software platforms, *** with the construction of a smart water management system, to achieve a unified control room control and unattended. After the digital transformation of the project emergency storage and spitting capacity than before increased by more than 30%, can respond in a timely manner to the upper reaches of the emergence of, for example, heavy rainfall, flash floods and other geological disasters, to protect the downstream of the water supply and water quality standards." In this regard, Yang Hujin said, the water cycle, whether corporate management, operations scheduling layer, or production control layer, can be actively monitored, collected, analyzed and assisted in day-to-day and emergency decision-making, so that the water assets more efficient, long-term and reliable operation, the real realization of the wisdom of the water.

IT-enabled OT

Leveraging industrial IoT, based on Schneider Electric's long-accumulated expertise in niche industries, EcoStruxure helps customers maximize data value by integrating IT and OT technologies, especially by transforming data into practical and intelligent information and more effective business decisions. EcoStruxure helps customers maximize the value of data through the integration of IT and OT technologies, especially transforming data into practical intelligent information and more effective business decisions, realizing the strategic vision of IoT one by one. Nowadays, smart water solutions are closely integrated with IT systems and big data services to help realize the whole process of "connecting-collecting-analyzing-deciding-connecting" in a closed-loop control. Closed-loop control.

To sewage treatment in the "aeration" process, for example, Yang Hujin said: "In the past, we rely on experience and manual operation to control the aeration time and aeration. Now step by step to the development of the model instead of the uncontrollable, non-linear process into a well-documented linear process. The data is then refined and developed to in turn improve the efficacy of the process used." Another example is the motor for the sludge mixing process, which is empowered with advanced software for the process process to improve energy efficiency through meticulous power, rate and power parameter settings. According to Yang Hujin, such energy-efficient modifications typically result in energy savings of 15%, or even 20% or more, and also improve the full life cycle of the equipment.

Committed to the progress of the industry

"China's water companies, especially wastewater treatment companies, are far ahead of their European counterparts in terms of both project investment and digitalization, because China has the world's first volume of wastewater treatment and the world's most complete Industrial system. However, it should be noted that, although a lot of human and financial resources invested in intelligent systems and equipment, but whether they really play the effectiveness of these devices, to make the best use of things need to draw a question mark." Yang Hujin analyzed the current water market problems, "So far, China's water management is still in a relatively rude level, often limited to some short-term behavior, such as short-term water quality standards or large-scale activities such as security, and the lack of long-term water planning. Furthermore, from the top design level, China's smart water development also lacks a unified industry standards, China's water market in the refined management has a long way to go."

At present, the various water enterprises for the overall understanding of intelligent water has a great deviation, Yang Hu Jin believes that this "each for the station" situation will continue for some time. The need for industry management organizations to give guiding opinions, the establishment of *** with the same goal, so that enterprises to reach industry *** knowledge, line into a synergy. "We are all in the stage of groping, can not claim that their own intelligent water system is the most perfect, each has its own technical characteristics and product limitations. Take Schneider Electric, we also have our own role, we only do production and operation, not involved in revenue and other subsystems."

Schneider Electric has positioned itself as a "digital transformation expert in energy efficiency management and automation control", said Yang Hujin, who said that Schneider Electric ensures that through connected products, powerful local control, cloud technology, and apps, analytics tools, and services, it can support water utilities through a full lifecycle solution. Support water enterprises to efficiently utilize energy resources and achieve sustainable development according to local conditions. Schneider Electric has the core technology and global experience in the smart water industry, and has been focusing on one main line: the intelligent upgrading and digital transformation of the water industry, and constantly sharing the domestic and international water industry experience with "Schneider Electric's Circle of Friends" to **** the same as the water industry's wisdom for the future.