What is Distributed Sensing?
Distributed sensing is an integrated network of sensors that help track, trend and generate actions within a facility. A sensor is a device that turns an environmental stimulus into interpretable signal, which is tied into a network of other sensors and used to generate meaningful data.
The IEN's distributed sensing network includes 250+ sensors tracking everything from exhaust flow to dangerous gas levels to temperature and relative humidity. The goal of this network is to give IEN the information it needs to keep its cleanrooms and labs in top shape for reasearchers!
Distributed Sensing Can Generate Serious Cost Savings:
In 2016 the IEN made a heavy effort to optimize nitrogen usage in the Pettit, Marcus and Vanleer buildings. Inline flow sensors were installed and the trending data was used to track down and eliminate leaks and non-compliant usage through out the facilities. This effort resulted in an over 20% reduction in usage and generated a cost savings of tens of thousands of dollars off of IEN's yearly consumption bill.
Supplementing Life Safety and Campus Facilities:
You can never have too many redundancies when considering life safety and mission critical facilities such as exhaust, temperature, relative humidity and abatement. The CtrLayer [Distributed Sensing] Network supplements many systems like dangerous gas monitoring, exhaust flow, vacuum pressure, city water pressure, process chill water, de-ionized water, abatement, etc. by offering a read-only view into these systems. This gives IEN all the information it needs to be knowledgeable and proactive, while still letting professional firms like Johnson Controls, Honeywell, and Georgia Tech Facilities control maintenance and annunciation for those systems.
PdM (Predictive Maintenance) is not Just a Buzzword:
Reactive maintenance is every technical staff group's fear. Researchers are unhappy because of long down-times. Staff is unhappy because they spend their entire day fighting "fires" through out their department. Preventative maintenance is a better strategy, but its expensive and many times not feasible in a research focused facility. The Internet of Things allowed for a new form of maintenance known as PdM or predictive maintenance. PdM is using smart (BIG) data and trends to establish maintenance cycles, predict catastrophic failures, and justify costs and risks of "letting it run" and performing costly maintenance procedures. To implement PdM you have to know EVERYTHING, and you need to know it ALL OF THE TIME. So having extensive historical trends to compare to current operations is key!
SUMS and the CtrLayer Network:
Currently our sensing network utilizes FactoryTalk Historian and is annunciated through FactoryTalk View. Going forward IEN will be implementing distributed sensing reports into the SUMS website as well! This will allow anyone to log into SUMS and use powerful graphing tools to display, analyze and share facility and equipment trends. Conveniently, the same systems used for our Equipment Access Control (EAC) network that all the departments in SUMS utilize can be used to add remote sensory as well. If you have an interest, or just need consultation on setting up your own network please send an email to thomas.ja@ien.gatech.edu.
