CASE STUDY SNAPSHOT
Customer : A Manufacturer of automotive parts.Size : >51-200
Project vertical : Industrial
Challenge : Enable remote monitoring of boiler parameters from anywhere in the plant, provide alert notifications to remote engineers, support precautionary measures, predictive maintenance planning, and reduce engineer workload in the boiler room.
Solution : Android-based HMI, Data Acquisition System, and Webserver for remote boiler monitoring.
Services & Products Availed : Embedded Hardware, Embedded Application Development, GUI Development, IoT Solutions
Tools and Technologies :
- Key Hardware: eStorm-L1 platform, COTS Android HMI with iMX6 processor, 10” display
- Software Development: Java, C
- Hardware Design Tools: Analog front-end and signal conditioning circuits
- Software Development: Android OS, MODBUS protocol, MQTT
- Frameworks: Android graphic library
- Protocols: RS485, Ethernet, Wi-Fi
INTRODUCTION
Machines and technological systems in industrial automation have evolved drastically, increasing productivity, overall efficiency, and operator workload, which in turn has reduced issues attributable to human errors. Meanwhile, industrial automation applications have extended services to companies of all sizes and sectors, with more prominence in the automobile, food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries.
An existing customer required monitoring their boiler system remotely from anywhere inside the plant and offering support for alert notifications to engineers located far from the boiler room.They wanted to enable precautionary measures, planning, and scheduling of periodic maintenance based on predicted data from the boiler. They also expected to reduce the workload of engineers required to be present in the boiler room regularly.
Further to the requirement, Embien designed and developed a Boiler Monitoring System and commissioned it successfully in the field.
CHALLENGE
The boiler is the heart of the production plant, functioning 24x7 and supplying steam continuously for the production process. Thus, system monitoring and periodic maintenance are of much importance. Various parameters such as temperature/pressure, feed water temperature, flue stack temperature, fuel flow, steam flow, etc., were supposed to be monitored and maintained to ensure none crossed their activity limits.
The customer had a boiler system with a control panel that monitored parameters via sensors and shut down the boiler when thresholds were crossed. Finding the root cause for such issues was critical, as it interrupted the whole production process, and there were no specific sources to identify the parameter causing the threshold crossing.
SOLUTION
Embien Technologies clearly understood the customer needs and designed a remote boiler monitoring system, along with subsystems such as Android Based HMI, Data Acquisition System, and Webserver, without affecting their current setup.
The following figure depicts the setup of the boiler monitoring system.
Data Acquisition Device (DAQ):DAQ, being the front-end device, was connected to the sensors placed in the boiler. Embien’s ready-to-deploy platform “eStorm-L1” was used as the DAQ device, equipped with multiple analog inputs and digital I/Os for acquiring boiler parameters from sensors. At various positions, suitable analog front-end circuits and signal conditioning circuits for analog sensors like RTD and digital sensors like inductive sensors were provided. The DAQ device transmitted acquired parameters to the HMI via the RS485 interface, with communication enabled by the standard MODBUS protocol.
Android Based Industrial HMI:A readily available COTS HMI from Embien’s partner ecosystem, with a 10” display, multiple peripherals, and connectivities such as RS485, RS232, USB, and Ethernet, was used. It also offered support for Android OS, making it suitable for this application. The HMI was mainly used for maintaining the local server database, running the webserver internally, and presenting boiler data graphically to remote users. The HMI was placed in the boiler room to provide engineers access to change threshold settings, alarm conditions, etc., dynamically, and review boiler conditions locally. In addition to local access, the webserver enabled remote modification of configuration settings.
Powered by the iMX6 processor, the COTS HMI runs on the Android operating system. Android native was used to design various widgets for pictorial presentation of boiler parameters. Ethernet was used as the communication interface to enable remote access to the boiler, whereas Wi-Fi was for enabling network connectivity.
With this setup, any PC connected to the network could view boiler parameters via a customized web server application running on a particular IP address. Alarm indications could be notified locally on the HMI display as well as on any remote PC through the webserver application.
Future Ready Design:We completed all development-related work within a short period of 6 weeks using a complete in-house solution that included the HMI, ready-to-deploy “eStorm-B1” platform, and Android. We also provided a futuristic expansion of the system in the form of a cloud server update, boiler remote control, efficiency calculation, etc. Apart from this, we used the AWS cloud server for enabling remote access even if the user was outside the factory.
BENEFITS
Backed by our industrial automation and IoT expertise, we offered the customer some of the following benefits in the Boiler Monitoring System development.
- Seamless integration of eStorm-L1 DAQ with existing sensors using analog front-end and signal conditioning circuits for accurate parameter acquisition
- Reliable data transmission via RS485 and MODBUS protocol, ensuring robust communication between DAQ and HMI without disrupting current boiler setup
- Intuitive local and remote access through Android-based COTS HMI with 10” display, powered by iMX6 for graphical parameter visualization
- Dynamic threshold and alarm configuration via webserver on Ethernet/Wi-Fi, enabling real-time modifications from any networked PC
- Quick deployment in 6 weeks with in-house tools, plus future-proof expansions like AWS cloud integration for external remote monitoring and predictive maintenance
CONCLUSION
The Boiler Monitoring System was successfully commissioned in the field, enabling 24x7 remote oversight of critical boiler parameters, proactive alerts, and reduced on-site engineer presence. This solution minimized production disruptions by aiding root-cause analysis and scheduled maintenance based on real-time data. Our expertise in embedded systems and industrial IoT ensured a robust, scalable design that met all requirements efficiently.
This project highlights Embien's capability in delivering turnkey remote monitoring solutions for industrial automation, contributing to enhanced operational efficiency.