WHAT IS SCADA?

SCADA is an abbreviation consisting of the initials of the English words “Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition” and stands for “Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition”. It is the name given to every system that does this job, from very simple systems to very complex systems, which are established to control the operation of a multi-component system, to control it remotely or internally and to collect the necessary information to improve the system.

Today, many businesses, from large-scale industrial enterprises to railways with very complex structures, from power plants to small capacity production facilities, require SCADA. The importance of information has been known for centuries, and SCADA applications are becoming widespread as today’s technology makes it easier to collect and evaluate information.

If we give an example of SCADA applications that exist today. Energy is one of the most important values of today, so much so that it is claimed to determine world politics. One of the most popular natural energy sources is natural gas. From the moment the gas is extracted from the natural gas well to the moment the end user converts the gas into another form of energy, it must be transported in the most efficient way and losses must be minimized at every stage. Gas changes hands at many points until it reaches the end user, and the measurement at these points is of great importance due to the value of the gas. In addition to this, analyzing the gas and preventing leaks is an endeavor in itself. Hundreds of different distribution networks, thousands of kilometers of pipelines, dozens of different companies and millions of end users make the system complex. When you try to operate these systems with traditional methods, it is not possible to prevent losses. In this case, with the help of advanced measurement devices (Flow Computer, Gas Chromatograph, Transmitters etc.) mounted all over the system and software built with many years of experience, you can make this complex system operable and developable.

Although SCADA may seem like a high-cost investment at first glance, a correct SCADA application provides a return on investment in a very short time by ensuring continuity and minimizing losses. For this reason, it is necessary to carry out serious engineering work to determine the needs correctly before investment. Returning to our example above, Turkey’s annual natural gas consumption is around 9 billion dollars. A system that will improve the losses by 01% may mean that it will bring 9 million annual earnings. Based on this, a SCADA application suitable for the needs of each system will feed the system with recoveries.