Low-Carbon Energy Provider Replaces SCADA-As-A-Service With Scalable Enterprise Solution

Project Summary:

Certarus is a low-carbon energy provider that deploys, monitors, and controls Mobile Storage Units (MSUs) throughout North America. An MSU for Certarus is a versatile transport system that seamlessly shuttles compressed natural gas (CNG), renewable natural gas (RNG), and hydrogen. It empowers Certarus to decarbonize industrial applications, support utilities during demand peaks, and connect RNG production facilities to natural gas pipelines.

Certarus was tasked to migrate to a new SCADA platform as their current SCADA-as-a-Service (SCaaS) model had reached its end-of-life phase. Certarus engaged Streamline Control to develop a robust, redundant, and scalable solution to replace the SCaaS system and provide a solution that allowed for ownership, customization, and growth as well as provide operational visibility to the entire enterprise.

Problem:

1. Accelerated timeline – the deprecation of the SCaaS model put Certarus at risk; the solution needed to be fast-tracked to ensure business continuity.

2. Mutable Asset Structure – the nature of Certarus’ business is moveable SCADA assets. The system needed to be built around moving assets throughout North America. This included the ability to facilitate reports, data management, alarms, and SMS/emails to end users.

3. The logistics of deploying edge nodes to over 550 assets (MSU) throughout North America – where assets are continually moving and changing as well as unique and not repeatable. Edge nodes need to be easily configured on the spot.

4. The solution needed to accommodate different communication paths, facilitate the use of multiple cellular providers along with Starlink, and be able to store and buffer data in the event of a communication loss.

5. The solution needed to be scalable and able to accommodate a large number of clients, not just a central control room, but the entire enterprise, as most remote users access the SCADA system daily. The system would support a mixed user experience around desktop and mobile devices, each with varying permission levels in addition to managing and creating jobs, building assets, and controlling assets.

6. The system needed a reporting system that was standardized and repeatable but allowed for flexibility and customization. Some assets have different templates, some customers have different data requirements, and the solution needed to accommodate all combinations.

7. The system needs to be scalable and built to accommodate new customers, end users, and new asset integration.

8. Flexible data access for external production accounting and analytic services.

Solution:

Ignition provided the full-stack framework to solve the challenge of building a real-time operational system for Certarus.

The open nature of Ignition, with its support of various databases and flexible UI, allowed Streamline to develop a comprehensive relational database and web frontend that Certarus uses to manage and create jobs, create MSU assets, in addition to moving and managing MSUs throughout the system. Certarus’ logistics group was able to easily plan and deploy assets because Ignition, as an open solution, allows for a persistent relational database backend.

The MQTT/Sparkplug B communication protocol and associated Cirrus Link modules were paramount to the success of the system. Ignition Edge was deployed at all assets and MQTT/Sparkplug B allowed for store-and-forward capabilities during communication loss and a standard way for data ingestion. Certarus also heavily leverages MQTT for the intermittent, low-bandwidth communication environments where edge nodes inside MSU often reside. Streamline developed a configuration payload to be utilized on the baseline edge node to deploy a basic configuration in the field, and the central system to configure a MSU with the click of a few buttons. A single payload was sent to the node to dynamically set up the device, which was extremely handy in communication environments that had connectivity or bandwidth issues and also fast-tracked the configuration of the edge node. The edge node solution leveraged Solve Networks and Moxa edge nodes.

The scale-out architecture and flexible nature of Ignition allowed Streamline to work with Certarus to build a robust solution in Azure that can scale and grow to meet business needs. Additionally, the combination of Sparkplug B and Perspective’s adaptable templating made it easy to add new assets to the system.

Having a solution that was built around HTML5 and CSS3 allowed for Streamline to develop repeatable displays for both the central logistics group, field technicians, and casual users. A siloed and isolated SCADA environment was not the solution Certarus was seeking. Instead, Certarus and Streamline built a secure and open framework that enabled Certarus to view real-time data through a single pane of glass – from the central control room in Calgary, Alberta, to remote users in southern Texas viewing the system from their mobile devices. Using the modern functional capabilities of Perspective, the interface drives enhanced situational awareness and efficient workflows.

Real-time data is paramount in making decisions for all users. The full-stack solution developed by Streamline Control leveraged Postgres with Timescale in a highly available manner and provided the flexibility to drive reports, trends, and dashboards in Ignition as well as integrate into various data lakes and analytic engines already in service.

Results:

Certarus bid farewell to the SCaaS (SCADA-as-a-Service) model and transitioned to a full-stack edge-to-enterprise Ignition solution. Certarus now controls every byte of information flowing through its system, safeguarding critical insights, and ensuring compliance. Functionality customization, roadmap planning, and strategic decision-making are all now in Certarus’ hands. As the energy landscape evolves, Certarus can confidently adapt, innovate, and thrive. Ignition remains their steadfast companion, ready to embrace the next wave of technological advancements.

The solution not only met and exceeded the initial business requirements, it provides a platform for which will continually evolve as more value driven use cases are identified and implemented.

Start Date: September 2022

Deploy Date: Parallel Running Nov/Dec 2023 - Cutover/Go-Live Feb 2024