Automation, high precision
The Buon Tua Srah, Buon Kuop, and Srepok 3 power plants of Buon Kuop Hydropower Company have been officially put into operation since 2010. These hydropower plants are located on the Serepok river with a rather complicated terrain with a long riverbank of about 60km. Along the two riverbanks, people open a series of water wharfs for bathing and washing. During the dry season, children in the area regularly bathe in the river. This creates potential dangers when hydropower plants start up or discharge water to regulate the floods.
“In the early 2010s, most hydropower plants used a siren system for warning. However, the sound can only be heard at about 5km away, many places are hidden, people cannot hear the siren signal, so it is very dangerous when hydropower plants discharge water”- Mr. Nguyen Duc, Deputy Director of Hydropower Company Buon Kuop said.
Recognizing these risks, the company’s board of directors requested that a more effective warning system ought to be promptly researched and designed. With the best efforts by the workers and engineers in the company, after 3 months of being assigned the topic, a fully automatic flood warning system was fabricated, installed and put into operation successfully.
Through research and survey, there are, all along the river in the lower hydropower area, mobile phone waves, so engineers have thought of a flood warning model based on telecommunications waves. Thereby, a system of devices automatically receiving calls and emitting sound warning of flood came into being.
This device, when receiving an incoming call, will automatically receiving and notifying the center, so that the caller knows well about the operating status. After that, the system will automatically turn on the power source to operate the amplifier and loudspeaker system. After receiving a signal that the device is in good working order, the staff will read the notice. The message immediately transmits to the remote alarming device and emits sound via a loudspeaker. In the event of a power failure, this device will automatically start up the backup generator. And when the content of notice ends, the device will automatically return to the state "sleep”.
After the first phase of operation with quite good results gained, the company has organized many improvements to the smart flood warning system, accelerated the application of communication technology advances to facilitate the operation safer more convenient and more effective. Until now, the operator does not have to read the announcement as before, but just type the message on the computer, a standard voice will be sent to the station and then emits sound via the speaker. These announcements were repeated to ensure that they are heard by all residents.
Close-up of automatic remote flood warning device of Buon Kuop Hydropower Company
In addition to the notification through the system of warning stations, Buon Kuop Hydropower Company has developed a website with the address: https://buonkuop.vn. At this website, it is easy for the local people and authorities to view the operating information. During the flood season, this website updates the water flow and flood related information every 15 minutes so that local authorities and people can take the initiative in flood control measures.
At the same time, the company has equipped monitors to control the monitoring and operation parameters of reservoirs at the Office of the Command Board for Disaster Prevention in Dak Lak and Dak Nong Provinces, and equipped tablets to the Board for the purpose of combating natural disasters in related provinces and districts to promptly monitor and duly grasp the developments of the reservoir operation and regulation.
Until now, Buon Kuop Hydropower Company has installed a total of 20 flood warning stations along the downstream area. In addition to the surveyed locations, the company has installed the stations as required by localities to ensure the safest place for people in the downstream area.
The efficiency from the fully-automatic remote flood warning system of Buon Kuop Hydropower Company has been highly appreciated, patented by Vietnam Electricity, and is currently applied to many other hydroelectric plants.