Photo 1 | JST control room concept: Central, future-proof and highly flexible: the new central control room in the Rheinische Revier of RWE Power AG. When planning on the basis of the myGUI® platform developed by JST, it was taken into account "that instruments will be available in the long term that are based on a proven system that is continuously developed and covered by a service level agreement," explains project manager Andreas Rott.
Photo 2 | Together they collected ideas and suggestions in order to realize a project with a high level of acceptance among the workforce: RWE project manager Andreas Rott (2nd from right) and JST consultant Volker Weimer (center) with team members from the control room: dispatchers Christian zu Klampen and Daniel Elbracht (from left) and the head of operations monitoring, Lukas Keppler (right)
Photo 3 | In three-shift operation, the Garzweiler open-cast mine extracts up to 30 million tons of lignite every year, which is used to generate electricity. Before the huge bucket wheel excavators are put into operation, the control center must ensure that all downstream conveyor belts are running smoothly in order to accommodate the large quantities of material that are extracted with each bucket load. Photo: ©RWE
Photo 4 | The bucket wheel excavators at the Inden site are also controlled remotely from the new central control room. Photo: ©RWE
Photo 5 | JST Operator workstation: Each workstation has an identical design and can be expanded with additional applications. The former eleven screens in the direct field of vision have been reduced to five monitors. In combination with the displays of the video wall, this provides an optimized overview. The dispatcher drags the selected source directly onto one of his displays for processing.
Photo 6 | JST control room planning: The former three individual plants for operational monitoring become one central control room. By merging them, the effects of the mandatory staff reduction due to the early coal phase-out in the Rhineland can be absorbed. Instead of the previous seven employees, the monitoring and control of the three opencast mines can now be continued with five employees.
Photo 7 | View of the former control room at the Garzweiler open-cast mine site: Project manager Andreas Rott explains: "It was clear to us that if we had the goal of a central control room, meaning if we wanted to combine all three control rooms, then we couldn't continue as before. Then we can't go on with the principle of "one source equals one monitor". We had to make fundamental changes here."
Photo 8 | JST control room concept: The staff quickly and intuitively got to grips with the handling of the new control technology. The main requirement of the employees, "We want to be able to do everything from anywhere", was met with modern KVM technology.
Photo 9 | JST control room planning: In retrospect, RWE project manager Andreas Rott (right) gives top marks to the coordination process with JST consultant Volker Weimer and the JST team. In particular, the conversion during ongoing operations is praised: "That was a masterpiece."
Photo 10 | JST control room workstation: The OPAL X11® acoustic ceiling sail above each workstation not only has a positive effect on room noise and lighting in the control room. The sails also have directional loudspeakers. This means that only the responsible operator receives the relevant alarms. The other team members remain undisturbed.
Photo 11 | JST AlarmLight: "Attention! Red light! - the visual signals in the event of a fault are impossible to miss. In addition to the operator console and DisplayWall, the OPAL X11® ceiling sail has also been equipped with event-controlled lighting.
Photo 12 | JST operator console: Installed thousands of times worldwide in control rooms and monitoring centers - the Stratos X11® control room console has been consistently developed over the years and is one of the market leaders with its ergonomic and visual advantages. The plus points include a generously dimensioned, illuminated supply compartment for technical components and large quantities of cable.
Photo 13 | JST login/logout process: Logging in via chip card ensures maximum flexibility: With JST myLogin®, every employee can log in at any desired workstation. Their individually defined favorite setups are automatically activated. Andreas Rott explains the advantages: The card is used more or less like a standard configuration memory, a preset that can be recalled at any time and in any place at lightning speed just by placing it into position."
Photo 14 | JST workstation design: Smart solutions for ergonomics and comfort - a QI charging pad has been integrated directly into the surface of the Stratos X11® control room console. Mobile devices therefore remain within the operator's field of vision even during the charging process.
Photo 15 | JST PowerPort-Data Box: The operator consoles have been equipped with PowerPort-Data-Boxes, so that users have the desired power supply connections conveniently available directly at the workstation...
Photo 16 | … An additional advantage of this practical solution: The change of personal keyboards and mice used by shift work employees can be conveniently completed within seconds.
Photo 17 | JST control room equipment: Two workstations - full access! During the conversion work in the main control room, operational monitoring in the opencast mine was temporarily taken over by a second control room set up specifically for this purpose, which offered unrestricted performance. Since the activation of the new central control station, the room has been used for training, engineering and special tasks.
Photo 18 | JST control room furniture: Customized and designed with the "Made in Germany" seal for the central control room of RWE Power AG - the tailor-made furniture in the control room environment. Visible here: Cabinet systems with surfaces made of sound-absorbing material have a positive effect on the room acoustics.
Photo 19 | JST furniture for control rooms: The specialists from the JST furniture manufacturing department adapt to customer requirements. Here, for example, refrigerators for employees are hidden behind the cabinet fronts.
Photo 20 | JST furnishings: Same front as before, but with a different "inner life": The employees' personal locker systems were manufactured exactly according to the customer's wishes.
Photo 21 | JST myGUI® control room platform: Simplified access to handling the control room infrastructure. The JST CommandPad® integrated into the console interface reflects the entire control room architecture with the myGUI® platform specially developed for control rooms. Thanks to its unbeatably intuitive design, the operator retains superior control over all incoming data, even in critical situations.
Photo 22 | JST control room project: Contact is maintained even after the installation has been completed. JST consultant Volker Weimer (front) and RWE project manager Andreas Rott are already planning the next joint project.
Photo 23 | JST Videowall: A total of four DisplayWalls, each with four screens optimized for 24/7 operation, were installed. Andreas Rott explains their use: "We use the display wall as a supplement to the monitors at the workplace, which could be reduced as a result. It has the role of a team view. When colleagues see that something has changed, they can switch the relevant system to their workstation."
Photo 24 | JST DisplayRack: Here is the rear view of the DisplayRacks; convenient access is possible for easier maintenance. The displays can be infinitely adjusted vertically and horizontally. The advantage: an exact joint pattern at the front.
Central control center for opencast lignite mines in the Rhenish mining area opens up synergies
Taking a big step forward to meet the increasing challenges in the control room sector – this is the goal that RWE Power AG has set itself in the Rhenish mining area, the largest lignite mining zone in Europe. The increasing economic pressure associated with the coal phase-out also requires the development of further synergies in the monitoring of opencast mining operations. Together with the experts from JST – Jungmann Systemtechnik®, an innovative control room was implemented in which the operational monitoring of three coal mining plants is centralized and bundled.
Huge steel giants that can move an entire truckload with a single shovel – the images of the impressive bucket wheel excavators from open-cast mines are well known. But how and by whom are these giants actually moved? In RWE Power AG’s three control rooms Garzweiler, Hambach and Inden, qualified operators ensure that all the cogs in the process chain mesh and that the right response is given to tasks such as “Restart conveyor system!” or “Equipment has fallen off!”.
Competence is bundled through centralization
Economic pressure and a declining number of skilled workers are the challenges facing the opencast mines in the Rhenish mining area today. The solution: In collaboration with the JST control room specialists, a new central control station was installed in which colleagues from the three operational monitoring sites share responsibility for opencast mining in the lignite mining area. This pooling of resources enables personnel synergies to be leveraged.
Technical flexibility triggers synergy effects
Here it is possible to meet all requirements with a shift group reduced from seven to five men. The dispatchers benefit from a technical concept that makes their work much easier thanks to maximum clarity and flexibility. It is precisely this flexibility that triggers knowledge transfer and synergy effects, as the employees support each other with the tasks in the control room.
"We are open for new ways"
Project manager Andreas Rott remembers the initial phase of the project: “The acceptance of my colleagues was very important to me. The reference to JST and the desire to take a closer look at the Jungmann solutions came from the circle of employees. We had already looked at the JST system in the past. Even back then, many people thought the concept and presentation were great and were downright sad that we had decided against it. But at that moment, the time was simply not yet ripe for us. We thought that there had to be a separate monitor for each application. That’s why we made a different decision at the time. Today we see that this idea is outdated. We are open to new ways.”
Integrated overall concept based on the JST myGUI®
These “new ways” that RWE is taking with the central control room are given a solid foundation by JST: Based on the myGUI® user platform, which was specially developed for control rooms, an integrated overall concept enables fast and demand-oriented access to all almost 100 sources of the control room – without changing locations and without constant connection of all applications. Relevant systems automatically report to the operator via the components of the KVM solution MultiConsoling®, who decides individually which application he needs at his workstation at what time.
This ensures future-proof Scalability
With MultiConsoling® it was possible to reduce the eleven screens at the operator console to five monitors. Each workstation has an identical design and can be expanded with additional applications to ensure future-proof scalability. Even in the event of further extensions, no changes to the front end are necessary. In addition, three individual display walls with modern video wall technology offer further views for the entire shift group. “The video walls serve as a real TeamView,” confirms Andreas Rott.
Control center before and after renovation.
Visual and audible alarm options
In the control room developed together with JST, further employee wishes could be realized: For example, the OPAL X11® ceiling sail installed above each control room desk ensures a secure alerting process on two levels. The operators are visually warned in critical situations via the color change of the AlarmLight. They also receive acoustic signals, which are only received by the relevant employee via directional loudspeakers.
Preset can be called up at any place
The login process with the myLogin® software, also developed by JST, is also rated as user-friendly and uncomplicated. Andreas Rott: “With the card, everyone can create their own favorite setups. We were able to save ourselves rounds of coordination as to which setups might be necessary. The card is used more or less like a standard configuration memory, a preset that can be recalled at any time and in any place at lightning speed just by placing it into position.”
"Needed a 24/7 reliable partner"
Looking back, project manager Rott gives the cooperation with JST top marks: “The collaboration was great! We developed everything together. It was an extensive project with many specifications that spanned a period of one and a half years. We needed a 24/7 reliable partner for this. We also had to continue ongoing operations. And a service level agreement was necessary too. Not many providers on the market can do that.”
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