Before
A $1.13 billion automation
and substation construction project at Hydro-Québec's
Beauharnois Power Plant was designed using traditional
IT approaches. Based on all standard study and design
practices, this meant using computer screens to
replace a 60-foot control panel that was the primary
interface between operators and one of the world's
most complex arrays of high-voltage generating equipment
putting out 11.7 billion kilowatt hours per year.
The project stalled halfway through the changeover
when operators raised safety concerns over losing
visibility of critical information with the new
system. Just one missed indicator could result in
millions of dollars of damage to the power station
and hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue
for Hydro Quebec. Unable to resolve the implementation
problems, Hydro Quebec called in the Cognitive Group
to determine what could be done to resume the project.
|
After
We conducted a comprehensive cognitive ergonomics
and task analysis at the operator level - the first
time such an exercise had been conducted during
the automation design process.
I had
never spent before that kind of time in a
control room actually watching them work.
I had met them in meetings, and that was the
way it was done - I didn't know it could have
been done.
said
André Gascon, the Hydro-Quebec official in
charge of development of the control room
automation system.
Up until
then, we didn't have the right questions and
we didn't get the right information. The cognitive
approach to engineering filled a real void. |
We recommended and designed a new control panel
which integrated with the complete automation project
and met all the visibility, safety and decision-making
needs of the operators.
The new design has proved itself perfectly through
the first half of the automation and the project
is slated for completion in 2004. |
