Summary of the project
Within the project, smart metering of media – water, heat, gas and electricity – was implemented. The aim of the project was to build a unified system of data collection and processing from all key consumption points on the basis of selected objects on the premises of the Central Military Hospital in Ružomberok.
Number of measured points
Number of installed devices
Implementation
The devices were integrated into a single communication system. Modbus RTU, which is the industry standard for data acquisition, operates at the lower layer. All devices are connected in parallel and addressed using unique Modbus IDs.
At the data aggregation level, the protocol is converted from Modbus RTU to Modbus TCP, which enables efficient integration into the hospital’s IP network. Within this TCP layer, each device is assigned a unique IP address, which allows it to be identified and managed within the infrastructure.
For measuring points located in hard-to-reach locations or where it is not possible to provide a wired connection, wireless communication via the LoRaWAN network was used. This protocol allows data to be transmitted over long distances with low power consumption and is connected to the higher-level system via LoRaWAN gateways, which then convert the data into an IP network.
Data processing and archiving
Data from all measurement points are collected in an edge device – data aggregator, which provides:
primary database for local storage and archiving,
data preprocessing (filtering, basic validation, time stamps),
secure transmission to a higher-level system over an encrypted channel.
The aggregated data is then transferred to the Azure Cloud environment, where it runs:
duplicate storage in cloud database (backup and high availability)
Results
The implementation of this solution has created a centralized energy monitoring system that provides an accurate and continuous overview of all energy and media consumption, the possibility of a detailed analysis of the quality of the electrical network, the efficiency of heating circuits and water and gas management, a unified platform for further expansion and integration with the hospital infrastructure, the basis for cost optimization, maintenance planning and environmental reports.
Electricity – 54 power grid analysers
Heat – 15 calorimetric/ultrasonic gauges
Gas – 4 measuring points (main calculator + pulse sensors on gas meters)
Water – 17 measuring points (ultrasonic flow meters + optocouplers on mechanical water meters)
