50 kW Electrolyser Control System for a Renewable Energy OEM
Sector:
Renewable Energy
Type:
New Build - Control System, Software
Platform:
Siemens
Certification:
CE / UKCA
Summary
DelaControl designed, built, programmed and tested a complete control system for a 50kW PEM electrolyser, delivering a Siemens S7-1500F safety PLC, a 10-inch Siemens Unified Comfort HMI panel, bespoke PLC and HMI software, and a pre-configured HMI laptop running WinCC Runtime — all from a single Rittal IP55 enclosure built and tested at DelaControl's Bristol facility.
Challenge
A renewable energy technology company developing a 50kW PEM electrolyser required a complete control system — covering panel design, hardware build, PLC and HMI software, and functional testing — for a novel system with no directly equivalent predecessor in their portfolio.
The customer needed the control system to handle a mixed load profile including DOL motor circuits, safety-rated I/O, intrinsically safe instrument loops, and ProfiNet communications to subsystem equipment. A 400V TN-S three-phase supply was specified, with all motor drives operating direct-on-line. The panel was required to be designed for indoor installation in an ambient of up to 40°C and to accommodate 10–20% internal spare space.
Solution
DelaControl designed and built the control panel around a Siemens S7-1513F safety CPU (S7-1500F series), supported by a comprehensive I/O rack including standard digital input and output modules, analogue input modules, and dedicated functional safety modules — safety digital input, safety digital output, and safety analogue input cards. The incoming supply is protected by a 200A four-pole MCCB with door-interlocked rotary handle. Motor circuits are served by Siemens safety contactors and motor protection circuit breakers sized to the individual loads. Three Pepperl+Fuchs intrinsic safety barriers are included for the IS instrument loops, and a 230V/120V AC DIN-rail converter provides the non-standard supply voltage required by one item of process equipment. A three-phase SITOP 24V DC power supply with downstream selectivity modules provides distributed panel power. Operator interface on the panel door includes a Schneider tower light (green/red/orange/blue/sounder), E-stop, reset pushbutton, and RJ45 and RCD-protected 230V sockets.
The panel is housed in a Rittal VX25 IP55 floor-standing enclosure (approximately 800 × 600 × 2000 mm) finished in RAL 7035, with Weidmueller terminals throughout and a Siemens Unified Comfort 10-inch HMI touchscreen mounted on the door. Thermal calculations were carried out using Rittal Therm software; a fan-and-filter unit is fitted accordingly.
PLC and HMI software was developed by DelaControl against the customer's Functional Requirement Specification and Cause and Effect Matrix. DelaControl used its own in-house Software Design Specification framework where the customer's documentation left flexibility, particularly for HMI visualisation. PSU701 ProfiNet communication compliance was validated by simulation prior to commissioning. Software was tested using I/O simulation tools before delivery, and the customer was invited to a Factory Acceptance Test at DelaControl's Bristol facility. All native software files were provided to the customer for their ownership.
The package also included supply and configuration of a pre-loaded HMI laptop (Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, Windows 11 Pro) running a WinCC Runtime licence (1k tags), an HMI Operating Manual, FAT schedule, Declaration of Conformity (LVD and EMC), thermal calculations, a SISTEMA safety report, descriptive system documents for the three IS loops, and an as-built I/O list.
Key Facts
Siemens S7-1513F safety CPU (S7-1500F series)
Safety I/O modules: F-DI 16-channel, F-DQ 8-channel, F-AI 8-channel
Standard I/O: 2× DI 32-channel, 2× DQ 16-channel, 2× AI 8-channel
200A four-pole MCCB incoming protection with door-interlocked rotary operator
11× Siemens safety contactors for DOL motor circuits
3× Pepperl+Fuchs intrinsic safety barriers for IS instrument loops
230V/120V AC DIN-rail converter for USA-standard supply voltage requirement
Siemens Unified Comfort 10-inch HMI touchscreen on panel door
Rittal VX25 IP55 floor-standing enclosure, approx. 800×600×2000 mm, RAL 7035
Pre-configured HMI laptop with WinCC Runtime 1k-tag licence
Three-phase SITOP 24V/20A DC power supply with selectivity modules
Schneider modular tower light (green, red, orange, blue, sounder)
Documentation package: Declaration of Conformity, SISTEMA report, FAT schedule, thermal calculations, IS loop descriptive documents, as-built I/O list