Condition monitoring at Gaasperdammertunnel in Amsterdam

To ensure the highest level of safety in the tunnel pipes, in particular as the volume of traffic increases, accurate measurement of the visibility is essential. The VICOTEC450 visual range measuring device draws air out of the tunnel space, heats it up above the dew point, and determines the visibility using the laser light scattering method. The tunnel sensors continuously monitor the contamination and measure the air flow. Using condition monitoring, it is possible to detect ahead of time when cleaning or a filter change is required.

To ensure the smooth operation of the tunnel, servicing and maintenance must be well structured. To optimize these and reduce faults to a minimum, IXAS decided to equip the analyzers with the condition monitoring feature from the Monitoring Box digital solution.

With condition monitoring providing a stable foundation on the path to predictive maintenance, maintenance work can be detected early, reduced, and optimized. It shows, for example, what work is required on which analyzer, and how it should be carried out. Maintenance tasks such as replacing filters are performed cost-effectively by IXAS. SICK Belgium (now Endress+Hauser Netherlands, see Portfolio and expertise strengthened) supports the operator as a reliable partner and takes care of the annual maintenance of the sensors. This collaboration brings several advantages to IXAS: Maintenance tasks can be planned in a more predictive manner and incidents resolved more quickly. Faults that would interrupt the tunnel operation are reduced to a minimum. Instead of assessing the systems on site in the tunnel, there is a constant flow of data that allows them to be monitored in real time. This makes IXAS faster, better prepared, and saves time and money on materials, spare parts and labor costs.

A further advantage for IXAS is the ability to not only integrate the data from the analyzers into the condition monitoring but also other devices from third party suppliers.

©Endress+Hauser

©Endress+Hauser

To comply with the specific data security requirements of the tunnel, the local authority RWS Niederlande, the software development department, the cybersecurity and IT team at SICK, and the IT department of the customer have been working closely together.

The result is a cybersecurity concept that meets the most stringent standards: the smart service gateways are connected to the VICOTEC450 via a unidirectional data transfer and upload the acquired data into the cloud via a local Internet access in accordance with the industry standards for data transmission. To further protect the data transmission, the connection has been enhanced with a site-to-site VPN solution.