i.LON 100 with WebAccess improves safety monitoring of China's Coal Mines.

Broadwin Technology Corporation announced a pilot project to monitor ventilation systems in the coal mines of the Shanxi province of China . The Shanxi provincial government of China is using Broadwin's WebAccess HMI & SCADA software to monitor equipment based on Echelon Corporation technology in to increase safety and reduce the number of mining accidents in Shanxi province.

The Shanxi province holds the richest coal reserves in China and is a major coal producer with hundreds of small and medium sized mines. Coalmine accidents are a frequent hazard in the province, due to a lack safety monitoring and low risk awareness among miners. The accidents in the coal rich province, led the Shanxi provincial government to implement systems to monitor coalmine safety.

The mine safety project is part of a national initiative to improve the safety of the nation's many mines. There are thousands of mines in the Shanxi region which produce one third of China's coal. Fires and explosions occur frequently due to a lack of reliable ventilation systems needed to remove natural gases that seep from the coal beds.

Echelon's i.LON® 100 Internet Servers and LonWorks based devices, combined with Broadwin Technology's WebAccess industrial automation software remotely monitor the ventilation system, airflow, fan operation, and toxic gas levels. Dangerous gas levels generate alarms, notifying safety personnel and management immediately.

The system was implemented by c Beijing Hua Ying Hang Hi-Tech Development Co

Figure 1 - WebAccess Graphic Display of Coalmine Ventilation Monitoring

The advanced web access features and proven reliability make Broadwin's WebAccess and the i.LON 100 well-suited to remote monitoring applications of this type. In less than one month they were able to develop and install this application in all 30 mines, and because the Broadwin WebAccess and LonWorks system integrated easily with the existing control and monitoring network.

Echelon's LonWorks Technology

Echelon's LonWorks was selected for the reliability provided by its distributed, multiple-node network architecture.

Each node in the LonWorks architecture runs independently of the others; this allows the system to continue to monitor the mine if an explosion or rock fall crushed some of monitoring equipment.

Figure 2 - Network Drawing of Shanxi coalmine safety monitoring system components

About Echelon

Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) is the creator of the LonWorks platform, the world's most widely used standard for connecting everyday devices such as appliances, thermostats, air conditioners, electric meters, and lighting systems to each other and to the Internet. Echelon's hardware and software products enable manufacturers and integrators to create smart devices and systems that lower cost, increase convenience, improve service, and enhance productivity, quality, and safety. Thousands of companies have developed and installed LonWorks products and more than 40 million LonWorks devices have been installed in homes, buildings, factories, trains, and other systems worldwide. Further information regarding Echelon can be found at www.echelon.com.

Echelon, LON, LonWorks, i.LON, LonPoint and the Echelon logo are registered trademarks of Echelon Corporation in the US and other countries.

About BroadWin Technology

BroadWin Technology is the innovative supplier of industrial automation software, with installations worldwide. Broadwin's WebAccess software is the industry's first fully web browser-based software package for human-machine interfaces (HMI) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). For more information, visit the BroadWin web site at www.BroadWin.com or www.broadwin.com.cn .

BroadWin Software Powers eAutomation

Contact Information

Press Contacts:
Tom Carter Broadwin 925-362-4592 ext. 113 tcarter@broadwin.com