Building Automation How An Airport Terminal Can be Operated Autonomously

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Is a fully autonomous building pure science fiction? No, it is already a reality, as the Belgian ASL Group in Liège proves with a state-of-the-art, round-the-clock terminal for the operation of private flights. The Beckhoff solution provider Boolean BV supported the implementation of this project with end-to-end building automation.

Raf Weerts, Facility Manager at the ASL Group, explains: "We only have one permanent employee here. The rest of the staff are freelancers who only work when an aircraft arrives or departs. To ensure that they don't have to spend a lot of time starting up all the technology, the building starts everything up automatically when an employee enters. As soon as no movement is detected in the building, all systems—ventilation, lighting, heating, etc.—automatically switch back to sleep mode. This enables very energy-efficient operation. Especially in our energy-intensive industry, we try to prioritize sustainability wherever possible."

Seamless Integration for Autonomous Operation

The ultra-modern building is the result of a tender by Liège Airport itself. The airport was looking for a partner to build and operate a new general aviation terminal. "And we were looking for an operating base in this region, so it was a perfect match," recalls Raf Weerts. With 9,700 sq ft of office space and a 24,200 sq ft aircraft hangar, the building also offers state-of-the-art architecture. Inside, a large lounge can accommodate groups of up to 35 people, while a small intimate lounge can seat three to four people. "It definitely has a certain charisma," laughs Raf Weerts, "but the real power lies within. The autonomous operation we've achieved by seamlessly integrating all the technologies is amazing."

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Indispensable: Open Control Technology

The ASL Group was not alone in this project. Raf Weerts already knew owner Chris Briers and CEO Thomas Nagels from Beckhoff solution provider Boolean through their previous professional collaboration and was aware of their extensive experience in implementing such a challenging project. "We were on the same wavelength right from the start. The backbone of this whole system had to be Beckhoff technology. Ultimately, open control technology is essential to bring together all the different signals and protocols." The KL4408 and KL6821 (DALI-2) Bus Terminals and the EL2809 Ethercat Terminals as well as the Twincat functions Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU and SMS/SMTP are used for this purpose.

The Twincat 3 control system coordinates the entire HVAC technology, from lighting, electricity and charging stations to the audio system. "Only access control remains in the hands of the airport. With any other automation platform, this would have required significantly more interfaces and integration effort. With PC-based control from Beckhoff, however, the necessary openness and connectivity is already integrated into the system," explains Chris Briers.

Monitoring for Quick Identification And Resolution of Problems

The biggest challenge for the Boolean team was to implement the high level of user-friendliness required by the ASL Group. "Raf Weerts had a very clear idea of what a technical installation should look like; a vision of how the building should function. Turning this into a flowchart gave us a guideline to work with and program the software accordingly," says Thomas Nagels. According to him, it was also crucial that sufficient flexibility was provided: "We also wanted to incorporate feedback from end users and be able to integrate new technologies or try out new things in the future - a living laboratory, so to speak." For Raf Weerts, the powerful monitoring visualized with Twincat 3 HMI is also important: "If something doesn't go quite according to plan, I can easily log in, identify the problem and solve it myself from my keyboard or explain to the people on site what needs to be done."

Proprietary Platform With IPC And Twincat Core

Boolytics, Boolean's proprietary platform, was of particular importance in this project, as Thomas Nagels explains: "We can capture and log real-time data on this platform. Using a web dashboard visualizes the process very well with Twincat 3 HMI and simply provides the information on all data points. This tool also offers enough flexibility to find the right balance between a high level of user-friendliness for the customer and the ability to go deep enough into the analysis." Raf Weerts clarifies his specifications as follows: "Everything is monitored in such a way that I have usually already called before the employees on site even recognize a problem. For example, if the heating is not working properly, I can take immediate action before the building has cooled down."

The heart of the entire control system is the C6030 ultra-compact industrial PC from Beckhoff. It receives most of the data via bus systems or IP communication, collects it in the Twincat software and transfers it to the Boolytics. "The transparency on both sides is what makes Beckhoff the right technology partner," summarizes Chris Briers. And not just in Liège - as the responsible facility manager, Raf Weerts is pushing for all buildings to be equipped with Beckhoff technology: "Not every building has the same technology, but you can still standardize operations and always use the same structure. This is much more convenient for the end user and means that more options are available for sharing energy, for example. By having the PLCs for the different locations communicate with each other, it's easy to see when it's best to switch on the major energy consumers."

Building Standards for 2030 Already Implemented Today

In terms of overall energy performance, the building is ahead of its time. Raf Weerts comments: "In terms of insulation, glazing, etc., we have followed the 2030 standards. After all, you can only insulate once. So you have to do it right. A VRF (direct expansion) heat pump with an output of 32 kW can now keep the entire office building at the right temperature. What's more, we don't need a room temperature of 73 °F. The guests who come here only have to spend five to ten minutes in the building and can therefore keep their coats on, for example. Nevertheless, it ensures that employees are also comfortable - if necessary, the room temperature can be quickly increased using a boost button."

Boolean's programming work has paid off, particularly in terms of energy efficiency, as Chris Briers explains: "We really delved deep into this subject. The manufacturers' conventional arrangements have all been revised. Everything was set and parameterized internally." Thomas Nagels adds: "With this building we have clear proof that our operation is more economical, because we monitor very extensively—incidentally also via Control Panels from Beckhoff. We even keep an eye on the intermediate steps in the arrangements. This allows us to see exactly where the process can be further optimized." Experiments have already been carried out with the heating curve settings to see what effects the adjustment of parameters has, how the end result will develop and whether the change effort is worthwhile at all.

Technology With High Stability

As a Beckhoff solution provider, Boolean required very little support. Nevertheless, Chris Briers makes special mention of the automation specialist's support. "The experts from Beckhoff Belgium are very accessible and always easy to reach if necessary. The longer you work with PC-based control, the less support you need. But if necessary, the support is there and also introduces new technologies and products. From our point of view, it is particularly important that Beckhoff technology offers a high level of stability despite all the innovations. Spare parts are still available for solutions that were installed more than a decade ago. This is robust, industrial technology—I could control a complex production process with the same IPC that controls the building management here. So there is no shortage of computing power and therefore no limit to what we can achieve with this building in the long term.

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