Sizable CapEx plant spending on equipment and advanced automation in the dairy industry is well underway. Industry leaders like Chobani have caught the attention of consumers, and the dairy industry itself has been in the spotlight due to its aggressive monitoring and optimization effort across the enterprises (see related story onChobani reveals its secret for better production data visibility).
Furious innovation — and investment — is producing dividends as plants target different processes within dairy processing facilities. Dairy producers are currently identifying better efficiencies for the "standardization process" of fats, proteins, solids non-fat and total solids. Milk standardization takes those components, such as fat, that have previously been separated from a product, and then are added back into that product in precise or standardized quantities.
Plant strategies for better milk standardization efficiencies can include newer inline equipment connected to the entire process, such as the separator, valves and other equipment. Moving to an inline approach allows producers to shift away from inflexible, batch standardizing that necessitates long buffer times with fat or protein yield (meaning the entire product batch needs to discharge from the pasteurized tank).
Commissioning of inline, dairy standardization equipment also avoids disruption to a plant production schedule. “We had about three days to install a new standardized system that would replace three, obsolete pieces of equipment,” says Josette Bogerman, regional project manager at Arla Foods in the United Kingdom.
对于阿尔拉食品的Palmers Green Dairy应用，Tetra Pak提供了新的标准化设备，使食品生产商能够以3.0％的3.0％运行其牛奶脂肪设定点，并在+/- 0.015％的设定值中进入。
Before the addition of this new equipment, operators took samples and then adjusted the fat content accordingly. “Now we always know what’s in the tank and operators trust what they read on the screen is in the tank,” says Bogerman. Our plant operators also favor the new equipment when it comes to short, product runs, since they are difficult to standardize.”
这个乳制品生产商每天处理约120万升，拥有大量客户。“不同的客户要求他们的牛奶分开加工，”Bogerman说。我们处理大量产品转换和隔离，这使我们在坦克中的标准化时间更少。“
乳品标准化的其他方法industry include tighter integration into a plant’s main control system — via industrial networks — to provide better alarm information to operators. “Operators can now anticipate process disturbances and can actually 'freeze' control valves around the standardization process,” says Scott Young, dairy consultant for system integrator Maverick Technologies in recent webinar. “Otherwise, the recovery time for producing product within specifications after a process disturbance, like a separate or desludge, will take longer.”
基于澳大利亚的Fonterra Dairy，一个大型全球乳制品加工机构每年在丹尼斯顿的场地每年从2.5亿升牛奶生产超过22,500吨奶粉产品。最近，公司安装了罗克韦尔自动化的馆8型预测控制（MPC），以优化工厂的标准化过程进入其主要控制系统。
This model predictive control platform — hardware and software — continuously monitors and controls multiple production variables and compares the current performance to optimum setpoints. Once the predictive system models the plant's multiple applications, the control system optimizes production continuously.
The Dennington facility moved from a batch to a predictive control approach, and the plant reduced protein giveaway by 49%. Other bottom-line results included a 38% reduction for fat annually while saving close to $685,300 in the first year of operation with this new automation approach.
“Most of the time the customer will use their current control system with the instrumentation in place, as well. If not, we'll make some recommendations to include that in ROI calculations," says Lance Rodenfels, dairy solutions expert at Rockwell Automation in the webinar. We usually target one year to year and a half return with the MPC optimization platform.”
