Project and industry
Process Dynamics delivered the electrical, instrumentation, control and automation integration for an advanced water treatment and Reverse Osmosis (RO) system at one of South Africa’s leading dairy processing facilities.
The project brought multiple water-treatment processes together within a single coordinated control platform, with the aim of improving water quality, process consistency, plant performance and operational visibility.
Project outcome
The completed system provides significantly improved visibility and control across the water-treatment process, allowing critical water-quality and operating parameters to be continuously measured, controlled and monitored.
Through intelligent field instrumentation, automated process control and centralised monitoring, the system supports:
• Improved consistency of treated water quality.
• More accurate control of flow, pressure and treatment processes.
• Improved chemical dosing control.
• Real-time monitoring of critical water-quality parameters.
• Improved RO operation and process stability.
• Greater visibility of plant and equipment performance.
• Faster identification and diagnosis of process deviations.
• Improved energy and resource utilisation.
• Better access to field-device diagnostics and maintenance information.
A key commercial outcome of the project has been a 50%+ reduction in the client’s water utility costs, achieved through the successful transition from municipal water dependency to treated borehole water. This was achieved while maintaining the stringent water-quality requirements of a demanding dairy processing environment.
The result is a more intelligent and integrated water-treatment platform designed to deliver consistent water quality while improving overall plant performance, maintainability and cost efficiency.
Biggest challenge and our solution
The challenge was not simply to automate individual pieces of equipment, but to integrate multiple water-treatment processes, instruments and control technologies into one coordinated automation platform.
RO equipment, pumps, chemical dosing systems, analytical instrumentation, automated valves, and flow and pressure measurement all needed to operate according to a common control philosophy while providing operators with accurate, real-time information about water quality and plant performance.
Process Dynamics engineered an integrated EC&I; architecture based on the Siemens S7-1500 PLC platform, with PROFINET providing the main industrial communications backbone.
At field level, ifm IO-Link technology was incorporated to provide intelligent connectivity between field instrumentation and the automation system. This enables process information and enhanced device-level diagnostics to be made available within the control environment.
The result is integration from the individual field instrument through to PLC control and operator-level monitoring, providing a clearer picture of what is happening throughout the water-treatment process.
Key technologies and tools used
• Siemens S7-1500 PLC for central process control, sequencing and automation
• PROFINET industrial communications
• ifm IO-Link technology and field instrumentation
• Endress+Hauser instrumentation for process and water-quality measurement
• Festo automation and valve-control technology
• Danfoss Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) for pump and process control
• Analytical instrumentation for conductivity, pH and other critical water-quality parameters
• Automated chemical dosing
• SCADA/HMI integration for monitoring, alarming, trending and diagnostics
The Siemens S7-1500 and PROFINET architecture forms the automation backbone, while IO-Link extends intelligent connectivity to field-device level. Together with technologies from ifm, Endress+Hauser, Festo and Danfoss, the system connects measurement, control and operational information throughout the water-treatment process.
One thing we’d do differently
Process Dynamics would focus even earlier on understanding the complete balance of plant and all process interfaces, rather than viewing the water-treatment system as an isolated process.
During integration and commissioning, the team identified opportunities to use the control methodology and available process data to improve performance in other areas of the plant. Going forward, treating the complete balance of plant as one interconnected process from the outset would allow these optimisation opportunities to be identified and incorporated earlier.
Unique selling point
Process Dynamics understands dairy processes, not only automation. By combining process knowledge, instrumentation and control expertise, the team becomes part of the customer’s measurable success, directly supporting the performance, quality and efficiency indicators that matter to the operation.
| Tel: | +27 11 394 5412 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | https://process-dynamics.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about Process Dynamics |
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