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 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 while maintaining the stringent water-quality requirements of a demanding dairy processing environment. The result is a more intelligent and integrated water-treatment platform delivering consistent water quality while improving overall plant performance, maintainability and cost efficiency.
Engineering challenge and solution
The core challenge was integrating multiple water-treatment processes, instruments and control technologies into one coordinated automation platform, rather than simply automating individual pieces of equipment. 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 electrical, control and instrumentation (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, making process information and enhanced device-level diagnostics available within the control environment. The result is integration from the individual field instrument through to PLC control and operator-level monitoring, providing a clear picture of the water-treatment process throughout.
Key technologies
The key technologies utilised were:
• 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 for pump and process control.
• Analytical instrumentation for conductivity, pH and other water-quality parameters.
• Automated chemical dosing.
• SCADA/HMI integration for monitoring, alarming, trending and diagnostics.
Process knowledge as the differentiator
Process Dynamics understands dairy processes, not only automation. By combining process knowledge with instrumentation and control expertise, the team becomes part of the customer’s success, directly supporting the performance, quality and efficiency outcomes that drive the operation. Going forward, the company’s approach is to treat the complete balance of plant as one interconnected process from the outset, identifying optimisation opportunities earlier, and incorporating them into the control strategy before commissioning.
| Tel: | +27 11 394 5412 |
| Email: | kobusvanniekerk@process-dynamics.co.za |
| www: | https://process-dynamics.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about Process Dynamics |
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