Background

The GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft is one of the world's largest systemproviders for food and energy processes. Operating internationally, theGroup focuses on process technology and components for demandingproduction processes in various end markets, generating about 70percent of its revenue from the food and energy industries.

GEA Process Engineering, part of the GEA Group, develops designs andsells process solutions for the dairy, brewery, food, pharmaceutical andchemical industries and is recognised as a world leader within liquid andpowder process engineering. The business is represented by 50companies in more than 40 countries around the world.

GEA Process Engineering Spain focuses mainly on liquid processing and itwas this focus that led it to get involved in the development of a juiceplant upgrade at a customer in Colombia; using products and domainexperience from Rockwell Automation.

SolutionsA Rockwell Automation solution wasinstalled, which included:

• PlantPAx – the Rockwell AutomationProcess Control System leveragingAllen Bradley Controllers and FlexI/Os, Operator panel, Ethernetcommunication and low-voltagecomponents.

Results• Faster operations

• Increased productivity

• Lower contamination risk

• Enhanced safety

• Greater code and programmingsecurity

• Greater flexibility

• Scalable solution that will makefuture expansion easier

GEA Process Engineering Spainturns to Rockwell Automationfor flexibility and scalabilityColombian juice plant process upgrade faces brighter future andenhanced safety thanks to Allen-Bradley ControlLogix-based solution

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Challenge

The customer in Bogota was facing the same issues thatmany other companies face, namely obsolescence andlack of flexibility in its existing process control solution.Grown and added to over a number of years, the solutionhad no SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)system, inadequate PLC/PAC programming change recordand it relied heavily upon legacy components that wereeither difficult to replace or used old or redundanttechnology.

The customer also faced issues relating to communicationbetween major nodes and the reprogramming of recipesand machine configurations, often relying upon significantmanual input, which could reduce process optimisation.

GEA Process Engineering also had to design a newinfrastructure that could be introduced without stoppingproduction; meaning it had to operate in parallel with thelegacy solution before being switched over in its entirety.The introduction of this new process control solution isalso coupled to a general plant capacity upgradecomprising the replacement of mechanical components,pipe work and the addition of major process stages,including the introduction of a new UHT pasteurisationunit and a new pre-processing area.

Solution

The customer's existing solution, which comprised nineolder PLCs and associated I/O, was capable, but it did notoffer the flexibility and scalability of a contemporaryprocess automation infrastructure, such as that offeredby Rockwell Automation. It was for this reason that GEAopted for a PlantPAx Process Automation Systemsolution based on Allen-Bradley ControlLogixprogrammable automation controllers (PACs) fromRockwell Automation.

According to Raúl Bermejo, Project Team Leader, GEAProcess Engineering Spain: "The new solutionconcentrates all of the process information in just twoPACs and distributes the I/O data over EtherNet/IP,improving the distribution process and making it mucheasier and faster to add expansions and extra capacitywhere necessary."

The complete Rockwell Automation offering comprises apre-selected SCADA solution integrated with two Allen-Bradley ControlLogix 1756-L73 PACs, each with1756-EN2T EtherNet/IP communication bridge modulesand 1756-DNET DeviceNet modules, to ease thetransition from the old solution to the new one. Stratix8000 switches are used to handle the communicationsbetween the three fibre optics ring networks. Completingthe list is an Allen-Bradley Panel View Plus display, FlexI/O, for the digital and analogue signals, and various low-voltage components including push buttons, contactorsand MCCBs.

Results

Immediate results include a faster and more flexibleprocess automation solution that is also eminentlyscalable. This scalability will allow the customer toreadily consider any future upgrades without the sameamount of work that would have been required by theolder solution and offers the flexibility to enhance thecontrol system to a full PlantPAx solution for plant-wide control.

As well as providing a much more advanced controlsolution, the new infrastructure also enhances safety dueto the reduced need for manual intervention. Security isalso much better thanks to software that controls accessto machine and process parameters.

Bermejo elaborates: "I use Rockwell Automation PACsbecause, in my opinion, they are very reliable, very fastand are easier to integrate.

The original infratructure art the Bogata juice plant

The Allen-Bradley PanelView family

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"We contact engineers from Rockwell Automation all thetime," he concludes, "and find that the technical supportwe receive is excellent. We also attend RockwellAutomation's events as they keep us up to date with newproducts, upgrades and capabilities."

Additional Information

www.rockwellautomation.com

The results mentioned above are specific to GEA Process Engineering and its customer's use of Rockwell Automationproducts and services in conjunction with other products. Specific results may vary for other customers.

The new solution concentrates all of theprocess information in just two PACsand distributes the I/O data overEtherNet/IP, improving the distributionprocess and making it much easier andfaster to add expansions and extracapacity

The new infrastructure

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Listen. Think. Solve., Allen-Bradley, ControlLogix, PanelView and Stratix 8000 are trademarks of Rockwell Automation, Inc. Trademarks not belonging to Rockwell Automation are property of their respective companies.

Publication PROCES-AP051A-EN-P – July 2011 – Expiry date: July 2013 Copyright © 2011 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the UK.

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