Product category:
Pressure measurement systems
News Release from: APV | Subject: Food process equipment
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 15 April 2004
New Danish Lysine production plant for
Agroferm
Invensys APV, a supplier of process equipment, engineering and automation control to the food processing industry has been awarded a USD 12m contract for a new lysine production plant at Agroferm
Invensys APV, a supplier of process equipment, engineering and automation control to the food processing industry has been awarded a contract valued at approximately USD 12m to install a new lysine production plant at the Agroferm Esbjerg site In meeting the technical challenges involved in large scale Lysine production, APV have incorporated the expertise of other Invensys businesses, with Foxboro technology being used to control the overall batch process
"In making the decision to award the contract we were impressed by the total solution offering made by Invensys APV and the company's proven track record in the food processing industry" says Benny Mai, Technical Manager at Agroferm.
Lysine is an amino acid, a critical ingredient used within the production of feed mixes for pigs and chickens.
The new plant plans an annual production of 12,500 tonnes, which will make Agroferm the largest Lysine producer in Northern Europe.
The production of Lysine is a complex process and one that makes very stringent demands regarding sterility of both the plant and the raw ingredients themselves.
As Lysine is produced by bacteriological fermentation, the "environment" in which the fermentation takes place must be precisely controlled in order to comply with rigorous product quality standards dictated by Agroferm.
The quantity of the batch product is extremely large with the fermentation vessel having a capacity of 350 cubic metres; similar to those used for the production of enzymes and insulin.
As APV have supplied all instrumentation, utility supply as well as the control system for the fermenters, the company can ensure that Agroferm rigorous product quality standards are maintained, helping to optimise process control, recipe handling and material tracking.
The scope of the APV work includes the following processes: raw material intake and storage, raw material sterilisation units, salt dissolving units, evaporation as well as final product tanks for dry and liquid products.
As part of the APV commitment to provide customers with added value, a detailed pre-design study was commissioned to determine which parts of the existing plant could be reused in order to help generate project savings.
It proved possible to utilise the spray drying equipment, and the existing automation control was integrated into an APV system.
In addition, various parts of the complex production process were tested, including product sterilisation, evaporation and spray drying.
The results of these comprehensive tests allowed APV to establish the production parameters necessary to produce sufficient Lysine for the Agroferm trials programme, which involved feed trials on pigs and chickens to gain approval for this type of lysine production.
Control of the process is critical to optimise product quality and production throughput.
The APV deep understanding of food industry processing has been coupled with the Foxboro expertise in batch control.
The Foxboro Batch Control System was specified, working in concert with Foxboro Micro I/A controllers to provide distributed field intelligence.
The principle communication protocols are ProfiBus and ASI-Bus.
In addition to the control room, the control of the process has been "pushed out" into the plant through the use of FoxView operator stations, which provide the means to operate and supervise the batch process.
In order to provide "global" control, the system will be designed according to the S88 standard, specified for the management of all material handling, batch control and the tracking of all production batches from raw materials to end product.
The installation of the project will begin in November 2003 and is scheduled for completion in August 2004 when the first product trial will take place.
This contract award follows a long and successful relationship between Agroferm and APV where both product quality and engineering expertise have been continually proven.
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