Product category:
Fieldbus systems, Fibre-optic systems
News Release from: The Profibus Group | Subject: Bitburger
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 21 March 2008
Ten years of Profibus PA in a brewery
The economic benefits from Profibus, from higher plant efficiency and product quality, as well as reduced maintenance and service effort, are growing, the longer the fieldbus network is in operation
Bitburger Brewery chose Profibus as long ago as 1991, to modernise its production facilities, and the company has since continued to extend the use of Profibus in several expansion and conversion projects Their beer, appropriately known as a "Bit" in Germany, is recognised from the catchy slogan 'Bitte ein Bit', and is brewed in one of the largest and most important private breweries in Germany
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 11 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The best raw materials, qualified staff, and extremely precise high-tech processing procedures are important ingredients in the success of the brewery in this fiercely competitive industry.
A reliable and efficient process and plant automation system is indispensable to guarantee both the high quality and economic efficiency of production.
The Bitburger company philosophy is to use progressive technologies that guarantee high quality standards.
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The latest market figures confirm that in April 2008, the number of installed Profibus nodes in ALL manufacturing plants, which includes process plants, broke the 25 million barrier
The background to the new IO-Link
With an aim to improve the total cost of ownership of machines and plants, manufacturers and operators are continually on the look-out for optimisation potential.
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One of the most decisive steps in the history of process automation at Bitburger was the decision in 1991 to use a communication solution based on the digital Profibus fieldbus system for the first time.
At that time, Profibus had been on the market for only about a year, and Bitburger was taking a certain risk with this brand-new bus system.
The frequency converters of filling plant 4 were the first to be networked with Profibus, primarily with the aim of considerably reducing the wiring costs.
The solution proved to be so good in this initial application that Bitburger installed Profibus in all subsequent modernisations, as follows:.
1992: First installation with Profibus.
1996: New filtrate buffer unit equipped with Profibus DP devices.
1997: First use of Profibus PA and PA process instruments in the fermentation and storage cellars.
1999: Modernisation of the filtration unit.
2002: Modernisation of the hazardous area in the dealcoholisation unit with Profibus DP and PA devices.
2004: More than 1600 devices networked via Profibus DP and PA.
The long-term view and desire for innovation that Bitburger demonstrated in its early choice of Profibus has more than paid off.
The brewery benefited enormously from the openness and versatility of Profibus: all tasks, right up to synchronisation of the drives in the filling plants, can be networked using a single fieldbus system.
The automation solution based on Braumat and Profibus offers Bitburger numerous advantages above and beyond the original aim, which back in the 90s was restricted to mainly the benefits of reducing wiring costs:.
- The principle of horizontal and vertical standardisation is implemented throughout the plant at both the management and process levels.
- All process instruments communicate via the same communication protocol - from the drives of the filling plant and the frequency converters to the pressure and temperature sensors.
This means that costs for installation, data storage, documentation, and training are also considerably reduced.
- The standardised communication ensures that data storage is consistent throughout the plant, allowing Bitburger to manage everything without isolated islands of automation.
- In addition, digital communication increases the accuracy of the process values, and opens up new ways to optimise production.
For example, an important process parameter can be exactly determined based on a very slight difference in the density of the fermenting boiler, and used to save time in the process.
- Bitburger can also fully exploit the potential of the increasing distribution of intelligent devices in the process, and optimise the maintenance and service of the automation infrastructure - for example, using the diagnostic capabilities of Profibus.
This can both eliminate unnecessary action and costs, and effectively prevent failure of components and systems.
A further important element in the assessment of the economic advantages of the automation solution is the protection of previous investments.
Thanks to the openness and compatibility of Profibus and Braumat, the systems installed at Bitburger will largely survive the next round of modernisation with few problems - as they have for the last 14 years.
ADVANTAGES OF PROFIBUS IN HYBRID PLANTS LIKE BREWERIES.
In breweries, slow and continuous process steps in areas such as the brewing house, fermentation and storage cellars, filtration, and power are closely linked with very rapid and discrete production processes in the filling area.
Industries with such a mixture of production processes are referred to as hybrid industries.
A communication solution using Profibus simplifies the integration of all of the production steps in a standardised network - especially in such applications.
Profibus covers all production steps existing in a brewery with its single uniform Profibus DP communication protocol combined with the Profibus PA version for linking devices in the process environment.
Therefore, from incoming goods to production, quality control, filling and dispatch, Profibus can be used for all automation tasks in all areas - with no need for using a second communication system, which eliminates heterogeneous systems and the need for additional interfaces.
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