Profibus automation benefits for sugar plant

Konya Seker, the largest private sugar producer in Turkey, put a new sugar factory into operation at the end of 2004, with integrated process automation using Profibus

The factory is located in Cumra, in the highlands of Middle Anatolia, about 185 miles south of Ankara.

The factory can process up to 12,000 tons of sugar beet per day, yielding about 1,500 tons of sugar.

The new factory was the largest single project in the European sugar industry at the time.

In the automation of the plant, the task was to achieve two goals that had always been considered incompatible.

On the one hand, a highly modern plant was to be installed which would impress every engineer and set a new standard for the entire sugar industry.

On the other hand, demanding economic aspects had to be taken into consideration: The production was to operate more cost-effectively than any other in the industry.

With more than 50 years of experience in the sugar industry, Siemens came with the best recommendations for meeting these seemingly contradictory requirements.

On the basis of numerous successfully completed new build projects in the sugar industry, Siemens designed the overall concept in close cooperation with the customer.

The concept combines the advantages of Totally Integrated Automation with a uniform automation concept using Profibus as the fieldbus system.

The result is an open, efficient, and at the same time cost effective automation solution for the long-term.

Simatic PCS 7 was used as the process control system.

An essential step toward cost optimisation in the automation of the plant was the consistent use of Profibus components for plantwide networking.

The process instruments (around 600 including 316 PA devices) are linked to the control system via Profibus.

Profibus not only allows the transmission of the pure process signals, but also the transmission of all calibration data from the central engineering system after installation of the device on site.

This approach considerably simplifies the engineering requirements: All of the instrumentation was configured by just one project engineer.

In addition, Profibus PA (Profibus for Process Automation) transmits the power to the individual devices.

Up to 32 measuring instruments can be connected to one line that is supplied by a coupling module, without marshalling distributors or signal conditioning.

The field wiring work was therefore limited to an absolute minimum.

For measurements such as level, pressure, temperature, and flow, Siemens sensors and transmitters are used, while Sipan analysers evaluate process parameters such as pH value and conductivity on-line.

All actuators, such as vents, valves, motors, and frequency converters, also communicate with the control system via Profibus.

Hence, all field devices of the plant are connected to just one single bus (Profibus) proving the unique capability of Profibus to support perfectly this kind of hybrid plant instrumentation.

The factory control technology is based on the Simatic PCS7 process control system throughout.

The PCS7 servers, the operator systems, and all operating stations are networked by Industrial Ethernet.

The main factory of Konya Seker in Konya is connected to the Cumra factory by an intranet link.

A management information system (MIS) was installed in Konya and Cumra.

It stores all the relevant process and laboratory data and generates all the reporting for the two factories, with extensive real-time reporting on-line.

With the MIS, the company is able to continuously keep an eye on the processes, detect critical developments early, and respond to them proactively before there is a total production outage.

The automation technology implemented at the sugar factory in Cumran provides the technical basis for optimised processes and cost-effective continuous operation of the factory.

That became clear already during commissioning, as production was successfully brought up to maximum capacity within just a few weeks from zero to full steam.

Easy commissioning, fast and centralised access from the operator, and improved resolution of the measured values have been recognized as important advantages of the PA devices.

In close co-operation with the committed teams of the machine manufacturers involved and Konya Seker, Siemens proved that it is possible to reconcile the often conflicting demands of technicians and commercial managers - provided the technology is integrated just as well as the persons involved.

That was certainly the case in Cumran.

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