Modernising Sugar Production With Automation – An often sugar-coated topic

Many of the largest sugar producers in the world approach technologists with a blank sheet of paper. They understand that their factories must be automated to compete on a global-scale and they even know that digitalisation is a way to unravel idiosyncrasies in their processes or identify gaps, however, repeatedly see the problem with selecting technology partners that can either sugar-coat automation or glaze over when domain specifics are discussed.

Sugar mills at every scale, whether single site or multiple, need support to modernise effectively and future-proof operations. Each one has a particular set of conditions and circumstances that mark it out, including the origin of its product be it sugar cane, sugar beet or unrefined sugar.

Optimisation is needed and to be truly effective it should ideally be done with domain knowledge. Solutions can be created to incorporate installed base systems if they remain fit-for-purpose or overhauled to the latest standards.

Some factories can see power consumption fall by 20%, throughput increase by 25% or availability improve by 15% once brought up to date, but it depends on the scenario.

One increase is certain. Global sugar production remains upwards of 180 million tons in 2021 and it has been above this level for 40 years. Demand is high and top sugar producing nations, including Brazil and India, are keeping up despite COVID-19 restrictions and increasingly long spells of dry weather.

In the factory settings, anything that can be done to mitigate such challenges through infrastructure or better visualisation is welcomed by the operations teams – from operators up to managers.

How can a sugar plant be modernised effectively?

Mill owners and operators need a high level of safety (personal and machinery), quality of the product, efficiency and throughput to meet their targets. In an energy intensive industry, they require precise controls and reliable equipment, particularly during their seasonal production cycles.

It is important to effectively answer the key customer questions. Why should we automate our processes and why should we use a distributed control system (DCS) to help achieve our objectives over PLC-SCADA control system?

To answer the first question, we can speak about one of the biggest topics in the world today, sustainability. Everybody needs food and drink, yet we need to produce it responsibly, protecting nature and reducing resources usage – power and water.

A control system goes a long way to removing human error and can allow operators to interface effectively, intervene in the process earlier and reduce waste. For owners, we can also speak about this automation meaning people removed from any danger zones, quality compliance, greater availability, throughput and reliability, higher profitability and less pressure on resources.

In answer to the second question, a DSC can provide completely integrated operations and can have an advantage over PLC-SCADA systems in complex plant setups. It is more straightforward to engineer, with fewer labor hours required, and provides additional functionalities. 

For example, a system could have 10,000 input-output (I/O) tags, which in PLC-SCADA would have to be built up manually rather than automatically in a DCS. The DCS has ready to use function blocks, faceplates and graphic elements. In short, communication across the system is generated virtually out of the box, with one database owning the configuration for all system components and one engineering tool to complete the configuration. 

The latest in the sugar industry

To tackle both questions in the plant, sugar operators have many choices. They can connect independent and disparate production processes with a distributed control system to provide a single interface to control all production and the plant’s supply chain for resources such as energy and water.

This type of system will most likely result in lower energy usage, reduced and less complex maintenance, improvements in availability and throughput. Overall, it will have a positive impact on efficiencies and the bottom line.

It means they have control of every stage of the process, with shared enterprise-wide information. It does not matter if raw materials or volumes of those raw materials vary, the system will be able to handle the production planning and adjust.

Sugar producers need such flexibility to align with the type of sugar coming in from the supply chain and seasonal uncertainties, as well as energy price changes and water scarcity in some instances. They must also comply with environmental standards around emissions and expectations on traceability and quality control for the food chain.

Operators can visualise real time and historical data using user-friendly, logical interfaces which means they can take informed decisions and drive productivity. By setting key performance indicators, the system knows when standards are not being met and will alert those working in the facility. Savings in cycle times, fuel consumption and steam generation become everyday occurrences. Production is therefore optimised by greater data knowledge and subsequent human actions.

Working with global sugar brands

ABB has worked with the major sugar companies for more than 20 years and has built domain-specific knowledge, while also having scope across many other process industries including mining, cement, pulp and paper, and metals.

Specifically-designed for sugar, our technological packages – known as libraries – serve as a set of process templates that can be used for customer applications. The newest release of ABB Ability™ System 800xA Sugar Library can help solve a number of challenges.

It has functionalities to serve as a control engineering inventory for sugar manufacturers and helps to reduce engineering costs and development timelines, simplify expansions and eliminate errors in engineering and improve quality and reliability.

The templates are distinct for sugar process applications in beet and cane sugar industries and result in more efficient engineering. Operationally, the library fulfils all process area requirements including raw material handling, purification, crystallisation and sugar handling, evaporation and filtration.

Operators have greater visualisation of sugar processes via a high-performance human-machine interface (HMI) and can monitor to optimise energy and water usage.

With this aim, a steam economy mode ensures that no more steam than required is generated during the evaporation phase. It is also collected and reused for the crystallisation phase, saving any fuel used to make the steam and therefore reducing production costs.

The overall solution is built from knowledge attained through collaboration with major process and equipment suppliers and sugar manufacturers. This ensures that the latest process control philosophies are incorporated within the library. It comprises components for control and supervision, with each a complete functional unit ready for use and able to be adapted to specific user needs.

Meeting ongoing requirements

Installed base customers, distributors, channel partners and system integrators expect a technology provider and leader to continuously develop its offering. Solutions such as distributed control systems (DCS), measurement and analytics technologies, HMI, energy-efficient motors, drives and PLC, manufacturing operations management (MOM), process and production intelligence software and robots can all help to meet requirements and they constantly evolve.

By working with such a consultant or partner, customers access not only state-of-the-art, proven tools and the aforementioned process knowledge, but also a wider-partner and supply chain network that further helps them reduce operating costs, get started on their digital journey and unlock new business value.

Owners and operators can ensure that their plant optimisation and future expansion requirements are met in the face of continually high sugar demand globally. Whether they have a brownfield or greenfield site, an experienced provider can help reduce total cost of ownership of solutions and, of course, excellence in end product quality. It can be a sweet deal for all.