Advanced Proteins · Staffordshire, UK
From seriously unpredictable to profitably consistent
Advanced Proteins · Staffordshire, UK
What can rendering companies dealing with fluctuating, unpredictable inputs do to get back control of the processing conditions that determine their outputs – and their profits?
All too often they’re forced into more or less “running blind”, while operational efficiency feels like it’s at the mercy of the composition and condition of any particular inputs that are unloaded.
This was exactly the challenge – and the frustration – experienced by the Advanced Proteins facility in Staffordshire in the UK.
As is so often the case in rendering operations, no two loads delivered to the Advanced Proteins plant ever have the same specifications.
Nevertheless, the two Category 1 rendering cookers in the plant are now able to maintain their temperature to within a couple of degrees, hour after hour, right round the clock.
This is made possible by an advanced, automated control system supplied by Haarslev Industries, and optimised and fine-tuned via weekly consultations between the plant operating team and the Haarslev software engineers who designed the control system.
It’s a massive difference with CORE in place. Before, the wet material would simply kill the cooker.
CORE actually slows down the input and output, so the cooker finds its optimum operating temperature.
The art of knowing what’s actually happening
Advanced Proteins runs two Category 1 rendering lines that turn annual inputs of 275,000 tons of animal waste and by-products into renewable fuels and protein for the pet food industry.
Both Category 1 cookers are fitted with Haarslev CORE automated control systems. CORE technology controls two key variables on each cooker: the discharge speed (how quickly cooked material leaves the cooker) and the steam valve position (how much heat goes into the cooker).
The aim is to hold the exit temperature stable at the designated setpoint.
Three controls. Adjusted together.
A cooker is run with three controls: feed, steam and discharge. Operators usually adjust them one at a time. CORE adjusts all three together, automatically.
Wet material enters the cooker and needs more heat.
CORE spots the change straight away.
It adjusts all three controls at once.
- Steam increases
- Feed decreases
- Discharge decreases
The product leaves at the right temperature.
73% less temperature variation, overnight
Once manual override has been switched off, the exit temperature on Cooker 4 in the Advanced Proteins facility went from fluctuating between 117 and 160 °C, to keeping consistently close to the 145 °C setpoint.
Exit temperature on Cooker 4 over 15 hours.
Better decisions start in the office
A Haarslev Connect data and reporting layer logs and monitors the production data on the Category 1 and Category 3 lines, estimates raw material throughput – on a nearby Category 3 line (one of two) it also currently monitors and estimates throughput on one of the cookers – and reports the exact consumption of electricity, gas and steam involved in achieving the desired results.
Paul Kelly
We didn’t know at all how fast we were running. We didn’t know the yields of any products. We were running blind.
With CORE, a lot has changed. Obviously, we’ve got more stability over cooker temperatures. We know what throughput we’re getting … We know more about energy costs. And obviously a big difference being that we’re not burning our raw materials like we used to. … we’ve just got more stability.
Having CORE in the background to monitor everything we do … gives us total control … of what’s going on in the plant.
We now use CORE every day – it’s part of the process.
Consistency counts, pre‑emptive action adds up
Advanced Proteins called in Haarslev control tech specialists because they wanted to move from the constant practical burdens and operating costs of fluctuations and unpredictability to a more-or-less straight-line consistency and operating efficiency. According to Paul Kelly, the company’s site operations manager, they had heard about the Haarslev system’s ability to dial down the variables and uncertainties that impact processing yields, output quality and energy consumption.
CORE control systems can also register comprehensive data about a company’s processing history ahead of any delivery of material. This means any corrections and adjustments can be carried out ahead of a particular batch arriving at the cooker.
This gives Advanced Proteins’ operations an all-important pre-emptive advantage, because preventing a problem from even arising is much “smarter” and more cost-effective than dealing with a problem once it has occurred – with all its inevitable ramifications.
Keeping in step – the customer decides
Most equipment suppliers simply leave once the commissioning report has been signed. The staff at Advanced Proteins were pleased that the Haarslev approach was distinctly different.
The Advanced Proteins operations are run from two control rooms by only a handful of operators. But automation isn’t something you just switch on and expect the magic to flow immediately.
At Advanced Proteins, implementation meant the operators gradually and systematically taking over responsibility for the CORE control system one variable at a time – discharge speed, steam valve and then the feed.
These operators have to stay knowledgeably ahead of what’s happening, because falling behind gets expensive as the practical problems accumulate and pile up – often literally. This meant Advanced Proteins people with their fingers on the keyboards and switches were able to carefully get familiar with the changes, and how best to tweak the system to maximise the benefits. The operators’ jobs get easier as the advantages get clearer – there’s now much less messy, operational glitch-busting and much more monitoring, learning and optimising.
Rendering operations always have difficulties with finding – and keeping – the staff they need to run these operations. In this regard, using CORE is a big help for Advanced Proteins because they can now run the machinery more or less on auto, although the company prefers to start up and shut down in manual mode, and to use CORE the rest of the time to make sure operations are running at optimum stability.
From static status to continual improvement
In any rendering facility, the conditions, concerns and challenges aren’t ever static or predictable.
Similarly, the Haarslev Connect data dashboard that Advanced Proteins operatives read their integrated processing data from is far from static. It adapts to changing conditions and can be made to include many new kinds of data, as these become available. This means the underlying data management infrastructure that the company uses can be expanded and is able to acquire new capabilities as the plant and its operations change and develop, and react to market movements.
The Haarslev CORE control system keeps the benefits coming, because new improvements and opportunities emerge virtually every week. That’s why a Haarslev project leader and a control engineer confer with the Advanced Proteins plant team every week. Together, they review the live data made available by the Haarslev Connect data logging and reporting system, adjust operating estimates and setpoints, and add new digital signal inputs as and when the plant needs them. An on-site visit results in a quarterly examination report that tells the customer plainly where control is working and where it is not.
The Haarslev experts enable Advanced Proteins operatives to exploit CORE capabilities to the exact level that meets the company’s requirements at any given time – and always on Advanced Proteins’ own terms.
“Whatever we’ve needed, they’ve given us in support, training and development of the programme.”
