Effortless Process Monitoring...Inside a Brewing Plant

CAS DataLoggers services one of the world's largest brewing companies. The organization operates a brewing plant located in Eastern Europe which produces about 600,000 liters of beer destined for export markets in the USA, Russia, Sweden and Norway. The plant's profitable daily operations demand constant, organized tracking of vital parameters including energy usage, pressure and carbon dioxide levels in the tanks, as well as steam/fresh water flow volumes. Plant management eventually saw the need for an easily configurable real-time monitoring system complete with reporting capabilities. CAS Solution Analysts recommended installation of an advanced Delphin LogMessage data logging system to closely monitor the data and ensure a quality product.

This production plant now incorporates in its control cabinet a Delphin LogMessage 200 system featuring 10 universal analog inputs along with 11 digital and counter inputs. The vital advantage of this high-speed device is that one comprehensive system now performs all needed measurements, monitoring, and alarm management functions while sampling at a high rate of 600 Hz. The internal logger memory records up to 128 million data points with a 1GB memory capacity and easily stores the process data for all backup functions. The live data is also archived in the DataService Configurator online database. LogMessage devices also support many serial interfaces (RS232, 485, 422) and the plant's 2 Siemens MAG 8000 flow meters have been interfaced via Modbus RTU protocol.

The brewery began to realize immediate benefits after installation of the new data monitoring system. The LogMessage200's universal analog and digital inputs easily records all analog 4-20 mA signals from stream, CO2 and sewage flow meters, as well as captured digital inputs from the energy meter with pulse output. All Modbus registers are created on the LogMessage's 2 serial COM ports. The internal calculation channels are used to calculate key consumption indicators; for example, the integrator channel is now used to totalize the electrical energy and CO2 consumption of the carbonization process. Live readings are processed and analyzed from these indicators for centralized alarm monitoring.

Additionally, employees have made full use of Delphin's free ProfiSignal Klicks software application to monitor the live data during the brewing process directly from a PC providing them with a complete task overview. ProfiSignal Klicks generates detailed reports and statistics documenting the plant's entire production, as well as organizing tasks parallel to each other, such as operation of brewing tanks and stirrers. The necessary mimic interface was easily developed with ProfiSignal Klicks.

As a result of installing one LogMessage200 system to handle its daily operations, this successful brewing company has now maximized its efficiency and conveniently centralized all data acquisition.