Coriolis streamlines KIMs oil consumption analysis - and measures even more

Minimization of waste is an important aspect of quality control and optimization of operations for any producer in the food and beverage industry, and not least for KIMs, the uncrowned king of Danish snack food.

At KIMs, a combination of palm and sunflower oils are used for deep-frying potato chips. KIMs consumes 60 tonnes of these oils every week, amounting to approximately 2850 tonnes annually.

In its waste management process, KIMs wished to improve the method of recording how much oil is successfully delivered to customers as potato chips, and how much is wasted. Waste oil arises either from spillage and leaks during processing, or as the oil component of finished product discarded during quality control.

For many years oil consumption was simply assumed, based on the quantity of oil purchased. However this measure gives no indication of losses or waste. Later, waste was calculated manually, by comparison of purchased volume and shipped product. However this was a tedious and time-consuming process and the waste calculations were still only approximate. A less labor-intensive and more accurate waste management solution was required.

 

Solution - integrated flow measurement

 

As KIMs process is fully automated using Siemens Simatic systems, Siemens was the logical choice to seek compatible flow metering instrumentation.

The Siemens solution was based on coriolis mass flow metering, which is highly accurate, even under unstable process conditions, as its measurement principle is independent of changes in flowing medium temperature, density or viscosity. Furthermore, Siemens could offer the Simatic-compatible Siflow FC070 mass flow transmitter, which mounts directly into the Simatic ET200M rack, and is specifically designed for quick and easy integration into the automation system.

The trial installation at KIMs comprised of three Sitrans Mass 2100 DI25 flowmeter transducers, each coupled to a Siflow FC070 flow transmitter.

At KIMs, the three flowmeters were placed in a battery with a valve matrix set up such that they measure the supply to three production lines as well as a fourth line for dosage. Therefore it was possible to perform in-line and continuous measurement of oil volumes consumed in each of the three production lines. Oil going to shipped product and to waste could be calculated immediately, with high precision, and most importantly, automatically.

In this configuration, the flow measurement precision is better than 0.3%. Given the large volumes of oil dosed, this accuracy is more than adequate.

The Siflow transmitter was commissioned in minutes, a true plug-and-play instrument. The Siflow transmitter was programmed using the software blocks supplied with the flowmeter. The flowmeter transmitter configured itself, with mass flow measurement immediately visible in the Simatic environment.

 

The trial was highly successful and KIMs therefore adopted the Siemens waste management solution permanently. After several months of smooth operation, the days of manual calculation are now a thing of the past.

 

 

An unexpected bonus

 

KIMs original aim was to measure flow rate alone. However, with the selection of a coriolis flowmeter solution, a range of new opportunities presented themselves.

The coriolis mass flowmeter is a true multi-parameter instrument. It measures mass flow directly, and additionally provides access to flowing medium temperature, density and volume flow data. Fraction values for a mixture of two substances can also be obtained, and the Siflow FC070 features technological functions such as totalizing and advanced batch functionality. By fully utilizing the multiple capacities of the Siflow FC 070, an absolute minimum of instrumentation is required.

The performance of the coriolis flowmeter is unaffected by changes in fluid density, pressure viscosity and temperature. This makes it eminently suitable for applications where fluid composition and temperature can vary.

KIMs has utilized this unique versatility to additionally implement measurement of flowing medium temperature and density. The density value shows whether the flowing medium being dosed is palm oil or sunflower oil. KIMs has obtained access to this extra process data simply by making the most of the inbuilt capability of their mass flowmeters. No extra investment or additional instrumentation was required.

 

 

The SIMATIC factory at KIMs

 

KIMs runs one of the most advanced food and beverage factories in Denmark. The factory is highly automated, running exclusively on Simatic systems including S7-300, S7-400 and WinCC.

Communication between the systems is via Ethernet and wireless access, meaning that all production equipment is accessible from any location in the factory. A valuable feature of this setup is that the system supplier can access and troubleshoot production equipment remotely, via Internet. This ensures rapid response in the event of problems, without requiring the physical presence of the service technician.

KIMs plans to extend its automation system to include Simatic OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and MES systems for process optimization and administration. Siemens Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) helps KIMs lower its engineering costs in development of new plant, lower life cycle costs in plant operation and reduce time to market, by considerably increasing productivity and security of investment.

As a totally integrated instrument system, the Siflow FC070 provides KIMs with enormous capacity for preventive intervention, enabling staff to identify and deal with potential problems before they cause losses or downtime.

This capability is due to the standardization of the instrument, which conforms fully to all levels of the Simatic automation system, and is enhanced with system features such as embedded maintenance and diagnostic capabilities. The Siflow also communicates readily with KIMs existing Simatic Manager, PCS7 and Simatic PDM, using the comprehensive set of diagnostic and process alarm methods, offering a fully standardized interface.

With Totally Integrated Automation, communication channels are fast and reliable, resulting in precise and accurate data transfer. Together with a fully standardized I/O system the users experience problem-free operation. Siemens safe and well-proven environment is KIMs‘ guarantee for security and reliability of software.