Solutions Architect Spartan Controls Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract: The economic viability of industrial oil processing is heavily dependent on throughput capacity, product recovery rates, equipment availability, and cost inputs to operation. The process of drying, flaking and cooking seed is designed to extract as much canola oil as possible, and keeping the process at those design conditions is critical to maximizing throughput, uptime, recovery and overall economic output. However, real operating facilities don’t always run at design conditions as practical challenges to real-time operation cause upsets that lead to suboptimal performance. These challenges can include, but are not limited to, seed moisture and quality, seed availability, inventory management, steam quality, and equipment changes. Advanced process control (APC) offers a way to support operations in their efforts to keep operations as close to design conditions as possible by leveraging automation capabilities already built into existing technology at most facilities. By tracking seed through the process, balancing heating duties, proactively responding to upsets, and stabilizing inventory management, APC can provide significant incremental benefit to crush plant operations in the form of increased uptime, throughput capacity, and recovery. In this presentation, the authors will review several applications relevant to a canola oil processing facility with a focus on the drying, flaking, and cooking processes. Topics will include an overview of potential solutions, practical considerations leading to successful technology deployment, and both qualitative and quantitative benefits to operation.
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