Second-generation Ethanol Plant in Brazil Automated with Yokogawa's CENTUM VP, Batch Package, and PRM Solutions

GranBio Investimentos SA, Sao Miguel dos Campos, Alagoas, Brazil logo
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Second-generation Ethanol Plant Now Producing Cheap, and Clean-burning Biofuel

Executive Summary

GranBio Investimentos SA, Sao Miguel dos Campos, Alagoas, BrazilGranBio Investimentos SA is a Brazilian industrial biotech company that was born out of the vision of bringing about a green revolution through the construction of second-generation ethanol plants that will produce cheap, clean-burning biofuel from readily available biomass. Following its establishment in June 2011 by Gran Investimentos S.A., a holding company in which the Gradin family are the primary investors, the company built Bioflex 1, the first commercial second-generation ethanol plant in the Southern Hemisphere. Bioflex 1 started operation in early 2014 and is able to produce 82 million liters of biofuel per annum, making it one of the largest such facilities in the world.

 

GranBio

As the main automation contractor (MAC) for the Bioflex 1 project, Yokogawa South America was involved from the front end engineering design (FEED) stage, performing the basic design for a control system and field instrumentation solution that will reduce costs and improve production efficiency throughout the lifecycle of the plant. Yokogawa installed the CENTUM VP integrated production control system; the csTUNER control loop tuning software; the CENTUM VP Batch package to control the plant's pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, and distillation/separation units; field instruments including FOUNDATION™ fieldbus-enabled ADMAG AXF magnetic flowmeters, DPharp EJA series pressure/differential pressure transmitters, and control valves; and the Plant Resource Manager (PRM) asset management package. Yokogawa South America was responsible for product delivery, engineering, and operator training.

Overview of second-generation ethanol process
Overview of second-generation ethanol process

The Challenges and the Solutions

Improving productivity

Second-generation ethanol and other chemical products are produced from non-food agricultural materials and industry waste. The cost of producing biofuel with this method compares favorably to fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas, and it produces fewer greenhouse gases. The GranBio plant produces ethanol from energy cane, bagasse, and straw, all of which are readily available in Alagoas State.

The raw materials used in this production process must first be pretreated to make the cellulose in the plant cell walls easier to break down with enzymes (hydrolysis) and solubilize hemicellulose sugars. The cellulose in the plant cell walls is in a matrix with other polymers, primarily hemicellulose and lignin, and the pretreatment of biomass with heat removes these polymers from the cellulose core. During the cooking process, great care must be taken to keep the biomass at a steady temperature. The pretreated cellulose fragments are then broken down using enzyme preparations to obtain double glucose molecules, which are then split into single glucose residues. In a fermentation reactor, these residues are converted to ethanol using microbes.

All in one high density HMI display

"All in one" high density HMI display

Based on whichever raw materials are being processed, the pretreatment and fermentation settings have to be automatically selected and executed. All important parameters for these processes are preconfigured in the CENTUM VP Batch package. When an operator selects a recipe from the package menu, all of the preconfigured settings are automatically selected and downloaded to the individual controllers so that each sequence can be automatically started. At a human machine interface (HMI) terminal, an operator can monitor the status of the reactions in ergonomically designed process graphic display, trend display, alarm summary display, and control display windows. When each batch operation is completed, the operation data are compiled for an automatically generated batch report (provided as a standard function). In these ways, the CENTUM VP Batch package improves productivity at GranBio.

Reduction of operator workload and safe operation

FieldMate parameter setting
FieldMate parameter setting
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Field devices

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PRM device status and diagnostic data display
PRM device status and diagnostic data

Many different field devices, including magnetic flowmeters, DPharp EJA series pressure/differential pressure transmitters, and control valves, are installed at this plant, and it has nearly 2,000 I/Os. Some of the devices are exposed to high temperature processes and other harsh conditions and/or are mounted in high, narrow, and other difficult to access locations.

With the PRM asset management package, the health of these devices can be monitored from the central control room (CCR), eliminating the need for difficult and time consuming physical inspections. The PRM device navigation window displays the status of plant-wide assets with a Windows Explorer-like interface, enabling maintenance engineers to quickly identify devices that require online diagnosis. This is an especially valuable time-saving tool during plant start-up, when engineers and operators must check many loops and control valves. The centralization of the management of these plant assets ensures that maintenance information gets immediately to the right persons, depending on the type and criticality of the diagnostic data analysis. This changes the maintenance engineer workflow and enables a more proactive maintenance approach.

Other valuable tools provided by Yokogawa include FieldMate, which can be used from the CCR to set field device parameters, and csTUNER, which simplifies the task of tuning PID loops. With its ability to optimize tuning parameters and generate a tuning report, csTUNER is particularly useful during the plant start-up and commissioning phases, reducing the workload of both engineers and operators.

The use of these tools helps to ensure that GranBio's operators and engineers are able to comfortably operate and keep this plant safe 24/7.

Customer Satisfaction

Manoel Carnauba, a GranBio vice president, comments as follows:


"Brazil is a dominant player in the bioethanol market. The biofuel market is steadily growing, and second-generation biofuel is attracting attention as an environmentally friendly energy source. We appreciate Yokogawa's modern and highly reliable control system and field instruments, and value their engineering capabilities, and believe we made the right decision to rely on them as the MAC for the construction of this large-scale commercial second-generation ethanol plant. As we were able to complete the basic specifications at an early stage and maintain consistency with all the specifications, this reduced the total cost of the control system and the instrumentation. We completed our project on schedule and on budget."

Plant view

Plant view

Shift operators in central control room

Shift operators in central control room

Отрасли

  • Биотопливо

    Для борьбы с глобальным потеплением во всем мире растут показатели производства и потребления биотоплива. Будучи ведущим поставщиком решений для измерения и управления в химической, нефтяной и других отраслях промышленности, компания Yokogawa разработала технологии, которые могут быть использованы для обеспечения надёжного и эффективного производства биоэтанола и других видов возобновляемого топлива.

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  • Химическая промышленность

    Химические производства применяют периодические и непрерывные технологические процессы производства, каждый из которых имеет свои особые требования для систем управления. Непрерывному технологическому процессу требуется надёжная и стабильно работающая система управления, защищающая от внеплановых остановов, в то время как для периодических процессов более важна гибкость организации партий, возможности внесения корректировок в рецепты и формулы. Для обоих типов процессов одинаково важно вести управление с поддержанием требуемого качества и способность управлять не рутинными операциями. Имея в наличии обширный послужной список и богатое портфолио проектов, а также опытных системных инженеров и обширную сеть поддержки по всему миру, у компании Yokogawa имеются решения для всех видов таких систем.

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Related Products & Solutions

  • ADMAG AXF

    Some specifications of this product was discontinued.

    The AXF magnetic flow meter is a sophisticated product with outstanding reliability and ease of operation, developed on the basis of decades of field experience. Based on FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus specifications, AXF Fieldbus Magnetic Flow meter models offer more flexible instrumentation.

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  • EJA110E

    Преобразователь дифференциального давления традиционного типа монтажа серии EJA-E.

    Узнать больше
  • EJA115E

    Преобразователь перепада давления со встроенной диафрагмой IFO, на базе серии EJA-E.

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  • EJA118E

    Преобразователь дифференциального давления с выносными разделительными мембранами серии EJA-E.

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  • EJA120E

    Датчик перепада давления с традиционным методом монтажа, предназначенный для работы в узком диапазоне, на базе Серии EJA-E.

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  • EJA130E

    Преобразователь высокого статического/дифференциального давления традиционного типа монтажа серии EJA-E.

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  • EJA210E

    Преобразователь дифференциального давления серии EJA-E, монтируемый на фланце, разработан для определения уровня жидкости.

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  • Plant Resource Manager (PRM)

    Необходимо внедрить грамотное управление объектом и обеспечить надёжность и стабильность эксплуатационных процессов? Пакет PRM вносит свой вклад в повышение качества планирования технического обслуживания и оптимизации затрат в течении жизненного цикла предприятия.

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  • Универсальный мастер управления полевыми устройствами FieldMate

    FieldMate 3.0 - это инструмент на базе ПК, который позволяет ясно видеть интеллектуальные полевые устройства, заранее знать их состояние и действовать оперативно на протяжении всего рабочего процесса обслуживания.

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  • Распределенная система управления (РСУ)

    Наша распределенная система управления (РСУ) обеспечивает автоматизацию и управление промышленными процессами и улучшенную производительность бизнеса. Более 10 000 заводов поручают компании Yokogawa DCS выполнить свои производственные задачи

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