IIoT for batch centrifugals – initial results

Nowadays, the use of digital products has become an integral part of the private and business environment, be it in the form of ubiquitous smartphones or the convenience and safety functions found in the office, the home or vehicles. In manufacturing, these developments have been slower, but also taking different forms. While automation has become widely established at local production sites or at group level, digitalisation projects involving the use of cloud services are not very common in process industries. As part of the implementation of a development project for the sugar industry, the operating data of batch-type centrifugals were locally recorded and analysed in cloud-based applications. The information obtained can be classified into machine-related status data, separation-process-related key figures and advanced evaluation results for the massecuite processed and the sugar produced. The benefit of this IIoT (‘Industrial Internet of Things’) technology, applied for the first time in the world in Australia in separation technology, is the continued availability of the latest analyses. These analyses, which could previously be prepared only in limited quantities and by specialists with expert knowledge, will be available from any location and in any time zone. It is anticipated that plant operators will be able to further improve control of their processes as a result. Key words IIoT, cloud, dashboard, batch centrifugal, information levels