Fermentation

Minimize waste of material and maximize quality of product by maintaining tight, responsive control of the interaction of the parameters of temperature, pressure, pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO2), which enables both anaerobes and organisms requiring high oxygen input to be grown.

ControlSoft’s MANTRA’s Coordinated Control (CC) function block is used to control dissolved oxygen content to desired levels. The goal of the CC block is three-fold: reject any disturbances to the process, respond quickly to setpoint changes, and optimize the available controller outputs during steady-state control.

ControlSoft solutions featuring MANTRA APC technology can increase the profitability of your process.

  • Improve fermentation control in your application (better efficiency)
  • Improve product quality and consistency (higher percentage of on-spec product), and
  • Reduce energy and material waste (save $$$)
  • Maintain your existing control system and wiring.

ControlSoft advanced technology can improve your fermentation applications while saving time, effort, and money. To learn how, simply request a free copy of application note AN-304 and/or the technical paper by selecting your choice(s) from the table below.

Extrusion

Extrusion Barrel Temperature control is one of the most difficult and commonly seen control problems. In the heating cycle, for example, both heating power and time are required to heat the system. Once the temperature starts to rise, it will increase slowly but steadily, and will tend to continue to increase for some time, even after the heating device has been turned off. Hence, one often ends up with a large overshoot and oscillatory response (with a very long cycle time).

A specially designed control strategy is incorporated in ControlSoft’s MANTRA Temperature Control Module (TCM) such that each stage of the control is treated differently, since different requirements are imposed at different stages, such as tuning stages, start-up stage, initial control stage, and run-time production control. With the use of TCM, all these internal stages are transparent to users. After configuring the TCM block, only one start button is required for a user to commission TCM control.

Key Advantages of the ControlSoft TCM Technology over Traditional PID Controllers:

  • Provides a fast startup from cold position with minimum overshoot to minimize startup time.
  • Provides tight temperature control during production (+/- a few degrees versus significant oscillations with PID controllers) for more consistent product quality and optimal utility usage.
  • Provides a fast response for product or setpoint changes to minimize the time to reach stable production temperatures.
  • Handles the dynamics of heating and cooling independently.
  • Contains self-tuning function to minimize implementation time.

ControlSoft advanced technology can improve your extrusion barrel temperature control while saving time, effort, and money. To learn how, simply request a free copy of our application note and technical papers by selecting your choice(s) from the table below.

Scraped Surface Heat Exchangers

Multiple Scraped Surface Heat Exchangers (SSHE) are typically connected in series to heat various products. With traditional PID control, the temperature fluctuations in a previous SSHE will affect the next SSHE, with some time delay and lag. If one SSHE temperature is oscillating, for any SSHE that follows the temperatures will oscillate propagating through the entire system. Also the product flow speed changes cause the control dynamics to be non-linear.

ControlSoft implemented the MANTRA’s Coordinated Controller (CC) to do the following:

  • Provide tight control to stabilize the system
  • Account for the influence of flow speed and previous SSHE temperatures
  • Adjust for fast disturbances

Implementing model predictive controllers with feedforward inputs

  • Stabilized the SSHE outlet temperatures
  • Handled the non-linear system dynamics
  • Eliminated the off-spec product loss
  • Extended the run time before cleanings
  • Reduced energy
  • Maintained the existing control system and wiring.

ControlSoft advanced technology can improve your cook station temperature control while saving time, effort, and money. To learn how, simply request a free copy of our application note and technical papers by selecting your choice(s) from the table below.

Dryers

ControlSoft’s MANTRA Advanced Process Control Software (APC) is designed to handle the most difficult moisture control situations, such as

  • When a dryer consists of multiple burners
  • When the speed of a belt changes due to production requirements
  • When water content of feed stock changes from batch to batch
  • Where moisture is usually measured at the end of the dryer or oven, but with no on-line measurements

ControlSoft’s application note, AN314, uses the example of a multiple-zone oven to show how decoupling the variables in the control loop can compensate for interactions that produce errors. The implemented Coordinated Controller (CC) block rejects any disturbances to the process and optimizes the controller outputs during steady state control. AN314 also includes a block diagram showing how a simplified moisture control strategy is implemented in Mantra Advanced Process Control software.

ControlSoft’s solutions featuring MANTRA APC technology can increase the profitability of your process with no replacement of existing hardware or wiring required.