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| November 28, 2023

E Tech Group Builds a PlantPAx Automation Solution for a Cultivated Meat Pilot Plant

Food and beverage automation is undergoing a series of transformations, from more ethical livestock treatment to eliminating artificial ingredients and processes to improving the hygiene of irrigation systems in agriculture. But perhaps the most impactful and paradigm-shifting development in this industry is the emergence of lab-grown meat, which is changing not only how we view meat production and consumption, but also how we view the nature of food automation. Understanding the Cultivated Meat Movement Cultivated meat, also called lab-grown or cultured meat, grows mammalian and fish cells for human consumption in a process similar to biotech drug substance manufacturing. Cultured meat is real meat that is grown from a cell bank of a small number of real animal cells. It doesn’t require animals to be raised, fed, and slaughtered as traditional meat does. In theory, cultured meat should be more sustainable than traditional animal-slaughtered meat. Bio-cultured meat requires significantly less land and water, has a better yield per pound of feedstock, and produces pure meat protein and/or fat that creates minimal waste and byproducts. A single batch can grow 350 pounds of pure meat protein in less than two weeks with no feathers, beaks, claws, blood, bones, or excrement to dispose of. Traditional meat raises the animals where few people live and must be transported to a slaughter facility, processed and further transported to market. Cultured meat plants can be built much closer to population centers, reducing travel time and expense. Additionally, because it is grown in a sterile environment, it is cleaner and has a shelf life that is significantly longer than slaughtered meat – as most contaminants that spoil meat are introduced during slaughter processing. Cultured Meat Automation Intersects with Biotech Automation Growing cultivated meat is a relatively new concept in the biotech marketplace. Although this new industry is … Continued

Upgrading a QBMS while Enhancing Existing Functionality

Unsupported OSs forced a client to upgrade their automation system to avoid failures. E Tech Group developed and integrated a creative solution that delivered the desired functionality between previously incompatible software and hardware components.

The Project: Update a Building-Wide Control System to Avoid Imminent Issues

A client had a QBMS (Qualified Building Management System) operating on an antiquated version of iFix and was running on an outdated OS (operating system). At a certain point, they would no longer be able to update either, preventing them from getting the most out of these systems and leaving them with an unsupported OS and HMI system.

The potential of increased downtime in the event of a failure eventually proved more costly than upgrading the entire building management system. Knowing it was only a matter of time before they would start encountering issues that could jeopardize the system’s operation and reliability, they knew it was time to work proactively.

After evaluating their options, they moved to update and upgrade the QBMS while at the same time enhancing and expanding its capabilities from monitoring building parameters (i.e. temperature, room differential pressures) and independent equipment (i.e. freezers, refrigerators, lab incubators) to monitoring production equipment and centralizing the historical data collection of all equipment at the facility.

The Challenge: Overcome Compatibility Issues & Add Functionality on a Tight Turnaround

Our team is always up for a challenge, and this project presented no shortage of them. The client was set on a PlantPAx 5.0 platform for their new QBMS. As a Rockwell Automation Gold System Integrator, our engineers have extensive experience with the Rockwell PlantPAx 5.0 building automation system, which proves a top performer in both turnkey control system builds as well as partial upgrades like this one.

But having to complete a partial upgrade in an existing system still requires a bit more analysis and research than starting from scratch. And try as you might to ensure as few potential hurdles as possible are overlooked and unrecognized once the work is underway, some can be out of your hands and unavoidable.

Our team encountered two significant challenges during the project:

1. The client selected the PlantPAx 5.0 architecture, however, some of the equipment to be displayed and monitored was not PlantPAx 5.0 based. Certain pieces of equipment didn’t even provide the data from a PLC, but instead from an OPC server which presented its own set of compatibility issues.

2. The equipment and production areas being monitored by the existing QBMS would only be able to be down for a very short time (preferably less than one working day) to perform the cutover from the old system to the new system.

It was critical to strategically plan the necessary downtime to implement the updates to their control system so we could minimize disruption to their daily operations.

The Solution: A Slow & Steady Approach Results in Methodical & Efficient Execution

To solve the non-PlantPAx 5.0 equipment problem, a PlantPAx 5.0-based PLC was set up to read the data from the equipment and the data from the OPC server was read by an OPC client which was then transmitted to the PlantPAx 5.0 PLC. This PlantPAx 5.0 PLC was then used to display the information on the HMI and from which the Historian gathered its data.

To migrate the systems from the old QBMS to the new PlantPAx 5.0 QBMS, a combined philosophy of modularity and “you can’t do everything at once” was employed. Trying to disconnect, reconnect, and validate all the I/O points from the control panels would take days.

Ultimately, the work would be done one panel at a time, one day at a time. The team converted and tested only one control system panel per day because that made the number of points being converted completed in manageable pieces, reduced the number of issues that needed to be monitored manually at one time, and limited the downtime of systems not being converted.

The Results: Immediate Improvements and Increased Compatibility

This QBMS migration was a labor of love, and the perfect example of how even partial control system upgrades can transform a facility’s operations via better industrial data management and analysis, logistical control, network communications, production quality and throughput, and more. This client now has the resources to continue enhancing their facility’s capabilities without having to face a complete rebuild.

E Tech Group supports clients with a distinct approach to control system integration, including everything from pharmaceutical automation to alternative meat production, chemicals, biologics, and more. Our creative, methodical and communicative strategy to control system design provides clients with advanced, user-friendly automation systems that prove beneficial in the present and future as they continue to grow.

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| September 20, 2023

S88 Specs, Part 3 of 3: Understanding S88 States

After reviewing parts one and two of this three-part series, you now have a conceptual and visual understanding of the S88 standard and its applications. If you haven’t yet read the first two parts of this series, check out S88 Specs, Part 1 of 3: An Introduction to the S88 Standard and Part 2 of 3: System Modeling Under S88 Standard. Transitioning S88 States Throughout Production In this last entry, we’ll provide the final piece of the puzzle, bringing it all together. We’ll examine the progression through the numerous defined states associated with the manufacturing process as it aligns with S88 and the corresponding model. Understanding S88 States in Control System Modeling The S88 standard defines various states that units or phases can transition through during their operation. These states, categorized as an Initial State, and Quiescent, Final or Transient states, provide a standardized framework for interaction between recipe phases and control system equipment and control module phases. Let’s explore some of the key states defined by the S88 standard: Quiescent states Held Paused Final States Aborted Stopped Complete Initial State Idle Transient states Starting Restarting Running Aborting Holding Pausing The states listed here are the typical implementation. The procedural state model can be expanded or collapsed as permitted by the standard. The figure below shows the basic state diagram. Fig.4 State Transition Diagram SC Denotes State Change – state logic completes normally and the state advances as indicated by arrows. Text over the arrow Start, Resume etc. are external commands from batch application or internal to the control system or operator issued. The Hold, Stop, Abort are unique in that they act on multiple steps contained within the shaded rectangles. Handshake signals are implemented between the control system and batch system through command and status bits. They … Continued

| September 13, 2023

S88 Specs, Part 2 of 3: System Modeling Under S88 Standard

After reviewing part one of this three-part series, you now have a conceptual understanding of the S88 standard and its applications. If you haven’t yet read the first part of this series, check out S88 Specs, Part 1 of 3: An Introduction to the S88 Standard. Illustrating the S88 Standard in Application Understanding the S88 standard is only a piece of the puzzle. It can be difficult to fully grasp its implementation in process. Having a visual representation of a system utilizing Batch Control in manufacturing can add the next piece. In this article, we discuss System Modeling under the S88 standard covering the Process, Physical and Procedural Control models, and how the combination of these models enables effective control, monitoring and automation of the process. Control System Modeling Under the S88 Standard Modelling is best illustrated using a simple example such as a manufacturing plant with three process trains. Each train is intended to support the same set of three units with each unit of the same type supporting the same set of actions. Variations in terms of size and output are permitted. In this example, assume each train consist of a reactor, filter and recovery vessel. Process Model The process model in the S88 standard serves as a means of organization of the processing activities that are performed by the system i.e. process. The process is achieved using the physical equipment defined in the physical model and the recipes defined in the procedural control model. Fig. 1 Process Model Here we could envision supplying ingredients, and reagents or solvents to the reactor, followed by chemical reaction and transfer of the product to the filter. The filter separates the product from the waste and transfers the waste for disposal recycling to the recovery vessel. Physical Model The physical model in … Continued