PVAG water systems GmbH, with headquarters in Jülich, Germany, stands for innovative solutions for industrial water systems. The special-purpose machine manufacturer follows a holistic approach to develop customised solutions that range from water treatment and cooling to process control.
PVAG’s main areas of focus are shear spraying in glass factories, the treatment of cullet water systems, and the production of soft and osmosis water. “More than ever before, efficiency, safety and sustainability are playing a key role in all areas,” says Dr. Daniel Schippan, PVAG’s CEO. With its team of international experts, the specialty machine manufacturer covers all project areas in-house, whether it’s renovations, repairs, or capacity expansions in glass factories – from design and 2D and 3D planning to delivery, installation and commissioning.
Simulation > testing
For more than five years, PVAG has been partnering with Siemens to design safer, more efficient and more sustainable water systems for the glass industry with the help of selected software solutions. “In order to provide our customers with data-based answers to their questions about the cost-effectiveness of upcoming investments, we don’t just consult our own experience – we also rely more and more frequently on simulations. This saves more time, resources and costs for everyone involved,” says Frank Winkels, a software engineer at PVAG.
Working with Siemens, PVAG implemented a solution that simulated a real cullet water system using the original operator displays and the original automation program. The PLC was emulated on a Windows system using the Simit Virtual Controller. Along with simulating field devices, a realistic behavioural model of the automation system (PLC and sensors/actuators) was created as a digital twin. The process model was generated in Simit using pipe and instrumentation diagrams from the corresponding Solution Water Library. The solution procedure (Flownet) calculates pressures, flows and temperatures based on the physical balancing equations, with the result that the process behaves realistically. This system was used to virtually commission the automation solution and simulation model and to evaluate the system process, including process control.
Benefits throughout a plant’s entire lifecycle
“Simit simulates what Simatic automates,” explains Mr Winkels. For years, his company has been developing automation solutions for its customers based on the Simatic PCS 7 process control system – or alternatively, it’s used the TIA Portal for the discrete manufacturing sectors. Specifically, the Simit simulation platform performs comprehensive testing of the relevant automation applications and provides a realistic training environment for training plant operators before the real commissioning, making it possible to digitally verify the process control. This not only speeds up commissioning, it also significantly shortens the time to market.
“The end result is a substantial boost in efficiency across all phases of a glass plant’s lifecycle,” says Mr Winkels. “Whereas we used to have to describe this to customers from our own experience, we now have it in black and white on our screens,” he adds.
The digital twin of the process is created and validates the process and plant design. “We use data from existing plants and processes as input parameters. With the help of sensitivity analyses, we’re then able to evaluate the most promising parameters ahead of time,” Mr Winkels explains.
Once the optimal process design has been determined, the water system is designed and the digital twin of the plant is born. The planning information in the Simatic PCS 7 or Simatic PCS neo process control system can be reused in detail engineering. Simit can also be deployed as a digital twin for parallel tests. Another digital twin is generated in Simit to support the automation and testing of the future plant and for training purposes. This twin serves as a virtual model of the real plant and uses real or virtual controllers for acceptance tests and to virtually commission the control technology – which in turn speeds up the actual on-site commissioning. The digital twin can also be used during ongoing operation to validate changes in the control system ahead of time. The twin of the process (process simulation) with the focus on automation was generated using the Simit Solution Water Library and the Flownet solver. At the same time, the Simit Solution Device Library was used to generate the twin of the automation system. Finally, the controller code was emulated using the Simit Virtual Controller. The twin of the process can also prove its worth in real operation. Thanks to the connection to the real plant’s automation and visualisation, optimisations or changes to the automation concept can be developed and evaluated right in the automation program without interrupting or jeopardising operation. Following a successful evaluation, the changes can then be uploaded to the real plant quickly and at no risk.
Efficiency and sustainability
How about some specific examples? “When it comes to water systems, we believe that digital twins have the greatest impact when the goal is to minimise the amount of sewage and therefore the cost of disposal,” says Mr Winkels. At the same time, nature is grateful when water is conserved. This includes reducing the consumption of drinking water. As a general rule, optimal planning, pre-simulation and targeted improvement measures enable a reduction in the use of hazardous materials for process fluids, and they also make it possible to minimise emissions to the environment, often without a high financial burden. Another gain for sustainability: to a significant degree, improvements to plants include optimised energy consumption, which can also be calculated in advance.
Safety and ruggedness
Especially given the growing shortage of skilled workers and high employee turnover, it’s no secret that training on the virtual object improves safety and plant efficiency. Simit has more than proven its worth as a virtual training environment. “Targeted training reduces costs, because plant operators are better able to identify maintenance intervals and repairs can be performed correctly. It also improves the safety of plant operation in general,” reports Mr Winkels. Even before the plant is commissioned, teams of operators can be trained on original operator displays and automation programs.
Inexhaustible source
“We’re extremely satisfied with our collaboration with Siemens. We’re working together to advance the digitalisation of the glass industry, because simulations have an almost inexhaustible potential for improving industrial water systems,” concludes Mr Winkels.
Image: Thanks to a digital twin, cullet water systems can be commissioned virtually, operating personnel can be thoroughly trained before real operation, and automation solutions can be comprehensively tested using Simatic PCS 7. Image source: PVAG.