Automation of Fermenters with Recipe Control at a Dairy Plant
Automation of Fermenters with Recipe Control at a Dairy Plant
Automation of 9 Fermenters and Integration with CIP Cleaning at the Yaroslavl Dairy Plant Based on Siemens PLC and ISA-88
Russia
Branch:
Food industry
Year:
2026
About the project:
The customer — the Yaroslavl Dairy Plant — faced the need for automation of fermentation tanks for the production of fermented dairy products. The existing 6 fermenters required modernization, and at the same time, 3 new ones were planned to be added. A key condition of the project was to perform the work without stopping the existing production.
The main difficulty was the need for phased implementation of the system. The work was carried out in groups of 3 fermenters, which allowed modernizing the equipment without stopping production.
An additional task was the integration of the existing CIP cleaning system, which had not previously been used in automated mode. The control system also had to ensure interaction with three pasteurization-cooling units and four filling machines from various manufacturers without changing their software.
For the process personnel, it was required to implement convenient recipe management, allowing them to set and control production parameters without interfering with the basic logic of the control system.
As part of the project, Aprotec Engineering performed a full scope of automation work for the area: development of the electrical design, assembly and supply of control cabinets, development of PLC and SCADA software, integration with the customer's centralized control system, and commissioning.
The system is built on the basis of Siemens PLC and software models developed using the principles of the international standard ISA-88. This approach allows separating equipment, process operations, and recipe logic, ensuring predictability of the system's operation and the possibility of its further development.
Special attention was paid to product flow management. For this purpose, a valve manifold with anti-mixing valves was created, ensuring safe separation of flows and automatic distribution of product from 9 fermenters to 3 filling lines and 4 filling machines.
The CIP cleaning system was integrated into the overall control system. Automatic queuing of objects for cleaning was implemented, which reduced the number of routine operations for the operator and made the use of CIP equipment more efficient.
Key advantages of the architecture:
ISA-88 is not just a programming standard. It is an architecture that allows the customer to develop the control system throughout the entire production life cycle.
Thanks to the use of Siemens PLC, the standardized ISA-88 architecture, and a unified software development approach, the customer received not just automated fermenters, but a foundation for further development of the production system. The architecture allows expanding functionality, connecting new process objects, and supporting the system throughout its entire life cycle.
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