ABB Technology Increases Tate & Lyle Oat Plant Capacity

A 2016 capacity expansion project at a Tate & Lyle PLC production plant for oat-based food ingredients in Kimstad, Sweden that included automation technology from ABB has delivered significant results, according to a press release issued by ABB on Thursday.

“We have seen a more than tenfold increase in capacity with the same number of shift operators compared to four years ago,” the plant’s manager, Annika Werneman, said in the release. “It’s a huge change in such a short time, and it means that we’ve gone from a low-level facility to one that can deliver high quality product to our customers globally.”

ABB supplied Tate & Lyle’s plant in Sweden with 85 variable speed drives (VSDs) at various power ratings from 0.37 kW to 55 kW, a range of MNS 3.0 motor control cabinets, low voltage motors, and 44 Digital Electro pneumatic positioners TZID-C with Hart protocol for the control valves.

The plant uses the Swiss technology firm’s automation technology to run critical food processing equipment including pumps and decanters and material handling equipment used to move dry food products. Engineers can observe and manipulate processes remotely through ABB’s inclusion of remote monitoring and fieldbus flexibility in its drives.

“We needed a process that was highly automated and could run 25 hours, seven days a week, all year long,” said Werneman.

A system was created by ABB allowing Tate & Lyle engineers to interact with the system digitally, start devices, and diagnose performance deviations or failures remotely to ensure operational consistency and reduce cost of ownership.

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