Not too wet, not too dry, but just right

Whey powder production is a complex and energy-intensive process. Controlling the moisture levels precisely is key to keeping production flowing smoothly.

“Too high a water content causes stickiness of the whey powder that can disrupt or even stop the production,” said Antero Ylitalo, production manager at the Valio whey powder factory, one of the largest production plants in Finland. “On the other hand, if the powder is too dry it generates dust and uses excess energy.”

The moisture content of the product is set via the spray dryer in the final stage of the production line.

Valio's whey powder product.

“The critical thing is to be able to control the spray dryer’s load and the hot air streams in an optimal way. We needed to keep the moisture content of the final whey powder product very close to its target value regardless of the process conditions, whilst taking into account the dynamically changing multiple process constraints,” said Ylitalo.

To precisely control moisture levels, an APC solution was implemented at the plant consisting of two tools included in the Neste Jacobs NAPCON Suite: NAPCON Indicator calculates the material and energy balance information and sends it to NAPCON Controller, the multivariable model predictive control software package which is optimised for control of processes with cross-dependencies.

The APC solution automatically controlled the process, increasing the factory’s production by 10% without the company having to invest in any hardware or use more energy in the process. In fact, the improved process control allowed for an increase in the average moisture content. At the same time, the risk for system downtime due to the bag filter clogging was reduced.

The Valio whey powder processing facility in Lapinlahti, Finland.

“We considered several APC providers but became convinced of Neste Jacobs’ expertise and the features of the NAPCON Suite Technology. We are currently planning to implement APC technology also in other production plants and hope that we will be able to continue the good cooperation with Neste Jacobs in this area,” Ylitalo said.

Neste Jacobs completed the Valio project in only three months from project initiation, according to Keijo Yli-Opas, chief application engineer at Neste Jacobs.

“An important factor was that there were no process downtimes due to installation and commissioning of the NAPCON Suite software. This is essential for customers who strive to improve their production plants,” Yli-Opas said.

The NAPCON Suite is well suited to processes with complex behaviour. “In fact, it is applicable in most fields of food industry, but it gives the best results when applied to continuous processes such as the whey powder factory,” Yli-Opas said.

In addition to the APC solution, the Valio project also included an Open Process Control Unified Architecture (OPC UA) connection between NAPCON Suite and Valio’s process control system. Neste Jacobs provided full engineering and implementation services, plus client training.

“One thing that considerably sped up the project was that it included a remote telecom connection between the process and our engineers. It made it possible to work on the project from a distance. The connection also provides a solid platform for maintenance services,” said Yli-Opas