EtherCAT in an abattoir?

An OEM specialising in wastewater processing equipment was presented with a challenge: to provide a solution for the treatment of wastewater in a large Victorian abattoir.

The objective of the project was to provide a system with an increased capacity in volume of effluent processed per day by improving the receiving, storing and processing efficiency of the wastewater to accommodate for the plant’s current production schedule and take into consideration future demands due to increased productivity. 

The OEM teamed up with SMC to install an electro-pneumatic system which significantly enhanced the functional and operational features of the equipment.

Major challenges

Accommodating the current effluent requirements and allowing for about 35% more capacity for future expansion presented quite a challenge. Safety and hygiene requirements, as well as the refining of the process that deals with extracting the suspended solids more efficiently, was another obstacle that the technical team had to overcome, as well as the measuring and dosing process of the required chemicals. All of these elements had to be incorporated into one throughput. Ultimately, water with the right pH balance had to be returned into the system and this had to be done all in one cycle of the process.

SMC delivered a plug-and-play EtherCAT solution, which was designed, manufactured and delivered in an integrated control panel solution.

The SMC installation highlights that seemingly complex technology, previously only reserved for high-tech environments, can be implemented in most applications.

“This system sets a new benchmark within the Australian process industry by challenging the perceptions that a leading-edge networking system EtherCAT is only suitable for very high-speed, complex and demanding applications within the industrial automation sector and successfully demonstrates the benefits of its application over the traditional system design,” commented Jozef Ceh, business development manager for electronic platforms at SMC Pneumatics Australia New Zealand.

Fieldbus technology

EtherCAT is Industrial Ethernet technology which is not only fast but also synchronises with nanosecond accuracy. This offers benefits for applications in which the target system is controlled or measured via the bus system. The rapid reaction times work to reduce the wait times during the transitions between process steps, which significantly improves application efficiency. The EtherCAT system architecture also typically reduces the load on the CPU by 25–30 % in comparison to other bus systems (given the same cycle time). When optimally applied, EtherCAT’s performance therefore leads to improved accuracy, greater throughput and lowered costs.

The final result

The system was set up to return higher quality water back into the environment, and to reduce the impact on the environment, while exceeding the minimum specifications of the water authorities. The recycling of water back into the plant for repeat usage also reduced the water consumption and running costs of the plant.

The result was a rendering process plant with the capacity to receive 1 ML, with up to 1.5 ML of effluent, on a daily basis.

“This project successfully demonstrates the value in challenging the traditional approach to solving problems and looking outside of the comfort zones of historically specified legacy systems that were significant in their time but may impose limitations when encountered by demands of the modern plants. It went outside of status quo and broke the barrier to look at progressive technologies,” concluded Ceh.

EtherCAT technology from SMC will be on show during AUSPACK 2017, to be held in Sydney from 7–10 March.