Biogas per tablet PC

SPANGLER – the Plus of Progress.

At the biogas plant in Gordemitz Spangler GmbH realized the automation, starting with engineering, to PLC programming, creating the control system, to production and start-up. In all, 21 control cabinet fields were planned and projected, which are distributed to different buildings.

Energy for up to 4 000 households

The heart of the automation is software which is individually adjusted to the biogas production. For process monitoring, Spangler uses the WinCC control system by Siemens, which visualizes the operation of the whole plant. Special detail: in addition to the conventional computer, the plant can be controlled via WLAN with the help of a tablet PC. As control, a SIMATIC Siemens S7 was installed.

A solids feed with conveyor belts and screws was integrated in the biogas plant which is operated by BALANCE GmbH.  Various substrates are processed, including chopped corn, whole plant silage, grass silage and dry chicken dung. There is the possibility to feed the plant via an additional pit with cattle slurry or other liquids. A small part of the biogas produced is used for the heat production of the digestate container of the plant. The remaining bigger part of the biogas produced is fed into the natural gas network as bio methane with the help of gas treatment with downstream gas injection. In all, it amounts to nearly 700 cubic meter bio methane per hour, with which on average up to 4 000 households can be supplied.

Being informed all the time

With the integrated fault messages, the plant operators have the possibility to be up to date around the clock. Fault messages can be transferred to the operation mobile phone via SMS, mail or voice message. The messages are transferred in plain text, that means the fault message text of the control system shown is transferred 1:1. By default, the SMS alarm is used. Additionally, there is an escalation variant. If a user cannot be reached or if he or does not answer within a certain time, it will automatically be switched to the next receiver.

If a customer was informed about a failure at the plant, he or she can switch remotely on the operating computer. The remote access can take place from any internet-ready device. After access, the customer has the same view on the operation computer as at the plant.