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.

Spangler is an UL-listed manufacturer of control systems and thus certified, to produce plants for the North American market. A regular inspection by UL Germany guarantees a consistently high standard based on current standards.

Control cabinet construction according to UL508A

The UL508A is the relevant standard for the construction of control cabinets in North America (Industrial Control Panels). This differs fundamentally from the widely used IEC standard, as not only the plant, but also the production process is checked.  For the installation of a plant the acceptance by the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) is necessary. Besides control cabinets for General Use, Spangler mainly designs controls for Industrial Machinery where the NFPA79 Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery is observed as, in addition to UL508A, there are other requirements such as door locking.

Control cabinet construction in Ex-area according to UL698A

With application in explosion-proof areas (hazardous locations), special requirements according to UL698A must be for risk avoidance. As only one of few companies in Germany, Spangler holds the extended certification and the know how to produce control cabinets for control systems of plant parts in the Ex-area.

On-site acceptance

In North America it is required by law that the local responsible authority AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) carries out the on-site acceptance whereas in countries like in South America, the Middle East or in Asia the requirements are from the customers themselves. By marking the control cabinets with UL-listed labels, Spangler ensures a smooth process of inspection and thus avoids any delays with start-up. Spangler has nearly 20 years of experience with planning, production, certification and documentation of control systems for the North American market and offers further support with electrical planning.

Three Spangler UL specialists have concluded the MTR test (Manufacturer Technical Representative) at UL Germany and regularly take part in trainings. The examination must be repeated every three years. In this way, Spangler can guarantee consistently high quality. The specialists have already designed and produced many control systems – like for example hydrogen filling stations in the USA or sewage treatment plants in the Middle East – in accordance with UL standard.

Waste water heat utilization is becoming increasingly economically interesting due to the rising energy prices. Thus, in the municipality Schallstadt, near Freiburg in the South of Germany, the favorable location of the new building area near the sewer channel was used to install a system called ThermWin which was developed by Huber SE.

Spangler has planned, produced and programmed the automation technology. Building owner and operator is Energiedienst AG.

Using thermal energy from waste water

The nearby channel collects the waste water from the neighboring communities Ebringen and Pfaffenweiler. For extraction of the waste water, a Huber pumping stations screen ROTAMAT® RoK4 was installed underground, so it is invisible. It is in the first position of the closed solids cycle and is for cleaning of the waste water.  Coarse material is removed and returned to the channel. Pumps convey the energy-rich waste water to the Huber heat exchangers RoWin. The waste water heat exchangers have an automatic self-cleaning. A constant heat transmission to a storage silo of 500 m³ is guaranteed The RoWin together with the ROTAMAT RoK4 results in the Huber ThermWin procedure. With the heat generated a residential area with approximately 200 apartments and the town hall is heated. Fossil energy sources are not used, that sustainably protects our environment.

Technical know-how

In the main control cabinet, the Siemens control PLC S7-1512SP-1 PN was installed which is operated via the Siemens operation device TP700 and which enables logging of process parameters on USB stick. The connection to the pump station was implemented with a decentral interface module ET200SP. Both plant parts are connected via a fiber optic-connection. Such an advanced machine requires an innovative control system, which Spangler GmbH has realized with this project. There is a temporary buffering of the 24VDC PLC-voltage to guarantee a safe process parameter storage in case of voltage breakdown. Additionally, the plant is connected via Sm@rtServer-Funktion to the web-based remote visualisation.

Modern industrial plants are often enabled by industrial communication networks to communicate and work in a network. The usual office network technology (IT world) differs significantly from the technology used in control systems in the OT world (Operational Technology). In recent years, however, OT and IT have increasingly merged, referred to as “Industry 4.0″.

OT and IT – Industry 4.0

Due to the constantly increasing networking of OT and IT, Spangler used the IEC 62443 standard as a basis for linking both sides and still guaranteeing the security of the systems. IT Security in machines and systems must be viewed holistically. A risk-based segmentation within the overall system is important. In the first step, Spangler Automation works out a customer-specific cell protection concept for the control cabinets and then implements this together with the customer.

Holistic view – standard IEC 62443 as a basis for IT Security

Networking in the field of sensors and actuators has been indispensable in industry for years. Up to now, however, industrial systems have been isolated and separated from the office networks. This has changed completely in recent years: Industrial networks have been connected to other IT components. This makes the island network vulnerable. There is a trend towards connecting cloud infrastructures in order to use them to open up new business models.

On the other hand, networking leads to opening and implicates the risk of misuse by unauthorised persons. In addition to a digitisation strategy, every industrial company or municipality therefore also needs a strategy to secure the production process and its own know-how to secure the business model. The IEC 62443 standard was defined for industrial IT security. It contains an established, implementable procedure model for an industrial cyber security strategy and is therefore clearly superior to uncoordinated individual activities. The essential parts of the standard have been published since the beginning of 2019 which gives users of the standard sufficient planning certainty.

Spangler Automation has intensively dealt with this standard. It now serves as the basis for IT security in the control cabinet and the system. The focus here is the segmentation of the system network. Therefore Spangler integrates a firewall into the control cabinet upon customer request which monitors communication and prevents attacks on the PLC and thus ensuring the continuity of the entire system. The firewall guarantees mutual protection – on the one hand for the system inside the control cabinet and on the other hand for the customer’s entire system. This prevents unauthorised access. At various customer training courses at the beginning of the year, Spangler provided detailed information and explanations about IT security.

Basically, a network subdivision with different function groups is always an advantage. If the control cabinets cannot communicate with each other, no malware can be passed on. However, as OT and IT are merging more and more, the systems are becoming increasingly internet-enabled and network-enabled and Ethernet-based fieldbuses such as PROFINET, EtherCAT and Modbus-TCP are therefore being used, certain protective measures must be defined.

Patch management

Patch management includes the planning, procurement and testing of patches. A patch is a correction delivery for the software to correct errors, mostly to close security gaps that have become known or to retrofit functions that were not available before. This means that the software inventory is constantly kept up to date. This is possible by the regular import of updates. Spangler Automation can support its customers to import updates e. g. via remote access or with remote maintenance modems. The holistic view is paramount again. It is decided in advance which update is relevant for which customer, how to inform the user or how to import the updates. For IT security it is important to be properly prepared. Our in-house specialists will be happy to support you. Get in touch with us for important preventive measures.

We inform you about a personnel change in our company. Our long-term employee Franz Achhammer has taken over Sales management on 01.04.2023.

Since 2006 he has been working as a technical sales expert in our company, for one year already as deputy manager of the sales department. During these 17 years of his sales activities, he has been able to build up a large customer base through his high commitment to the needs of his business partners. The solid, long-term co-operation with customers from the various industries has given him a wealth of experience which he can count on in contact with customers.

Franz Achhammer has a remarkable expertise and has already been active in various areas. As new sales manager he is solution-oriented and will continuously work hard for his customers.  Recent special issues include renewable energies and emergency power supply.

Besides his demanding work, Franz continues to maintain his honorary work as examiner at the Chamber of Crafts. He is happy to take his time for his engagement for the next generation in the apprenticeships.

We are pleased to have a committed sales manager from our own ranks and wish him every success in his new tasks.