Top German technology for the Nestlé Group:
GEA TDS constructs first
fully automatic milk processing plant in Pakistan
It is a project which has set new standards – one of the Nestlé Group’s
largest milk processing plants started production in Kabirwala in Pakistan at
the end of 2006. Even the key data of this prestigious project speak for
themselves: approximately 1000 automatic valves and 60 pumps, state-of-the-art
technology in terms of inline dosing and hygienic process design, all completed
within a construction period of just 15 months. With an active, strong support
of Nestlé PTC Konolfingen the latest process technology has been incorporated
into this plant. Tuchenhagen Dairy Systems was the company responsible for all
of the process technology, energy distribution and supplying the automation
technology?
Project development
There was no time
to lose: once Nestlé had given the project the green light, the ambitious
schedule meant that work on the project had to start quickly. The individual
components were produced and pre-assembled in the various plants of GEA within
a period of four months. The valve clusters as well as completely pre-assembled
pasteurisers on base frames were constructed at GEA Tuchenhagen in Büchen. The
standardisation unit and separators were produced at GEA Westfalia Separator,
GEA TDS in Ahaus took on the pre-assembly of the UHT plant and aseptic valve
clusters of the sterile tanks. At the same time, the production of the tanks on
the basis of constructional drawings and engineering provided by GEA TDS in
Büchen started in Pakistan.
Once the first containers had arrived in
Kabirwala, the team of supervisors from GEA TDS started the assembly work. The
entire plant was drawn in 3D – a necessary prerequisite for the additional work
carried out by approximately 40 Pakistani fitters, whose job it was to
completely erect the milk processing plant within six months.
The
switch cupboards were designed and wired at GEA TDS in Büchen, while Nestlé
Pakistan’s responsibilities included electrical installation and checking the
hardware. Following the hardware check, it was time for the practical work:
starting with the CIP, the various programmes were successively commissioned,
with the first batch of milk finally being produced in mid November 2006. On
site were four process engineers and software engineers from TDS, two
commissioning engineers from GEA Westfalia Separator and an engineer from GEA
Colby.
The entire project was completed on time in early December – since
then the plant has been producing the agreed quantity of milk of up to
2,000,000 litres per day.
This prestigious milk processing plant marks
the successful completion by GEA TDS of what was a demanding, international
project but one which, overall, was quickly and professionally executed and
which ran smoothly. The project owes its success to the company’s many years
experience of technology and organisation. The result? A very satisfied
customer.
An overview of the new plant
The fully
automated system means that only ten employees per shift are required to
operate the milk processing plant, from reception up to discharge of the milk.
Milk reception is tracked with a chip, which the driver of the milk tanker uses
for weighing, milk reception, cleaning the vehicle and checking out. In this
way it is guaranteed that no operator errors occur – for example, the
possibility of the tanker leaving the milk processing plant without first being
cleaned or unloading without laboratory clearance is eliminated.
Raw
milk tanks are selected automatically, thereby saving time. Reception of
2,000,000 litres of raw milk per day takes four hours, using just four tanks,
each with a capacity of 100,000 litres.
The system is controlled by the
recipe selection. The operator selects a recipe, the control system checks
whether all of the components are available, provides clearance and informs the
operator which programmes are being started.
As a rule, the operator is
only responsible for mon itoring the plant – everything else operates fully
automatically.
Processing room for milk standardisation
Milk reception
Published: June 2007