Equipment Description

This concentrator is suitable for concentrating liquids such as traditional Chinese medicine, Western medicine, glucose, starch, monosodium glutamate, dairy products, and chemicals, and is especially suitable for low-temperature vacuum concentration of heat-sensitive materials. After careful calculation and meticulous design improvements, our company has made it even more efficient and feature-rich than the original. Your factory can select a concentrator from the series of technical parameters based on the required concentration volume.

Features and benefits

1. Energy-saving benefits: Based on the SJN-1000 model, it saves approximately 3,500 tons of steam, 90,000 tons of cooling water, and 80,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to RMB 100,000-150,000 (compared to single-effect models).

2. This concentrator adopts an external heating natural circulation type and vacuum negative pressure evaporation method, which has the characteristics of fast evaporation speed, high concentration ratio, up to 1.2-1.35 (general Chinese medicine extract), and no need for open pot for collecting the extract.

3. This concentrator uses dual-effect simultaneous evaporation, which utilizes secondary steam, saving on boiler investment and energy consumption. Compared with a single-effect concentrator, energy consumption is reduced by 50%, and the entire investment in this concentrator can be recovered in less than a year through energy-saving fees.

4. Multifunctional operation features:

(1) High alcohol recovery rate (up to 95% or more);

(2) Single-effect and double-effect ointments can be repeatedly boiled together to obtain a paste;

(3) It can be fed intermittently or continuously.

5. This concentrator has a special structure, producing materials with a rich flavor and uniform paste texture. Concentration is carried out in a sealed, foam-free environment, minimizing material loss and contamination. Materials are concentrated on the same day, preventing coking and making cleaning easy; simply open the upper and lower covers of the heater for cleaning. It also saves labor, as one person can operate it.

6. All parts of this concentrator that come into contact with materials are made of SUS304 stainless steel. This product is available in both manual and automatic drainage versions. The heater and evaporator are equipped with an insulation layer made of polyurethane foam, with a matte finish, conforming to GMP pharmaceutical standards.

7.1. System Overview

This project comprises approximately 50 control points. The automatic control system employs a highly efficient and stable controller, a high-speed and secure industrial control network, precise sensors and actuators, and powerful industrial control application software. The entire system is rationally designed and technologically advanced and reliable. The control system monitors various parameters and equipment operating status within the system in real time, automatically controlling the control loops to ensure coordinated and stable equipment operation. The control system can improve product output, quality, and stability, while saving energy; simultaneously, it reduces manual intervention, decreases the number of operators, simplifies operator training and onboarding cycles, and saves production costs.

The system's control parameters are highly open. The system's graphical interface is vivid, intuitive, easy to monitor, simple to operate, and user-friendly; it features functions such as graphical configuration, trend curves, alarm logging, data processing, and report output, playing a crucial role in production process analysis.

The on-site testing and execution equipment are all imported, joint venture, and domestic brand products. The instruments and actuators on the process equipment and pipelines are products with successful usage experience from multiple manufacturers for at least ten years.

7.2. System Overall Configuration

The system includes one server operator station and one field operator station. The operator station uses a DELL commercial computer. The control system uses Siemens SIMATIC DCS and Siemens configuration software.

7.3. System Features

(1) Advanced technology

The control system selected is the DCS system from Siemens, Germany. This product is a key product promoted by Siemens in recent years. It adopts mature and advanced technology and has been successfully applied in many fields at home and abroad.

(2) Simple to operate

Centralized manual operation refers to operating a single device at an operator station, while centralized programmable operation is an automatic control method where the host computer in the main control room can monitor and control the operation of all equipment.

(3) Easy to maintain

The control system adopts a modular structure, allowing for easy replacement of any faulty module with a new one, simplifying hardware maintenance. After training, the client's engineers can perform regular software maintenance and adjust process parameters.

(4) The system has powerful functions

The system control and data processing system receives input signals from process variables, processes the input signals according to the requirements of the configuration data, displays and calculates them, and transmits the output signals to the execution unit.

In terms of I/O signal processing, the system provides linearization, compensation, accumulation, square root, and alarm functions for analog quantities; and alarm and state change detection for digital quantities.

The system can perform regulation and control, interlocking logic, soft manual operation, and automatic sequence composed of standard algorithms or user programs.

The regulation and control functions include various PID algorithms, standard calculations, and basic control functions.

Interlocking control functions include Boolean logic for regulation control and ladder logic for switching control. Sequential control functions can execute start/stop sequences, batch processing, or any predefined program steps.

(5) Communication capabilities

The communication system can complete the information exchange between all stations of the entire control system, send the process signals collected by the control station to the operator station for display and storage, send the control commands of the operator station to the control station, and send the output signals of the control station to each terminal device.

(6) Combining multiple work modes

The system has multiple operating modes, including automatic, central control manual, equipment maintenance, and on-site manual, to adapt to different working conditions.

(7) Customized functions and screen

The system includes both operation screens and diagrams with a unified style for the control of traditional Chinese medicine production, as well as screens with special functions customized for this project. The interface style has both a unified style and unique requirements, combining rigor, flexibility, vividness, convenience and security.

7.4. Control System Scheme

The system is configured with one master control station. The master control station CPU is connected to the control station via PROFIBUS. PROFIBUS is a successful open fieldbus, conforming to the IEC 61158/EN 50175 international standards. PROFIBUS defines the technical and functional characteristics of serial fieldbus systems, enabling the networking of lower-level distributed automation devices to mid-to-high-level performance ranges. It is designed for communication between automation systems, distributed I/O stations, and field devices, and features high interference immunity, strong openness, and troubleshooting capability.

7.5. Introduction to the Control System

7.5.1. System Overview

The control system establishes new standards for process automation, featuring a unique open platform that provides a unique and low-cost future-oriented solution for process control. Its modern design and flexible architecture significantly reduce and economically operate costs, including planning, engineering implementation, commissioning, training, operation, and maintenance, as well as plant design costs throughout its future lifecycle. The integration of the control system with SIMATIC technology easily meets requirements for performance, reliability, convenience, and safe operation. As a fully integrated automation process control system, it provides unified functions for data storage, communication, and configuration. Therefore, the control system is the standard platform for achieving fully integrated automation in production enterprises, supporting the integration of all production processes into the entire enterprise environment. As a modern process control system, the control system constitutes a unified and coordinated complete system, ranging from engineering implementation to operational assurance.

7.5.2. Hardware Standardization

The control system uses the same standard SIMATIC components.

The advantages are:

● Low hardware cost

● Proven quality and stability

● Simple system components, allowing for quick identification and selection

● Short spare parts delivery time when expanding the system

● Components available worldwide

7.5.3. Information Network Integration

Siemens has long focused on international industry standards for data exchange with operations and management, such as Ethernet and TCP/IP OPC, which allows process control systems to be easily connected to the company's information network. This ensures that various applications can access process data anytime, anywhere throughout the company.

7.5.4. Field System Integration

Control is particularly suitable for integrating field systems into process control systems. Whether the plant is equipped with traditional or intelligent field devices, or has modern bus-based field devices, is irrelevant to the control system.

●Scalability, flexibility, and openness

●Enables distributed and centralized I/O

● Expand the scope of operation and monitoring, from single-user start-up systems to distributed multi-user systems with client/server architecture.

● Specifically extend the functionality of operator stations by adding various software and

hardware. Due to its excellent scalability and various expansion possibilities, it can be matched with the functions and requirements of the plant, resulting in significant cost reduction. The openness of the control system extends to all levels, including application programming and data transmission interfaces, as well as the import and export of graphics, text, and data, and import and export within applications.

7.5.5. Graphical Designer

The graphics used for system equipment visualization and operation are designed using a graphical designer. The operator station control software provides you with abundant resources, including graphical objects such as:

● Standardized and graphical objects

● Buttons, checkboxes, and sliders

● Application windows and display windows

● OLE objects and ActiveX controls

● I/O fields and text lists

● Bar charts, status displays, and group displays

● Customized user objects The appearance of graphical components is dynamically controlled by the configuration engineer. Dynamic control parameters of the graphics, such as geometry, color, and style, can be controlled directly by changing operator station variables or by the program.

7.5.6. Open Structure

The operator station control software incorporates contemporary software technologies used in operation and monitoring systems, representing an innovative and pioneering product series that signifies future development trends. It integrates new Microsoft technologies such as OCX or ActiveX, OLE, and COM (DCOM), and utilizes the ANSI-C standard programming language to combine database and script generation. In addition to integrating new technologies, the operator station control software maintains a degree of openness in its structure. This is achieved through its modular structure and the protocols governing the programming interfaces of each module.

7.5.7. Controller

In many automation fields, the application of fault-tolerant and highly reliable automation systems is increasing, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Highly reliable SIMATIC industrial control products fully meet these requirements. They can operate continuously without being affected even if some components of the controller fail due to one or more faults. They perform extended self-tests, including the following:

●CPU Module Processor/ASIC Memory.

● A report is generated for every fault detected.

●Startup self-test; upon restart, each subunit performs all test functions completely.

●Self-test during cycle execution: All self-tests are distributed across several cycles. Each cycle performs only a portion of the self-test to reduce the load on the controller.

7.5.8 Detailed Description of Control Scheme

The material enters the first and second effect heaters along the axis of the evaporator. After negative pressure is formed, steam is introduced to heat and concentrate the material in the first effect heater. The specific gravity is detected at the lower circulation pipe of the heater. Once the standard is met, the paste is discharged or transported to the concentrate storage tank.

A temperature sensor is installed at the bottom of the evaporator, which remotely controls the steam regulating valve to adjust the steam feed rate. An alarm will sound when the material level inside the evaporator is below the low level sensor or above the high level sensor. The material feed valve will then be manually adjusted to maintain the material level between the high and low levels until equilibrium is reached (the material level inside the evaporator is stable), thus establishing continuous feeding and discharging. Alternatively, the pneumatic feed valve can be opened at low levels and closed at high levels, creating intermittent feeding/discharging.

When the liquid level in the collection tank reaches the high level, upon detecting the signal, the pneumatic drain valve and vent valve open, and the centrifugal drain pump starts to discharge the condensate from the tank. When the liquid level in the collection tank reaches the low level switch, the centrifugal drain pump shuts off, and then the pneumatic drain valve and vent valve automatically close.

A quote will be provided for the overall machine control based on process requirements and a process flow diagram with control points. Specific control points include the following (but not all, and may be added or removed).

●Feed control: Automatic on/off feeding;

●Single-effect heater: Automatic steam switch, angle seat valve or steam proportional regulation control (corresponding to the temperature of the single-effect evaporator).

● Single-effect evaporator: Vacuum, temperature, liquid level (high, low), foam control and physical defoaming.

● Double-effect evaporator: Vacuum, temperature, liquid level (high, low), foam control and physical defoaming.

● Intermittent

concentration: Material from the second effect is automatically fed into the first effect for later concentration; automatic discharge, cleaning, and shutdown are achieved through density detection.

● Continuous concentration: Flow control from the first to the second effect; discharge can be equipped with a rotary pump; mass and flow sensors (controlling discharge specific gravity and flow rate).

●Condensate: Automatic drainage, which can be linked with the liquid discharge pump for control;

●CIP (hot water, alkaline solution, purified water) cleaning control for all heaters, evaporators, vapor-liquid separators, and condensers;

●Control of circulating water and chilled water, automatic start-up and automatic shutdown.

● All on-site units are equipped with touchscreens, which can control multiple units.