System Design - Case Study 1

One of our clients who specializes in cryogenic tyre recycling technology requested us to design a turn key solution for a Tyre Recycling facility for Sharjah (UAE). Our contract consisted of design, manufacture, installation, and commissioning the Electrical and PLC software control system. The electrical system was designed, manufactured and partially tested in the UK before shipping to site. Hornbill, were also responsible for installation, testing and commissioning on site. Our system provided the top level of control and as part of our design we provided an interface with 3rd party equipment which would be operated remotely from our control system. A significant aspect of the project was the design and supply of the PLC and HMI software this was in addition to programming the variable speed drives, soft starters, and an AC Servo Motor System.

The Electrical system consisted of a custom designed Motor Control Centre driving approximately 70 motors ranging from 200 to fractional horsepower. Typical items being controlled included Screw and Belt Conveyors, Hammer Mills, Fans, pumps, and Burners. Motor control was achieved by a mixture of Direct on Line, Variable Speed Drives, and Soft Starters. The design also included a Fire Detection and suppression system and an Emergency Stop system which allowed either individual items of plant to be shut down or a complete plant shutdown if required. The project also comprised designing a number of smaller stand alone motor control panels required to control stand alone items of plant.

The control architecture was based around the Allen Bradley Compact Logix PLC family, Panel View Plus HMI's, and Kinnetix Servo System. The software allowed the plant to function in either Automatic or manual modes of control. The two HMI's provided an interactive mimic of the plant in addition to displaying Hardware Settings, Alarms, Alarm History, Trends, and Data Logging of key process indicators.