Agroferm ups Lysine production

Agroferm​ is planning the construction of a new production plant at its Esbjerg site in Denmark - a move which will make the company the largest Lysine producer in Northern Europe.

Invensys APV​, a supplier of process equipment, engineering and automation control to the food processing industry has been awarded a contract valued at approximately €10.5 million to install a new lysine production plant at the site. To meet the technical challenges involved in large scale Lysine production, APV have incorporated other Invensys businesses, with Foxboro technology being used to control the overall batch process.

Lysine is an amino acid, a critical ingredient used within the production of feed mixes for pigs and chickens. The new plant plans an annual production of 12,500 tonnes, which will make Agroferm the largest Lysine producer in Northern Europe.

The production of Lysine is a complex process and one that makes stringent demands regarding sterility of both the plant and the raw ingredients themselves. As Lysine is produced by bacteriological fermentation, the "environment" in which the fermentation takes place must be precisely controlled in order to comply with rigorous product quality standards dictated by Agroferm.

The quantity of the batch product is extremely large with the fermentation vessel having a capacity similar to those used for the production of enzymes and insulin. APV will supply all instrumentation, utility supply as well as the control system for the fermenters, in an effort to ensure that Agroferm's rigorous product quality standards are maintained, helping to optimise process control, recipe handling and material tracking.

The scope of APV's work includes: Raw material intake and storage, raw material sterilisation units, salt dissolving units, evaporation as well as final product tanks for dry and liquid products.

A detailed pre-design study was commissioned by APV to determine which parts of the existing plant could be reused in order to help generate project savings. It proved possible to utilise the spray drying equipment, and the existing automation control was integrated into an APV system.

In addition, various parts of the complex production process were tested, including product sterilisation, evaporation and spray drying. The results of these comprehensive tests allowed APV to establish the production parameters necessary to produce sufficient Lysine for Agroferm's trials programme, which involved feed trials on pigs and chickens to gain approval for this type of lysine production.

According to APV, control of the process is critical to optimise product quality and production throughput. APV teamed up with Foxboro's expertise in batch control. The Foxboro Batch Control System was specified, working in concert with Foxboro's Micro I/A controllers to provide distributed field intelligence. The principle communication protocols are ProfiBus and ASI-Bus.

In addition to the control room, the control of the process has been "pushed out" into the plant through the use of FoxView operator stations, which provide the means to operate and supervise the batch process. In order to provide "global" control, the system will be designed according to the S88 standard, specified for the management of all material handling, batch control and the tracking of all production batches from raw materials to end product.

The installation of the project will begin in November 2003 and is scheduled for completion in August 2004 when the first product trial will take place. This contract award follows a long and relationship between Agroferm and APV where both product quality and engineering expertise have been continually monitored.Invensys is a global leader in production technology. The group aims to improve productivity, performance and profitability using innovative services and technologies and a deep understanding of their industries and applications. It operates in more than 60 countries, with its headquarters in London.