CN-122029393-A - Production system and method of operating a production system

Abstract

A production system and a method of operating a production system are provided. The production system comprises a drying device, an optical analysis system, a production system controller and preferably an auxiliary controller. The auxiliary controller is configured to receive and/or store first predetermined data and to receive first optical analysis data. The auxiliary controller is further configured to receive the drying control signal and generate drying offset data based at least on the first predetermined data, the first optical analysis data, and the drying control signal and provide the drying offset data to the drying device.

Inventors

• Thomas Knapp Jorgensen

Assignees

• 阿特琳有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20241011

Priority Date

20231013

Claims (10)

1. 1. A production system, comprising: A drying device configured to dry at least a portion of the bulk product in response to a drying control signal, An optical analysis system configured to optically analyze a material sample of the bulk product and generate first optical analysis data representing a result of the optical analysis of the material sample for at least a first parameter, A production system controller comprising a drying apparatus controller configured to provide a drying control signal to the drying apparatus at least indirectly, and A secondary controller comprising a data communication interface configured to be in data communication with at least the drying apparatus, the production system controller, and the optical analysis system, Wherein the auxiliary controller is configured to: Receiving and/or storing first predetermined data, Receiving said first optical analysis data, -Receiving the said drying control signal, -Generating drying offset data based at least on the first predetermined data, the first optical analysis data and the drying control signal, and -Providing the drying offset data to the drying means.
2. 2. The production system of claim 1, wherein the first predetermined data comprises data representative of a first expected value of the first parameter, wherein the optical analysis is configured to provide second optical analysis data representative of a result of optical analysis of the material sample for at least a second parameter, and wherein the auxiliary controller is further configured to: Receiving and/or storing second predetermined data for said second parameter, Receiving second optical analysis data representing a result of an optical analysis of the material sample for at least the second parameter, Generating a predicted value for the second parameter based at least on the first expected value, -Generating drying offset data based at least on the predicted value, the second optical analysis data and the second predetermined data.
3. 3. The production system of claim 2, wherein the first parameter comprises fat and/or protein concentration.
4. 4. The production system of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising an automatic sampling device configured to automatically collect the material sample from a sampling location of the drying device.
5. 5. The production system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the drying control signal comprises a target drying current, and wherein the auxiliary controller is configured to receive at least the target drying current.
6. 6. The production system of claim 6, wherein the dry offset data comprises a dry offset current, and wherein the dry offset current is generated based at least on the target dry current.
7. 7. The production system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the auxiliary controller is configured to: Receiving at least first drying control data and said first optical analysis data at a first point in time, -Receiving at a third point in time at least third drying control data and third optical analysis data, and -Generating drying offset data based on at least the first and third drying control data and the first and third optical analysis data.
8. 8. The production system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the auxiliary controller is a stand-alone device comprising a power supply separate from a power supply of the production system controller.
9. 9. A method of operating a production system comprising a drying apparatus, an optical analysis system, a production system controller, and an auxiliary controller, the method comprising the steps of: the drying means is responsive to a drying control signal to dry at least a portion of the bulk product, -The optical analysis system optically analysing a material sample of the bulk product, generating first optical analysis data representing the result of the optical analysis of the material sample for at least a first parameter, and -The auxiliary controller: o receives and/or stores first predetermined data, O receiving said first optical analysis data, O receives the drying control signal and, O generating drying offset data based at least on the first predetermined data, the first optical analysis data and the drying control signal, and O at least indirectly providing said drying offset data to said drying means.
10. 10. A method of operating a production system, the production system comprising: A drying device configured to dry at least a portion of the bulk product in response to a drying control signal, An optical analysis system configured to optically analyze a material sample of the bulk product and generate first optical analysis data representing a result of the optical analysis of the material sample for at least a first parameter, A production system controller comprising a drying apparatus controller configured to provide a drying control signal at least indirectly to the drying apparatus, Wherein the method comprises the steps of: -providing an auxiliary controller for controlling the operation of the vehicle, Providing data communication between the production system controller and the auxiliary controller, Providing data communication between the optical analysis system and the auxiliary controller, Providing data communication between the drying means and the auxiliary controller, And wherein the auxiliary controller is configured to: Receiving and/or storing first predetermined data, Receiving said first optical analysis data, -Receiving the said drying control signal, -Generating drying offset data based at least on the first predetermined data, the first optical analysis data and the drying control signal, and -Providing the drying offset data to the drying means.

Description

Production system and method of operating a production system Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a production system and a method of operating a production system. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a production system comprising a drying device and an optical analysis system. Background In the field of production systems comprising drying means for drying a product, it may be desirable to add an analysis system to the production system to allow analysis of the dried product. Samples of the product may be manually collected by an operator and the analysis output may be recorded by the operator. This may allow an operator to evaluate the moisture content of the product being dried and potentially manually adjust the degree of dryness applied to the product by the drying apparatus. This allows a degree of optimisation of the drying process, but requires a lot of manual effort and the adjustment of the degree of drying may be affected by human error. Disclosure of Invention In the above background, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide more efficient drying of bulk products. In a first aspect, embodiments provide a production system comprising: A drying device configured to dry at least a portion of the bulk product in response to a drying control signal, An optical analysis system configured to optically analyze a material sample of a bulk product and generate first optical analysis data representing a result of the optical analysis of the material sample for at least a first parameter, A production system controller comprising a drying apparatus controller configured to provide a drying control signal at least indirectly to a drying apparatus, and A secondary controller comprising a data communication interface configured for data communication with at least the drying apparatus, the production system controller and the optical analysis system, Wherein the auxiliary controller is configured to: Receiving and/or storing first predetermined data, -Receiving the first optical analysis data, -Receiving a drying control signal, the drying control signal, -Generating drying offset data based at least on the first predetermined data, the first optical analysis data and the drying control signal, and -Providing the drying offset data to the drying means. In a second aspect, embodiments provide a method of operating a production system comprising a drying apparatus, an optical analysis system, a production system controller, and an auxiliary controller, the method comprising the steps of: The drying means is responsive to the drying control signal to dry at least a portion of the bulk product, -An optical analysis system for optically analyzing a material sample of the bulk product, generating first optical analysis data representing a result of the optical analysis of the material sample for at least a first parameter, and -An auxiliary controller: o receives and/or stores first predetermined data, O receives the first optical analysis data, O receives the drying control signal, O generating drying offset data based at least on the first predetermined data, the first optical analysis data and the drying control signal, and O provides the drying offset data at least indirectly to the drying means. In a third aspect, embodiments provide a method of operating a production system comprising: A drying device configured to dry at least a portion of the bulk product in response to a drying control signal, An optical analysis system configured to optically analyze a material sample of a bulk product and generate first optical analysis data representing a result of the optical analysis of the material sample for at least a first parameter, A production system controller comprising a drying apparatus controller configured to provide a drying control signal at least indirectly to a drying apparatus, Wherein the method comprises the steps of: -providing an auxiliary controller for controlling the operation of the vehicle, Providing data communication between the production system controller and the auxiliary controller, Providing data communication between the optical analysis system and the auxiliary controller, Providing data communication between the drying means and the auxiliary controller, And wherein the auxiliary controller is configured to: Receiving and/or storing first predetermined data, -Receiving the first optical analysis data, -Receiving a drying control signal, the drying control signal, -Generating drying offset data based at least on the first predetermined data, the first optical analysis data and the drying control signal, and -Providing the drying offset data to the drying means. Accordingly, embodiments of the first, second and third aspects provide more efficient drying of bulk products by providing an auxiliary controller and its ability to provide drying offset data to the drying apparatus. Further, the drying offset data generated by the auxiliary controller