The educational and training programme offered at the Deutsche Müllerschule Braunschweig (DMSB) is unique in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Graduates of the DMSB work in leading positions in grain and feed mills and in mill construction firms.

1. Digital Re-print - September | October 2011
The Virtual Mill at the DMSB: Simulation of a 200-tonne wheat mill under professional conditions
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2. FEATURE FEATURE
„Siemens Automation Cooperates with The sum was paid by the Supporters’ Society the programming environment Simatic
Education (SCE)“ educational institutions the of the DMSB between 2008 and 2010. Step7
opportunity to acquire professional software Network intercommunication via Ethernet
for process visualisation and process control The actual state and PROFIBUS DP with connection to
at low cost. This enabled us to configure the While developing the Virtual Mill, various two systems Simatic S7 CPU 315 2 DP/
Virtual Mill using hardware and software with earlier projects on the basis of PLC and PN via DP/DP couplers
industry standard and to combine them with operator panels were realised. These are Hardware components, such as level
real measuring, protecting and controlling now available for student experiments and indicators by VEGA or elevator
devices. Mr Schulz, teacher for automation training during their automation lessons. monitoring by Agromatic.
at our school, set up a PLC programme, The experience that was gained during this Calculation software based on ‘Visual-
which allows to simulate faults and their work and a lot of further ideas and suggestions Basic’
consequences close to reality. made by DMSB teachers and specialists, led Fault simulation programmed in Step7-S7
Hardware and software cost about €60,000. to the realisation of the Virtual Mill, which Graph
today consists of the follow- The mill’s flow chart (see picture 3)
ing hardware and software depicts a real 200-tonne wheat mill. It forms
components (see picture 2): the basis for calculations of machinery and
the determination of grinding parameters
Dell PC with for the teaching in subjects related to grain
Windows milling.
Working in the centre for conveying equipment
XP-Profession
operating system Short description of the
Production Management simulated milling process
System ‘CellaTrace’ by The job management in the Virtual Mill is
Keller-HCW done by the production management system
Process Visualisation CellaTrace.
Software ‘CellaControl’ for Here, raw materials, finished products, bin
grain mills by Keller-HCW, data and laboratory data are generated.
based on Simatic-WinCC Jobs are automatically transferred to the
by Siemens process control system CellaControl and ful-
The virtual Mill at the DMSb:
PLC system (in form filled by the simulated mill. The user will also
Flow chart of the Virtual Mill
of a software PLC), receive circulation reports (see picture 5).
Simatic-WinAC/LC in The mill that is realised and simulated
Simulation of a 200-tonne wheat mill under professional conditions
by Uwe Schulz and Hasso Klabunde, Deutsche Müllerschule braunschweig, Germany
T
he educational and training ing equipment (see picture 1), the installation development of the principal structure of the
programme offered at the Deutsche and modernisation of several training stands, simulated mill.
Müllerschule Braunschweig for example, machines for pneumatic con- He also set up a PC programme that
(DMSB) is unique in Germany, Austria veying, a roller mill with plansifter and the is able to communicate with the process
and Switzerland. Graduates of the DMSB updating of hardware and software in the control and process visualisation. This allows
work in leading positions in grain and feed automation laboratory. us to show how the mill reacts to changes of
mills and in mill construction firms. The co-operation of the teachers at our the grinding parameters (like the grinding gap
school with partners in the industry resulted or the mesh size of the sieves in the various
To make teaching more practically ori- in the idea to visualise the grinding process passages) very similar to the reactions that CellaTrace
entated, the building of a school mill was in a flour mill on a personal computer. This occur in a real mill.
discussed, like the one that is in use at the would give the DMSB students an oppor- Siemens AG offer with their programme
ENSMIC, our partner school in France. tunity ‘to run a mill’ under
In 2008, an exam paper dealt with the conditions similar to those in a
requirements in space, buildings and machin- real mill. We call this system a Principal structure of the Virtual Mill
ery on the premises of our school on the ‘Virtual Mill’.
Salzdahlumer Strasse in Braunschweig. The company Keller-HCW/
Besides the costs, which could not have Laggenbeck has years of expe-
been covered by the rience in process visualisation
Supporters’ Society of the and the programming of mill
DMSB and supporting com- controls and was available as
panies, another argument a partner. Mr Hartmann, Mr
for not building the mill was Sparenberg and Mr Stallmeyer
the problem of disposing the products of the were engaged in transforming
grinding process. the project into reality. Mr
So, emphasis was put on the modernisa- Klabunde, who has been a
tion of the existing laboratory equipment senior expert for our school
and the installation of new equipment for for many years and has always
testing and training, instead. been ready to give his profes-
CellaTrace circulation report
This included the new centre for convey- sional advice, took part in the
12 | September - october 2011 Grain &feed millinG technoloGy Grain &feed millinG technoloGy September - october 2011 | 13

3. FEATURE
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settings, sieve meshes in the
plansifter, conveying of final
products, grinding moisture
and relative air humidity. The
Explosion protection for grinding, Balance & Flow Control
www.c-lever.info
www.q-rohr.com
resulting changes in the plan-
sifter tailings are calculated Visualisation of the process, screen room mixing and filtering system for all bulk goods
and the feeds on the follow-
ing passages and the yield
are determined. The power
input of the drive motors is also calculated, In the last column the individual percents
and it is tested if the maximal power input is are converted into the feed from the first
already reached. break. The graph below gives the numbers
Q-Rohr®-3
in form of a sieve analysis. The three-column
Roller mill setting, sieve analysis table on the right shows the actual feeds
and feeds on passages from the first break, as well as, on the right,
The setting of the roller mills in the first the feeds before changing the roll settings.
Software-based PLC WinLC RTX passages is of great importance. In the small table below the yields of flour
These product streams are the largest in one and two, and of germ and bran which
a mill, and even a slight maladjustment will can also be seen before and after changing QRCLD2E4C
© REMBE · All rights reserved
within the software-based PLC system (see result in significant changes in the feeds. An the mill settings.
picture 6) is visualised on the basis of Simatic example screenshot is shown in picture 11. Changes of the grinding moisture and the REMBE® GMBH SAFETY + CONTROL · Gallbergweg 21 · 59929 Brilon/Germany · T + 49 (0) 29 61 - 74 05 - 0 · F + 49 (0) 29 61 - 5 07 14
Win-CC using CellaControl, which has The rollers of the break passages I and II relative air humidity can be entered in the
already been adopted in numerous real mills. have been set two percent higher than the spaces in the bottom left corner. If for example,
The Virtual Mill includes the following original setting. This results in smaller feeds the moisture is set higher, the tailings from the
main plant components: of the front passages and larger feeds on the plansifters is not sifted so well, the quantities
Flour Milling Training
• Grain silo with truck reception, pre- back passages. The flour yield of quality one change, more bran and less flour is produced.
cleaning and storage is reduced by two percent. The changes are small, but noticeable.
• Cleaning section with screen room and This is partly compensated by 1.1 percent The same will happen when the mill
dampening (see picture 7) due to larger feeds in the following passages, capacity is increased or the relative air
• Milling section with first-break scales, but the overall flour yield will be reduced humidity is set higher. This influences all pas-
 Internationally recognised distance learning programme
roller mills and sifters (see pictures 8 from 80.1% to 79.2 percent. sages and, consequently, the flour yield. Seven Steps
and 9) The column on the left of picture 11 The calculation is simply a mathematical com-
• Flour silo with bins, blending and shows a list of the passages. Break passage II putation of the feeds on the basis of the sifter
to Success  Developed for millers by industry professionals
loading-out (see picture 9) is highlighted. The roll setting can be changed fractions in percents. Details like the moisture loss Hygiene, Health
The components of the plant can be run using the sliding button on the right of and the losses of flour in filters are neglected. and Safety  Studied every year by hundreds of millers worldwide
automatically as well as hand-operated. It is the column. The result
possible to address all indicators and protec- is shown in the next col- Wheat and the
tion devices to find out how the plant reacts. umn in form of a table. Screenroom An indispensable tool for developing the knowledge and
By setting the roll gap in the roller mills In the picture, all pas-
and by changing the sieve mesh in the plan- sages are set to normal competence of flour millers and their colleagues.
Mill Processes and
sifters it is possible to influence the actual (= 0), only break pas- Performance
grinding process. After the calculation has sage I is set seven points A clear presentation of the industry and process, in 7 modules.
been started, the resulting parameters, for higher, break passage II Product Handling,
example, the feed on the individual passages four points higher. Storage and Distribution
Dedicated tutor support given to every student, providing
or the current and power input of the drive The table in the top
professional guidance throughout the course year.
motors, can be visualised in the respective centre shows the quan-
process displays. This will be explained in tities of the individual Flour
more detail in following part of this article. fractions of the break Course Fees 2011-12
sifter II, which has been
The cost per module is: £310 (+ VAT at 20% where applicable)
How the running of the mill is selected here. Power and Automation
includes postage, textbook and exam registration
‘visualised’ On the left are the sieve
There is pre-set basic adjustment of the meshes and the yields in nabim Members: £210 per module (a discount of £100)
mill with a certain capacity, certain roll gap individual and total percents. Flour Milling Management
Non-UK Companies: £260 per module (a discount of £50)
settings, plansifter sections with respective The column ‘to’ (‘nach’)
meshes and certain percentages of product gives the passage were the oller mills with specification and possible roll gap To enrol or find out more, contact:
tailings. tailings are sent to. setting
nabim 21 Arlington Street London SW1A 1RN UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7493 2521 Fax: +44 (0)20 7493 6785 email: info@nabim.org.uk www.nabim.org.uk
14 | September - october 2011 Grain &feed millinG technoloGy &feed millinG technoloGy
Grain September - october 2011 | 15

4. FEATURE
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Roller mills with overview of specifications Picture 10: Flour silo with loading-out section
Consequently, the figures differ slightly before and after the rolls. When the maximal the correlation of roll setting and power con-
from reality, but nevertheless they show the value is exceeded, an ‘!’ is added in the column sumption of the roller mills.
ranges and the correlations, because the ‘maximal A’, the transgression is signalled to the Finally, it is possible to examine how mill
differences are minimal and do not affect the PLC, the motor stops work and the interlock- capacity, grinding moisture and relative air
training purpose. ing is triggered. humidity are correlated and how countermeas-
The percental feeds to the passages and If the roll settings remain within the permit- ures can be taken by changing the adjustment
ng
r presenti
the yields are transferred to the PLC, where ted limits, a new calculation can be carried out of the mill. Window fo attractive
ly
good
they are compared with limit values. If the using the command ‘New calculation’ (‘Neu In a real training mill, many of these facts the filling
le dosage
limit values are exceeded, the system is rechnen’). The new feeds, yields, power inputs could not be imparted, because the necessary and simp
alarmed and the interlocking reacts. and milling factors, caused by the changes, is amount of data would not be readily available. 2
transferred to all following passages. At the So, the miller will learn how to run a mill
Roll settings and power input at same time, the outputs of all roller mill drive in a surrounding that is close to his practical
the roll drives motors are summarised and indicated in the work, and the future millwright will become
Hygienic
The operator in a real mill has an ammeter lower right corner as kW and kW/t. acquainted with circuit, interlocking and moni- 1 chniques
closure te
on each roller mill, which has a red marking toring devices of the plant.
indicating the maximal value. What can DMSB students learn
This shows him the scope within which he when using the Virtual Mill? Summary and outlook
may set the rolls. In our Virtual Mill we also The Virtual Mill can simulate all processes The Virtual Mill provides teachers and stu-
have an ‘ammeter’ which is represented by the that occur in a real mill: Starting with grain dents at the Deutsche Müllerschule and other
column ‘actual A’ (‘A ist’) in picture 11 next to
reception and storage in silo bins, then convey- interested persons with a complex system for
the roll setting. ing and blending in the silo, cleaning and pre- training and study.
When the roll setting is changed with theparing the grain in the grinding bins, the actual It visualises machinery and automation in
sliding button on the left, the ampere value grinding, the conveying to finished product bins modern mills and it simulates the results of
in the column pactual Ap also changes. The and finally the loading into bulk trucks. changes in milling parameters in a realistic
calculation also takes into account the feed Just as in a real mill, the PLC equipment environment.
and a milling factor based on the sieve analysis
is given a ‘job’ for every procedure, and In the worst case production will be stopped
the fulfilment of this job because due to an overload in the roller mills
is monitored in detail. In the motor protection devices respond and
case of faults, for example, the respective passage comes to a standstill.
the complete filling of a But this will have no actual consequences, as it
bin an alarm is set off and would have in a real mill.
the interlocking system is In future, the Virtual Mill will become part
actuated. Then, the job of lectures and practice in the subjects Process
6
has to be started again Engineering, Milling Machines and Business Reliable
through
from the beginning. Economics. It can also be used in other sub- protection
In the grinding equip- jects, for example, data from laboratory training sealable valves
ment itself, the interde- can be entered into the production control 4 r 5
3 able Suitable fo
Compact Compost
pendencies between system to ‘produce’ appropriate mixtures of
bags wit h food c ontact
dim ensions
roll setting and plansifter milling products. able film
biodegrad
meshes or between feed The subject Process Construction will use
to passages and flour yield the given machinery equipment as a basis
can be analysed, as well as for planning other mills, in the subject Mill
the results in the follow- Construction these plans will be checked for SOLUTIONS.
ing passages when these statics and conformance with building regula-
Display of the programme that sets the mill parameters are changed. tions. More teaching concepts making use of FOR YOUR SUCCESS.
It is also possible to study the Virtual Mill will follow. www.mondigroup.com
16 | September - october 2011 Grain &feed millinG technoloGy

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