SCADA Upgrade
Refines Biodiesel Production
taly's leading producer
of refined biodiesel has
optimised its production
process by investing in
Movicon SCADA, available
in the UK through Products4Automation.
The upgrade has enabled the green fuel
producer to meet increased demand
for its biodiesel product, with improved
production management.
I
Located in Vasto in the Abruzzo region
of the west coast of Italy, Fox Petroli
built its name refining oil by-products,
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PECM Issue 29
but in recent years has focused on
the development of environmentally
friendly fuels. The company's most recent
development is biodiesel called BIOFOX,
derived from rapeseed oil, and designed
to produce less harmful emissions from
diesel engined cars.
With increasing demand for the product,
short comings in the plant were
becoming apparent. For example, each
reactor had to be started up manually,
and without full automation in both
start up and operation there was regular
downtime. Making matters worse, the
causes of downtime were often difficult
to pinpoint, prolonging the production
stoppages.
Fox Petroli realised that it needed
to improve production control and
management with a solution capable of
guaranteeing maximum efficiency and
productivity. Making the whole process
more cost-effective. The solution needed
to be reliable and readily scalable, while
being easy to control and simple to
maintain in mission critical processes.