MEASUREMENT & MONITORING
GIVAUDAN
OMNIFLEX
How the fragrance and flavours giant enhanced its safety critical processes
Once the artistic work of creating a fragrance is complete and the formula has been signed off , the process of extracting the raw materials and blending begins . Safety and compliance are a priority during the manufacturing process and so , when flavours and fragrances giant Givaudan wanted to strengthen its safety critical alarm systems at its Kent facility , it partnered with Omniflex to upgrade its fleet of annunciators .
Located in Ashford , Kent , Givaudan ’ s UK plant is where the company creates fragrances and oral care flavours . Here , the company brings together the various ingredients to create the finished formula that gives consumers their favourite scent or oral care flavour .
In this process , the facility uses a variety of plant machinery and equipment to carefully monitor variables such as atmospheric quality , oxygen levels , temperature , pressure , well-levels , ventilation , pump operation and extraction processes .
The ingredients being processed are carefully chosen from a palette of many thousands and include powders and liquids . A typical batch could contain anywhere from just two or three up to 120 ingredients at a time , at various weights and volumes . These raw materials arrive on site in packages weighing anywhere between 0.5 kg to 20 tonnes , and are tested to ensure they meet the high-quality standards before being used .
The facility uses onsite labs to carry out quality assurance ( QA ) on samples . Nitrogen and hydrogen-based gas chromatography equipment is used to ensure the materials have not been exposed to air . To ensure worker safety and to maintain compliance with the UK ’ s Control of Major Accident Hazards ( CoMAH ) regulations , the QA areas are fitted with sensors to detect safe oxygen levels .
To meet these safety regulations , and to ensure that the materials are kept within containment guidelines , the plant uses safety instrumented systems , including alarm annunciator panels , that alert plant staff if the process measurements deviate from safe parameters .
“ As part of our continued drive to meet the highest levels of safety on site , we review equipment regularly , and one of the areas we decided to upgrade was a range of our legacy alarm annunciators ,” explains Stuart Brazil , electrical project manager at Givaudan . “ Our goal was to add networking functionality to our alarm system and reduce the amount of physical wiring on the network that spans around eight-hectares . Not only would this make the process of adding new alarms more efficient , it would ensure the system met the latest IEC 61508 safety integrity level ( SIL ) rules .”
The site was already using Programmable Logic Controller ( PLC ) technology — in fact , it was originally one of the first sites of its kind to move away from traditional relays , towards a digital system that made it easier to add switch points and alarms .
“ To consolidate our operators ’ alarm sheets and deliver even faster response times , we partnered with Omniflex on the upgrade project ,” says Brazil .
Based in Greater Manchester , in the UK , with operations in Australia and South Africa , Omniflex specialises in industrial networking , remote I / O systems , utilities monitoring , process automation systems , signal conditioning and alarm and event management .
“ We worked with Givaudan ’ s Ashford facility to upgrade the site ’ s legacy Highland alarms , while keeping engineering costs down ,” says Gary Bradshaw , director at Omniflex
UK . The two key points in the brief were to add networking and a way of prioritising critical and non-critical alarms , so that in an emergency the operator can start at the top and work down a list of alarms in order of severity . This makes for a comfortable environment for the operator and drastically reduces response times .
“ We also enhanced the layout of the alarms to ensure that they are displayed to the right person , in the right area , at the right time ,” continued Bradshaw .
The project began in October 2019 and was completed by November 2020 . Omniflex delivered several OMNI 16C alarm annunciators , as well as the necessary HMIs and signal conditioning units required to work alongside the existing system .
“ These 16-point modules allow users to create up to 256 alarm points using a panel mounted LED-backlit display ,” says Bradshaw . “ Crucially , the units also provide connectivity to interface with a PLC , DCS or SCADA system .”
“ We ’ re really happy with the upgrades to our safety-critical alarm system ,” says Brazil . “ It ’ s faster , more responsive and less complex , allowing easy alarm prioritisation and the ability to control it centrally .
“ The team at Omniflex has also been brilliant in helping us through the process . Despite social distancing constraints , their engineer successfully carried out the factory acceptance test on-site . This allowed us to do a dry-run and test all the system before it was installed and commissioned .
“ Additionally , the team also provided the ongoing training session via video calls due to the pandemic . This really showed how flexible they are at a time when most companies were closed during lockdown .”
While this project was designed to consolidate alarms at Givaudan ’ s Ashford site , it highlights the drive to maintain the highest levels of safety in industrial plants across the sector , especially safety-critical alarm systems .
For further information , please visit www . omniflex . com
108 PECM Issue 53