EP3818318A1

EP3818318A1 - Method and device for operating a production system

Info

Publication number: EP3818318A1
Application number: EP19734806.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Thorsten NOGLI
Original assignee: ThyssenKrupp AG; ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions AG
Current assignee: Thyssenkrupp Polysius GmbH; ThyssenKrupp AG
Priority date: 2018-07-05
Filing date: 2019-07-01
Publication date: 2021-05-12
Also published as: WO2020007796A1; DE102018211104A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and to a device for operating a production system in which at least one production process which consumes electrical energy intensively and has the purpose of manufacturing a product which comprises at least two process stages is carried out, wherein intermediate products which are generated in the respective process stage (100) can be stored in at least one interim store, wherein, in particular, there is provision that the electrical supply of the production system is provided by means of at least one energy source which fluctuates over time and is, e.g. regenerative, in such a way that an electrical supply which is sufficient for the production process according to one of the at least two process stages is tested (105), in that in the case of a sufficient electrical supply, the production process according to one of the at least two process stages is carried out (110), and in that in the case of an electrical supply of the production process which is not sufficient for the production process according to the one process stage, an intermediate product which is manufactured in the production process according to the one process stage is put into interim storage (115).

Description

description

Method and device for operating a production plant

The invention relates to a method for operating a production system, according to the preamble of claim 1. The present invention also relates to a computer program, a machine-readable data carrier for storing the computer program and a device by means of which the method according to the invention can be carried out.

State of the art

The raw materials for cement production are obtained in a quarry. There, the material is loosened either by blasting or with heavy machinery and then transported to a crusher using wheel shovel loaders and heavy goods vehicles, where it is crushed together with additives to crushed stone. This is then brought to a so-called "premix warehouse" of the cement plant via conveyor belts. In the next step, the material is ground together with other additives in a raw mill to raw meal and stored in a raw meal silo and homogenized. The raw meal is then burned in a rotary kiln at around 1,450 ° C to cement clinker, which is then cooled and stored again. In the last step, the cement clinker with additives is ground in the cement mill to cement, which is then stored in cement silos. The finished cement stored in the silos is finally packaged and distributed or shipped.

The crusher and the mills are electrically driven components that can be operated relatively flexibly. This is made possible by the fact that the material temporarily stored after the mills in the premix warehouse and in the silos forms a buffer. This buffer enables the production operation or process to be maintained even if the mills or the crusher e.g. be parked for several hours. The inventories thus available can thus be used if no regenerative energy is available. The premix warehouse and the silos are only refilled when regenerative energy is available again.

However, since the silo capacities are limited and an expansion of the storage capacities is associated with higher investment costs, the run times have to be planned precisely. It must be noted that the stove operated with fossil fuels always enough raw material is available. The operation of the system must therefore be adapted to the silo levels. These in turn depend on the amount of cement sold. The expected quantity can be determined by means of a sales forecast. This can be controlled by a production management system.

The range of regenerative energy depends, among other things, on the presence of e.g. Wind or sun. The expected amount of wind energy can be determined by means of a wind forecast and the characteristic curve of a wind farm. The situation is similar with solar energy. In addition to the aforementioned, not only all types of renewable energy are relevant, but also power exchanges, WHR (“Waste heat recovery”) systems, coal-fired power plants, etc., if you want to consider which is the cheapest energy alternative at a time t. This can be controlled by an energy management system.

Cement production involves a considerable amount of energy. Electricity procurement costs are a key competitive factor for plant operators. The consumers determine when electricity is produced. However, regenerative energy sources such as sun or wind are not always available when needed. So far there has been no link between the generation of renewable energy and consumption in production.

Disclosure of the invention

The invention is based on the idea of consuming electrical energy mainly when sufficient regenerative energy is available. For this purpose, flexibly operable or controllable and energy-intensive processes are adapted to the supply of fluctuating or relatively strongly variable energy offers, in particular of renewable or regenerative energy and their energy sales. As much regenerative energy as possible can be used by means of the invention. This not only saves costs, it also reduces C0 ₂ emissions. It should be noted here that the term fluctuating energy offers also includes cost optimization from price fluctuations of conventionally generated electricity.

In the method proposed according to the invention for operating a production system, in which at least one production process that consumes electrical energy intensively for producing a product is carried out, which comprises at least two process stages, intermediate products produced in the respective process stage being able to be stored in at least one intermediate store , it is particularly provided that the electrical See supply of the production system by means of at least one temporally fluctuating, for example regenerative energy source, that an electrical supply sufficient for the production process according to one of the at least two process stages is checked, that with an adequate electrical supply the production process is carried out according to one of the at least two process stages , and that in the case of an electrical supply of the production process which is insufficient for the production process according to the one process step, an intermediate product produced in the production process according to the one process step is temporarily stored.

In the proposed method, it can be provided that when checking the electrical supply that is currently sufficient for the production process, forecast data of the regenerative energy source are taken into account. Such forecast data can e.g. can be called up or recorded online by corresponding energy providers (e.g. so-called “green electricity providers”) or by corresponding energy exchanges.

In the case of the proposed method, it can further be provided that when checking the electrical supply which is currently sufficient for the production process in the case of weather data correspondingly predicted by regenerative energy generated by wind power, in particular wind forecast data, and / or in the case of weather data appropriately forecasted by regenerative energy generated by solar energy , in particular sunshine duration values, and / or in the case of weather data correspondingly predicted by regenerative energy generated by hydropower. As is known, such weather data can also be called up or recorded online.

The forecast data of the regenerative energy source and / or the forecast weather data can be compared with an empirically predeterminable threshold value and, if the respective threshold value is exceeded, the production process can be continued according to the respective subsequent process stage.

In the case of the proposed method, it can also be provided that additional sales data are checked for a degree of urgent need and that in a sales situation in urgent need, the production process is carried out in accordance with the respective process level even if the production process is not adequately supplied with electricity. Accordingly, pending urgent production orders can be given priority over the electricity cost optimization mentioned.

The additional sales data taken into account can be compared with existing production planning data and depending on the comparison result of the pro- production process is carried out or not carried out in accordance with the subsequent process stage.

In the case of the proposed method, provision can also be made for the energy availability and the energy price to be calculated, said forecast or weather data being called up or recorded regularly, that an expected product sales volume is being calculated, current production data from a usual production planning system can be called up, whereby the production planning eg is based on externally available sales data and / or customer-related maintenance data, if applicable, and that the data generated in this way are fed to a process control system, which is controlled with a process control e.g. a cement production plant is connected in terms of control technology.

The device proposed according to the invention is in particular set up, a production facility in which at least one production process which consumes electrical energy intensively is carried out to produce a product and which comprises at least two process stages, intermediate products produced in the respective process stage being stored in at least one intermediate store can control by means of the proposed method.

The proposed device can have a communication module, by means of which the forecast data retrieved from an external data source are received, a calculation module or data memory for providing threshold values required for the comparison for the respective forecast data, and a comparator, by means of which the received forecast data and the threshold values provided by the calculation module or data memory are compared in order to supply the results of the comparison to a process control which controls the process flow of the production plant.

The proposed device can also include an energy management module, which already pre-processed data from a forecast module for recording or calculating the energy availability and the energy price, which regularly calls up or records the forecast or weather data mentioned, and from one to be expected Product sales calculating sales forecast module. The sales forecast module, in turn, receives the required current production data from a conventional production planning system, the production planning being based on, for example, externally available sales data and / or customer-related maintenance data. The energy management module manages it generated data to a conventional process control system, which is connected to the process control system, for example a cement production plant

The method and the device according to the invention can be implemented by combining an energy management system with a production planning system. The production planning system can advantageously represent an automatic, autonomous system. As a higher-level system, the facility can thus combine the tasks of the energy management system with those of the production planning system.

The facility receives information about when and how much regenerative energy is available and when and how much material has to be available in the silos. Depending on the situation, the system then calculates which parts of the plant are started or stopped in order to produce sufficient cement with the lowest possible energy costs to meet the demands of the market. The facility can take into account not only the various energy sources, but also the exact power consumption of the individual consumers and their energy consumption when starting up or shutting down the production plant.

The device is preferably superordinate to the actual control system and can start the various parts of the system automatically, provided they are available.

The facility can also take into account maintenance work, necessary downtimes and wear.

The invention can be used in particular in a production plant in which electrical energy-intensive production processes for producing a product are carried out and in which the intermediate products produced can be stored in an intermediate store.

The computer program according to the invention is set up to carry out each step of the method, in particular if it runs on a computing device or a control device. It enables the method according to the invention to be implemented on an electronic control unit without having to make structural changes to it. For this purpose, the machine-readable data carrier is provided, on which the computer program according to the invention is stored. By uploading the computer program according to the invention to a device or a corresponding electronic control device, the device according to the invention is obtained, which is set up to include one here to operate the production plant concerned by means of the method according to the invention or to control the corresponding production operation.

Further advantages and refinements of the invention result from the description and the accompanying drawings.

It goes without saying that the features mentioned above and those yet to be explained below can be used not only in the respectively specified combination but also in other combinations or on their own without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention on the basis of a flow chart.

FIG. 2 shows a first exemplary embodiment of the device according to the invention using a block diagram.

FIG. 3 shows a second exemplary embodiment of the device according to the invention using a block diagram.

Description of exemplary embodiments

The method described below or the corresponding production process aims to adapt the energy consumption during production as precisely as possible to an available energy supply from renewable sources. A so-called “cross-energy management” (CEM) can preferably be used in the process, which is generally understood to mean the precise adaptation of flexibly executable, energy-intensive electrical processes to a current energy supply.

The method and the installation are described below using the example of a cement production plant, but can also be used in other production plants, such as production plants for the production of chemical substances such as urea, fertilizers, in steel and coke production, ore extraction or the like, are used accordingly. The production of cement is an energy-intensive process that requires a particularly large amount of electrical energy. The electrical electricity purchase costs are a major competitive factor for the plant operators, which is why the cement industry is suitable as a typical CEM application.

In a first process step of cement production, raw material from a quarry is first crushed and pre-ground in a grinder. Then it comes into the heart of the production plant, namely in a rotating furnace, in which it is burned to cement clinker. The clinker thus fired is then finely ground in a second grinder until a predetermined grain size is achieved.

The process is based on the knowledge that the two grinders represent electrically driven components which can be operated relatively flexibly. For example, the first grinder can be switched on when there is a lot of electricity from renewable sources available at low cost. The ground raw material is then temporarily stored in a silo before it gets into the furnace. If, on the other hand, inexpensive electrical supply current is scarce, the clinker is first stored in the silo before the second grinding process. The second grinding process is only started when inexpensive electrical power is sufficiently available again.

A cement production plant affected here preferably comprises a clinker silo, a redox flow battery with an electrical storage capacity for providing the entire plant output at least over an hour, and a wind power plant, which enables electrically optimizable plant control.

In the method shown in FIG. 1 for operating a production system affected here, the electrical supply of the production system is carried out by means of at least one fluctuating, regenerative energy source. It is assumed in the present case that the currently running production process is in an nth production stage of at least two production stages 100. In this case, it is checked 105 for the present nth production stage whether the subsequent n + 1th Production stage of the entire production process an adequate electrical supply is guaranteed. If test 105 reveals that there is sufficient electrical supply for the n + 1 th production stage, then the production process is continued 110 according to the n + 1 th process stage. Otherwise, one in the production process according to the n th Process stage manufactured intermediate product temporarily 115. Then jump back to test step 105. When checking the electrical supply that is currently sufficient for the n + 1th process stage of the production process, forecast data from the regenerative energy source can be taken into account 120. Alternatively or additionally, correspondingly forecast weather data, in particular wind forecast data, from regenerative energy generated by wind power can be taken into account 120. In the case of regenerative energy generated by solar energy, alternatively or additionally appropriately forecast weather data, in particular sunshine duration values, can be taken into account 120. In the case of regenerative energy generated by hydropower, alternatively or additionally appropriately forecast weather data can be taken into account 120.

When checking for sufficient electrical supply, the forecast data of the generative energy source and / or the forecast weather data can be compared with an empirically predeterminable threshold value, so that the production process is only carried out in accordance with the n + 1th process level when the respective threshold value is exceeded.

Additionally or optionally, as indicated by the dashed line, sales data can be checked for a degree of urgent need 125, so that in a urgent sales case, the production process is carried out according to the n + 1th process level even if the electrical supply is insufficient. The sales data can be compared with specifiable or existing production planning data and, depending on the comparison result, the production process is carried out or not carried out according to the n + 1 th process level.

The method can also be used to check whether it makes sense to start up the grinder if there is a surplus of electricity in the network, even if the material has to be temporarily stored afterwards, or whether it is possible to switch off an aggregate if there is a lack of electricity and instead to use the supplies. For the network operator, the cement production plant or the cement plant would thus be a supplier of balancing energy, with which fluctuations in the electricity network can be compensated. The network operator would compensate the cement manufacturer for this system service (secondary control power).

In the case of the method, it can also be provided that the energy availability and the energy price are calculated, the forecast or weather data mentioned being called up or recorded regularly. An expected product sales volume can be calculated using current production data from a conventional production planning system retrieved or provided. Production planning can, for example, be based on externally available sales data and / or possibly customer-related maintenance data. The data generated in this way can finally be fed to a process control system which is connected in terms of control technology to a process control, for example a cement production plant.

The described method can be implemented in the form of a control program for an electronic control unit for operating or controlling a production system concerned here, or in the form of one or more corresponding electronic control units (ECUs).

The device 200 shown in FIG. 2 comprises a communication module 205, by means of which the forecast data retrieved from an external data source, in the present exemplary embodiment a corresponding cloud service 207, is received via a conventional wireless and / or wired data connection 210. The threshold values required for the comparison for the respective forecast data 210 are provided by means of a calculation module or data memory 215.

The forecast data 210 received by means of the communication module 205 and the threshold values provided by the module 215 are compared with one another by means of a comparator 220 and the results of the comparison are finally fed to a process controller 225, which controls the process sequence described in FIG. 1.

The device shown in FIG. 3, highlighted by a broken line 300, comprises an energy management module 305, which already has preprocessed data from a forecast module 310 for recording or calculating the energy availability and the energy price, which contains the aforementioned forecast data 315, weather data 320 and / or regularly retrieves or records forecast data from conventional electricity providers 323 and receives them from a sales forecast module 325 that calculates the expected product sales. The sales forecast module 325 in turn receives the required current production data from a conventional production planning system 330, the production planning being based on e.g. externally available sales data 335 and / or possibly customer-related maintenance data 340.

The energy management module 305 forwards the data generated by it to a customary process control system 345, which can be connected to a process control 350, for example a cement production system 355, for control purposes. The device 300 can further comprise, as indicated by the dashed line, an optional optimization module 360 for optimizing the respective production system, which stores the respective process parameters during operation and evaluates them. In a mill, this can be, for example, the hydraulic pressure, the amount of fresh material to the mill, the amount of water injected, for example, for cooling purposes or in the production of cement, and the electricity consumption. Over a longer period of operation, it then becomes clear under which conditions the mill can be operated optimally in terms of energy, ie when the production output is the highest in comparison to the power consumption. This data is further collected and evaluated so that the optimal operating point can also be continuously checked. Because this operating point can change due to wear and possibly changing raw materials or changing demands on the product, for example, the fineness of the product in mills.

Claims

claims

1. A method for operating a production plant in which at least one production process which consumes electrical energy intensively for producing a product is carried out and which comprises at least two process stages, intermediate products produced in the respective process stage (100) being able to be stored in at least one intermediate store , characterized in that the electrical supply of the production system is carried out by means of at least one time-fluctuating energy source, that an electrical supply sufficient for the production process according to one of the at least two process stages is checked (105), that with an adequate electrical supply the production process is is carried out according to one of the at least two process stages (1 10), and that in the case of an electrical supply of the production process which is insufficient for the production process according to the one process stage, an in the production process according to the intermediate product produced in one process stage is temporarily stored (1 15).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that when checking the electrical supply which is currently sufficient for the production process, prognostates of the temporally fluctuating energy source are taken into account (120).

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when checking the electrical supply which is currently sufficient for the production process in the case of regenerative energy generated by wind energy, weather data, in particular wind forecast data, and / or by solar energy correspondingly forecast weather data, in particular sunshine duration values, and / or in the case of weather data correspondingly forecast by regenerative energy generated by hydropower, are taken into account (120).

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that additional sales data are checked for a degree of urgent need and that in a urgent sales case, the production process is carried out in accordance with the respective process level even with an insufficient electrical supply (125).

5. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, when checking for an adequate electrical supply, the forecast data of the regenerative energy source and / or the forecast weather data are compared with an empirically predeterminable threshold value and that if the respective one is exceeded Threshold value of the production process is carried out according to the respective process stages.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the sales data are compared with existing production planning data and that, depending on the comparison result, the production process is carried out or not carried out in accordance with the respective process stages.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an energy availability and / or an energy price are calculated, said forecast or weather data being called up or recorded regularly, that an expected product sales volume is calculated, current production data being calculated are called up by a conventional production planning system, and that data generated in this way are fed to a process control system which is connected in terms of control technology to a process control of the production system.

8. Computer program which is set up to carry out each step of a method according to one of claims 1 to 7.

9. Machine-readable data carrier on which a computer program according to claim 8 is stored.

10. The device (200), which is set up, is a production facility in which at least one production process that intensively consumes electrical energy is carried out for the production of a product, which comprises at least two process stages, intermediate products produced in the respective process stage being stored in at least one intermediate store can be controlled by means of a method according to one of claims 1 to 7.

11. Device (200) according to claim 10, characterized by a communication module (205), by means of which the forecast data (210) retrieved from an external data source (207) are received, a calculation module or data memory (215) for providing threshold values required for the comparison for the respective forecast data (210), and a comparator (220), by means of which the received forecast data (210) and the threshold values provided by the calculation module or data memory (215) are compared in order to supply the results of the comparison to a process controller (225) which controls the process flow of the production plant.

12. Device (300) according to claim 10 or 11, characterized by an energy management module (305), which is connected to a forecast module (310) for calculating the energy availability and the energy price, the forecast module (310) containing the forecast data (315 ) and / or weather data (320) is recorded regularly, and which is connected in terms of data technology to a sales forecast module (325) that calculates the expected product sales, and wherein the sales forecast module (325) is connected in terms of data technology to a production planning system (330) ,