The short way to service
 

technical support and flexible personal advise help to quickly resolve disruptions in plants from Richter ECOS

Companies in the process industry depend on their processes running uninterrupted, around the clock, seven days a week. This is particularly true when life forms such as bacteria or micro-organisms are part of those processes. The example of biogas production shows how expensive a disruption can be and how smart technical advice can bring the systems back online.
 

When talking about Germany heading towards an energy revolution, the wind and sun are usually at the centre of the discussion. However, renewable raw materials also have their place in the energy mix of the future. More than anything else, biogas comes to the fore because it still produces electrical and thermal energy when sun and wind are unavailable. In the past year, around 9000 biogas plants in Germany produced more than 4500 megawatts of electricity, thus contributing about 5.4% to Germany’s electrical consumption. On top of that, thermal energy is generated from biogas, which constitutes around 10% of the renewable heat produced. 
 

A special advantage of generating methane from natural, microbiological processes comes, however, from another source: Germany already operates a very well-developed natural gas network. These branch lines, which run throughout the country, are operated at varying pressure levels and offer storage for regenerative energy. Excess biomethane is fed into the network for “intermediate storage” or transported to places where it is needed.
 

Costs of a standstill are enormous
 

Before the biologically generated methane is fed into the pipelines of the energy providers and network operators, it must be concentrated and cleaned. Such plants are often not very large. However, they are crammed with processed components and control and drive technology. One company that has specialised in servicing, repairing and optimising these types of plants is Richter ECOS, headquartered in Leuna. “As a service company, it is our job to ensure that the customer’s plants keep on producing with as few disruptions as possible”, says Daniel Hargreaves. The service manager at Richter ECOS goes on to say why and breaks down the costs of a standstill: “Typically, such plants produce between 350 and 700 standard cubic metres of biomethane per hour. If they go offline, this means a loss of up to 15,000 euros per day for the operator”, he says, summing up the concerns of clients. 
 

“When a blower or a pump fails, it needs fast, competent service team people to service it”

Not only that, but a biogas production process which precedes biogas processing cannot simply be stopped and started again at the push of a button. If there is a disruption, the microbes have to keep working and the valuable gas they create has to be burned off without creating any value. So when a problem arises, speed is the key. “My main job is preventative maintenance, that is, the mechanical maintenance of the plant, regular replacements of the seals, exchanging filters and other components”, says Hargreaves. “But when a blower, a compressor or a pump fails, it needs fast, competent service team people to service it. Someone like Felix Hollstein from the Industrial Automation team from itsme Schultz+Erbse. He can always be reached and answers our questions quickly so that we can get on with it efficiently; for example, whether a replacement part is available for delivery or we need to work out an alternative”, explains Hargreaves, describing the collaboration with his supplier. 
 

“Technical support can always be reached. They answer our questions quickly so that we can get on with it efficiently”

Technical Support 
 

Felix Hollstein is part of the Industrial Automation department. Here, all of the main product groups of technical suppliers are covered – by a team of specialists – so that all callers receive fast, competent support. So that the questions coming in daily can be processed in a structured way, itsme Schultz+Erbse works with an international ticketing system. In this program, all queries are received and prioritised with transparency. “Thus we can offer joint availability, even when someone is ill or hindered in some way. Not only that, but we learn from one another’s cases. In the future, this will help every staff member to resolve difficult situations if they can build on similar cases from the past”, explains Hollstein the story behind the system, quickly adding, “But when I’m on the road in my car, I accept requests without being connected to the system and do take care of the caller’s concerns directly.”
 

Error messages and questions that reach Technical Support are widely varied. There are problems with commissioning, target values are not met or there is a problem connecting to the process control system. “But sometimes the converter is just also broken. Often we are able to offer initial support and instructions over the phone”, Hollstein confirms. That applies not only to frequency converters, but to all products and product groups, such as servo drives, panels or controls. “If we get stuck, we get answers from the specialists at the manufacturer”, says Hollstein, adding: “We’ve gotten to know each other. Naturally, this has its advantages, because when things get trickier, two heads are better than one.”
 

Getting there through bits and bytes
 

New digital solutions have supported the technical advisers for some time now by helping users on-site quickly and in a targeted way. “Especially now during the corona crisis and the contact bans that are in place, things like the smartphone app Drivetune are showing how valuable they are”, emphasises Hollstein. The program, which runs on Android or iOS, connects experts wirelessly with ABB frequency converters on site. “I don’t have to be standing next to the device in order to view parameters, to activate the converter or to administer it. The app connects me to all of the services and data available in the frequency converter parallel to the support communication.” A dashboard shows the status, performance and configuration of the device and helps thereby not only with start-up, but also in resolving faults. “This saves valuable time so that our partners’ systems are quickly up and running again and, as in the case of the Richter ECOS customer, making their valuable contribution to sustainable energy production”, says Hollstein as he describes his motivation. 

From waste to raw material 
 

After fermentation, biogas is comprised of roughly 50% CO2. In order to meaningfully make use of the methane it contains and, for example, feed it into the natural gas network, a few processing steps are necessary. There are various processes available for this. In the example of pressure washing, the gas mixture is compressed to around 5-7 bar and cleaned with water in the reverse flow. In this step, the CO2 dissolves in the water and the methane flow is concentrated at around 97-99%. Any hydrogen sulphide present and, in the last step, any residual moisture, is removed until the biogas (biomethane) has reached the required quality for natural gas before being fed into the network. Depending on customer requirements, the pressure stage is then either lowered or raised, for example, to 16, 25 or 80 bar to accommodate the local network. This process requires numerous pumps and compressors which are generally controlled via frequency converters. Their configuration, commissioning and maintenance are a core competency of the Industrial Automation Team at Schultz+Erbse.

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