Operation & Maintenance of Power Plants 


Enhanced data communication A


dvancements to Modbus loop capability for valve automation made by AUMA actuators benefit


data transfer speed and safety in the power industry. AUMA reports that the Modbus initiative triples the maximum possible data transfer rate, and significantly reduces the feedback time of actuators in the loop, which improves the overall response time of the system. AUMA has supplied the industry with


Fig. 1. A Modbus loop initiative advances AUMA’s modular actuation solution.


fieldbus enabled actuators for over 15 years and Modbus looped systems for over five years. The company’s latest Modbus systems comprise a SIMA master station with up to 247 actuators, suitable for installations where long cable distances are involved. The looped solution is capable of supporting conventional copper cable lengths of just under 300km and uses the Modbus RTU protocol based on RS-485. Additionally, if the redundant loop is interrupted, data communication to all installed actuators is maintained without any restrictions. An automatic commissioning feature for the new system from AUMA reduces start-up times and configuration errors. When the SIMA master station is switched


on after completion of the wiring, it can determine the number of actuators connected, automatically assign the slave addresses of actuators and set the desired baud rate. As a result, manual setting of the communication parameters at each actuator is no longer required, which leads to considerable time savings during commissioning. Communication problems, such as slave addresses assigned twice or transmission rates set incorrectly, are also avoided. This latest announcement from AUMA


is part of an ongoing development programme for bus communication technologies from the company’s German based R&D division. ●


Enter 24 or ✔ at www.engineerlive.com/ipe


AUMA Riester GmbH & Co KG, Muellheim, Germany.www.auma.com


Poultry power to generate brass from muck C


lean technology business ENER-G is using poultry power to help a Hereford, UK, chicken farm to


become more eco friendly and generate a new income stream as a renewable energy generator. Great Ynys Farm, in Hereford, which


has 125 acres of arable land and a 90,000 broiler chicken operation, will use anaerobic digestion (AD) to convert chicken litter into biogas for renewable electricity and heat generation. The green electricity generated by


ENER-G will power the poultry houses and AD system, with a 90 per cent surplus sold to the National Grid, while the captured waste heat will provide warmth for the chicken houses – displacing costly fuel oil and propane gas. The farm’s new green power company


– called Ynergy Ltd - has contracted biogas generation experts ENER-G and biogas plant manufacturer PlanET Biogastechnik for project delivery. The AD system will have capacity to


process 700 tonnes of poultry litter and 1000 tonnes of cattle slurry, mixed with


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Ynergy Lt’s biogas generator in foreground, and digester in background, Great Ynys Farm.


The ENER-G combined heat and power


system, designed and manufactured at its global headquarters in Salford, will provide 250kW of electricity, sufficient to power 450 homes, and 200kW of heat. This renewable energy source will qualify for financial payments from the government’s Feed in Tariff and Renewable Heat Incentive


3000 tonnes of maize silage per annum. Use of maize reduces nitrogen levels in the digestion process and prevents the build up of high concentrations of ammonia that would arrest biogas production.


programmes – providing 14 pence per kW on all electricity generated and 6.5 pence per kW for the captured heat that is used on site. Plans are in place to convert the heating


system in the farm’s broiler houses within the next few months, to utilise heat from the biogas generation process. This is expected to achieve payback on investment within one year. The digestion process also produces a


residue of 5000 cubic metres of odourless organic liquid fertiliser that will be injected into the soil to provide an enhanced nutrient source for the maize crop. The farm currently uses its poultry litter


as a fertiliser, but by digesting it, methane losses to the environment during spreading will be eliminated. Susan Shakesheff, Director of Ynergy


Ltd, said “. We are able to find a superior alternative for utilising our chicken litter and are helping neighbouring dairy farmers to recycle their cattle slurry. ●


For more information, visit www.energ.co.uk


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