Amber Wave produces premium vital wheat gluten, wheat-based ethanol, and other important coproducts. Its greenfield facility was launched with help from Kice Industries. Founded in 1946, Kice Industries is a fourth generation, family-owned business that specializes in air systems, automation and engineering services.
- Rapid greenfield facility startup
- Power-intensive processes
- Large-scale system design, delivery and deployment
- Project delivered on time
- Customer can use real-time data to analyze production and identify efficiencies
Syed Ashraf is vice president of automation for Kice Industries. The system integrator is a member of the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork™ and specializes in air systems, automation and engineering services for the grain, plastics, food, feed, wood and minerals industries.
“If you had breakfast this morning, it probably ran through our system,” said Ashraf. “Whenever grain moves from point A to point B, there is likely a Kice solution involved.”
That includes gluten production at the new Amber Wave wheat protein facility in Kansas. The state-of-the-art facility is the largest of its kind in North America.
Currently, over 80% of the vital wheat gluten used in the United States is imported. The new Amber Wave facility will dramatically increase the domestically produced supply of the ingredient.
Challenge
Uptime Critical
Amber Wave’s facility uses the latest in world-class automation, technology and equipment from leading providers in milling, wheat protein extraction, and renewable biofuels.
“The plant produces 2.75 million pounds of flour a day that goes to an extraction facility,” Ashraf explained. “Extraction separates the gluten from the starch. The starch then goes to an ethanol plant and the gluten goes for sale.”
It’s a power-intensive process that required a large-scale system design, engineering and deployment effort from Kice.
“Uptime was critical,” Ashraf said. “The customer told us uptime was extremely important and on-time delivery was a must.”
Solution
Resilient and Robust System with Smart Motor Control and HMI
In less than two years, Kice delivered a system that includes 650 Rockwell Automation Motor Control Centers with IntelliCENTER® technology, 200 PowerFlex® Variable Frequency Drives, ControlLogix® programmable control, and networking solutions featuring Allen‑Bradley® Stratix® Industrial Ethernet Switches.
“We incorporated REP (Resilient Ethernet Protocol) and PRP (Parallel Redundancy Protocol) to make sure we have a resilient, redundant and robust system,” Ashraf said. “Additionally, we used FactoryTalk® View Site Edition technology to create what we call ‘Smart HMI.’ It’s a hub of information plant operators need, including electrical drawings.”
Virtual Testing Keeps Project on Track
Six months before startup, Kice configured a simulated environment of the system.
“With a project of this size and complexity, it was imperative we created a simulation environment so the customer could get a look and feel for how they would use the system,” Ashraf explained. “We did several simulations so they could see how they system starts up, runs and shuts down. We had buy-in from the customer from the beginning of the project to the end.”
Result
Projects Concludes on Time
The Amber Wave facility went live in late 2023. Ashraf credits the Rockwell Automation intelligent motor control center technology with helping them efficiently deploy and start up the system on time.
“IntelliCENTER® provides critical pieces of information that help Amber Wave run a modern and advanced facility with thousands of data points. With this data, they can analyze and optimize operation.” Ashraf said. “That’s a win-win for us both. We have an happy customer.”
Published June 17, 2024
