Model-predictive control
Assembly Line
MSG process plant adds a dash of optimization
Ajinomoto’s process plant in Eddyville, Iowa, which produces monosodium glutamate (MSG), embodies a typical scenario. The facility has about 200 PID control loops, and the support team initially procured a PID loop-tuning software package followed by a plantwide control loop performance monitoring (CLPM) solution to look after these loops. Despite these investments, the team only had bandwidth for the most basic applications. The situation changed when an enhanced support offering introduced by the software vendor, Control Station, empowered the MSG producer to kick their process performance into high gear.
After six months of teaming with the CLPM supplier, approximately half of the facility’s loops were optimized. The site documented notable improvements in overall process stability, energy use and throughput. The size of crystals produced—a proxy for quality—has been maintained at the highest levels. Comprehensive use of the CLPM software’s capabilities and reporting provided better visibility into loops that are trending in problematic directions, so the team can proactively address underlying issues well before they lead to costly unplanned downtime.