Autonomous mill operation …
… using modules of AI is not science fiction any more. Already in 2009 the MILLMASTER based on the software SMARTCONTROL (by KIMA Process Control) was implemented in a Vertical Roller Mill project in Northern France:
The EQIOM Ciments VRM of Loesche type LM 46.2+2 S, produces in Dunkerque mainly slag cement while MILLMASTER system is controlling every weekend (Friday afternoon to Monday morning) fully autonomous when the plant is operated completely unmanned. Under the regular ‘week’-operation the control system is switched to “Maximum Production” while during the autonomous ‘weekend’-operation the mode “Stable operation” is selected by the process engineer.
Pierre Vonstein, Operations Manager for North and Normandy Grinding Stations: “MILLMASTER system is used daily and gives us the opportunity to concentrate on performance optimization while the mill is running. It also protects the equipment in case of important change in mill behavior faster than an operator. It would be hard today to run without this expert system on a long period.”
