Abstract
Over the last 5 years, Pfeifer & Langen has been developing an IoT platform to optimize the sugar beet process. In the first step, the focus was on developing and adapting new sensors to control the sugar production processes in real time from the beet to the silo with the intention of supporting operators to make the process more proactive. The poster gives a general overview of sensor developments in beet processing from field to silo and presents two examples from a closer perspective: an example of online NIR analysis in molasses and an example with a Visual Smart Sensor in crystallization. The poster also explains the functionality and concept of our integrated platform, where all information is combined into a data system that supports management, engineers, operators and algorithms to better operate production according to requirements. However, all elements of P&L’s own development aim to support the so-called “predictive control models” to enable the factory to operate in autopilot mode.