Meat plants: core temperature probed rarely, chilling the limit
Meat plants cook and chill with core probes in a few pieces, and water and chilling are becoming bottlenecks. How computed values and scheduling help.
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Core temperature probes are placed in only a few pieces
What happens. Cooking and chilling are controlled by probes in a handful of pieces per batch, or by fixed times. The rest of the load is assumed to follow, whatever its size and starting temperature.
What it costs. Safety margins that overcook, cost yield and waste energy, and the risk of an undercooked piece that no probe has seen.
Why the usual fix fails. More probes means more handling and still only a sample. Longer times by default add safety but lose yield and capacity.
How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From oven or chiller logs, batch data and probe records I compute the core temperature of every piece in the batch and check where the margins can be tightened safely. The fixed-price remote diagnosis shows whether a computed core temperature can lead cooking and chilling, and what proof food safety would require.
Background: Computed measurements
Consolidation fills the remaining plants, and chilling becomes the limit
What happens. As slaughterhouses close or merge, the remaining plants take more animals. Carcass chilling, which has a fixed time, becomes the part that decides how many animals a day can be handled.
What it costs. Throughput limited by chilling capacity, peaks in electricity use and rooms filled in an uneven way across the week.
Why the usual fix fails. Building more chilling space is a large investment. A fixed chilling time ensures safety but not the best use of the rooms.
How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From room temperatures, carcass data, chiller power and the slaughter plan I check how much capacity can be gained by controlling and scheduling the chill rooms. The fixed-price remote diagnosis shows whether it moves the bottleneck.
Background: Economic predictive control
Well water now has a price in Bavaria
What happens. Bavaria has introduced a charge on groundwater withdrawal. Plants that take their own water from wells, such as slaughterhouses, breweries, dairies and paper mills, now pay for what they pump.
What it costs. A new running cost on water for cleaning and cooling, in a sector where the plants are cleaned daily. The amount depends on how much is pumped, not on what is needed.
Why the usual fix fails. A rule against waste does not reduce consumption in cleaning cycles that are set to a fixed time. Metering alone shows the bill but not the cause.
How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From pump logs, cleaning programmes and the tank and cooling data I check where water goes and how well pumping and reuse could be scheduled. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you what part of your water use is a matter of control, and what needs changes to the plant.
Background: Economic predictive control
More problems that concern this industry
These problems are described on the page of the industry where they matter most:
- Cooling runs on fixed setpoints whatever the power price (Cold stores)
- The ammonia plant runs on a fixed suction pressure (Cold stores)
Check it on your plant first: a fixed-price remote diagnosis
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Within a fixed scope and at a fixed price, I review your data, control structure and measurements remotely and tell you whether the problem on this page is behind your symptoms and what fixing it would take. You get a short summary for decision-makers and a technical report for your engineers.