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Analyze and control experiments automatically

Laboratory automation with ibaLogic

A leading expert in the field of methanation wanted to automatize his laboratory for "Biopower-to-gas" experiments. The "Power-to-gas"-procedure is an innovative procedure for converting surplus current into hydrogen by means of electrolysis. Then, there is the so-called methanation. In course of this process, synthetic methane is won from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. For this step, highly specialized micro organisms are used, which can convert hydrogen and carbon dioxide into pure methane.

In these test series, values like filling levels, temperatures, pressures, etc have to be measured. Moreover, e.g pumps and stirrers have to be controlled. Furthermore, the automation for new test series should be easily adaptable and expendable.

Business Benefits

Simple adaptation
of test procedures by graphical programming

Automatically generated
reports and long-term trends

Integration
into the laboratory database


The Technology


The PC based measurement and automation system ibaLogic is the central controller of the experimental setups. Newcomers as well as experienced programmers can learn rapidly how to use ibaLogic due to a user-friendly operating concept and the programming surface according to IEC61131-3, which can be used intuitively.

With ibaLogic, own control circuits can be created or adapted easily for test stands like e.g. controlling the mud flow rate, the filling levels of the tanks or the gas proportioning. These adaptations can be made without having to stop the running experiment.


"With the combination of ibaLogic and ibaQPanel, changes in the test procedure can be carried out easily and user-friendly."

Werner Zumbrunnen-Plass
Product Manager,
iba AG

iba Products


Signal processing and automation - ibaLogic
ibaLogic

ibaLogic is a system for signal processing and automation. The fifth generation of the ibaLogic system, which already functions reliably in many industrial applications, has been programmed in a new way and provided with an up-to-date interface.

Measuring value acquisition - ibaPDA
ibaPDA

As the central core of the iba system, ibaPDA has proven itself as one of the most versatile data acquisition systems for maintenance and production for many years. Among the many powerful features of ibaPDA are asset-agnostic acquisition, high-speed synchronous archiving, and real-time streaming analytics.

ibaQPanel

ibaQPanel is a software addon that allows for the live display of process and quality data in an HMI-picture. ibaQPanel combines the functionality of technological representations of measurement variables with elements typical for HMI screens. It is seamlessly integrated in ibaPDA.

Analysis software - ibaAnalyzer
ibaAnalyzer

ibaAnalyzer is characterized by its broad capability for analyzing and evaluating data. The application is intuitive and offers an advanced set of functions. The license for analyzing measurement files, which have been generated with the iba system, is free of charge.


With ibaLogic, the signals of the whole sensorics are captured and the test procedure is automatized. For this purpose, the sensor signals are acquired using WAGO terminals and are transferred to the PC via modbus TCP or control signals are retransmitted again to the terminals. The experiments are described in ibaLogic in the graphical programming language. Changes can be made easily and exert a direct influence on the program flow.

The measurement values are acquired centrally by ibaPDA and are displayed in real-time with ibaQPanel. Also the user surface has been designed with ibaQPanel. With this user surface the test procedures are started. Moreover, the user can enter here manually all parameters that are not acquired automatically (e.g. number of the experiment). The data are recorded either on a time basis or in relation to the experiment. It does not matter, if the data are entered manually or come directly from the test procedures. When configuring a so-called triggered recording, all data that belong to an experiment are saved in a data file and thus are available for further analyses.

The results of the experiments are analyzed in a reproducible way with ibaAnalyzer according to individual analysis regulations that have to be created only once. After having finished an experiment, the documentation is created immediately as an individually designed report. This report is based on a layout template that is created with ibaAnalyzer. This template may contain numerical values, values entered manually, graphics and calculated results of experiments. For doing an overall analysis of all experiments, the results of each experiment are extracted to the database of the laboratory.

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