International control system for the ripening process of bananas

VVISS spol. s r.o. is Czech company specializing in warehousing and distribution of a wide range fruits and vegetables in the EU. The company has six warehouses in two countries. Four of them are located in the Czech Republic (Brno, Ceska Skalice, Cesky Tesin, Zernov) and two warehouses are located in Slovakia (Madunice, Presov). The company's home-base is in Prague.

In 2003, it was decided to install brand new international control system for the ripening process of bananas in the central office of VVISS a.s. The Czech company ELPRO Kolín, s.r.o. was responsible for the entire implementation of the new Central Control System.

The new (SCADA-based) control system with two PLC devices (Tecomat NS950 and Tecomat TC600) provides:

• Control of all cooling systems
• Monitoring power consumption of all cooling system
• Monitoring the quarter-hour maximum take-off for cooling systems

The Tecomat NS950 and Tecomat TC600 PLC devices are connected to the control computer which is located in the supervisory room. Reliable control and visualization of the ripening process is provided by the Reliance SCADA/HMI system. Reliance 3 is installed on the control computer. All ripening rooms are also equipped with control panels. These panels can control and monitor the ripening process.

The new Central Control System with Reliance SCADA controls technology process of banana ripening. All data from the processing are archived for further supervisions. The process of ripening can be controlled or monitored by authorized users from any PC connected to the LAN (local network) or from any PC connected to the Internet.

Warehouse where was installed the new SCADA-based control system

Picture of compressors providing control of cooling mixture