Visualization and control of the process of dairy production at the Den Eelder farm in the Netherlands

Den Eelder is a Dutch dairy farm located in the foreland of the village of Well (Gelderland) in the Green Heart of the Bommelerwaard area.

The agricultural sector has long been a very important source of income in the area between the rivers Maas and Waal. The area hosts many types of agricultural companies. Despite this, the majority of the land estates are still used as cattle pasture, for which it is well suited thanks to clay deposits.

The products of the farm are unique. The company is in charge of the whole dairy process from start to finish. From grass and cow to the products in carton, cup, or tub.

Den Eelder Dairy Farm

Control system

In 2006, De Laat Koudetechniek B.V. implemented a new system for the control and monitoring of the process of dairy production. It consists of five Siemens Saphir controllers and the Reliance 3 SCADA system, providing the following:

• Control of the process of yogurt production
• Control of the cooling of processed dairy
• Monitoring of refrigerators
• Control of cooling machines

At the beginning of 2023, the entire control system was upgraded, reflecting the changes made to the technical installations.

The upgraded system consists of eight Siemens control devices (5 x Climatix POL688, 2 x Climatix POL638, 1 x SIMATIC S7-1500) and the Reliance 4 SCADA/HMI system. For communication with the SIMATIC PLC, Siemens Communication Driver is used.

It is expected that the control system will be expanded in the near future.

Examples of visualization windows (2006)

The main overview window

Incubator cell 2

Cooling installation

Refrigeration compressor settings

The main overview window

Incubator cell 2

Cooling installation

Refrigeration compressor settings

Examples of visualization windows (2023)

The login screen

The main overview window

Visualization of a cold store

Visualization of an incubator cell

Visualization of the cooling process including a trend (historical pressures)

Alarm settings (freezing)

External PLC data

A trend shown in Reliance Control

A cold store's historical alarms/events

A report

Program settings

The login screen

The main overview window

Visualization of a cold store

Visualization of an incubator cell

Visualization of the cooling process including a trend (historical pressures)

Alarm settings (freezing)

External PLC data

A trend shown in Reliance Control

A cold store's historical alarms/events

A report

Program settings