Visualization and control of the refrigeration and heating system at the Dutch company TMA Ice Age

November 28, 2024 | Reliance SCADA

TMA Logistics is a Dutch specialist in transportation and warehousing within the North Sea Canal area. They transship containers via inland and sea shipping. They also use their TMA terminals (Velsen, Beverwijk, Harlingen, Amsterdam) for transshipping cars, breakbulk, or agricultural products. TMA Logistics' warehouses are located in the North Sea Canal area and the cities of Alkmaar and Harlingen, covering a total area of 100,000 m².

TMA's sustainability lies in inland shipping and new energy. They reduce the use of trucks, and thus emissions, through their fleet of ships. In addition, they transship windmills, windmill parts, energy cables, and products related to solar energy. By doing so, TMA Logistics contributes to the energy transition.

To meet their customers' demands in the future, TMA Logistics has opened a new cooling and freezing facility in Amsterdam for its subsidiary – TMA Ice Age. It was built according to BREEAM Excellent standards, ensuring a sustainable building.

Control system

In 2023, Chiron-tec started implementing a system for the control (a Siemens SIMATIC PLC) and visualization (Reliance SCADA/HMI) of the processes of refrigeration and heating at TMA Ice Age. It controls and monitors the Amsterdam facility's:

• Central refrigeration plantroom (NH₃)
• 7 NH₃ compressors (including 1 heat-pump compressor)
• 7 storage rooms
• 2 sampling rooms
• 2 dispatch bays
• 5 tempering rooms

The following special features are also part of the control system:

• Dual-PC setup
• Day-ahead energy pricing from the cloud
• Automated energy strategy for energy import and export based on the actual market price (EPEX SPOT)
• KNX couplers for building automation

It is also important to mention that energy management schedules cooling requirements to optimize energy production from solar panels.

Examples of visualization windows

Visualization of the engine room

Visualization of the refrigeration process

Day-ahead energy pricing

Energy measurement

Visualization of the underfloor heating system

A floor plan

Visualization of the heat pump

The photovoltaic system

Water usage

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