Abstract
A brewery is a complex business with an intricate flow of raw materials, and utilities such as water, and energy. Cleaner production delivery at a brewery is a challenge. The ability to achieve consistent, optimum plant objectives so as to reduce energy, and water utilisation whilst ensuring optimum production is challenging, especially considering the variables influencing the production process. The ability to model current operations, input current operational data, seek optimum operating conditions for water, energy or operational variables is a significant challenge. In this research a Systems Dynamics (SD) model for a bottling plant’s energy, water, and production is constructed using Vensim software. A year of operating plant data, as obtained from an operating brewery, is adopted as model inputs. This data is adopted in order to formulate the baseline operating state of the plant. Optimum operational states, for each of the variables, are identified by analysing the operating plant data. The optimum states are obtained as minimum and maximum states and are adopted to model the overall optimum operations. The normalised utilities consumption results are compared with benchmark or best practice data obtained from the operating plant in order to draw valuable optimisation insight.
Systems dynamics modelling simulation for both electricity and water utilities, utilising minimum operating state values, results in significant reduction in utility and associated costs accumulation over a period of one year. A systems dynamics approach can be successfully adopted to model utilities consumption with an aim to gain insight on optimisation in a typical food and beverage manufacturing facility.
Keywords: Food and beverage, Dynamic Modelling, Systems Dynamics Modelling (SDM), simulation, optimisation, baseline.