Prosjektet Mar4.0 viser så langt gode resultater og en god mulighet for å innfri planlagte mål. Software for å behandle og modellere data fra in-line målinger er utviklet og i aktiv bruk. Nytt analyseinstrument er testet og vil bli implementert i prosessen. Store mengder med data fra prosess-styringen er samlet inn og arbeidet med å finne optimale innstillinger for destillasjonsprosessen vil være fokusområde fremover.
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The underlying idea is to enhance the competitiveness of processing industries relying on biological raw materials by creating a novel technology for automation of production processes based on a multi-disciplinary approach. This approach leans on key concepts from Industry 4.0 and includes flexible data management, advanced online process instrumentation, self-modelling data analysis, and multi-objective optimization. The complexity of this approach mirrors the complexity of the inherent and unique challenges that the processing industry depending on biological raw materials is currently facing. These challenges include large variations in the raw material, complex processing lines, and manual production set-ups with low level of digitisation. This way of processing affects both production capacity and production control negatively, leading to reduced earnings, lower long-term sustainability and poorer international competitiveness. Specific R&D challenges must be solved to automate process control. Modelling and optimizing several variables simultaneously is challenging when the variables are dependent on each other. It is also challenging to obtain a robust, informative signal from online sensors during production of complex raw materials. This project aims to solve these issues by developing a novel, generic, and digitised solution for process control and automation, starting off with one of the key processes in production of omega-3 concentrates from fish oil. Developing this technology in a representative company for the marine processing industry in Norway will pave the way for similar industries in the future to digitise and automate their production. This will increase their competitiveness by taking them into the fourth industrial revolution.