Material Loading System
Loading System Overview

The Brown Controls Loading System is applicable to any facility that feeds granular or powder material from silos into hoppers with augers/feeders and blower(s). It is possible to feed from (3) silos at one time, each silo having its own auger/feeder speed. The system shows the order of Hoppers that are calling for materials and it is possible to Prioritize, Cancel or Manually Call Hoppers. The order of the stack is automatically managed and a purge occurs whenever necessary to prevent material cross-contamination.

The system consists of a Main Control Cabinet that houses the PLC and Hopper I/O:
The Drive cabinet is typically remotely located and also with remote I/O that can be mounted on the Silos:
The System State Screen on the main HMI shows the order of the “Stack”.
The Extruder Setup Screen is used to program silos to feed from and their auger/feeder speeds, as well as prioritizing or canceling Hoppers:
The Hopper Overview Screen shows the status of all the Hoppers. Graphics show which diverter is open and where the material is flowing. The Setup buttons bring up the Setup Screen and automatically select the correct Hopper to setup:
This is the Silo Overview Screen:
Blower Overview Screen:
Hopper and Silo I/O Screens assist in troubleshooting:
Additionally, an extensive alarms list with text messages that tell specifically What happened and Where allow maintenance staff to instantly respond, should a problem occur. This is a very important feature as these new controls are typically installed to replace control systems, where most existing mechanical components are retained.

 

The Setup Screen is for Administrative functions: