The control of beer production: Insights into the controller topology of a large Australian brewery

Abstract

A significant portion of industrial automatic control is powered by PID controllers. However there is little published literature on the details and quantity of controller types used in industry. Food and beverage represents an important segment of manufacturing in Australia. This paper presents a review of the automatic/regulatory control topology in one of Australia's largest breweries. Details of the site's 505 PID loops as well as the industrial networked control systems are included. As there is very little published material of this type it makes an important contribution to the existing literature. It is intended that this material can assist further research by providing evidence-based information on the quantity of controller types used in this segment of industry and details on some of the current issues and opportunities.