Title: Industry 4.0 & Industrial Water Treatment
Learner Objectives:
Explore Industry 4.0, the 4th iteration of the industrial revolution, and assess the implications of this framework to Industrial Water Treatment.
Content/Topic Outline:
Presenter:
Laith Charles
Presentation Description:
Industry 4.0 is the 4th iteration of the industrial revolution. The 3rd iteration of the industrial revolution, the Digital Revolution, propelled performance, availability, and economics of sensor technology and controller connectivity. Industrial water treatment controllers were one of many niche, value-added process controllers with interconnectivity during this time. While these systems were independently powerful, their decentralized nature narrowed their scope and limited their value in the greater systems they managed.
Industry 4.0 aims to solve some of the shortcomings of its predecessor. The new framework outlines and emphasizes four key themes: Interconnection - the ability for machinery, sensors, devices, and people to communicate and exchange data over a network. Information Transparency – provides operators with abundance of system-wide data and information from all points in a process to aid in identification of process improvements and provide unique data insights. Decentralized decisions – while still empowering local control methods, through interconnection and information transparency we enable issue escalations, in the case of exceptions or conflicting system requirements, to delegate to a higher system. Technical Assistance – the facility of technology aiding and facilitating decision making and problem solving. (Bonner, 2017) These key themes aim to stitch together and unify the smattering of independent system into a larger cohesive package for broader scope.
Today, we have examples of Industry 4.0 in practice. Smart manufacturing has been leveraging these tenants to empower cyber-physical systems to communicate with each other and interact with humans to heighten operational efficiencies and increase quality control. Hydroponic farming has leveraged real-time monitoring of sensor data to ensure crop yield can be maximized by fine-tuning irrigation schedules, lighting, humidity, and root nutrient mixes. Cooling towers, boilers, wastewater treatment, pretreatment and more Industrial water treatment process are woven into the fabric of many of these processes. These requirements have been slowly bleeding into the Industrial water treatment scope starting as small as building management system integration. As we move further down the adoption curve, of this industry shift, the requirements and expectations of our current control systems, their devices, service providers and operator will change and evolve. New practical use-cases continue to emerge as a response to this market push. While capital investment is a limiting factor, there exists an inflex point where the return in efficiency gain outweighs the investment cost. Industries which have adopted Industry 4.0 have seen rippling changes in their business models and how they do business. How will those ripples cascade into Industrial Water Treatment? The effects of these factors, such as new equipment characteristics to look for today to ensure we are staying relevant to these heightened equipment requirements, will be discussed, ultimately leading to new business opportunities and new value-selling methods.
Presenter Bio:
Laith Charles - CTO of Dosinfection, an OEM, distributor, and software service provider of hydronic solutions. He is the first recipient of AWT’s Rising Star Award and a degreed electrical engineer who has worked in the water treatment industry for 8 years. Laith’s passionate about improving sustainable-use and resource management of aquatic systems.