Smartes Bier mit intelligenter Hopfentrocknung
- Държава DE, Hallertau
- Година на строителство 2025/26
- Партньор на LOXONE AUTERNO – TopRed Media GmbH
Предизвикателство
A hop-growing business dries its harvest in a belt dryer: three conveyor belts, four drying zones, one gas burner, four supply air fans, plus exhaust air and heat recovery. The aim was to have a control system that displays the temperature and humidity in each zone, monitors the belts and keeps the oven chamber at a constant 50 to 51 °C. The challenge: The burner always runs at full power. The only way to regulate the temperature is via the supply air damper, which does not provide position feedback.
The operator is highly technically skilled and always open to trying new control strategies and experiments to further optimise the system. The control system therefore also needed to leave room for future modifications.
The operator is highly technically skilled and always open to trying new control strategies and experiments to further optimise the system. The control system therefore also needed to leave room for future modifications.
Решение
One Miniserver with five AI, three AO and one DI Extension is installed in the dryer's control cabinet. It records temperature and humidity in all zones, in the supply and exhaust air, as well as outdoors. Encoders on the conveyor belts measure their speed, allowing the Miniserver to calculate the drying time. Rotation monitors detect when a belt stops. The fans are controlled via frequency inverters with 0–10 V signals.
The oven temperature is regulated using the Heating Mixer function block. It calculates the damper position based on the actuator's operating time and maintains a minimum opening of 45%. Emergency stop, restart and a daily reference run are also integrated.
The exhaust air dampers inside the dryer are controlled via 0–10 V signals, and their positions are fed back to the system to ensure that as much heat as possible is recovered. According to the operator, this saves around 20% energy. Once drying is finished for the day, LOXONE shuts the system down in a controlled manner to prevent damage to the gas infrastructure.
In the LOXONE App, the farmer can view the dryer as a system diagram with live data, even when he is away from the farm.
Word of the project has spread. A second hop-growing business now also visualises its drying system with LOXONE – and, as it happens, it is the family farm of the reigning Hop Queen 2026/27. So, this season, LOXONE is practically the farm's official supplier.
The oven temperature is regulated using the Heating Mixer function block. It calculates the damper position based on the actuator's operating time and maintains a minimum opening of 45%. Emergency stop, restart and a daily reference run are also integrated.
The exhaust air dampers inside the dryer are controlled via 0–10 V signals, and their positions are fed back to the system to ensure that as much heat as possible is recovered. According to the operator, this saves around 20% energy. Once drying is finished for the day, LOXONE shuts the system down in a controlled manner to prevent damage to the gas infrastructure.
In the LOXONE App, the farmer can view the dryer as a system diagram with live data, even when he is away from the farm.
Word of the project has spread. A second hop-growing business now also visualises its drying system with LOXONE – and, as it happens, it is the family farm of the reigning Hop Queen 2026/27. So, this season, LOXONE is practically the farm's official supplier.
When you think of a hop dryer, a PLC is probably the first thing that comes to mind. With the Miniserver, the farmer now has an app that gives him a complete overview of the entire dryer at a glance. And the biggest challenge – controlling the dampers without position feedback – was solved using a standard function block.
Joerg Mittermaier, CEO AUTERNO