Bentley Software has enabled Solutions Technology, the South African based process engineering and project management company, to achieve the successful design, installation and commissioning of a fully automated beverage blending and aseptic packaging plant for internationally acclaimed Good Hope Beverage Manufacturing in Cape Town, South Africa.

The circa US$ 5 million plant was constructed on a 'green fields' site and includes a protein powder and juice blending facility, a fully automated clean-in-place (CIP) plant as well as the sterilisation plant and packaging line. Service plants erected include an oil-fired boiler, refrigeration plant and cooling water plant and all the associated piping reticulation systems.

How it was put together

From the outset the site, building and process plant were all designed and laid out in accordance with the principles of Feng Shui. This was a fundamental client requirement, and Solutions Technology's 3D computer-aided design systems proved indispensable in meeting the requirement.

The project commenced in June 2000 when Solutions Technology was appointed to design the process and manage the construction, commissioning and testing of the plant. Construction of the process plant commenced in mid-November and commissioning began at the end of January 2001.

The plant boasts several unique design features. Sanitary mix-proof valves have been incorporated in order to allow a high degree of automation in both the blending and cleaning operations. Accurate tracking of raw materials, utilities and blend ingredients used in the preparation of each batch is achieved within the scada operating system. This data is retained in a centralised database for reporting to the company's management systems.

The entire process plant, civil, structural, mechanical and piping, was modelled in 3D, giving a realistic representation of the actual installation. Detailed model reviews were carried out with the client using Bentley's Enterprise Navigator. Extensive use was made of MicroStation Schematic during the entire project implementation. Each item in the plant was assigned a unique number from its first draught. The central database generated from the intelligent Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams (PIDs) was then used for the scheduling, procurement, installation and commissioning phases of the project.

The 3D piping model was developed by transferring information directly from the intelligent PIDs. The integrated Bentley system ensured that information, including pipe specifications and sizes, item tag numbers and descriptions and design data were automatically transferred to the piping package. The PlantSpace Design fittings library was customised to meet the specific requirements of the food and beverage industry.

Enterprise Navigator was used on site to resolve complex pipe routings with the piping contractors by viewing virtual 3D models. Valuable time and money was saved utilising this easy to use software, which does not require any draughting qualification to operate. Construction variations from drawings were kept to below 1% of the total installed piping.

The project culminated with a successful sterility run in mid-February 2001 and the plant was handed over to the client at the end of February after a trouble free commissioning period.

Bentley Systems South Africa

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