Posted to News on 28th Jan 2025, 07:00
Pilz Burner Management System safely controls and monitors ovens all around the world
The wafer machine specialist Buhler relies on the burner version of the small controller PNOZmulti 2 to safely control and monitor its ovens.
(See Pilz at FoodManufacturing.Live, 15 October 2025, on stand 24)
According to industry insiders, every second wafer manufactured industrially worldwide is baked using a Franz Haas wafer machine from Buhler. As a result, all customised plants must be highly flexible and, above all, meet all country-specific safety standards.
That's why the Austrian wafer machine specialist relies on the burner version of the configurable safe small controller PNOZmulti 2 to safely control and monitor its ovens. After all, the TUV-certified burner block in the software tool PNOZmulti Configurator is flexible and can be used worldwide for a variety of customised machine configurations.
The burner among controllers
PNOZmulti 2 carries out functional safety and burner control tasks as a complete solution in a single system; these are tasks that were previously performed by separate burner controllers. That's quite a challenge, as monitoring involves a complex control sequence: At the heart of every wafer production line is the oven, which may be up to 35 m long depending on the product and plant configuration. The heating is provided by gas-fired long tube burners. The burner controller's most important task is to monitor the extinguishing of the flame and if necessary to interrupt the gas supply immediately in order to avoid an explosion in a worst case scenario.
Some older burner controllers without bus capability have already been replaced by PNOZmulti 2 - another application area for Buhler because, as a modular system and with wide-ranging configuration software, PNOZmulti 2 is flexible and adaptable in terms of hardware and software.
"Using Pilz technology to implement all of the safety technology, completely independent from the standard automation, has many advantages for us," says Wolfgang Grassberger, responsible for machinery safety in the wafer division. "But what's most important is that we can standardise use of the technology worldwide, because Pilz takes care of international certification, including for the burner management."
Benefits of the system for Buhler include:
Connection to existing automation environments: Thanks to the openness of PNOZmulti 2, Buhler's automatic wafer baking ovens can be used worldwide.
The burner type is also suitable for retrofit: thanks to the configuration software, the hardware and software on older burner controllers without bus capability are flexible and adaptable.
And it is suitable for international use due to TUV-certified burner software block.
Click here for further information on Pilz Burner Management Systems.
