Brewery example

La Tolva, in examples/brewery, is a simulated brewery with a brewhouse, three fermenters, utilities, recipes, trends and alarms. Explore the interactive gallery and recipes.

Plant and timing

Hot liquor feeds the mash tun, followed by the lauter tun, kettle/whirlpool, cooler and FV1–FV3 fermenters. Utilities include steam, hot water, chilled water and glycol. Recipe time is compressed: one recipe minute takes one second; one fermentation day takes one minute. A brew takes roughly four minutes and fermentation around 15–20 minutes.

Start

1. Open abscada.exe and pick Microcervecería por lotes · La Tolva on the start screen.
2. Keep Arrancar también su PLC simulado (also start its simulated PLC) ticked: the program starts the brewery's simulated PLC for you.
3. When Studio opens, click Abrir runtime (open runtime).

If you close the simulator, start it again from Herramientas → Simuladores de PLC… (Tools → PLC simulators).

Trust the PLC

The simulator offers encrypted endpoints only. The first connection fails and COM turns red until you trust its certificate:

1. Open Proyecto → Certificados OPC UA… in Studio.
2. Compare the rejected certificate fingerprint with the one printed by the simulator.
3. Choose Confiar en el seleccionado. Runtime retries automatically.

The simulator creates a persistent certificate under %LOCALAPPDATA%\abSCADA\simuladores\cerveceria. Trust persists unless that certificate is removed. The demonstration simulator accepts any client certificate, as a PLC might during commissioning.

Demonstration accounts

Without a session the project is read-only. users.json stores scrypt password hashes for these accounts:

Username	Password	Role
admin	Tolva-Admin-2026	Administrator
maestro	Tolva-Maestro-2026	Brewmaster; edits recipes
operador	Tolva-Operador-2026	Brewhouse operator
mes	Tolva-MES-cliente	Read-only OPC UA client

These passwords are public demonstration credentials. Replace them or remove these accounts before adapting the project for real use.

Permissions

Role	Operate	Acknowledge	Recipes	Manage users	OPC UA
Observer
Brewhouse operator	✔	✔
Brewmaster	✔	✔	✔
Administrator	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
MES client					✔

Recipe editor inputs and SAVE/DISCARD buttons declare "permission": "recipes". Anyone can inspect recipes; the operator chooses which one to brew. Auditing records the user and command origin.

Screens

Screen	Contents
Overview	Brewhouse, current batch, fermenters, utilities and active alarms
Brewhouse	Animated vessels and lines, 12-step sequence, recipe and destination, START/HOLD/RESUME/ABORT and mash trend
Cellar	Fermenter cards, glycol valves, modes and fermentation curves
Recipes	PLC recipe buffer, edit/save/discard and parameter ranges
Utilities	Hot water, steam, glycol and chilled water
Trends	Brewhouse, FV1, FV2, FV3 and utilities
Alarms	Active alarms, history and events
Simulation	Instructor fault injection panel

Colours convey state: green running, grey stopped, amber held or awaiting an operator, red alarm, blue editable commands/setpoints. Flowing lines use blue water, amber wort, gold beer and violet steam.

Operate a batch

Choose a recipe and a free fermenter, then press INICIAR LOTE. Starting requires steam above 4 bar and hot water at least 70 °C. The PLC copies the recipe at start; later edits do not alter the running batch.

Step	PLC action
1	Fill mash tun with mixed hot water at mash-in temperature
2	Wait for the operator to add malt and confirm
3–5	Heat and hold mash rests; skip the first if its duration is zero
6	Transfer to lauter tun and recirculate for 5 recipe minutes
7	Lauter and sparge; operate rakes if the grain bed clogs
8	Heat kettle to boiling
9	Count time while boiling; request bittering and aroma hops
10	Whirlpool rest for 15 recipe minutes
11	Cool and transfer to the fermenter at pitching temperature
12	CIP for 10 recipe minutes, then idle

RETENER freezes heating, transfers and sequence timers; REANUDAR continues. ABORTAR asks for confirmation and drains brewhouse wort, including the destination fermenter if filling was underway.

Each fermenter follows fermentation, diacetyl rest, cold crash, conditioning and ready-to-package phases. During diacetyl rest glycol closes and temperature rises freely. Mando… allows a manual temperature setpoint or, when ready, TRASEGAR A ENVASADO to empty the fermenter. Initially FV1 holds a fermenting IPA, FV2 a conditioning Rubia, and FV3 is free.

Recipes

Recipe	Mash rests	Boil	OG → FG	Fermentation	Diacetyl	Conditioning
Rubia	52 °C 10 min · 65 °C 60 min · 78 °C 10 min	60 min	12.0 → 2.4 °P	19 °C 5 d	21 °C 2 d	2 °C 4 d
Tostada	68 °C 60 min · 78 °C 10 min	60 min	13.5 → 3.2 °P	18 °C 6 d	20 °C 2 d	2 °C 7 d
IPA	65 °C 75 min · 77 °C 10 min	75 min	15.5 → 2.8 °P	19 °C 6 d	22 °C 3 d	1 °C 5 d
Negra	67 °C 60 min · 78 °C 10 min	60 min	12.5 → 3.5 °P	18 °C 5 d	20 °C 1 d	3 °C 5 d

Selecting a recipe loads an editable PLC buffer. GUARDAR copies it into stored recipe data, clipping out-of-range values; DESCARTAR discards edits.

OPC UA for MES

The project enables abSCADA's server at opc.tcp://<computer>:4850/abscada, with signing/encryption and no anonymous access. Variables appear under Objects/abSCADA. Connect using mes, trust the client certificate in Studio and trust the SCADA certificate in your client. The mes role can read only; writing additionally requires operate.

Exercises

1. Log in as operador, select Tostada and FV3, and start a batch.
2. Confirm malt and hop additions when prompted.
3. During boiling, enable Espuma en el hervor, acknowledge the alarm and observe steam drop from 70 to 40%.
4. Enable Fallo de la enfriadora de glicol and observe glycol temperature, fermenter deviation and alarms.
5. Try editing recipes as operador, then sign in as maestro with recipe permission.
6. Enable Levadura inactiva on a fermenting vessel; after one simulated day, fermentation-stalled alarms appear.
7. Transfer a ready fermenter to packaging through Mando….

Communications

src/abscada/simulators/brewery_map.py defines the shared generator/simulator map. Connection PLC_Cerveceria polls every 1000 ms at opc.tcp://127.0.0.1:4841/latolva using Basic256Sha256 signing and encryption. Objects are Cocina, FV1–FV3, Servicios and Recetas.

Nodes use nsu=urn:latolva:plc;s=<object>.<field>, such as FV1.Temperatura; namespace URI resolution tolerates reordered namespace indexes. PLC types include Float, Int32, Boolean and String. Commands named Orden… are pulses that the PLC resets after reading. For real equipment adapt endpoints and NodeIds; screens can keep the same variables.

Limitations and tools

The compressed process model is educational, using simplified fermentation and thermal balances. abSCADA is not a safety function: steam interlocks and equipment protections belong in the PLC and field hardware.