Displaying items by tag: abb

Award-winning ABB technology has improved productivity by 9 percent at a complex and energy-intensive industrial facility in Europe.

The improvements were made at Nordkalk's Lohja limestone processing plant in Finland and are indicative of the huge gains in productivity that are being achieved with an award-winning ABB process control and optimization solution for industrial facilities, Expert Optimizer.

Expert Optimizer has successfully delivered substantial improvements in productivity and energy efficiency at more than 200 production facilities worldwide and was awarded the Global Fuels Award for 'Most innovative technology for electrical energy efficiency' in 2008.

Originally developed for the cement industry but now available for all process industries, Expert Optimizer coordinates the optimal operating parameters of the various parts of the process and immediately detects any deviations that occur.

Once the deviations have been detected Expert Optimizer is able to stabilize and re-optimize the process. It is also able to calculate optimal production schedules for the entire plant. Typical increases in productivity range from 3-10 percent.

Nordkalk is the leading producer of high-quality limestone-based products in northern Europe. The company operates 20 sites in five countries. Lohja (above) in Finland is one of the largest. The site consists of an underground mine, crushing plant and lime kiln.
ABB took over site-wide maintenance activities at Lohja in 2006 as part of an ABB Full Service® contract in which it undertook to improve productivity and reduce maintenance costs at the plant, one of the largest limestone processing facilities in northern Europe.

ABB has more than 150 Full Service agreements in operation worldwide

Drawing on its expertise as the world's leading supplier of power, automation and optimization solutions for the cement industry, ABB was able to propose the installation of Expert Optimizer to help solve a production and fuel problem in the kiln, which is the heart of the lime-making process.

Prior to the installation of Expert Optimizer it had been difficult to determine the optimal operating point of the process as the kiln uses several different types of feed material, each with different properties. Expert Optimizer resolves this difficulty by finding the best operating conditions to maximize output and minimize fuel consumption for each type of feed.

The overall result was a 9 percent increase in production.

In a typical Full Service agreement ABB and the customer jointly agree on the targets to be achieved in areas like maintenance expenditure, plant availability, equipment reliability, energy efficiency and safety.

ABB has more than 150 Full Service agreements in operation in a broad spectrum of industries worldwide – from cement plants to petrochemical refineries, pulp and paper mills, oil and gas sites, steel mills, and consumer goods factories.

ABB announced it is to engineer, deliver and commission the electrical systems to a new tissue production line supplied by Metso to SCA's new factory in Mexico. The delivery includes intelligent control and monitoring systems for power distribution, the new generation intelligent Motor Control Centers, frequency converters and high efficiency motors as well as a complete paper machine sectional drives system.

The delivery includes ABB's most recent application knowledge for the power distribution and motor control technique. The intelligent solution allows a higher degree of control and information transfer between the systems. ABB Process Industry unit from Vaasa, Finland, is responsible for the delivery, which it includes project management, engineering and site services.

"The electrical equipment, that drives the processes, is connected by modern field bus solutions into one functional system. By using the latest new generation products and applications know how the life cycle management and preventive maintenance of the system will be further enhanced", says Area Sales Manager Fredrik Grankull from ABB.

The new line will produce 60,000 tons/yr of high-quality facial, toilet and towel tissue grades. The start-up is planned for summer and autumn 2010 and ABB deliveries are scheduled for the beginning of 2010. The production at the mill, which is situated close to Mexico City, will start at the end of 2010.

Argentina center first in region to implement TÜV recognized Functional Safety Management System (FSMS)

ABB has just announced that its Safety Execution Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina has been certified by TÜV as having in place and applying a Functional Safety Management System (FSMS) for delivery and implementation of safety system projects in accordance to international industry standards.
TÜV Rheinland is the leading world's specialists in the assessment and certification of organizations and products to safety standards.

The TÜV certification, the first awarded in Latin America, recognizes that ABB's functional safety management system complies with international standards and best practices for its products, engineering and project teams and installation methods. It meets all relevant sections of international standards IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 for integration and implementation of safety instrumented system (SIS), including system configuration, application programming, test and front end safety consulting for specific industrial safety applications.

"This certificate underscores ABB's dedication to excellence in providing our customers with safety solutions, products and services that they need to protect their most critical assets: their people, the environment, the surrounding community, and the process," said Guillermo Leanza, Manager of ABB's Safety Execution Center in Argentina. "Our customers want to ensure that the safety of the plant and integrity of the process are never compromised; the implementation of certified safety solutions and services that meet or exceed industry requirements is crucial to their success. We work closely with our customers to help them achieve this goal."

ABB has been at the forefront of safety system development and delivery since 1979, when it commissioned the first emergency shut down system on the Statfjord B offshore oil platform in the North Sea. ABB commemorated its 30 years of extensive safety experience in 2009; these solutions have protected literally generations of personnel and processes.

ABB www.abb.com  is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.