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May 2009 PLCs, DCSs & Controllers

Honeywell technology selected to help Rio Tinto Alcan increase alumina production.

Honeywell’s Process Solutions business has been selected to upgrade and expand process control systems at Rio Tinto Alcan’s Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland, Australia. This project is part of the Yarwun Refinery expansion, which will increase smelter-grade alumina production at the plant from 1,4 million to 3,4 million tons per year by 2011.

Awarded by Bechtel Australia, the EPCM Contractor for the Yarwun expansion, the project calls for Honeywell to help design, configure, implement and optimise the major expansion of the plant’s existing distributed control system (DCS) and integrate it with the UniSim operator training simulator, the Uniformance product suite and Business FLEX software.

Training for productivity

The integrated solution will help increase plant safety and efficiency by providing operators insight into all key subsystems for better decision making. Operators, for example, will be trained in potential failure modes for the refinery so that they are able to immediately bring the process to a safe state if required by plant conditions, safety or security requirements. The current UniSim models that were successfully used to train plant operators for the first stage of the refinery will be extended for new processing equipment to enable Rio Tinto Alcan to train plant operators on processes offline before the expansion of the facility is commissioned. The training simulation models that will be extended include the bauxite, clarification, calcination, steam production, and precipitation processes employed at the refinery.

Integrated security

Honeywell will also integrate the refinery’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) security surveillance system with access control technology. Rio Tinto Alcan will use Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) to manage all security functions from a single platform. Other Honeywell services in the agreement include designing and implementing a process information and management system (PIMS) that will be tied to Business FLEX.

“Expanding a working refinery’s production requires technology to work together to keep employees safe and operations on track,” said Tony Cosgrove, managing director, Honeywell Process Solutions Pacific. “Streamlined information, thorough operator training and effective security play major roles in addressing the challenge. Our integrated solution will help keep the plant operating safely and provide workers with information that can improve the refinery’s business performance.”

For more information contact Debbie Rae, Honeywell Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 695 8000, hsa@honeywell.com, www.honeywell.co.za

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