Paper has been produced at Gratkorn (Austria) for more than four centuries. Sappi totally revolutionised the mill by building the largest and most advanced coated fine paper production line in the world. Gratkorn has an annual capacity of one million tons of triple-coated fine paper on just two paper machines and 250 000 tons of totally chlorine free (TCF) chemical pulp. After extension of Gratkorn’s sheeting plant, it now has an annual sheet finishing capacity of 860 000 tons.
Coated papers from Gratkorn Mill are used mainly in high gloss advertising for brochures and leaflets as well as for art catalogues, books, magazines, annual reports, calendars etc.
These papers are the preferred choice where highest print quality and outstanding colour reproduction is needed and where best results are expected in die cutting, embossing, dispersion, UV-varnishing or laminating.
The challenge
The main reason for this project was quality improvements and reduction of off-spec production. In addition, plant management needed to improve operator effectiveness with a modernised automation platform and still while continuing to communicate with other legacy Honeywell products in the same production line.
The migration of the legacy Honeywell DCS, with over 12 000 I/O points, had to be completed in a very short time frame in order to minimise shutdown time and support functions for further rebuilds.
Solution
As legacy DCS and QCS systems become more difficult and costly to support, Honeywell’s Experion Upgrades enable a step-by-step transition for the most critical components. The upgrade options allow users to take advantage of the latest technological innovations in a simple, cost-effective manner.
Selected capabilities for Sappi Gratkorn include:
• Experion MX.
• Experion with PMD controller.
• Uniformance PHD.
• Safety Manager.
The site’s MXOpen QCS systems migrated to Experion MX and the TP Alcont DCS to Experion PKS. PMD and PHD are upgraded to the latest versions. Also, with Safety Manager, the site will have a fully integrated solution based on the Experion platform for its Paper Machine 11.
Benefits
Upgrading Sappi’s systems will increase process visibility and provide better operator efficiency, leading to higher product quality at lower production cost.
Experion PMD and MX provide the full advantages of a single automation platform for Paper Machine 11 with less hardware, cost savings on spares, and reduced maintenance services.
The new Experion platform delivers tools and diagnostic functions for comprehensive remote support.
Results
Using the Honeywell TPA-PMD Migration tools, it was possible to upgrade all applications and displays 100% error-free, resulting in immense time savings.
The large legacy DCS application migration at PM11 was accomplished in just three days.
Sappi reports that the Gratkorn DCS and QCS upgrade investment has achieved the scheduled targets in time and within planned production capacity.
For more information contact Boni Magudulela, Honeywell Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 695 8000, [email protected], www.honeywellprocess.com
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