Seda TURAN KANSU
Business Development Manager
ABB Elektrik
Automation solutions are at the heart of a plant in the cement and concrete sectors, as is the case in all other sectors. Designing these systems in a way to be capable of answering the needs of a plant is important for the productivity of both the plant and the system user.
Today it is recognized that cement plants need integrated process control systems that can improve plant-wide efficiency and productivity. It is also important that control systems contain production process management and optimization algorithms. Integrating the automation islands to be controlling from a single center, instead of controlling independent equipment and systems coming from different suppliers through different control systems, provides a great advantage.
ABB’s approach to the cement sector when it comes to automation solutions is primarily to offer a plant specific solution based on engineering experience and know-how of more than 100 years. The solutions offered include integrated products and services that will increase energy efficiency and productivity and reduce long-term costs.
ABB offers plant-specific automation solutions that use real-time data and enable continuous monitoring and control integrated with an advanced asset management. For the cement sector, ABB brings together industrial corporate software covering process control, production management, operational planning and optimization, work and asset management, and administrative departments. The solutions ABB offers to the cement sector in automation systems include DCS (Distributed Control System), BMI (Building Material, Mining & Mineral Industries) and MIDAS libraries, CPM (Collaborative Production Management) solutions and AssetVista™
ABB was recognized by ARC as the most sought after DCS brand in the world. The DCS systems widely used in the cement sector can be divided into two groups: System 800xA and Freelance. The latest versions of both systems are in accordance with technology and work on Windows 10 operating system. The system choice is made according to plant size and customer needs.
Today’s automation solutions continue to change and improve with a momentum faster than the past developments. The most important example of this is IoT (Internet of Things), which offers a great potential for the transformation of business processes and developments. Taking into consideration the importance of human factor in this process, ABB carries the IoT concept one step higher and implements it as IoTSP (Internet of Things, Services, and People).
ABB offers solutions with BMI library that is developed especially for the cement sector. This library has aspect object based software control modules that enable efficient and completely parameterized design of process control and energy management applications. This provides the customers with the opportunity to operate and maintain the production process and asset management in the most efficient way possible. The BMI library is used at more than 450 cement and mining plants in the world.
Another library used by ABB within the integrated control systems is MIDAS, which is used for monitoring and control of electrical equipment based on the standard IEC 61850. The library offers faster troubleshooting at the control room, allowing operators to solve problems by keeping away from the electrical hazard.
The most important innovation offered by ABB to the cement sector is CPM (Collaborative Production Management) software known as Knowledge Manager – Expert Optimizer. Dubbed Level 3 software, these increase energy and management productivity in the cement sector and they are used in more than 500 applications worldwide and in about 50 applications at more than 10 plants in Turkey. Many end users and leading companies in the sector, regardless of their automation infrastructures, prefer these solutions developed by ABB especially for the cement sector.
Knowledge Manager (KM) is a software that enables managers to immediately access the KPI (Key Performance Indicators) values of their cement plant. This software allows users to monitor plant energy consumption, production capacity, alternative fuel or mineral usage, and current company profitability in real time. KM offers an analytic approach that determines the necessary actions to improve the operation plant-wide and at managerial level. This software, which also allows for production planning, makes it possible to access the right information at the right time by processing large amounts of data.
With its solutions under the title Expert Optimizer, ABB helps reduce electricity and fuel energy consumptions and increase production amounts by making sure that all mills and furnace systems work in a more optimized manner starting from the stockyard. Nowadays, alternative fuel systems that help reduce energy costs and thus increase companies’ competitiveness are becoming more and more important. With its EO solution, ABB not only reduces the energy costs or increase the production or extend the life of relevant systems for plants using conventional fuels but also enables the safe management of alternative fuels with different characteristics and calories without damaging the product structure. Furthermore, a fully integrated optimization is also possible with raw material preparation systems, stockpile management modules, and laboratory management systems. ABB’s EO solution is not a BlackBox software. It is a platform where end users’ teams can develop their own systems and make related optimizations. EO basically works as an “autopilot.” A pilot controls the airplane during takeoffs and then switches to autopilot after entering the destination data, and upon arriving at the destination he/she takes the control of the airplane back for landing. The EO solution also works in a similar fashion. In general, the operators at a plant set the required conditions such as furnace heat or supply using control and monitoring screens in the control room and manage the process themselves. However, a different situation occurs when the EO solution is used: The operator first takes off the furnace just like an airplane and then the EO system comes into play. At the heart of the EO solution lays MPC (Model Predictive Control), in other words, a predictive control. All controls are carried out step by step in an automatic way by taking their previous and post states into consideration.
AssetVista™ is another solution, which is a software that enables production schedule optimization and maintenance time reduction. AssetVista™ provides a rapid access to necessary data and a holistic view to conditions of production assets.
Modernization of existing plants is as important as building a new one. ABB’s “Cement Care” program offers service solutions such as spare parts, service contract, 24/7 support service, upgrade services, etc. for all ABB equipment at both greenfield and brownfield plants. ABB supports its customers when it comes to increasing operational efficiency by providing them with rapid response, equipment life cycle management, and performance improvements.
Another feature offered within ABB’s automation solutions is called “My Control System.” Customers with ABB control systems can access “My Control System” through MyABB portal and monitor all products and services available at their plants. “My Control System” is a self-service tool and provides customers with 24/7 access to information, services, and authorized officials from one single point. Some of the services this portal offers are information on system upgrades via e-mails, software license coverage, expiry dates, access to certificates, software status checks, general system status reviews, installation of the latest Microsoft® updates in order to protect the system from cyber-attacks.
ABB is a solution provider company carrying out turn-key electrification and automation projects with full project and site responsibilities in addition to offering automation services developed for the cement sector, as well as engineering, project designing, consultancy, installation and commissioning services. Engineering comes before sales for ABB, which shows a solution-oriented approach specific to customer needs. The company also acts in accordance with environmental and sustainability rules by following customer satisfaction, quality, and ethical principles regardless of the cost of products and systems.
