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Improving Pulp and Paper Mill Operations

Jim Cahill — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 12:40:25 GMT

April is almost upon us. One of the events where Emerson and AspenTech experts will be is the April 22-26 TAPPICon 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. This event “…focuses on key industry segments including paper, tissue, reliability & maintenance and recycled paperboard.”

Together, Emerson and AspenTech can provide edge-to-enterprise solutions across the lifecycle of a Pulp and Paper facility. The team will show how Advanced Process Control, Operator Training Systems, and Asset Performance Management solutions provide safer and more sustainable operations, increased profitability, and improved reliability.

Here is where you can find our experts:

New Product Showcase – AspenTech Mtell (Monday, April 24, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm)
New Technologies and a New Approach Day – Emerson’s Ed Schodowski
Trending in the Aisles, Booth #907 (Monday, April 24, 1:40 pm – 1:50 pm)
Overview machine learning and AI technologies for Advanced Process Control, Asset Performance Management, Operator Training Systems and Control Performance
Next-Generation AI Model Identification for Adaptive Advanced Process Control: Pulp and Paper Application (Tuesday, April 25, 8:00 am – 10:00 am)
Session 3: Technology & Vision for Automation’s Future – AspenTech’s Nikolaos Pratikakis
Pulp And Paper Case Studies Using Data for Asset Performance Management to Sustainably Improve Reliability, Quality and Production (Wednesday, April 26, 8:00 am – 9:00 am)
Session 8: Technology in the Industry: Perform Better, Live Better (Panel Discussion) – Ed Schodowski
Improve Asset Effectiveness – Solve Unexpected Breakdown Problems Using Predictive Equipment (Wednesday, April 26, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm)
Exhibit Hall – Wednesday Mill Maintenance
Best Practices for Magnetic Flow Meters (Wednesday, April 26, 10:30 am – 11:30 am)
Session 8: Best Practices for Field Instrumentation – Emerson’s Vince Miller

Ed shared a sneak peek of his Pulp And Paper Case Studies paper and presentation. If you are there in Atlanta at TAPPICon, you’ll want to catch Ed’s session to hear about how pulp & paper companies who are losing experience due to retirements are turning to digital-based simulators for control systems that mimic the process behavior throughout the mill. Operators can practice real-life operations scenarios of start-ups, shutdowns, process upsets, and failures while using the offline Operating Training systems.

Also, digital predictive and prescriptive analytic and operator training tools and sensors are being successfully deployed. These technologies identify the precise failure signatures that predict equipment breakdowns and enable prescriptive maintenance actions before any incidents. Results in many cases had ROIs from 4-6 months from quantified measurements, including 5-10% lower maintenance spend, 1-2% production recovery, and equipment failure detection up to 69 days in advance.

Register here if you’re going, or visit the Pulp & Paper section on Emerson.com and on Aspentech.com for more on the products and solutions to help you drive safer, more efficient, and more reliable mill operations.

The post Improving Pulp and Paper Mill Operations appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

OEE and Condition Monitoring Work Hand in Hand for Operational Excellence

Jim Cahill — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 16:40:29 GMT

Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) has long been a critical metric by which maintenance and reliability teams objectify their performance, and for good reason; it makes complex production problems far easier to calculate, digest, and remedy by simplifying the connection between expected and actual runtime for equipment.

Relying on a great deal of rotating equipment, pulp and paper plants focus heavily on OEE to ensure optimal performance.

One organization—Cascades Canada, a company with more than 70 paper and pulp plants—recently illustrated the way they use OEE to drive operational excellence with a short case study in Automation World.

In the article, the team explained how they regularly perform OEE calculations not only to drive continuous improvement, but also to challenge individual sites to perform at their best across unified business goals. In fact,

“Cascades Canada has cultivated a culture of OEE by establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) and indoctrinating employees at every level in the importance of a strong OEE score and how the metric and relevant data can inform action to drive continuous improvement.”

The team not only monitors its performance but also takes active steps to improve it, using Emerson condition monitoring technologies to determine root cause and identify equipment and operational changes that impact processes.

“While the detailed asset health data doesn’t directly change OEE calculations, it does provide a guide to target improvements. With asset health information, Cascades can drill down and figure out what needs to be improved in order to have better OEE results.”

Using a combination of OEE calculations and condition monitoring technology, the reliability team can ensure that monitoring of OEE is standardized across all its sites. In doing so, the team builds a comprehensive, effective maintenance program that impacts more than a single plant.

To learn more about the value of OEE as a metric to improve operational excellence, and to read additional case studies and success stories from organizations like Cascades Canada, you can read the article in its entirety. But before you go, I’d be interested to hear, is your plant focused on OEE? And, if so, is it monitored across the organization, or simply plant-by-plant? Feel free to leave your comments below!

The post OEE and Condition Monitoring Work Hand in Hand for Operational Excellence appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

OEE and Condition Monitoring Work Hand in Hand for Operational Excellence

Jim Cahill — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 16:40:29 GMT

Relying on a great deal of rotating equipment, pulp and paper plants focus heavily on OEE to ensure optimal performance.

“Cascades Canada has cultivated a culture of OEE by establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) and indoctrinating employees at every level in the importance of a strong OEE score and how the metric and relevant data can inform action to drive continuous improvement.”

“While the detailed asset health data doesn’t directly change OEE calculations, it does provide a guide to target improvements. With asset health information, Cascades can drill down and figure out what needs to be improved in order to have better OEE results.”

The post OEE and Condition Monitoring Work Hand in Hand for Operational Excellence appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improving Production, Safety and Reliability in Midstream Lithium Production

Jim Cahill — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 19:28:44 GMT

In our continuing series on the lithium supply chain from mining through battery production, we look at the midstream process where the battery cathode, anode and electrolytes are produced. We explored ways to improve production quality in a post, Improving Quality in Midstream Lithium Production. Today, we’ll look at production optimization, safety, and reliability.

One of the challenges expressed by lithium battery manufacturers is that they have to be fast and agile because each of their customers may have different formulations for the cathode, anode, and electrolyte material. Consequently, these manufacturers need to be able to reduce their transition times between batches to stay competitive with the frequent formula changes required in their production process.

Optimizing Production

They need to have automated processes that are flexible and easy to change. The control systems need to be flexible, but the measurement devices must also be able to handle the varying process conditions. Also, many of the formulations are proprietary.

As a result, these manufacturers need to ensure that the recipes are securely stored in the manufacturing system to avoid intellectual property theft. Emerson’s Programmable Automation Control Systems (PLC/PAC) enable automation of these processes to reduce cycle and transition times—enabling greater production. Secure control logic can hide proprietary formulations to prevent IP theft. Batch production can be optimized, and further automated using the DeltaV distributed control system (DCS).

Taking advantage of measurement best practices helps to ensure that the selected measurements can handle the process variability without the need for changing instruments, configuration or calibration. Eliminating these additional steps help to reduce transition times between batches, reduce cycle times, and increase throughput while ensuring the security of the recipes.

Ensuring Safety

Lithium batteries are considered green energy, but the manufacturing process is not environmentally friendly. It produces and uses lots of toxic chemicals in the process. So safety is of critical importance to all chemical facilities, especially in lithium battery manufacturing. Many of the materials used are toxic to humans or can result in chemical burns.

Hydrofluoric acid, sodium hydroxide, ammonia, and phosphorus trichloride are all chemicals used in lithium battery production. Many midstream manufacturers do not have insight into their process to detect and prevent an upset condition that may lead to an accident. Emerson can help by implementing automated safety instrumented systems that reduce response times to keep people safe and minimize emissions.

Measurement devices, including toxic gas and gas leak detection, can help people avoid being in harm’s way. Safety shower monitoring and location awareness reduce response times to any safety event. Also, using the correct materials of construction for valves can reduce any packing leaks—especially considering the corrosive materials. Knowing the correct position of on/off valves without having to send someone into the field to check can keep people out of harm’s way and prevent an incorrect valve lineup from creating a safety issue. SIL-rated safety measurement devices are needed to ensure manufacturers meet their process safety requirements.

Improving Reliability

Lithium battery production involves abrasive and corrosive materials that damage equipment, which can lead to unplanned downtime or abnormal wear of equipment. Many manufacturers do not have insight into their asset health and rely on reactive maintenance practices. They may not be using the most ideal materials of construction on their instruments and valves to ensure long life and reduce wear.

AMS Device Manager helps customers make informed field device and valve maintenance decisions based on real-time condition data. Valve and instrument diagnostics like Smart Meter Verification enable predictive approaches to maintenance needs reducing unplanned downtime.

Using the correct materials of construction can increase the time between maintenance events, and corrosion and erosion monitoring can predict when infrastructure may need replacement. With the Plantweb Optics platform, manufacturers can easily visualize and transform data into actionable information. Digital Twin and process simulation applications ensure processes are tested in a safe environment to run at optimal performance levels to help eliminate process excursions that damage equipment. These solutions can help reduce maintenance costs and downtime and minimize equipment damage.

Follow the links above to learn more about these technologies and how they can help you drive optimization, safety, and reliability improvements.

The post Improving Production, Safety and Reliability in Midstream Lithium Production appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improving Production, Safety and Reliability in Midstream Lithium Production

Jim Cahill — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 19:28:44 GMT

Optimizing Production

Ensuring Safety

Improving Reliability

Follow the links above to learn more about these technologies and how they can help you drive optimization, safety, and reliability improvements.

The post Improving Production, Safety and Reliability in Midstream Lithium Production appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Welcome to Emerson Automation Experts Podcasts

Jim Cahill — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 15:40:06 GMT

Visit our podcast subscription page to subscribe with your favorite podcast player.

The post Welcome to Emerson Automation Experts Podcasts appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Hydrogen Sulfide in Paper Mills: Find it Before it Finds You

Jim Cahill — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 22:15:53 GMT

In a Paper360 magazine article, “Wireless Sensors Improve Toxic Gas Mitigation in P&P Mills”, Emerson’s Forrest Francis explains how workers can avoid nasty surprises.

TV shows add drama saying their stories are “ripped from the headlines,” meaning they’re based on real-world people and events. Sometimes the same thing can happen with articles. The real-world story in this case was a report from Australia about two maintenance workers in a paper mill losing their lives due to hydrogen sulfide exposure. Apparently, they were checking valves on a tank that had unexpectedly filled with the toxic gas and got a fatal dose. With sufficient concentration, you can be incapacitated in seconds and death follows quickly. Additionally, 18 other workers in the plant were taken to the hospital.

This story was one of the things prompting me to write an article for Paper360 in their May/Jun 2020 issue. It’s designed to remind people that paper mills can be more dangerous than we might expect with a variety of toxic products in addition to hydrogen sulfide.

Whether using a sulfite or kraft pulping processes, sulfur compounds are involved. Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, among other toxic gases, are common effluents. Hydrogen sulfide is recognized as a very dangerous byproduct and has been the cause of numerous fatalities in the larger process industry sector. Others are sulfur dioxide, chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and methyl alcohol. Because of the risk associated with acute exposure to these chemicals, anyone working in this environment must be aware of where dangers lurk and take appropriate precautions.

One of the most critical precautions a plant can implement is deploying gas monitors in strategic areas to warn of a gas leak in progress, before a worker can smell it or succumb to it. A primary example is Emerson’s Rosemount 928 Wireless Gas Monitor, which can be configured to measure one of several target gases, including hydrogen sulfide. This wireless toxic gas monitoring system enhances worker safety through early gas leak detection, simply integrates with WirelessHART technology, and eliminates the need for expensive wiring.

Now it is much easier and far less expensive to deploy gas monitors which could very easily save some lives. How well is your plant covered? Is it possible that someone might get an unfortunate surprise from opening the wrong door or climbing down into a pit to check a pump?

Visit the Gas Leak Detectors and Sensors pages at Emerson.com for more on technologies and solutions for flammable and toxic gases. You can also connect and interact with other engineers in the Pulp & Paper Group at the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post Hydrogen Sulfide in Paper Mills: Find it Before it Finds You appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Hydrogen Sulfide in Paper Mills: Find it Before it Finds You

Jim Cahill — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 22:15:53 GMT

In a Paper360 magazine article, Wireless Sensors Improve Toxic Gas Mitigation in P&P Mills, Emerson’s Bill Francis explains how workers can avoid nasty surprises.

The post Hydrogen Sulfide in Paper Mills: Find it Before it Finds You appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Successfully Applying Non-Contacting Radar in Black Liquor Mixing Tanks

Jim Cahill — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 15:11:07 GMT

In the Kraft pulping process, wood fibers are separated, and resinous materials removed, using an alkaline (typically sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide) cooking liquor, also known as white liquor. This process converts wood into cellulosic pulp used in the papermaking process.

This digesting process turns the white liquor into black liquor, which contains:

…lignin fragments, carbohydrates from the breakdown of hemicellulose, sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate and other inorganic salts.

This black liquor:

…has about 20–30% solids. At this concentration the rosin soap rises to the surface and is skimmed off. The collected soap is further processed to tall oil. Removal of the soap improves the evaporation operation of the later effects.

Once this black liquor is concentrated, it’s sent to the recovery boiler to provide energy for the pulp making process.

I share all this as background for this short, 2:20 YouTube case study video, Rosemount 5408 Solves Measuring Issue in Black Liquor Mixing Tanks. These 18-meter mixing tanks contain a mix of lye and soap with heavy condensation and a sticky media.

The mix tank is used to separate the soap from the black liquor. A Rosemount 5408 non-contacting radar level transmitter was used to more accurately identify the interface between the black liquor and soap/lye interface. A pressure transmitter was originally used to measure level, but it could not determine the soap level as well as the radar level transmitter.

They highlighted the key challenge being the foam from the soap and condensation from the steam, so a process seal antenna for the radar was used since it was very resistant to the condensation and the foam which builds up in the tank.

This solution has been in place for over a year and works much better than the prior measurement methods in contending with the steam and foam.

Visit the Rosemount 5408 page on Emerson.com for more about the technology and tools to determine if it is the right fit for your level measurement application. You can also connect and interact with other level measurement experts in the Measurement Instrumentation group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post Successfully Applying Non-Contacting Radar in Black Liquor Mixing Tanks appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Successfully Applying Non-Contacting Radar in Black Liquor Mixing Tanks

Jim Cahill — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 05:00:00 GMT

This digesting process turns the white liquor into black liquor, which contains:

…lignin fragments, carbohydrates from the breakdown of hemicellulose, sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate and other inorganic salts.

This black liquor:

…has about 20–30% solids. At this concentration the rosin soap rises to the surface and is skimmed off. The collected soap is further processed to tall oil. Removal of the soap improves the evaporation operation of the later effects.

Once this black liquor is concentrated, it’s sent to the recovery boiler to provide energy for the pulp making process.

This solution has been in place for over a year and works much better than the prior measurement methods in contending with the steam and foam.

The post Successfully Applying Non-Contacting Radar in Black Liquor Mixing Tanks appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Non-Contacting Radar Level Measurement in Pulp Mills

Jim Cahill — Thu, 23 May 2019 15:46:44 GMT

A pulp mill:

…converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing.

Ingemar Serneby

Level measurements can be challenging in pulp manufacturing process.

In a Pulp-paperworld article, Radar Technology Overcomes the Toughest Level Measurement Challenges, Emerson’s Ingemar Serneby shares his expertise on how non-contacting radar level measurement technology can address these challenges.

These challenges include:

…turbulence, foaming surfaces, corrosive chemicals, condensation, viscous materials, density and pressure variability, high temperatures, dust generation, and media with a low dielectric constant.

Many level measurement options exist from manually checking levels through sight glasses to:

…electro-mechanical devices such as floats and displacer switches, capacitance point level switches, ultrasonic technology, differential pressure sensors, laser-based devices and load cells.

More modern level measurement devices are replacing these and include:

…vibrating fork level switches, guided wave radar (GWR) transmitters, non-contacting radar transmitters and acoustic scanners.

Benefits of these new technologies include:

…enhanced functionality and increased diagnostics capability, leading to improved measurement accuracy and repeatability, reduced maintenance requirements and lifecycle costs, and greater reliability.

Non-contacting radar technology addresses the challenging level measurements well. It:

…provides a top-down, direct measurement of the distance to the surface, which is highly accurate and reliable and can be used with liquids, sludges, slurries and some solids. With built-in diagnostics, a lack of moving parts, and straightforward installation and commissioning, non-contact radar transmitters provide both ease-of-use and low maintenance requirements.

The article highlights the technologies behind non-contacting radar—pulse modulated continuous wave (PMCW) and frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW). FMCW have much greater sensitivity and accuracy but requires more power and additional wiring for this power. Ingemar highlights recent efficiency advances in the Rosemount 5408 non-contacting radar transmitter.

However, the improved energy efficiency of the latest FMCW devices allows power and communication to be provided by two wires, which eliminates the need for extra infrastructure, enables quick installation and reduces costs.

Read the article as it shares how non-contacting radar technology addresses turbulence and foaming, corrosive media and condensation, coating/viscosity/dirty antennas, density/temperature/pressure, solids measurement, dust generation, and dielectric constants. A case study is also shared about the application of these level transmitters at and pulp mill in Sweden.

Visit the Non-Contacting Radar section on Emerson.com for more on the application of this technology. You can also connect and interact with other level measurement experts in the Measurement Instrumentation group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post Non-Contacting Radar Level Measurement in Pulp Mills appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Non-Contacting Radar Level Measurement in Pulp Mills

Jim Cahill — Thu, 23 May 2019 15:46:44 GMT

A pulp mill:

…converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing.

Ingemar Serneby

Level measurements can be challenging in pulp manufacturing process.

These challenges include:

…turbulence, foaming surfaces, corrosive chemicals, condensation, viscous materials, density and pressure variability, high temperatures, dust generation, and media with a low dielectric constant.

Many level measurement options exist from manually checking levels through sight glasses to:

…electro-mechanical devices such as floats and displacer switches, capacitance point level switches, ultrasonic technology, differential pressure sensors, laser-based devices and load cells.

More modern level measurement devices are replacing these and include:

…vibrating fork level switches, guided wave radar (GWR) transmitters, non-contacting radar transmitters and acoustic scanners.

Benefits of these new technologies include:

…enhanced functionality and increased diagnostics capability, leading to improved measurement accuracy and repeatability, reduced maintenance requirements and lifecycle costs, and greater reliability.

Non-contacting radar technology addresses the challenging level measurements well. It:

…provides a top-down, direct measurement of the distance to the surface, which is highly accurate and reliable and can be used with liquids, sludges, slurries and some solids. With built-in diagnostics, a lack of moving parts, and straightforward installation and commissioning, non-contact radar transmitters provide both ease-of-use and low maintenance requirements.

However, the improved energy efficiency of the latest FMCW devices allows power and communication to be provided by two wires, which eliminates the need for extra infrastructure, enables quick installation and reduces costs.

The post Non-Contacting Radar Level Measurement in Pulp Mills appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Non-Contacting Radar Level Measurement in Pulp Mills

Jim Cahill — Thu, 23 May 2019 05:00:00 GMT

A pulp mill:

…converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing.

Ingemar Serneby

Level measurements can be challenging in pulp manufacturing process.

These challenges include:

…turbulence, foaming surfaces, corrosive chemicals, condensation, viscous materials, density and pressure variability, high temperatures, dust generation, and media with a low dielectric constant.

Many level measurement options exist from manually checking levels through sight glasses to:

…electro-mechanical devices such as floats and displacer switches, capacitance point level switches, ultrasonic technology, differential pressure sensors, laser-based devices and load cells.

More modern level measurement devices are replacing these and include:

…vibrating fork level switches, guided wave radar (GWR) transmitters, non-contacting radar transmitters and acoustic scanners.

Benefits of these new technologies include:

…enhanced functionality and increased diagnostics capability, leading to improved measurement accuracy and repeatability, reduced maintenance requirements and lifecycle costs, and greater reliability.

Non-contacting radar technology addresses the challenging level measurements well. It:

…provides a top-down, direct measurement of the distance to the surface, which is highly accurate and reliable and can be used with liquids, sludges, slurries and some solids. With built-in diagnostics, a lack of moving parts, and straightforward installation and commissioning, non-contact radar transmitters provide both ease-of-use and low maintenance requirements.

However, the improved energy efficiency of the latest FMCW devices allows power and communication to be provided by two wires, which eliminates the need for extra infrastructure, enables quick installation and reduces costs.

The post Non-Contacting Radar Level Measurement in Pulp Mills appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Non-Contacting Radar Level Measurement in Pulp Mills

Jim Cahill — Thu, 23 May 2019 05:00:00 GMT

A pulp mill:

…converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing.

Ingemar Serneby

Level measurements can be challenging in pulp manufacturing process.

These challenges include:

…turbulence, foaming surfaces, corrosive chemicals, condensation, viscous materials, density and pressure variability, high temperatures, dust generation, and media with a low dielectric constant.

Many level measurement options exist from manually checking levels through sight glasses to:

…electro-mechanical devices such as floats and displacer switches, capacitance point level switches, ultrasonic technology, differential pressure sensors, laser-based devices and load cells.

More modern level measurement devices are replacing these and include:

…vibrating fork level switches, guided wave radar (GWR) transmitters, non-contacting radar transmitters and acoustic scanners.

Benefits of these new technologies include:

…enhanced functionality and increased diagnostics capability, leading to improved measurement accuracy and repeatability, reduced maintenance requirements and lifecycle costs, and greater reliability.

Non-contacting radar technology addresses the challenging level measurements well. It:

…provides a top-down, direct measurement of the distance to the surface, which is highly accurate and reliable and can be used with liquids, sludges, slurries and some solids. With built-in diagnostics, a lack of moving parts, and straightforward installation and commissioning, non-contact radar transmitters provide both ease-of-use and low maintenance requirements.

However, the improved energy efficiency of the latest FMCW devices allows power and communication to be provided by two wires, which eliminates the need for extra infrastructure, enables quick installation and reduces costs.

The post Non-Contacting Radar Level Measurement in Pulp Mills appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improved Emissions and Lower Fuel Costs at RDM Blendecques

Jim Cahill — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 17:24:21 GMT

Italian recycled paperboard producer, Reno De Medici (RDM) Blendecques mill in Saint Omer, France had a big challenge to modernize a control system with a short time window during a planned shutdown. The control system managed two Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs) that produce steam for the process from two gas turbines and additional burners.

Even more important was the need to reduce emissions by optimizing the combustion control. Optimizing combustion would also reduce the natural gas required to make steam. The cardboard production process requires large amounts of steam to achieve the desired humidity.

Emerson’s Industrial Energy Management team, including Pete Makepeace, Jim Dunbar and Andrew Verdouw worked with the Emerson team in France, which had worked with the RDM team to develop the requirements specifications to address these challenges.

From these specifications, the Industrial Energy consultants helped the RDM project team develop a plan and project execution timeline. Jim, based in the U.S., traveled to France to set up, configure, and train the operations team on the combustion solution.

Pete, based in the UK, performed the internal and customer factory acceptance testing (FAT), and U.S.-based Andrew was brought into the project right before the FAT to perform start up and commissioning of the system.

The schedule was extremely tight, but the team concluded the FAT at the mill and began the startup just 14 hours later. They started up the steam production process on time to meet the aggressive schedule for first production. This project’s successful execution truly represented an international collaboration among the Industrial Energy consulting team and mill staff.

In addition, the combustion optimization solution reduced emissions more than was defined in the requirements. Improvements were also made to operational practices. For example, the boiler level that used to be manually controlled is now fully automated and adapts to load changes in the boiler. This results in better feed water stability, which in turn results in greater steam production stability.

The combustion optimization solution reduced the excess oxygen by more than 50% in some cases, which not only reduced emissions, but also reduced the natural gas fuel consumption required to produce the steam. Overall combustion efficiency improved by 3%. These results paid back the project costs in under two years.

Scene from RDM Blendecques video with DeltaV Operator Stations (in French) – Click to view

The installed DeltaV system also provided more complete information across all the control rooms in the mill to allow for faster troubleshooting and improved collaboration among the mill staff. Looking forward more units and safety functions will be converted over to the DeltaV system and DeltaV SIS safety system to continue to improve the safety, reliability and efficiency of the operation.

If you need to improve powerhouse performance, request a Powerhouse Energy Opportunity Survey or additional information from the Industrial Energy Management team.

You can also connect and interact with other pulp & paper and industrial energy experts in the Pulp & Paper and Industrial Energy groups in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

Update: Andrew has a great update to this story in the Emerson Exchange 365 community in a post, International Cooperation and Professionalism Produce Engineering Excellence. In it, he concludes:

All in all, our efforts with RDM surpassed expectation for both client and company. The statement was even made that we “pulled a rabbit out of hat”. No, not really. Smoke and mirrors belong to the realm of illusionists and showmen. The beauty and peril of engineering is that your work is out there for all to see – no excuses. This engineer is fortunate to work with true professionals. We may not speak the same local language (as I’m gently reminded by my UK cohorts!), but when we speak on technical terms and work toward the same engineering goals as professionals, nothing’s lost in the translation.

The post Improved Emissions and Lower Fuel Costs at RDM Blendecques appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.