Pulp mill hits a five-year automation control milestone

Paul Boughton

Borregaard is an international company with strong global positions in wood-based chemicals and other selected niches of organic chemicals. The company develops and supplies specialty cellulose, lignin products and other wood-based specialty chemicals for a wide range of applications. Borregaard has 20 production plants in 12 countries and sales offices in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. Borregaard has 1800 employees and expects sales to total NOK 5 billion (US$800million) in 2007. 

Borregaard had needed a partner for the long haul from the inception of its first automation control first system to the latest centralised controller. The company's specifications included: 

l Ability to standardise on a platform that afforded flexibility, increased reliability and efficiency.
l Centralised control room with common operator interface for improved effectiveness and operator confidence.
l New automated system to reduce number required resources and to provide more accurate information for faster decision making
l Human Machine Interface (HMI) to help operators perform their jobs more efficiently and effectively. 

In 2001, two Honeywell PlantScape R400 systems were installed in Borregaard’s pulp mill and chemical plant in Sarpsborg, Norway. The installation was the beginning of a five-year project focused on centralising process automation under one single control room. 

Utilising both FOUNDATION Fieldbus and Profibus technology, the pulp mill helped establish a mill-wide standard that handled continuous upgrades and established a vertical migration strategy enabling the company to utilise new technology without any production loss. 

Older PLC systems and Honeywell TDC 2000/3000 systems needed to be replaced or interfaced. During this period the project faced technical challenges and had to figure out the most expedited way for a continuous and fast upgrade from PlantScape R400 to Experion R210. 

“We needed to continue our technology upgrade and investigated various migration paths,” said Dag Skjeltorp, Chief Engineer, Borregaard. “By employing a vertical strategy we looked to replace all system components in one process area – we really needed a new automation system and not just a ‘band-aid’ on the old one.” 

With a long standing partnership already in place, Borregaard turned to Honeywell for an upgrade to an advanced Process Knowledge System. With a long term five-year timeline in mind, the company looked to replace its older PLC systems and outdated TDC 2000/3000 systems. The company executed a continuous and fast upgrade to the latest Honeywell Experion PKS systems. 

“We looked for a supplier that could support our onsite needs in Norway and work with us and our current investments in various releases of their automation systems.” continued Skjeltorp. 

Upgrading from existing Honeywell technology was completed with the support of Honeywell’s services team and local support. With continuous evolution and backwards compatibility, Borregaard was able to upgrade the system to meet process control needs. 

“We were clear to identify the project and develop models to identify our needs beforehand” continued Skjeltorp. “This included not only all the upgrades and patches we would need throughout the years, but also a three year services contract to help support our mission.” 

From 2001 to 2005 (and to the present day), Borregaard implemented five different versions of Honeywell’s advanced control applications from Plantscape R400 to Experion R300 – the latest release of Honeywell’s powerful Process Knowledge System. 

Borregaard also implemented FOUNDATION Fieldbus, which when integrated with Experion delivers outstanding system performance and unparalleled ease of use while reducing installation costs, decreasing commissioning time and lowering maintenance expenses. 

“We are happy with our investment to date,” said Skjeltorp. “In looking at the project now, we see a centralised control room that is more automated and as a result more efficient and informative to help us make better decisions to improve our business performance.”

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Asle Davidsen is lead engineer with Honeywell Process Solutions, EMEA. www.honeywell.com/ps

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