Baden, Switzerland, November 1, 2006 – ABB has successfully put into operation the latest automation system expansion at Alunorte's Alumina refinery in Barcarena, Brazil. This expansion project includes System 800xA Extended Automation and intelligent device integration. After a history of successes in the first three production lines, Alunorte trusted ABB to continue supplying automation systems to their process in its latest expansion project.
Since April 2006, after only five months of commissioning and 12 days of ramp-up operation (which is the lowest ramp-up time ever registered for this kind of industry) Alunorte has been operating at nominal load.Alumina do Norte do Brasil S.A. (Alunorte) is an Alumina refinery controlled by CVRD group. The plant is located in Barcarena-PA (north of Brazil).
Alunorte Maintenance Manager Mr. Roberto Trindade says: "We have a frame agreement with ABB since the first expansion. We do not buy a package; with ABB's know-how and our operational technology we build the project solutions together."
With two completely new lines (expansion 2 project), Alunorte planned to become and successfully became the largest alumina refinery in the world, increasing production from 2.5Mt/y up to 4.2Mt/y. (Note: Alumina is a white powder obtained from bauxite ore through a chemical process.
This alumina is the main raw material for aluminum production.)ABB took the challenge of executing the project with the largest number of fieldbuses in the world. All device interfaces are completely integrated with ABB's Industrial IT Extended Automation System 800xA. All the necessary libraries for communication with 35 different device types from several suppliers were developed and tested during the project phase in close cooperation between Alunorte, ABB and third party suppliers.
The result was a significant enhancement in the solutions library.The automation system has a total of 18 000 I/O points using the ABB S800 I/O System, Foundation Fieldbus, Profibus interfaces and 13 redundant AC800M controllers. All motor control center interfaces with the system are via Profibus communication and all instrumentation is done via Foundation Fieldbus High Speed Ethernet.This integration with intelligent devices provides a centralized amount of diagnostic information, opening up a wide range of possibilities in the asset optimization area for ABB & Alunorte's next implementation.ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact.
The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 107,000 people.