Rockwell Automation has enhanced its process functions for cement plants with the aim of improving productivity, operator consistency and maintenance efficiency.
Fabio Mielli, market development manager, mining, minerals and cement at Rockwell, says: “Merger and acquisition activity has intensified standardisation challenges across cement operations. These new functions allow cement producers to follow a standard approach for all control areas of their plant and among different plants. This helps reduce engineering and deployment risks and helps simplify operation and maintenance activity. Consistency can offer a critical performance advantage, making it easier for plants to expand and add new functions as operations evolve or grow.”
Rockwell says the new functionality includes pre-engineered and tested process instructions and operator faceplates developed with cement companies to standardise equipment and system configuration and optimise operations across cement plants.
The cement functions have been added to the Rockwell Automation PlantPAx DCS, allowing them to be integrated and utilised across all plant operations. The DCS uses a common automation platform for integration between areas of a cement plant, including process, power, information and safety control.
According to Rockwell, the functions include processes such as motor and drives control, valve operations and sequencing group controls. These functions are expected to help cement producers who are aiming to achieve a fully connected cement plant – offering opportunities to improve plantwide efficiencies, reduce safety risks and drive better decision-making to be more competitive.
