Invensys to automate 900,000-tons per year pulp mill in Brazil

Foxboro, MA—Veracel Celulose S A has awardedInvensys Systems Brasila multi-million-dollar automation contract to supply Foxboro I/A Series automation systems, advanced process control applications, and associated services for Veracel’s 900,000 metric tons per year bleached eucalyptus pulp mill, now under construction in Eunápolis, Bahia, Brazil. The plant, which reportedly will be the largest single-line mill of its kind in the world, will incorporate process equipment, automated process control systems, and advanced environmental protection installations. The mill is scheduled to begin production in 2005.

Carlos Aguiar, Aracruz’s president and CEO, says that, ‘The mill will bring about important social and environmental gains to the region, as well as revenue and hard currency reserves for Brazil.’ Veracel is a joint venture between Aracruz Celulose S A of Brazil and Scandanavian-based Stora Enso Oyj.

‘This is clearly one of the most significant grassroots pulp mill projects to emerge in many years,’ adds Rick Haythornthwaite, Invensys’ CEO. ‘Invensys is honored to participate in the project as automation vendor. We’re committed to helping Veracel meet its ambitious start-up schedule, and, once the mill is commissioned, to helping maximize production efficiencies.’

As automation supplier for the Veracel pulp mill project, Invensys will provide the latest Foxboro control technology. This includes a large I/A Series system with all stations linked via a high-performance, switched-Ethernet backplane in a high-availability ‘mesh’ network configuration. Veracel’s I/A Series system will also use Foxboro’s latest Windows XP workstations, new high-performance controllers, and HART field communications with remote I/O. More than 7,500 I/O points and 20,000 communication points will be integrated into the system.

Invensys’ advanced process control (APC) solutions for pulp mill applications will be use to maximize performance, minimize emissions, and reduce costs. Several of these applications will incorporate Connoisseur multivariable predictive control (MPC) technology from Invensys’ SimSci-Esscor unit. Connoisseur is a comprehensive suite of APC software that allows on-line data collection and analysis and offers real-time adaptive control to help users obtain peak performance from operating units.

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Jim Montague, news editor
jmontague@reedbusiness.com

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