Control loop performance for pulp and paper manufacturing

An ABB Ability™ service that uses continuous data collection and analysis with on-site or remote access to identify, classify and prioritize control loop improvement opportunities specific to pulp and paper mills.

An ABB analysis of control systems worldwide revealed that up to 75% of a typical plant’s automation investment is not providing benefits. In other words, the systems are not operating as designed or intended. 
  • Are the automatic controls at your mill switched on?
  • Are your control systems actually causing problems instead of solving them?
  • Does your process automation system operate at maximum potential?

Ensuring that Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) control loops are regularly tuned and optimized enables you to use less raw material, reduce energy consumption, increase production, enhance product quality and troubleshoot more rapidly and effectively.

Proactively servicing control loops is just as important as maintaining your equipment. While it's not quite as simple as checking physical attributes on a piece of hardware like a motor, digital technologies when combined with proven methodologies and expert guidance provide a powerful tool set for performance improvement.

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ABB's approach to control loop tuning

The performance optimization for control loops service is delivered via ABB Ability™ Collaborative Operations for pulp & paper, which connects services that leverage the availability and transparency of data from the Ability platform into a data ecosystem. Data is viewed through a web-based user interface that is easily accessible by customer or ABB personnel.

This service continuously analyzes data to greatly reduce the time and effort needed to identify loop volatility. Data is classified based on specific KPI's to provide a list of issues that are then prioritized based on severity, process area, criticality and/ or financial impact. Problem areas are isolated and disturbance sources, such as dead time, inverse response and outliers, are identified.

This analysis helps find the root cause of the problem and trend performance history more accurately, providing actionable information that will reduce process variability.

  • More accurate troubleshooting with configurable KPI's
  • Simplified view of data and analysis
  • Expert analysis helps detect potential problems
  • Critical notifications when it matters most

References

Loop Performance has successfully optimized control systems across the globe.

Many customers have scheduled this service as part of their Pulp and Paper Care agreements, while others have focused on performance monitoring to continuously diagnose, monitor and resolve system and process performance issues.

Loop and quality control performance services reduce product quality variability by 10 - 20 % and cut costs for Indian paper mill
Major Asian paper mill able to reduce time to complete bump tests by 70% and reduce overall loop tuning effort by 75%

Related resources:

> Download whitepaper
> Watch video
> Order book

Partner with ABB to accelerate your digital transformation journey

Getting to the stage where mills can gain maximum results from digitalization demands planning a business relevant and executable path
Digital transformation in pulp and paper industry
Why ABB?
  • Experience with IT/OT integration 
  • Third-party and legacy integration
  • Deep pulp and paper, digital and automation expertise
  • Efficient transformation projects with focus on ROI
  • New tools such as cloud, analytics
  • Development model with partners to jointly develop solutions

>> ABB references in pulp and paper industry

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