Control room design for paints and chemicals company AkzoNobel in Sweden

Better overview, clearer information, more time for operators

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Better overview, clearer information and more time for operators – these are just some of the benefits that leading paints and chemicals company AkzoNobel gained with an ABB Extended Operator Workplace (EOW-x) control room.

One of the world’s leading paints and coatings companies

AkzoNobel is one of the world’s leading paints and coatings companies and a major producer of specialty chemicals.

At its specialty chemicals factory in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, the company produces a cellulose-based powder called Bermocoll, which is used as a binding agent in water-based paints and in building materials like filler and tile adhesive. 

It requires a complex process to produce the right properties, such as thickening, water retention and adhesion, for the final product. Many stages are needed before the white powder is ready to be packed and exported. A total of 97 percent is exported and Bermocoll is in demand worldwide. “We sell it all and production has increased continuously with the exception of the financial crisis in 2008. This year (2011) our production capacity was expanded with about 10%”, says Robert Lundwall, who is Technical Manager at AkzoNobel Functional Chemicals in Domsjö near Örnsköldsvik, Sweden

Main facts

Industry Chemical product manufacturing
Customer AkzoNobel
Country Sweden
Solutions System 800xA with
Extended Operator Workplace

Dealing with the unnecessary disruptions

The cellulose derivative is produced in batches in reactors where the cellulose reacts with ethylene oxide, ethyl chloride and methyl chloride. In order to supervise the production lines, reactor operators act as ‘directors’ for the shift team’s work.

“Previously there was a problem here. There were too many alarms and the reactor operators had to sit and press loads of buttons to silence the system”, Robert Lundwall explains.

This is not unique to AkzoNobel, but is rather a general problem for operators in the process industry. They quite simply must keep an eye on too many things. The reasons for initiating the project at AkzoNobel included dealing with the unnecessary disruptions that were keeping the reactor operators stuck to their seats. Process engineers, operators, system engineers and ABB were involved in order to streamline the production process.
Robert Lundwall, Technical Manager at AkzoNobel Functional Chemicals in Domsjö near Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
“Previously there was a problem here. There were too many alarms and the reactor operators had to sit and press loads of buttons to silence the system”

Extended Operator Workplace

Among other things, this has resulted in an investment in the System 800xA-based control room equipment EOW-x (Extended Operator Workplace). The three 52-inch operator monitors plus six smaller monitors give a much-improved summary of the process to give better quality control.

Reactor operators have acquired overview displays instead of large numbers of detailed displays for every part of the process. Moreover, the operator can control objects on all of these monitors from just one keyboard.

“It was a tough job to convert all the old screens to the new 16:9 picture format. Over three hundred screens have been converted,” says Thomas Elfving, System Engineer. Thanks to EOW-x, parts of the production could also be automated. For example, driving out the recycled gases from the process is taken care of without the operator’s assistance. This frees up valuable time for the operator to do something more important during the working day.
Reactor operators have acquired overview displays instead of large numbers of detailed displays for every part of the process and can control objects on all of these monitors from just one keyboard

No more control room headaches

“It provides greater opportunities to be proactive. There is also a clearer alarm priority. Instead of reacting to alarms, the operator can now address alarm situations before they occur”, explains Thomas Elfving. Robert Lundwall agrees: “The operators feel that the information is clearer and the monitors give a good overview”, he says.

ABB’s Jörgen Karlsson says that many process industries would benefit from better control equipment.

“System 800xA with EOW-x puts the operator in focus through a combination of ergonomics, process summaries and access to information. I am convinced that this results in increased productivity as well as increased plant safety, which AkzoNobel has already been able to observe”.


Thomas Elfving, System Engineer, AkzoNobel Functional Chemicals, Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
“Instead of constantly reacting to alarms, operators can now address alarm situations before they occur”

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