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Arauco advances technological developments for pulp mills with digital solutions

A significant step on the journey towards Integrated Operations

Arauco is a leading manufacturer of forest products, located in Chile. From forestry through to end-product, the company conducts research and development essential to ensuring long-term sustainability in their operations and across the industry. In 2020, it produced 3.7 million tons of bleached and unbleached pulp, bleached cellulose of eucalyptus, textile pulp and fluff cellulose.

Global technology leader ABB was selected to supply and implement remote monitoring infrastructure, from a central control room, ensuring greater reliability and analysis across all processes.

Main facts

Customer Arauco
Country Chile
Solutions

ABB Ability™ System 800xA

with
Benefits
  • Greater reliability 
  • Enhanced collaboration
  • Advanced technological developments 
  • Centralized monitoring of operations
Project delivery
 2021 - 2022

The digital mill

Committed to a sustainable future

As a global company, Arauco develop a broad range of quality forest products which inspire solutions and improves lives around the world.  The company aims to drive sustainable forest management and enhanced use of renewable sources across Chile, funding local research and technological applications to create innovative solutions.

This includes Bioforest, a center of excellence to help apply the latest technologies at the center’s woodpulp and biotechnology labs and greenhouses, as well as the company’s forestland and industrial facilities.

To meet their goals of sustainability and technological leadership, Arauco chose ABB for the configuration and management of remote monitoring in five of its pulp mills plus seven additional Extended Operator Workplace (EOW) control room consoles, connected to their respective ABB Ability™ System 800xA distributed control systems (DCS). 

A secure way to connect to the power of the Industrial IoT
ABB Ability™ System 800xA

Better collaboration and efficient operations

Human factors and ergonomics
Enhancing control room operator capacities

Traditionally, in a pulp mill, different operations are controlled from separate control rooms. The integration of the management and control systems into a single control room provides unparalleled connectivity and a complete overview of the mill and increased process efficiency and productivity.

Arauco’s new integrated, digitalized solution enables better collaboration and market advantage, as operators can centrally monitor all operations; allowing the organization to offer a competitive edge of quality, response time, operational stability and cost reduction.


Thanks to ABB's experience and large installed base within Arauco, this partnership ensures stability and scalability for future supply of consoles and remote connections. 



Improved response times and flexible working

Prior to the remote monitoring installation, Arauco's Licancel Cellulose Plant chose ABB to support their process improvement plans -  faster response times, great cyber security, upgraded operator interfaces, enhanced reliability and flexibility for remote working. Collaboration between teams resulted in a fully-migrated and scalable system, fit for future adaptions and trends. 

“This modernization marks a departure from technologies that have been in place since the 1990s,” said Jorge Mesa, Licancel Plant Manager, Arauco. “Having the new, improved distributed control system and applications in place will better equip us to facilitate tackling our additional technological development projects, and achieving our best ever process performance at Licancel.”

Installation of version 6.1 of the ABB Ability™ System 800xA has given Arauco's operators the advantage of improved security, performance and interaction - enabling quick identification and response times to faults thanks to new tools and the modernized unit interface. 

 

Learn more

ABB selected by Arauco to provide remote supervision across five pulp mills in Chile
ABB secures control system modernization contract for wood pulp mill in Chile
Process control and automation for pulp and paper industry
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