ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced today that the installation of their Expert Optimizer solution at St Lawrence Cement’s Joliette plant in Canada brings the number of kilns benefiting from Expert Optimizer to over 200. At Joliette, which is part of the Holcim Group, Expert Optimizer has been installed on three kilns, meaning the plant has the 200th, 201st and 202nd installations.
Expert Optimizer is also installed on more than 200 mills and is optimizing processes in over 42 different countries. Typical production increases for a kiln being optimized by Expert Optimizer are in the order of 2 - 5%. A recent Expert Optimizer project in Italy saw a production increase of 8%.
Expert Optimizer is advanced process control software, the purpose of which is to achieve continuous process optimization. Part of ABB’s cpmPlus suite of solutions, it coordinates the setpoints of the different parts of the process and immediately detects deviations among the different parts of the operation. By expertly applying rule based control with modern tools like neural networks, fuzzy control, Model Predictive Control (MPC), Mixed Logical Dynamic (MLD) frameworks and now also model based state estimation in the moving horizon approach, Expert Optimizer is able to stabilize and then optimize the process. These techniques, combined with the knowledge of ABB’s process experts during commissioning, help plant management to reach profitability and sustainability goals.
