The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) will equip the Platin cement factory of Irish Cement Limited with an automation system worth around EUR2m. The project includes complete automation of a new kiln line (Kiln 3). The work involved in equipping line 3 is scheduled for completion in summer 2008. Line 2 is to follow around seven months later.

With a capacity in excess of 3Mt at two locations, Irish Cement Limited (ICL), part of CRH, is the largest cement producer in Ireland.  At the Platin location in Drogheda, which is around 50km to the north of Dublin, ICL is building a new kiln line and is modernising existing installations. The new plant will help make Ireland self-sufficient in cement production and will insure security of supply of cement for the construction industry into the future both north and south of the border.

For the new kiln line 3, Siemens is planning and delivering the entire automation equipment. This encompasses Simatic S7 416-2 programmable logic controllers, field devices, the data communication and bus technology - including server, operator control and visualization stations and engineering stations - as well as a management information system (MIS). On the existing kiln line 2, the Simatic S5 controllers will be replaced with Simatic S7 controllers and the software will be uniformly upgraded to the current level of PCS7. Modernization of line 2 will mostly be carried out without any interruption of operations. After completion of the project, the two lines will be equipped with the Simatic PCS7 V7 control system. “Cemat” industrial software from Siemens will ensure smooth interaction of all the components.