Honeywell supplies process automation to BASF

Honeywell has been awarded a contract to provide its Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) to the Ludwigshafen (Germany) site of chemical giant BASF. The site is the world’s largest chemical production facility, covering ten square kilometers and housing 40,000 employees working from 2,000 buildings, including the company’s global HQ.

This technology will enable BASF to quickly and cost-efficiently consolidate the operations of two of its chemical production plants into one control centre. The consolidation work, expected to be completed in late 2008, includes project management, project engineering, hardware and software delivery, system upgrades and startup assistance.

“The solution we’ve delivered enables BASF to use its existing automation units for the next 15 years but allows the customer to benefit from a new generation of operator interfaces,” said Paul Orzeske, Vice President and General Manager, Honeywell Process Solutions EMEA. “In essence, this allows BASF to run a state-of-the-art system without the expense of a totally new system.”

With Honeywell technology, BASF will benefit from more powerful process control systems and improved human machine interfaces. By integrating the separate control rooms of the two plants into a single control centre, says Honeywell, will enable BASF operators to benefit from a comprehensive view of the combined facilities, thanks to the advanced displays, alarms and reporting capabilities of Experion PKS.