Chinese alumina plant digitally automated

Luoyang Xiangjiang Wanji Aluminum Ltd. (LXWA) has contracted with Invensys Process Systems China for its greenfield alumina plant in Luoyang Xinan County, Henan Province, China. Invensys will furnish Foxboro’s I/A-Series digital automation to control plant-wide processes and provide hardware integration services for LXWA’s new, 400,000-metric-ton/year, Bayer-process-based bauxite-refining facility. Its alumina product will be a feedstock for making aluminum metal.

LXWA plant-automation systems will employ I/A-Series redundant-control processors at seven control nodes, serving processes throughout the plant. Control nodes are for raw materials processing, solvent extraction, settling, separation, product filtration, evaporation, and calcination (roasting). Control processors will be connected to over 5,200 I/O points—sensors, devices, and signal interfaces.

Control nodes will be interconnected with a redundant network built around a control-and-dispatching center, with 15 operator- and 7 engineering-and-operational workstations. The centralized facility will provide real-time data and full graphics of the plant automation network, supporting production monitoring and optimization applications. Invensys says the selection was based on reliability and reputation of I/A Series systems installed at multiple plant sites.

With formation of Shanghai-Foxboro Co. Ltd. (SFCL) in 1982, Foxboro says it’s the first major American manufacturer to establish a joint venture in China. The company also advised that, in 1991, SFCL became the first company in China to be certified under ISO 9001.

For more information visit: www.controleng.com and www.invensys.com

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