BP selects Emerson for China PTA plant
19 Jul 2007
The BP Zhuhai expansion involves the construction of a new 900ktpa PTA plant, alongside an existing 500ktpa facility. BP officially started construction of plant in June 2006 with the facility due to be commissioned at the end of 2007.
BP officials have previously stated that new technology being deployed at Zhuhai 2 will require much less energy to operate, reduce green-house gas emissions by 65%, liquid waste discharges by 75% and solid process waste by 40%. The expansion, they said, would involve many Chinese companies in engineering, procurement and construction and over 50% of material and equipment will be sourced within China.
As the main instrument vendor, Emerson will be responsible for the engineering design, and implementation of the new digital architecture for Zhuhai 2. The company is to plan and manage the automation portion of the project via its Chemical Centre of Excellence in Pudong, Shanghai.
According to Emerson, the project will involve integrating its PlantWeb digital architecture with its advanced control, safety, and asset optimisation technologies via Foundation fieldbus technology to form an intelligent plant network.
The network will Emerson’s Rosemount measurement and analytical instrumentation, Micro Motion Coriolis flow and density meters, Fisher control valves with Fieldvue digital valve controllers, and the DeltaV digital automation system. A smart SIS Safety Instrumented Systems will also be installed on an independent network, with diagnostics communication to the process systems.
PTA is a key raw material in the manufacture of polyester fiber, resin and film and packaging. In China, 90 per cent of PTA production is used in the textile industry. Chinese PTA consumption in 2005 exceeded 10 million tonnes, of which only around 52% was supplied by domestic production.
