Honeywell wins Chinese petrochemical deal

Honeywell’s Profit Suite R400 process optimisation software will be deployed at two of Sinopec Maoming Company’s ethylene-cracking facilities, which have been in operation for more than 50 years and currently produce 1 million tons of petrochemicals a year.

Profit Suite R400, part of Honeywell’s Advanced Process Control (APC) and Optimization portfolio, uses tools such as statistical analysis to increase the efficiency of plants and maximise product output. The software is capable of integrating with many different distributed control systems (DCS) by multiple manufacturers, as well as legacy systems.

“Although new petrochemical plants are being built, globally the petrochemical industry is a mature industry, with many plants having been in operation for decades,” said Aldous Wong, vice president and general manager for Honeywell Process Solutions, China.

Maoming Company is expecting an increase in production that would improve our profitability by more than $6 million per year

He Lijian, deputy chief engineer, Sinopec Maoming Company

“Honeywell’s process optimisation solutions can breathe new life into these aging plants, boosting profitability by increasing throughput and yields, improving product quality, and reducing costs.”

Ethylene is an important building block for petrochemicals and is primarily used in the manufacture of polyethylene, which, in turn, goes into a wide range of products, such as packaging, detergents, synthetic lubricants and synthetic rubber. In China, about 70% of its polyethylene is used in product packaging.

“We want to establish this project as a benchmark for other similar facilities within the Sinopec Group,” said He Lijian, deputy chief engineer, Sinopec Maoming Company.

“Using this Honeywell solution, Maoming Company is expecting an increase in production that would improve our profitability by more than $6 million per year.”