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Founded in 1969 in Sardinia, Italy, Fluorsid S.p.A. plays a crucial role in the fluorine value chain. Its gypsum and anhydrite products are pivotal for many industries, including cement and construction; while the significant volumes of sulfuric acid produced by its plants support other sectors, such as fertilizer production.
- Complex process
- Variations in raw material
- Difficulty maintaining process stability and consistent product quality
- FactoryTalk® Analytics™ Pavilion8® model predictive control (MPC) software
- Process stability
- Optimized raw material use in the process
- Waste reduced by 50+%
- Improved product quality
- Reduced energy consumption & CO2 emissions
Challenge
Inherently complex process
Fluorsid’s plant in Cagliari produces a variety of products using a range of processing technologies, such as reactors and kilns, all of which must be tightly controlled to ensure product quality, process efficiency and optimized energy consumption.
The primary challenge with the production processes is the impact of numerous variables, including the naturally varying quality of raw materials, and external actors, all of which can affect process stability and product quality.
In addition to influencing final product quality, these process variables also dictate the volume of the costly raw material consumed and the quality of the anhydrite byproduct, which is a usable commodity itself.
Manual process adjustments
“Process control was originally achieved using simple PID controllers, which were adjusted by the operators,” explains Daniele Tocco, plant director at the Fluorsid plant in Cagliari. “But this was a real challenge because the chemical reactions in our processes are rarely stable, as they are influenced by several factors, including the quality of fluorspar raw material and the quantity of energy put into the process.
“It is a process that screams out for intelligence and is a great exercise for a Model Predictive Control (MPC) solution, which can monitor the plant behavior and change individual set points, to better control and optimize the process to its true potential every minute.”
Solution
Implementing advanced process control
The MPC solution deployed at the Cagliari plant is the FactoryTalk® Analytics™ Pavilion8® solution from Rockwell Automation.
Pavilion8 provides an intelligence layer that sits on top of existing Process Control System, continuously assessing current and predicted operational data. It compares this data with desired results and drives new control targets to reduce process variability, improve performance and boost efficiency – all autonomously and in real time. This is known as closed-loop optimization.
The kiln-control application was formulated by a specialist team from Rockwell Automation, which included digital data consultants from Kalypso, Rockwell’s digital transformation business.
“The rationale behind the deployment of the MPC solution was to attain optimum consumption of the expensive fluorspar raw material,” Tocco adds. “If any is present in the byproduct, it indicates an issue with the reaction process. We knew that the reaction process could be improved and set the target of a reduction in the current levels of 2.9%.”
Result
Fewer product losses, improved product quality, more sustainable process
To date the solution has regularly demonstrated huge savings in both raw material usage and energy consumption, resulting in a rapid return on investment (ROI).“In very few months, we saw huge benefits. Since the deployment of the Pavilion8 MPC solution, the amount of fluorspar in the byproduct has fallen to below 1.5%, and sometimes even less than 1.2%,” Tocco says. “This means we have halved the losses, resulting in significant savings, considering the scale of our operations and throughput.
“The improved reaction control also means we are optimizing the consumption of the raw materials from the quarries. Due to the additional line stability and accuracy, we are also saving energy, which is primarily fuel oil. In fact, with Pavilion8 MPC, the key process parameters are now more stable, showing a clear reduction in standard deviation.
“Finally, as a direct result of the improved reaction control, the quality of the anhydrite/gypsum byproduct is much better. The cement industry can now use more of our synthetic anhydrate instead of quarrying for natural gypsum. We sell about 300,000 tons per year, primarily to cement industries, and with better quality we predict an increase in demand. We have even created a new brand – Gypsos – for our new improved gypsum product.”
Vladimir Obrazcov, director of digital business EMEA, Kalypso, elaborates: “Energy-and-raw-material-intensive industries will always see significant benefits from the deployment of digitalized control solutions. Even small gains in operational efficiencies soon add up, not only driving plant improvements, but also optimizing raw material use, and cutting overall energy consumption.”
Future applications are already being envisaged by Fluorsid for the MPC solution. Specifically, the company will deploy MPC in their four other production lines in their Italy facility, as well as in their location in Norway. “This plant uses the same reaction process, but the hardware is very different,” Tocco concludes. “It will be a more demanding job as this plant is already at 1.5% without the Pavilion8 MPC. We know it will be tough, but we know there are more savings to be made.”
Published January 21, 2025