Automation leader ABB has partnered with industrial artificial intelligence (AI) company Carbon Re to cooperate on optimizing and decarbonizing cement production with the help of AI.
The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), agreeing to explore the possibility of combining the automation and advanced process control (APC) services offered by ABB with the artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies developed by Carbon Re.
The collaboration aims to deliver a market-ready solution that would enhance the operational efficiency of cement production plants.
After successfully testing its technology in a pilot project in the Czech Republic, ABB is now looking to upgrade its ABB Ability™ Expert Optimizer for cement APC solution with an AI platform developed by Carbon Re.
This partnership aligns with ABB’s “Do More With Digital” global campaign that focuses on raising awareness among process industry professionals about the power of digitalization in the sphere of their work.
The AI and ML technologies provided by Carbon Re would bring the capacity of a cloud-based, continuously updating optimization software to the products offered by ABB. This would enable the Expert Optimizer technology to improve its targets, like refining post-combustion efficiency with post-combustion oxygen, by setting those targets automatically based on the dynamic plant conditions.
Additionally, this advancement would boost the Expert Optimizer’s ability to maintain optimal conditions and reduce emissions in kilns used in cement production.
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While the technology usually reduces specific energy from 1-5 percent and raises alternative fuel usage by up to 50%, with the enhancement brought on by Carbon Re’s technology, cement plants would be able to decrease their specific energy by up to 5%, leading to greater kiln stability with real-time pyro process optimization, cutting the need for control room involvement.
By combining expertise and technologies, this collaboration between ABB and Carbon Re has the potential to increase the energy efficiency of cement production, addressing the critical problem of high energy demand in this industry.
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