Hubei Xingfa Chemical Group Co., Ltd. is a listed company mainly engaged in the development, production and sales of phosphorus chemical products and fine chemical products. Through more than 20 years of development, it has become one of the largest fine phosphate production enterprises in China. At the first stop of the Jiuqu Yellow River into Inner Mongolia, Xingfa Group invested more than 10 billion yuan in the construction of silicone new material integration project in Wuhai Economic Development Zone.

Yang Kunming, chairman of Inner Mongolia Xingfa, said: “As a leading process industry intelligent manufacturing solution provider, Zhongcong Technology has outstanding capabilities and profound accumulation in enabling chemical enterprises to digitize and green construction, which coincides with Xingfa Group’s development concept of” jointly grasping big protection and not engaging in big development “to achieve harmonious and unified ecological benefits and economic benefits. ”

Xingfa Group silicone new material integrated cycle project with the overall goal of building a highly automated and intelligent chlor-alkali chemical industry smart factory with “safety, green and efficiency” as the core, supported by a new generation of whole-process intelligent operation management and control system (i-OMC), to achieve efficient, safe and autonomous operation of industrial plants. Since the completion of the overall online operation of the project in November 2022, as of the end of April 2023, the cumulative black screen operation time has exceeded 130 days, and various industry indicators have reached the industry-leading level.

i-OMC systems create intelligent, autonomous factories

Inner Mongolia Xingfa Chlor-alkali Plant has designed a total of 35 sub-process start-stop operation. By using the intelligent operation and navigation technology of the i-OMC system, the process operation requirements such as sequence control, human-computer interaction and safe industrial interlocking in the production process are scientifically integrated, effectively realizing the production coordination of upstream and downstream devices, and realizing the whole process device of one-click start-stop. It improves the overall operation reliability, safety and production efficiency of the factory.

Relying on the i-OMC system’s advanced control of the whole process of the chlor-alkali plant and the online health diagnosis function of the equipment, the operation of the device can realize self-adaptive adjustment, the control of the load and the production process is more stable, the operation technical indicators become more stable, the consistency of the production operation is maintained, the human interference is reduced, and the labor intensity is reduced.

Since the project was put into operation, the qualified rate of alkali products has reached 100%, and the absolute value of the fluctuation of lye concentration at the outlet of the electrolytic cell has been stably controlled to be less than 0.2, and the card edge control has been minimized.

Li Yonggang, chief engineer of Xingfa Group, said, “The i-OMC system has comprehensively improved the automatic control rate, stability rate and safety of the device. By optimizing the multi-condition alarm, alarm audit, alarm operation statistical analysis, the i-OMC system has helped the project device reduce the alarm by more than 90%, greatly improving the overall operation reliability and production efficiency of the factory.”

The central control i-OMC system deeply integrates intelligent algorithms, expert experience and process mechanism knowledge, greatly reducing the equipment personnel and achieving “unmanned” operation. At present, the total staff of the chlor-alkali plant has been reduced from 120 people in the industry to less than 40 people, of which the number of operators per shift is only 2 people, achieving a 67% reduction in operating manpower.

At the same time, through the i-OMC system, the traditional operation knowledge and experience are deposited, which plays a very good role in the talent training of enterprises. For example, the paper operation process is solidified into the electronic standard operation process, which makes the training or learning of new employees more convenient. The i-OMC system provides drag visual programming tools that allow the process technician to complete the programming work independently.

Continuous intelligent investment to help 100 billion Xingfa

The successful operation of the smart factory project for caustic soda production in Inner Mongolia Park of Xingfa Group provides a sample for the construction of a smart factory for the autonomous operation of chlor-alkali industry. The i-OMC system connects all elements of enterprise production equipment, process and data in a digital way, and the comprehensive utilization rate of data exceeds 80% in terms of asset appreciation. In addition, based on the technical architecture of “factory operating system + industrial APP“, plug-in apps such as production management and environmental safety management are deployed on a unified data base, and integrated applications are formed with whole-plant video surveillance, unmanned inspection system, industrial salt intelligent unloading and collection system, automatic online analysis system, and circulating water intelligent temperature control system. Help enterprises achieve transparent production process, refined operation management, intelligent decision support, and ensure that enterprises achieve quality, cost reduction, efficiency, safety, and low-carbon operation excellence.

Yang Kunming, chairman of Inner Mongolia Xingfa, said: “Through continuous investment in digital intelligence, we have truly achieved a rare domestic unmanned inspection, unmanned operation, unmanned record of the ‘three no factory’, effectively solve the problem of regional labor difficulties, recruitment difficulties, and establish a safe, environmental protection, stable, refined production and operation control system, to help the strategic development of 100 billion Xingfa.”