10-06-2013

Dresser-Rand and Honeywell to pursue turbomachinery control solutions

Dresser-Rand, a global supplier of rotating equipment solutions to the oil, gas, petrochemical, power, and process industries, reached an agreement with Honeywell to combine Dresser-Rand centrifugal compressor knowledge and experience with the Honeywell Experion® Process Knowledge System (PKS), granting plant managers control of not only turbomachinery, but all plant equipment using a single completely integrated control platform.

Under the agreement, Dresser-Rand will embed its proprietary anti-surge control and load sharing programs into the Honeywell Experion C300-20 controller. It will also allow Dresser-Rand to design and manufacture turbomachinery control systems using the Honeywell Experion C300-20 controller.

With the Experion PKS Turbomachinery Control Solution, clients benefit from an open, unified control platform that delivers turbine control, compressor automation, compressor anti-surge protection, and plant and safety controls. It consolidates plant equipment controls onto a single platform, which enables easy integration. The open control platform can be easily maintained and upgraded if necessary and improves process visibility and safety. 
The Experion solution provides common spare parts and maintenance, eliminates the need for hardware-specific technician training, improves productivity, and allows for easy expansion.

“In today’s competitive environment, the industry is moving toward increased visibility of all plant equipment,” said David Scheef, director of Marketing, Strategic Business Units at Dresser-Rand. “Firmly entrenched in many U.S. refineries, Honeywell is a leading supplier of distributive control systems and an ideal partner to help meet the needs of our clients. By harnessing the strengths of our businesses, together we now can offer technology that will replace operators’ obsolete turbomachinery controls with a totally integrated system.”

Proprietary or ‘black box’ technology has been and still is commonly used for turbine and compressor controls. This technology is difficult to interface with other system components and cumbersome and expensive to repair or upgrade. As the systems age and parts became obsolete, performance could become compromised, limiting the view of plant personnel into the process and machinery. Additionally, with disparate, proprietary control hardware, facilities often had to invest in specialized spare parts, and provide individualized training for maintenance and operations.

“By using the Experion PKS Turbomachinery Control Solution, customers throughout the process industries gain a robust, tightly integrated control capability that will optimize control and visibility into critical plant equipment,” said Bret Walter, Honeywell Process Solutions’ engineering consultant for rotating equipment/turbomachinery.

The agreement was reached after Dresser-Rand and Honeywell successfully tested Honeywell’s Experion C300-20 controller with Dresser-Rand’s embedded proprietary centrifugal anti-surge control, to determine its capability to safely and reliably control and protect centrifugal compressors.