ABB awarded $32m

ABB has received a $32m order from Sappi Saiccor to upgrade the world’s largest chemical cellulose plant, located near Durban, South Africa.

ABB will supply all the electrical, control and fieldbus communication equipment for the project.

According to ABB, the project will increase the plant’s pulp capacity from about 585,000 tons per year to more than 800,000 tons. Chemical cellulose is used in a variety of applications, including the production of non-woven textiles and binding agents in the pharmaceutical industry.

ABB’s scope of supply includes the incoming 132- kilovolt electrical substation, medium-voltage switchgear and protection devices, low-voltage motor control centres and variable-speed drives. ABB will also supply an Industrial IT distributed control system as well as the Information Management System.

This integrated system uses intelligent field devices such as motor controllers and field instrumentation. The complete system is based on the standard Profibus communications protocol, enabling remote configuration of devices and asset management from the distributed control system. ABB will also provide all associated engineering, cabling, installation and commissioning.

Sappi Saiccor is a wholly owned subsidiary of the South Africa-based global pulp and paper group, Sappi Limited. The current project, set for completion in the first quarter of 2008, is Sappi’s largest development project in

since 1981.