ABB Helps To Automate Bioplastics Plant

ABB has been awarded a major contract by NatureWorks to provide automation services for its new greenfield plant in Thailand to convert sugar cane into the polylactic acid biopolymer Ingeo.

The plant will ferment and distill plant sugar (similar to brewing beer or wine), first converting the sugar into lactic acid and then polymerising it into Ingeo. these three separate production processes will be fully integrated at the new plant, resulting in increased energy and production efficiency. In addition, the integration of the fermentation stage will ensure the availability of lactic acid.

The Thai plant will be based on sugar cane and will achieve a sustainable plastics production of 75,000 tonnes/year when fully operational. The project is expected to start up in the second half of 2024.

ABB's scope of work consists of a two-part project, including a FEED study and detailed automation project execution, with ABB as the main automation contractor. ABB will provide hardware, software, control room design solutions, engineering and site support for the full development of NatureWorks' greenfield system.

ABB's distributed control system, Ability System 800xA, will maximise plant efficiency and reliability through automation. Using this technology, ABB will consolidate all key system inputs into a single user-friendly overview.

As a result, operators will be able to utilise real-time data from all areas of the plant to increase efficiency, reduce risk and ensure production is optimised.

The project will apply status-based control, enabling operators to take fewer interactions to start up equipment and reduce risk by having the right information at the right time. In addition, ABB's automation engineering batch application tools will also be implemented in this project.

As part of NatureWorks' global expansion plans, the plant will help meet the growing global demand for sustainable materials. Bioplastics account for less than 1% of all plastics produced globally, but production is expected to grow by more than 260% between 2020 and 2026.

Ingeo is an eco-friendly bio-based material that is used in a wide range of plastic and fibre products, from compostable food packaging (coffee capsules, tea bags, food containers) to 3D printed silk, nappies and even fridge liners. Compared to traditional fossil-based polymers, manufacturing Ingeo reduces greenhouse gases by around 80% and non-renewable energy by 52%.