Dangote Oil Refining Co. Ltd. (DORC), a division of Nigerian conglomerate Dangote Industries Ltd. (DIL), has let a contract to a division of Schneider Electric Industries SAS, Rueil-Malmaison Cedex, France, to provide a range of advanced process automation systems, solutions, and services for its 650,000-b/d grassroots integrated refining complex now under construction in Lagos, in southwestern Nigeria’s Lekki Free Trade Zone (OGJ Online, June 23, 2017; Nov. 25, 2013).
Schneider Electric’s scope of supply includes a suite of four of its process automation systems and software solutions, all of which are designed to drive supply chain and operational efficiency and enhance reliability and profitability improvements for the new refinery by mitigating safety hazards and preventing unscheduled shutdowns, the service company said.
As part of the order, Schneider Electric will deliver its following proprietary systems and software:
• EcoStruxure Foxboro distributed control system, an IoT-enabled, open-and-interoperable system architecture and platform that enables scalable design and operation of the refinery’s connected systems with cybersecurity built in at every layer across connected products, edge control and apps, analytics, and services.
• Triconex process safety systems and solutions, including emergency shutdown systems, to maximize safety and efficiency of operations and to improve the reliability of equipment assets and asset sets.
• PIONIR analytical fuels-blending systems, including process analyzers, to improve process optimization, asset protection, and compliance with environmental regulations by providing reliable, real-time measurement of hydrocarbon streams.
• SimSci and Wonderware software, including unified supply chain management and operations management software, to unify planning and scheduling, as well as to improve real-time data collection and analysis for further optimizing operations and product blending.
The service provider, which will execute the project via a specially created task force between its Nigerian and Indian offices, did not disclose a value of the contract.
On schedule to be completed in 2019, DORC’s single-train refinery will be equipped to produce 33 million tonnes/year of petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, kerosine, aviation fuel, and other petrochemicals, according to Devakumar V.G. Edwin, DIL’s executive director of strategy, capital projects, and portfolio development.
DORC’s selection of process automation technologies comes as part of DIL’s commitment to maintaining continuously safe, reliable, and efficient refinery operations to help Nigeria reach its national goal of increasing its energy independence by reducing petroleum products imports.
Despite its rank as the eighth largest global producer and exporter of crude, Nigeria currently imports nearly 80% of its petroleum products, according to Edwin.
“Not only [will production from DORC’s refinery be] enough to meet all of Nigeria's consumption needs each and every day, we will have a surplus of each of these products for export,” Edwin said.
Alongside a 650,000-b/d crude distillation unit and 3.6 million-tonne/year polypropylene plant, the $12-billion Lekki integrated complex will include a fertilizer plant and a subsea pipeline project.
DIL’s privately held DORC refinery joins a series of other projects under way by the Nigerian government to modernize and expand capacities of refineries operated by state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. as part of a strategy to meet Nigeria’s domestic demand for refined products and reduce its reliance on foreign imports (OGJ Online, Jan. 12, 2017).
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
