Page 147 - CW E-Magazine (20-5-2025)

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DIGITALISATION
Tata Chemicals, TCS deploy digital twin technology

to boost Mithapur soda ash plant operations

Tata Chemicals Ltd. (TCL) and boiler effi ciency. The implementa-
Tata group’s information technology tion was completed for the two boi-
company, Tata Consultancy Services lers and provided insights to lower the
(TCS), recently put our information rise in boiler stack temperature and
on how their partnership helped reduce cut fuel consumption. This allowed
process variation and increase produc- plant operators to keep a high steam-
tion yields at TCL’s Mithapur soda to-fuel ratio. With the digital twin,
ash factory. plant operators could now ensure that
the carbonation towers operated effi -
TCL, a leading producer of soda ash ciently. They could precisely deter-
and sodium bicarbonate, was seeing mine which parameters needed to be
increased pricing pressure due to the adjusted and to what extent.
expanding soda ash market. The company
wanted to combat this pricing pressure By partnering with TCS, TCL could
with operational excellence and cost realise the following benefi ts:
competitiveness and sought expertise  $600,000 in cost savings annually
from TCS. sion support systems (DCS) that gave by implementing digital twins for
operators a unifi ed view of the plant’s the carbonation towers and boilers.
A crucial step in determining operations. While the DCS stored his-  Increased average yield, relying
soda ash yield is carbonation during torical data of a few months, it needed on AI-led actionable insights that
which any process variation would data on operating information of equip- increased process consistency and
result in a lower yield. Even with ment that went back 12-18 months. significant reduction in standard
advanced control mechanisms, the This disparity in data made it challenging deviation.
process was complicated. Manually for plant operators to take accurate
analysing carbonation process data decisions. Mr. R. Mukundan, MD, TCL
and taking immediate action was said, “Today, TCL’s operators
challenging. Moreover, when run- Solution leverage digital technology to improve
ning at less-than-ideal efficiency, TCS implemented a digital twin safety, operational efficiency, and
TCL’s boilers consumed more fuel. for TCL’s carbonation towers and drive excellence. This programme
Reducing process variability and boilers for greater effi ciency and could not have come at a better time
increasing output critically depended data-led insights. The digital twin as it helped us through the COVID-19
on the power plant’s performance increased the boiler effi ciency at the lockdown phase. It helped us man-
and dependability. power plant. This AI-driven system age operations effectively and match
generated real-time set points, allow- the market demand without impact-
An analysis of six months’ opera- ing operators to adjust and boost ing efficiency.”
tional data from the carbonation towers
and high-pressure boilers revealed that Deepak Fertilisers sets up subsi-
excessive process variance caused effi -
ciency and yield loss. diary in Singapore

TCL set a target to raise the carbon- Deepak Fertili- Globalchem Pte’ on
ation towers’ effi ciency from 67.8% sers and Petrochemi- April 23, 2025. The
to 70%, as every 1% increase in yield cals Corporation Ltd. newly incorporated
would result in an annual margin of has incorporated a entity will carry on the
$400,000. The plant’s data spanning wholly-owned subsi- business of purchase
over 32,000 sensors was stored in deci- diary in Singapore, namely ‘Deepak and sale of commodities (trading).

Chemical Weekly May 20, 2025 147

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