ABB controls iron ore pellet plant in Bahrain

　　ABB successfully commissioned the new pellet production line no. 2 at Gulf Industrial Investment Company (GIIC), Bahrain. Production at GIIC s pellet plant no. 2 is rated at six million tons of iron ore pellets per year; after commissioning, its production capacity doubled to more than eleven million tons per year.

　　In mid 2007, Kobe Steel Ltd. awarded ABB with a contract to supply GIIC with electrical equipment and control systems to support the expansion of their plant. Kobe Steel Ltd. is one of Japan's leading steelmakers and a major contractor for iron ore related processes.

　　Mechanical and electrical installations were concluded in spring 2009 and the first pellets were produced mid of 2009. The acceptance certificate from GIIC was awarded at the end of June 2010.

　　GIIC is located in the Kingdom of Bahrain and produces high quality direct reduction grade iron oxide pellets; its new annual rated capacity is eleven million tons. The project was executed within the tight schedule required by the client and the end user now benefits from a state-of-the-art plant that already produces more than the original rated capacity.

　　The iron ore concentrate shipped to GIIC is being grinded, then mixed with additives and processed to iron ore pellets in a grate kiln.

　　ABB s scope of supply comprised engineering, manufacturing and delivery of intelligent low voltage (LV) motor control centers, an emergency power generator, medium voltage (MV) power factor correction, MV and LV motors and variable speed drives, integrated with a System 800xA process control system, field instrumentation and a collaborative production management system (Knowledge Manager and maintenance management system). The delivery also included infrastructure systems (fire detection, telecommunication, lighting), cabling, earthing and lightning protection. ABB provided related engineering services to the customer including installation, supervision and commissioning of the material as well as customer training.

　　GIIC will benefit from enhanced process control and monitoring, as well as from increased energy efficiency, provided by the integrated process control and electrical system. Field instruments, intelligent motor control centers and variable speed drive systems are all integrated with the core 800xA control system, so the operator has a wide variety of views of the concerned process parts (aspects). The ABB Knowledge Manager system further collects and monitors process data to provide pellet plant specific reports. The system also links to the overall GIIC ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, comprising a maintenance management module including spare parts control.

　　ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.