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Honeywell to Provide Optimized Safety and Automation Systems to QAFCO

ControlGlobal.com
10/09/2012

Honeywell  signed an agreement with Qatar Fertilizer Company (QAFCO), to provide QAFCO's existing plants, expansion projects and future projects with safety and automation systems. The contract is one of the longest duration agreements of its kind to be signed in the Middle East. It is a 10-year contract with an option to extend for an additional four.

According to Khalifa Al-Sowaidi, Vice-Chairman and CEO of QAFCO, the partnership between QAFCO and Honeywell is built on mutual trust and respect. "For our greenfield sites, we will deploy Honeywell's Advanced Process Control and Operator Trainer Simulator technologies to optimize process performance and workforce training," said  Al-Sowaidi. "For our brownfield sites, we will receive risk-free project implementation of the latest technology, backed up by long-term support at overall lower cost of ownership," he continued.

Orhan Genis, vice president-sales for Honeywell Process Solutions, EMEA , said that the renewal of an existing nine-year agreement with QAFCO confirms that the partnership is a “win-win” proposition for both companies. "QAFCO receives the best technology with low cost of ownership and long-term support, while Honeywell continues to be Qafco's preferred automation partner," said Genis.

The agreement covers six ammonia plants, six urea plants and a melamine plant, and will involve the provision of Honeywell's distributed control systems, emergency shutdown systems, and advanced application systems, such as Plant Information Management Systems, Laboratory Information Management Systems, Advanced Process Control, and Operator Training Simulators.

In the Middle East, such long-term agreements are rare, therefore signing this lon-term contract shows that QAFCO trusts Honeywell's industrial technology.

This agreement increases the scope of the previous partnership and incorporates QAFCO's future business needs, allowing QAFCO to use Honeywell's local support capabilities with minimal technical and commercial execution risk.