Honeywell integrates plant security and process control
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 4/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Honeywell has created a prototype solution that promises to reduce safety mishaps and security breaches, including cyber attacks, at chemical plants.
The system, now running at a Honeywell Specialty Materials plant in Geismar, La., was funded by a $2.5-million investment from Honeywell and an additional $1.02-million grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
The solution integrates access-control/perimeter protection, video surveillance/intrusion detection, network protection, and process-control systems. Security breaches or safety incidents are reported simultaneously to plant operators and security personnel, enabling faster, better responses, such as preemptive shutdown of operations; and gathering and accounting for personnel in designated safe areas.
The solution will serve as a template for security upgrades at other Honeywell plants, says Bill Lessig, Geismar plant manager.
The Honeywell solution encompasses these activities:
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Identifies and controls who enters and exits the facility, and access to restricted areas;
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Tracks movements of building occupants, assets, equipment, and products;
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Integrates control and security systems for greater speed and efficiency;
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Protects process automation networks and systems from cyber threats;
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Responds to alarms and events; and
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Shares data to generate cost savings.
The system also continuously monitors the movement and use of tools and equipment throughout the facility in real time to decrease theft and loss of intellectual property, as well as lease and capital expenditures.
The 1,900-acre Geismar site—occupied by Honeywell and four other companies that produce nitrogen, ethylene, and phosphoric acid—is on the Mississippi River, with a dock capable of accommodating oceangoing ships with capacities up to 25,000 tons.
Honeywell is the site host responsible for power and perimeter security. Because it has a direct-access waterway, the perimeter security piece of the Honeywell solution includes communication with the U.S. Coast Guard regarding maritime security threat levels.
