BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 27. Honeywell
Technologies has launched an industrial artificial intelligence
(AI) platform at Nigeria’s Dangote petroleum refinery, targeting
higher processing throughput and annual gross operational benefits
of more than $60 million, the company said in a statement on
October 26.


The platform, called Forge Plant Cognition, combines Honeywell’s
industrial technologies with NVIDIA’s AI models and accelerated
computing capabilities, as well as Dell Technologies’ AI
infrastructure. It is designed to help refineries, petrochemical
plants and liquefied natural gas (LNG) operators improve the
performance of existing assets.


The initial deployment is taking place at the Dangote refinery
in Lekki, one of the world’s largest single-train refineries. Based
on preliminary data, Honeywell estimates that AI-enabled
optimization could generate operational benefits exceeding $0.29
per barrel processed at the facility. At full-capacity throughput,
this would amount to more than $60 million in gross benefits
annually.


“By collaborating with Dangote to launch Forge Plant Cognition,
we are demonstrating how AI can help transform industrial
operations, driving new levels of productivity, reliability and
profitability at significant scale,” said Rajesh Gattupalli,
president of Honeywell Technologies UOP.


The platform is designed to identify operational bottlenecks,
anticipate potential problems and help engineers translate
data-driven insights into actions. Unlike conventional AI tools
that primarily analyze data and provide recommendations, Forge
Plant Cognition combines real-time operating data, engineering
knowledge, process expertise and physics-based models to support
operational decisions.







According to Honeywell, the platform focuses on three main
areas: improving throughput, production yields and product value;
detecting emerging equipment and process issues to reduce unplanned
downtime; and incorporating specialized process knowledge into
AI-powered workflows to help engineers and operators make faster,
more consistent decisions.


The solution is powered by Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA and
supported by Dell Services. NVIDIA technologies, including
Nemotron, Omniverse, Cosmos and PhysicsNeMo, support operational
data analysis, digital-twin simulation, anomaly detection and
physics-based modeling.


Honeywell Technologies UOP, which has more than a century of
experience in refinery design and operations, said the platform
uses its process expertise to identify constraints and recommend
measures to improve plant performance.