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.
