Honeywell Technologies has launched a new industrial artificial intelligence platform at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, as the facility seeks to improve operational efficiency, reduce production disruptions and expand its refining capacity.
The platform, called Forge Plant Cognition, combines Honeywell’s industrial engineering expertise with artificial intelligence and computing capabilities from NVIDIA and Dell Technologies. It is designed to help refinery operators identify operational bottlenecks, improve production performance and make faster, data informed decisions.
Honeywell said preliminary estimates suggest the platform could deliver more than 29 cents per barrel in gross operational benefits at the Lekki refinery. At full capacity, this could amount to more than $60 million annually, although the company stressed that the projection is not guaranteed and excludes implementation costs.
The system is designed to support three main areas of refinery operations: identifying opportunities to improve throughput and product yields, detecting emerging equipment or process problems before they disrupt production, and making specialised engineering knowledge more accessible to plant personnel.
Unlike conventional artificial intelligence systems that mainly analyse information and provide recommendations, Forge Plant Cognition is designed to combine real time operating data, engineering knowledge and physics based models to guide operational decisions. Its capabilities include AI agents that interpret industrial data and tools for simulating plant processes and identifying anomalies.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Chief Executive Officer David Bird said the company selected the platform to help optimise operations, improve performance and strengthen the value generated by its assets.
He said the investment also supported Dangote’s focus on technology adoption and the development of Nigerian engineering talent.
The deployment comes as Dangote pursues plans to increase the refinery’s nameplate capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028. Honeywell is supporting the expansion through process technologies, digital performance monitoring and other operational optimisation services.
The companies also expect the platform to support workforce development by embedding specialised process knowledge in AI powered tools. This could help local engineers and operators troubleshoot problems more efficiently and strengthen technical capabilities as the refinery expands its operations.
Dangote has set a target for Nigerians to account for 70 per cent of its workforce. Honeywell said the technology could help the refinery build local expertise and gradually reduce its reliance on external specialists.
The launch reflects growing interest in applying artificial intelligence to industrial operations, where improvements in equipment reliability, energy use, production yields and downtime can affect costs and profitability.
However, the projected financial benefits remain estimates. Honeywell said actual results will depend on factors including refinery configuration, operating conditions, utilisation rates, data quality and product margins.
The platform’s performance at Dangote’s refinery will therefore be assessed by whether its recommendations translate into measurable improvements in production, reliability and operating costs as the facility works towards its planned capacity expansion.
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