Built in 1980, the LyondellBasell Corpus Christi site has seen the evolution of Honeywell’s controller technology over the past four decades, from the Process Manager (PM) in the 1980s to the Advanced Process Manager (APM) in the early 1990s, the High-Performance Process Manager (HPM) in the late 1990s, and most recently, the Enhanced High-Performance Process Manager (EHPM) around 2012.

In determining the best way forward to modernize, engineers at the Corpus Christi site worked with Honeywell to create a test lab environment used to evaluate both of Honeywell’s newest controllers: the EHPMX and C300PM. All comprehensive upgrade paths were successfully tested simulating on-process upgrades; most notably HPM to EHPMX, EHPMX to C300PM, as well as HPM directly to C300PM.  

With Honeywell’s on-process upgrade technology and migration tools, all the upgrades tested were flawless. The EHPMX and C300PM were shown to have superior performance and capability over HPM and EHPM, as well as a longer life-span and simplified networking by being able to connect directly to a Level 2 switch instead of requiring a separate Control Firewall (CF-9).  

After the test evaluation, the LyondellBasell Corpus Christi site concluded that (at a minimum) EHPMX provided a viable, technically sound, cost-effective modernization path for legacy controllers facing obsolescence. C300PM was also recommended for some sites where expansion with new IO is planned (via IO HIVE), or where integration with modern subsystem interfaces (e.g. PCDI) is needed. These recommendations were also given to and approved by LyondellBasell’s Central Engineering Organization, for all future company-wide projects involving controller modernization.

Please fill out the form to view/download the video that explains the customer’s decision process which led them to choose the new controllers as their choice for upgrades.