Honeywell Launches Forge Plant Cognition with Dangote, Powered by NVIDIA AI and Dell Technologies
Honeywell Technologies has announced the launch of Forge Plant Cognition, an advanced industrial artificial intelligence (AI) platform developed using NVIDIA AI and accelerated computing technologies, together with Dell Technologies’ AI infrastructure. The new platform is designed to help operators in the refining, petrochemical and liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries improve asset performance, increase production efficiency and unlock additional value from existing industrial facilities.
The platform will initially be deployed at Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Nigeria, one of the world’s largest single-train refineries. The initiative aims to increase refinery throughput, optimize operational performance and strengthen the capabilities of local engineering and operations teams. According to preliminary estimates from Honeywell Technologies, AI-enabled optimization through Forge Plant Cognition could generate more than $0.29 per barrel in gross operational benefits at the Lekki facility.
At full-capacity throughput, these estimated benefits could exceed $60 million annually for the refinery. Honeywell emphasized that these figures are facility-specific estimates and are not guaranteed. Actual results will depend on factors such as refinery configuration, operating conditions, crude oil composition, utilization rates, data quality, baseline performance, product margins and implementation costs.
Advancing Industrial Operations Through Artificial Intelligence
The introduction of Forge Plant Cognition represents an important step in applying industrial AI to complex production environments. Industrial facilities must continuously manage interconnected processes, equipment performance, production targets, safety requirements and changing operating conditions. Even relatively small adjustments to process parameters can influence output, energy consumption, product quality and profitability.
Rajesh Gattupalli, President of Honeywell Technologies UOP, highlighted the significant opportunities available to industrial operators through digital technologies and connected solutions. He explained that the collaboration with Dangote demonstrates how AI can transform industrial operations by improving productivity, reliability and profitability at scale.
Built on Honeywell Technologies’ Forge Cognition platform, Forge Plant Cognition combines industrial automation, process engineering expertise and advanced AI capabilities. Its purpose is to help operators identify production constraints, anticipate potential problems and translate complex operational information into practical actions.
Traditional AI applications frequently focus on analyzing historical or real-time data and producing recommendations for human operators. Forge Plant Cognition is designed to go further by integrating live operating data with engineering knowledge, Honeywell Technologies UOP’s process expertise, trusted calculations and physics-based models. This combination is intended to provide recommendations grounded in the actual behavior of industrial processes rather than relying exclusively on statistical patterns.
By connecting operational information with specialized process knowledge, the platform aims to support faster troubleshooting, more informed decision-making and continuous improvement across refinery operations.
Three Core Areas for Operational Improvement
Forge Plant Cognition is designed to deliver value across three major areas of industrial performance.
1. Capturing Hidden Production Margin
Industrial plants may contain bottlenecks that prevent them from achieving their full production potential. Identifying these constraints can require detailed analysis of equipment performance, process conditions and interactions between different operating units.
Forge Plant Cognition is designed to identify such limitations and help operators optimize throughput, product yields and overall product value. By analyzing interconnected processes, the platform can support decisions intended to improve production efficiency and help facilities capture additional commercial value from their existing assets.
2. Protecting Production and Improving Reliability
Unplanned equipment failures and process disruptions can result in production losses, maintenance expenses and operational delays. Early identification of emerging problems is therefore essential for maintaining reliable industrial operations.
The platform is designed to detect developing equipment and process issues, provide alerts and recommend corrective actions. By helping engineers identify potential problems before they escalate, the system aims to reduce unplanned downtime and support more proactive maintenance and operational planning.
3. Expanding Access to Industrial Expertise
Industrial facilities depend on experienced engineers and operators who understand complex processes and can respond effectively to changing conditions. However, specialized knowledge can be difficult to transfer across teams, particularly as companies expand operations or develop new generations of technical personnel.
Forge Plant Cognition is designed to embed specialized process knowledge into AI-powered workflows. This approach can help employees access relevant guidance, make more consistent decisions and solve problems more efficiently. It also offers a way to preserve institutional knowledge and support workforce development as industrial organizations grow.
NVIDIA AI and Dell Technologies Infrastructure
The platform is powered by Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA and supported by Dell Services. The collaboration brings together Honeywell Technologies’ industrial expertise, NVIDIA’s AI software and computing capabilities, and Dell Technologies’ infrastructure to support AI deployment in demanding industrial environments.
Several NVIDIA technologies contribute to the platform’s capabilities.
NVIDIA Nemotron open models power AI agents designed to understand and interpret operational data. These capabilities can help the platform process information from industrial systems and make relevant insights more accessible to engineers and operators.
NVIDIA Omniverse libraries support the creation of digital twins representing industrial facilities and their processes. These digital environments can be used for simulation-based training, planning and evaluation of potential operating scenarios. Digital twins can help organizations examine how changes might affect performance before implementing adjustments in live production environments.
NVIDIA Cosmos open models, combined with the NVIDIA Metropolis Video Search and Summarization Blueprint, enable vision AI agents designed to identify anomalies and provide real-time alerts. These capabilities can complement conventional process data by using visual information to improve situational awareness and help operators identify potential issues.
The NVIDIA PhysicsNemo framework also supports the development, training and fine-tuning of physics-based AI models. By combining physical principles with AI techniques, these models can support digital-twin-integrated optimization workflows and help industrial operators evaluate complex process conditions more effectively.
Together, these technologies are intended to create an integrated industrial intelligence environment that combines operational data, visual information, engineering models and AI-driven analysis.
Dangote Refinery to Lead Initial Deployment
Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki will be the first facility to implement Forge Plant Cognition. The refinery will integrate operating data with Honeywell Technologies’ process expertise and AI-powered optimization capabilities to identify constraints, accelerate troubleshooting and improve operational decisions.
David Bird, CEO and Managing Director of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, said the company selected the platform because it combines extensive industrial expertise with differentiated AI capabilities. He emphasized the potential to optimize performance, unlock greater value from refinery operations and transform how the company manages its assets.
The deployment also reflects Dangote’s commitment to operational excellence, technological advancement and the development of Nigerian engineering talent. By providing employees with access to specialized process knowledge through AI-powered tools, the platform is expected to support skills development and strengthen the refinery’s technical capabilities.
Dangote aims to develop a workforce that is 70% Nigerian as its operations expand. Embedding expertise into digital workflows could help the company accelerate employee training, improve problem-solving capabilities and gradually reduce its reliance on external specialists.
This workforce-development objective is particularly significant as the refinery seeks to expand production while maintaining high operational standards. Combining advanced digital tools with local expertise could help establish a foundation for sustainable industrial growth.
Building on a Long-Term Collaboration
The launch of Forge Plant Cognition builds on nearly a decade of collaboration between Honeywell Technologies and Dangote. In November 2025, the companies announced plans to support an expansion of the refinery’s production capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day within three years.
The expansion strategy focuses on optimizing existing assets and accelerating the delivery of refined products to the market. Forge Plant Cognition adds an AI-driven optimization capability to this broader effort by helping operators identify opportunities to improve performance across complex refinery processes.
As the facility works toward its expanded production objectives, the ability to identify bottlenecks, anticipate disruptions and make data-informed operating decisions could become increasingly important. The platform is intended to complement existing industrial systems and process expertise rather than replace the engineering knowledge required to manage refinery operations.
Honeywell Technologies’ experience in process technology and industrial automation, combined with NVIDIA’s AI capabilities and Dell Technologies’ infrastructure, provides the foundation for this initiative.
A New Direction for Industrial AI
The launch of Forge Plant Cognition highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence in refining, petrochemicals and other asset-intensive industries. Industrial operators are increasingly looking for technologies that can improve efficiency, increase output, strengthen reliability and make specialized knowledge available across their organizations.
The initial deployment at Dangote Petroleum Refinery will demonstrate how integrated industrial AI can be applied in a large-scale production environment. Honeywell’s preliminary estimate of more than $60 million in annual gross operational benefits at full-capacity throughput illustrates the potential financial opportunity, although actual outcomes will depend on facility-specific conditions and implementation.
By combining real-time data, process engineering knowledge, physics-based models, digital twins and AI agents, Forge Plant Cognition is designed to help industrial teams move from monitoring operations toward more proactive optimization.
For Honeywell Technologies and Dangote, the initiative represents both a technology investment and a workforce-development opportunity. As the refinery advances its expansion plans, the platform could support higher operational performance while helping Nigerian engineers and operators build the skills needed to manage increasingly sophisticated industrial facilities.
