Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will work with EMRE for the development of advanced processing architecture in the pre-development phase.
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company research and development vice-president Vijay Swarup said: "We continue to challenge ourselves by looking at existing processes and finding new and more innovative ways of working using both internal and external ideas.
"This breakthrough initiative could help transform refining and chemical manufacturing through the use of high-speed computational components, modular software, open standards, and the use of autonomous tools."
Lockheed Martin will support ExxonMobil’s aim to design a new architecture capable of controlling and optimizing refining and chemical manufacturing facilities.
The new architecture will also enable future equipment and information services such as preventative maintenance and fleet optimization.
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training advanced product solutions vice-president Paula Hartley said: "The advantages of our secure commercial processing experience combined with the expertise in applying open architecture standards provides a low risk solution for the ExxonMobil process control requirements."
Designed with inbuilt cybersecurity protection, the automation platform will reduce the cost of integrating new system components or replacing legacy platforms due to interoperability, modularity and adherence to industry standards.
