Plant Engineering articles from February 2008

Plant Engineering archives from February 2008

Compressor system.
February 15, 2008... Staff The ES-6 is a complete AirMetrix performance air system for small horsepower applications that includes an encapsulated compressor, an optional SRS dryer/SCF filter and an 80- or 120-gallon storage tank. Part of the S-Energy line of...

Variable-speed air compressors.
February 15, 2008... Staff The VST series of variable-speed air compressors expands with the new VST 110, VST 150 and VST 180 (150, 200 and 250 hp) rotary-screw compressors. The direct-drive compressors can be configured as air- or water-cooled and offer a...

Hose.
February 15, 2008... Staff Flex-Vest insulated hose features 1 inch of fiberglass insulation with an R-value of 4, which is set between a double-ply silicone coated fiber-glass fabric inside layer and an outer layer of single-ply, neoprene-coated polyester...

Compressor package.
February 15, 2008... Staff The new SK AirCenter series features energy-saving rotary screw compressors and refrigerated dryers. It is available in 15-20 hp models, producing 40-78 scfm at pressures to 217 psig. All models are tank-mounted and have a small...

Isolate the (((noise))) not the signal.(signal converters)
February 15, 2008... By Greg Feliks, Moore Industries Signal conditioning techniques for process control Isolators and signal converters are most often used on 4-20 mA loops, where a 24 Vdc power source provides power to a field instrument. The instrument...

Sustainability is more about the cause than the color.
February 15, 2008... Bob Vavra, Editor One of the toughest decisions we had this month in putting together our cover story on sustainability was figuring out how much green to use on the cover. These are ponderous decisions involving several departments within...

The road to sustainability.(Company overview)
February 15, 2008... By Kevin Campbell, Senior Editor Going beyond 'green' benefits environment and the bottom line When the residents of Munchkinland told Dorothy to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, they weren't concerned about how much...

Low-voltage switchgear continues its evolution.
February 15, 2008... By Jane Barber, GE Consumer & Industrial Low-voltage switchgear distributes power and protects equipment within a facility's electrical system. Power is distributed through low voltage air circuit breakers and sensing faults in the system....

Forecast: continued sluggish growth.
February 15, 2008... Staff The National Association of Manufacturers' 2008 Economic Forecast released Wednesday points to, 'a recession being averted, but a significant deceleration in GDP growth through the first half of this year due to surging energy prices...

What the U.S. must do to help manufacturing.
February 15, 2008... Staff Unfortunately for the worker, manufacturing has found that the best way to control benefit costs and healthcare costs is to eliminate the worker. The need to minimize the adverse effect of rapidly escalating benefit costs has been a...

Wireless infrastructure gets an upgrade.
February 15, 2008... Jack Smith Focusing on integration and management of a facility's wireless infrastructure, Moffett Field CA-based Apprion, has released R3 of its ION system. The release allows facilities to improve management of users, devices and systems...

Engineers Week resources online.
February 15, 2008... Staff The focus on Engineers Week 2008 is to call attention to the importance of engineering as a career and its impact on everyday life. As part of the programs scheduled for February 17-23, sponsors have created a number of online tools...

GA college pushes governor to release $10.8M for training.(Brief article)
February 15, 2008... Staff Albany, GA Chamber of Commerce president Tim Martin pressed Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue for the release of funds to develop a training center at Albany Technical College. The $10.8 million project would create workforce development...

Workforce development leads to economic development: report.
February 15, 2008... Staff The economic development efforts in Minot, ND are on the upswing, and civic leaders convened a meeting of the North Dakota Workforce Development Council to look for new ways to develop economic opportunities in the region. ...

VA gov touts skills development.(Virginia)(Brief article)
February 15, 2008... Staff Coordination of workforce training efforts across city, county and state lines was the focus of a forum in southern Virginia that included Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine and members of his cabinet among its speakers. 'What a treat...

Bentley launches OpenPlant system.
February 15, 2008... Staff At the 2008 daratechPLANT show in Houston, Bentley Systems launched its OpenPlant software products system based on the ISO 15926 data model. Company officials touted the release as a way to share data throughout the plant. 'These...

Electrical safety video available online.
February 15, 2008... Staff If electrical safety is high on your priority list, and for most plant managers and staff it should be, a video by Square D Services from Schneider Electric can help industrial facility managers and business owners facilitate a safer...

National Safety Council's McMillan to retire.
February 15, 2008... Staff Alan McMillan, president and CEO of the National Safety Council, announced his retirement, which is effective February 15. 'Every day I am humbled by the commitment of council staff, our board leadership and the volunteer spirit...

Speakers to offer solutions on sustainability, workforce.
February 15, 2008... Staff The 2008 Plant Engineering Manufacturing Summit will bring together a diverse group of speakers that will give attendees practical ways to attack some of the major issues facing manufacturing. The Manufacturing Summit,...

New England machine shops make the MOST of training.
February 15, 2008... By Jack Healy, Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership Like many of their New England counterparts, Kamatics, a Connecticut manufacturer of bearings primarily used in aerospace, was having challenges finding entry-level machinists...

Make sure your safety training pays dividends.
February 15, 2008... By Ben Wurtmann, New Standard Institute Inc. If you're managing a plant or factory, you're surely aware of OSHA regulations and the broader framework of legal requirements surrounding industrial operation and worker safety. You may already...

Blending art with science to troubleshoot fluid power systems.
February 15, 2008... By Tom Nash, Applied Industrial Technologies One of the worst sounds in an industrial setting is a fluid power system with serious problems. Even worse is the eerie silence when everything shuts down due to a failure. When a fluid...

Delivering demand-driven manufacturing, sustainability.
February 15, 2008... By Dennis Cocco, Activplant Corp. Today's manufacturers have more insight into corporate environmental sustainability than ever before. Sustainable manufacturing is all about choices - finding ways to be more strategic and reducing waste...

'The art of the possible'.
February 15, 2008... By Bob Vavra, Editor Successful data management requires acting on the data. That's apparently not as simple as it sounds- Once upon a time, a company needed to learn more about the reasons one of its manufacturing cells was...

Pluggable connectors.
February 15, 2008... Staff The gesis IP+ (ingress protection) family of pluggable connectors product range consists of four basic components: connectors for on-site assembly, preassembled plug-in distribution units, cut-to-length over molded cable assemblies...

Power controller.
February 15, 2008... Staff The EPower controller incorporates a predictive load management function. The controller is applicable in true power, phase angle firing or burst firing modes to suit the application. The controller uses technology that ensures a...

Boiler.
February 15, 2008... Staff The Benchmark 1.5 low NOx condensing, fully modulating boiler incorporates a stainless-steel heat exchanger and a C-More unit controller, along with a patented air/fuel delivery system, which enables the boiler to deliver 20:1...

IR imager.
February 15, 2008... Staff The Ti25 and Ti10 thermal imagers provide a thermal imaging solution for maintenance of electrical installations, electro-mechanical equipment, process equipment, HVAC/R equipment and other industrial and electrical equipment. The...

Power converter.
February 15, 2008... Staff The C/B 2700 series of 3U dc/dc and ac/dc converter modules and battery chargers' designs use industrial grade components for applications in industries such as communications equipment, oil/gas processing and others. The series...

Logic controller.
February 15, 2008... Staff The ELC logic controller is customizable, is available in four controller styles and features 1-, 4-, 8-, 16- and 32-bit instructions, remote communication, easy connectivity to drives and I/O and a built-in display. The controller...

Touchscreen HMI.
February 15, 2008... Staff The GT05 series is a 3.5-inch touch screen that is available in color and monochrome versions. The color model supports 4,096 colors, and the monochrome model offers multicolor backlighting. The units feature a screen resolution of...

Robots.
February 15, 2008... Staff The ST70L and ST100 are part of the Presto ST Series of multi-purpose robots. Designed for use in mounting spot welding guns, their wrist torque supports large material handling grippers. The robots have a 60,000-hour MTBF and an...

Condition monitoring system.
February 15, 2008... Staff The HOBO remote monitoring system provides instant access to energy and HVAC/R systems data via the Internet. The system combines data logging hardware with built-in GSM cellular communications and HOBOlink, a web-enabled software...

Batch controller.
February 15, 2008... Staff The DL8000 microprocessor-based batch delivery controller is designed to resolve batch control requirements for liquid custody transfer applications. The controller is configurable for different batch loading applications using...

Vacuum receiver.(Vacuum receiver from Vac-U-Max)(Brief article)
February 15, 2008... Staff The Tube Hopper is a straight-walled vacuum receiver with a full opening discharge valve that prevents material from bridging and rat holing in the hopper. The vacuum receiver facilitates filtration of the system with pleated filter...

Seal component.
February 15, 2008... Staff The Air Mizer product line uses minimal amounts of air pressure to seal shafts where dry particulates, powders and where the handling, processing, packaging and storing of bulk solids occurs. Seals are installable on screw conveyors,...

Bus coupler.
February 15, 2008... Staff The Modbus TCP/UDP bus coupler incorporates eight digital inputs, four digital outputs and a built-in Ethernet switch. The coupler uses BootP to assign IP addresses. Measuring 80 mm wide, it includes a Modbus RTU/ASCII bus coupler...

Load sensors.
February 15, 2008... Staff alphaIQ sensors directly load to the gearbox, allowing all mechanical loads to be processed: torques, shear forces, speed thermal loads, wear and backlash. Customized software allows PC display of the variables. The sensor technology...

Plastics guide.(Brief article)
February 15, 2008... Staff A 154-page resource manual titled Introduction to Plastics includes technical information, engineering drawings, plastic application examples and a performance summary, plus general specifications for nearly 100 plastic compounds. It...

Sensor connectors.
February 15, 2008... Staff Temposonics M-series sensors new connectors are designed to flush mount on the side of cylinders in mobile hydraulic applications. The design, based on an industry standard M12 interface, allows a small contact carrier insert to be...

Arc Flash University offers online curriculum to prevent accidents.
February 15, 2008... Staff Arc Flash University won't have a basketball team or dorm rooms or ivy covered walls. It will, however, have a library and a commons area. It will even have a fraternity of sorts - one dedicated to those who care about keeping...

COX Instruments launches new turbine flowmeter Website.(Website overview)
February 15, 2008... Staff COX Instruments announced the launch its new Website www.cox-instruments.com , which offers expanded product and application information for its precision turbine flowmeters and related flow electronics. The new COX Website...

Ludeca video on PE Web.
February 15, 2008... Staff PlantEngineering.com has added videos to its Website, starting with a video from Ludeca on shaft alignment techniques. The video is the first in a planned series of Wed videos on a variety of topics.

Getting lubricants into tight spots.
February 15, 2008... Staff In this Tip from 1998, all it takes is a motor oil bottle with the bottom cut off and a small piece of garden hose screwed into the cap to give you a portable, flexible lubrication delivery device.

A 'toolbox of technologies' for sustainability.
February 15, 2008... Bart G. Bartholomew, SKF USA Inc. The targets of opportunity for sustainability improvements can be found in virtually every piece of equipment and among all applications and processes. All the while, the enabling technology 'toolbox' for...