Process Engineering articles from April 2002

Process Engineering archives from April 2002

Palmers props up BP site. (News).
April 1, 2002... Industrial services group Palmers has been awarded a [pounds sterling]2.5 million contract to supply scaffolding for the overhaul of BP's Grangemouth hydrocracker.

DuPont forms jv for POM plant. (News).
April 1, 2002... DuPont's Chinese holding company and Asahi Kasei have joined forces to build a 20 000tpa acetal (POM) copolymer resin plant at Zhangjiagang, in China's Jiangsu province. Scheduled for start-up next year, the plant will eventually have a...

Decline for UK paper and board. (News).
April 1, 2002... Paper and board production in the UK fell last year; for the first time in two decades, according to the Paper Federation of Great Britain. The 6 per cent drop in production was caused by the strength of sterling, high energy costs and the cost...

BOC sponsors green awards. (News).
April 1, 2002... BOC has announced that it is to sponsor the Institution of Chemical Engineers' environment award, to be presented at the National Maritime Museum on 11 June. The company has also agreed to sponsor the award for the next two years. The deadline...

Grande Paroisse set to abandon Toulouse site. (News).
April 1, 2002... A tofina subsidiary Grande Paroisse has decided that it will not be possible to reopen the Toulouse fertilisers site which was wrecked by an ammonium nitrate explosion last September. The decision 'takes account of the concerns expressed by a...

BASF suffers, but anticipates upturn. (News).
April 1, 2002... The green shoots of economic recovery are still deeply buried, according to German chemical behemoth BASF. 'The current forecasts as to when recovery will begin vary greatly, but in the first months of 2002, we have not yet seen signs of a...

Model alliance for Hyprotech. (News).
April 1, 2002... Hyprotech and US oil firm Conoco have formed a 'modelling centre of excellence' (MCOE) to develop new models for maximising refinery efficiency and production of oil and gas. The alliance will help Conoco move from steady-state to dynamic...

Fuel cells depend on support. (News).
April 1, 2002... The market for static fuel cells -- which generate electricity for industrial or domestic use, rather than to power vehicles -- is set to take off, but its success depends on the technology receiving 'privileged treatment' from governments,...

Bayer pins hopes for 2002 on divestments and acquisitions. (News).
April 1, 2002... Setbacks in pharamceuticals, coupled with the economic slowdown, dented the 2001 results at German bioscience major Bayer, with operating profits tumbling 51 per cent to [euro]1.6billion, while sales slipped 2 per cent to [euro]30.3billion....

UK emissions trading begins. (News).
April 1, 2002... The UK's emissions trading scheme has opened for business, with companies beginning to trade permits to emit carbon dioxide. BP is among the companies involved, and has contributed to the development of the scheme thanks to an internal...

Growth ahead for drugs chemicals. (News).
April 1, 2002... The global market for pharmaceutical chemicals is set to rise by 6.3 per cent annually until 2005, reaching a total value of $83.5billion, according to the Freedonia Group. Almost 80 per cent of demand will come from the top eight...

Atlas Copco is named as 'world class'. (News).
April 1, 2002... INSEAD, the business school based in Fontalnebleau, has put Atlas Copco in sixth place in its annual review of the competitiveness of global firms. The survey scores companies against business criteria such as innovation, market strategy and...

CIA praises R&D credits. (News).
April 1, 2002... The CIA has welcomed the announcement of volume-based tax credits for R&D in the Chancellor's pre-budget statement. The credit should be set at a 'competitive' level if it is to boost innovation, the CIA says.

Correction.
April 1, 2002... In an item about the newly-renamed company Aeromaster last month (page 4) we mistakenly said that the firm's original name was Flovent. In fact, the company was previously called Floveyor. Many apologies.

ETB names chief executive. (Company News).
April 1, 2002... Alan Clark has been named as the first chief executive of Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) the body which is to take over and expand upon the role of the old Engineering Council. A mechanical engineer, Clark was most recently chief...

Tunnicliffe to fly high in nuclear role. (Company News).
April 1, 2002... Dennis Tunnicliffe has been appointed chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, succeeding Sir Kenneth Easton, who has retired. Tunnicliffe previously served as chief executive of London Transport, after a career as a pilot and civil aviation...

New ceo for AspenTech. (Company News).
April 1, 2002... AspenTech has named David McQuillin as its next chief executive, following the promotion of founder Lawrence Evans to chairman. Evans intends to focus on the company's long-term business strategy.

Simon-Carves and Tractabel to offer energy engineering. (Company News).
April 1, 2002... Engineering services firm Tractabel Engineering is to join forces with Simon-Carves to tackle the gas, power and nuclear sectors. The companies have formed a joint venture which will offer services ranging from consultancy to full-service...

New director-general starts CIA shake-up. (Company News).
April 1, 2002... Judith Hackett, who has succeeded Elliot Finer as director-general of the Chemical Industries Association (see page s2), has made several new appointments to the organisation. John Gardener is to be director of external relations, in charge of...

New breed of gas sensors.
April 1, 2002... Caption: This vivid blue light could signal the development of a new breed of gas sensors. Developed by Raoul Kopelman of the University of Michigan and the Ames Laboratory, both in Ann Arbor, the sensor is based on luminescent thin films of...

UK and international plant cost indices.
April 1, 2002... Process Engineering's PREDICT plant cost index for the UK is made up of five components covering mechanical [I.sub.M], electrical [I.sub.E], civil engineering [I.sub.C], site engineering [I.sub.S], and project overheads [I.sub.O]. These are now...

Tamper-proof critical valves. (Product News).
April 1, 2002... Safety specialist Castell Iso-Lok has introduced a stainless steel version of its V-Safe valve covers. These covers protect handwheel-operated valves against inadvertent or unauthorised operation and ensure that potentially hazardous...

Measure dew point, precisely, directly. (Product News).
April 1, 2002... Claiming new standards of precision and reliability in the measurement of dew point and humidity, Michell Instruments has launched Optidew, a cooled mirror instrument that measures dew point directly. Suitable for rigorous applications,...

Compressor cuts energy consumption. (Product News).
April 1, 2002... Claimed to be the first air compressor to feature a hybrid permanent magnet (HPM) synchronous motor, Ingersoll-Rand's new Nirvana model is said to allow plants to reduce their energy consumption and costs by a minimum of 28 per cent during the...

Reaching the parts others can't. (Product News).
April 1, 2002... Alightweight, compact inspection camera from Radiodetection's Inspection Division can easily navigate multiple 09[degrees] bends in piping as small as 32mm diameter. Said to be ideal for checking for dirt or blockages, the Pearpoint...

Steam heat served up on a plate. (Product News).
April 1, 2002... For those duties where steam is the prime heat source, Alfa Laval has added the TSM20 model to its range of plate heat exchangers. Marketed by steam specialist Spirax Sarco under the terms of its global alliance with Alfa Laval, the exchanger...

All engineers, but some more equal than others. (Comment).
April 1, 2002... From the days of 'concurrent engineering' to the latest vogue for 'collaborative manufacturing', there has been a certain school of thought that believes 'an engineer is an engineer'. The barriers between the traditional engineering...

Events.
April 1, 2002... 29 April-3 May MACH is the biennial international exhibition of machine tools, tooling and manufacturing technologies organised by the Machine Tool Technologies Association (MTTA). This year it is complemented by five other...

Isotopes give clues to chromium levels. (Research & Technology).
April 1, 2002... Hexavalent chromium is an extremely common pollutant in groundwater, as a by-product of electroplating. It's also a suspected carcinogen. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a method for monitoring...

Silicon sensors light up. (Research & Technology).
April 1, 2002... Porous silicon is an odd material. Fluorescent under ultraviolet light and sensitive to minute changes in the environment, it's likely to be increasingly important as the basis for gas sensors. It conducts electricity poorly, however, so most...

Electron-gun rhenium coatings are hot stuff. (Research & Technology).
April 1, 2002... A method for applying a coating of a heat-resistant metal could pave the way for a new generation of heat exchangers and high-temperature valves, according to materials scientists at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. A team led by Jogender...

Supercritical Teflon at Dupont. (Research & Technology).
April 1, 2002... DuPont has introduced the first commercial fluoropolymer resins made using supercritical carbon dioxide as a solvent. This reduces waste, the company says. The process was developed in collaboration with process engineers at the University...

Bacteria produce green indigo. (Research & Technology).
April 1, 2002... Indigo is a ubiquitous dye, providing the colour for almost every pair of blue jeans. The dye is generally made from hydrocarbons, but a new process using genetically-engineered bacteria may make production more environmentally friendly. ...

Cool work for hot car. (Equipment in Action).
April 1, 2002... Once famous for the Ford Escort, the Halewood car plant on Merseyside is now turning out the new Jaguar X-Type. The production processes involved need a reliable supply of clean, contaminant-free cooling water -- a utility that is aided by five...

Bubble-blowing barge. (Equipment in Action).
April 1, 2002... A self-sufficient oxygenation barge, designed and built in the UK by BOC, is being used to rehabilitate the highly polluted Suzhou Creek, a 125km long waterway that flows through Shanghai, China's largest city. Stretches of the creek have...

Policing the policemen. (Equipment in Action).
April 1, 2002... ... or guarding the guardians. This could be said to be the problem faced by Yorkshire Water when it recently installed one of the world's largest membrane filtration plants at its Keldgate site in East Yorkshire. The [pounds...

Air monitoring system adds to energy savings. (Equipment in Action).
April 1, 2002... In addition to optimising system efficiency, a complete EnergAir compressed air management system at GlaxoSmithKline's pharmaceuticals site in Ware, Herts, is providing detailed running data and precise efficiency reports. EnergAirs 'alert...

Magnetic attraction for China. (Equipment in Action).
April 1, 2002... The China National Coal Industry Import and Export Group might seem an unlikely candidate for the Guinness Book of Records, but its latest order placed with Eriez Magnetics Europe could well qualify. Eriez already holds the world record for the...

Not just good, but even better vibrations. (Filtration & separation).
April 1, 2002... Vibratory screening and separation is hardly new technology, but a new range of separators is said to be the first real advance in the technique for over 30 years. Mike Spear reports on the latest models from one of the leading manufacturers of...

Duplex filters for high pressure. (Filtration & Separation).
April 1, 2002... Designed for liquid and gas duties at pressures up to 400 bar, Duplex filters from EPE (UK) provide continuous filtration in pipeline systems without the need to shutdown or interrupt the flow when the filter elements need changing. They are...

Nanofiltration plant improves waste management process. (Filtration & Separation).
April 1, 2002... At its Mahachai textile dyestuff plant in Thailand, Ciba Specialty Chemicals has turned to nanofiltration to improve overall waste management. Two tubular membrane nanofiltration plants from PCI-Memtech have been installed to concentrate highly...

Bespoke solution for pharmaceutical production. (Filtration & Separation).
April 1, 2002... Milling specialist Atritor is using a cartridge filtration system, custom-designed by Dustcheck, to ensure trouble-free product collection from a micronising mill supplied to a leading pharmaceuticals manufacturer. Said by Dustcheck to be...

On-site filter test rig gives fast answers. (Filtration & Separation).
April 1, 2002... A self-contained, mobile filtration test unit is enabling filter supplier Cross Manufacturing to provide rapid estimates of the size and cost of installing full-size operating units on potential customers' premises. The unit simply...

Filter scores over screens. (Filtration & Separation).
April 1, 2002... A Ronningen-Petter DCF-1600 self-cleaning filter system has outperformed, and now replaced, vibrating gravity screens on a difficult kaolin slurry processing application for a US clay producer. Available in the UK through AxFlow company...

Druck improves its flagship's accuracy. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... Druck's flagship product, the DPI 605 calibrator, is now more accurate than ever, the company claims. The latest model of the calibrator is certified within 0.025 per cent of reading for values between i per cent and 100 per cent full scale....

Hydraulics in hand. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... SI Pressure Instruments has introduced a range of hand-held calibration pumps, covering low, medium and high pressures. The low and medium pressure units have a dual source of hydraulic pressure and vacuum, and can generate pressure of...

Errors eliminated by DP transmitter flange mount. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... The Saddlemount manifold and isolation valve mounting system, designed by Anderson Greenwood, allows differential pressure transmitters to be mounted directly onto orifice flanges. This avoids the maintenance problems and measurement errors...

Fluke aims for high pressure systems. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... Fluke has launched a new high-pressure calibrator, designed for P/I transmitters using internal sensor or external pressure modules. The 717-100G calibrator works on transmitters measuring the pressure of non-corrosive liquids and gases up to...

Explosion proofing. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... Bourdon Haenni is to launch two explosion-proof pressure transmitters, designed for use in Zone 1 hazardous areas. Made from stainless steel and rated to IP65, the X910 and X510 series transmitters are half the price of comparable devices on...

Safe for offshore. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... Capable of displaying pressure versus voltage, current percentage of pressure, temperature of pressure switch status, SI Pressure Instruments' PC6-IS intrinsically-safe portable calibrator is designed for use in hazardous environments in the...

Barksdale on display. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... Barksdale's UDS7 PB is the only pressure and temperature switch on the market that includes a display, switching outputs and a Profibus-DP interface, the company says. With an accuracy of 0.5 per cent full-scale, the unit is particularly...

Submersible sensors send level indication. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... Druck's new series of submersible pressure sensors are designed to measure level in water and liquid control applications. Housed within a titanium module, the sensors have applications ranging from process monitoring to ship-board tank level...

Low cost for ceramic sensor. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... The UPA5 pressure transmitter from Barksdale Control Products is designed for applications where value for money is a priority. Featuring a ceramic sensor with a range of 1-600bar overpressure and an accuracy of [+ or -]0.5 per cent, the...

No damage. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... Suited particularly for application in pneumatic systems, FM Electronic's PN-series pressure sensors are based on ceramic-cell sensing technology. This makes them highly-resistant to overpressure damage, the company says; moreover, they have no...

Parker gets into the swing. (Pressure Equipment Focus).
April 1, 2002... Parker Instrumentation has launched a range of swing-out ball valves capable of handling pressures as high as 2500psig -- twice as high as comparable models on the market, the company claims. The valve is designed for ease of maintenance,...

Driving down the size, driving up performance. (Control Products).
April 1, 2002... Available in the UK from next month, ABB's latest variable speed drive range for ac motors is said to offer greater performance, easier commissioning and simpler programming -- all in units that are significantly smaller than previous models,...

Calibration at your service. (Control Products).
April 1, 2002... Brooks thermal- and Coriolis-type gas mass flowmeters can now be quickly and reliably recalibrated at the check calibration and validation laboratory of Flotech Solutions in Stockport. Thermal flowmeters from any manufacturer, or other gas...

Modules deliver system-level to device-level control. (Control Products).
April 1, 2002... The latest family of LabVIEW software products from National Instruments now includes modular components that are said to solve monitoring applications, such as distributed supervisory control and real-time, embedded measurement and control....

OPC boost for Foxboro's I/A. (Control Products).
April 1, 2002... Foxboro, part of Invensys Process Systems, has expanded the capabilities of its I/A Series control system with the introduction of the AIM*OPC Server software. This new software can access both real-time and historical data and share it with...

Fine sensor is designed for problem surface applications. (Control Products).
April 1, 2002... The FX-311 fibre sensor from Matsushita Electric Works has been designed for problem application areas such as glass, coloured or gloss surfaces. The device uses SUNX's newly developed LED technology that uses four chemical elements. This is...

DeviceNet now for micro PLCs. (Control Products).
April 1, 2002... Until recently, Rockwell Automation's DeviceNet open connectivity was only available for conventional PLCs, but the company has now launched the 1769-SDN DeviceNet scanner card for its Allen-Bradley range of MicroLogix 1500 micro PLCs. Rockwell...

Taking control of vacuum. (Control Products).
April 1, 2002... The combined Turbo and Instrument Controller (T&IC) from BOC Edwards provides control and management of a complete vacuum system from a single compact unit. Designed for use with BOC Edwards's 24V range of turbo pumps, backing pumps and active...

Flow control for solids. (Control Products).
April 1, 2002... Used with a solids flowmeter, the Militronics Accumass SF500 integrator from Siemens Process Instruments calculates flow rate and totalised weight of bulk solids. The unit simultaneously processes, integrates and totalises to give an...

A Finer industry. (ChemXpress: Interview).
April 1, 2002... Elliot Finer has been director-general of the Chemical Industries Association for six years. Just before his retirement, he spoke to Stuart Nathan about the changes which have taken place during his tenure, the most pressing issues currently...

Interphex highlights drug culture. (ChemXpress: Show Preview).
April 1, 2002... The UK's shop window for pharmaceutical and fine chemical production, Interphex takes place on 21-23 May at Birmingham's NEC. Here we take a brief look at some highlights. The Interphex exhibition, the UK's only event dedicated to...

Quality production. (ChemXpress: Procurement).
April 1, 2002... While many chemical manufacturers look to outsourcing parts of their production as the route to profitability, a leading pump producer has reversed the trend in order to improve the quality of a vital component in its products. Drawing on...

Flotronic pumps cut maintenance times at Quest. (ChemXpress: Applications).
April 1, 2002... Helping Quest International maintain the sweet smell of success at its fragrances, flavours and food ingredients plant in Ashford, Kent, Flotronic has installed new pumps which have reduced maintenance times considerably. The plant...

No trouble with mill. (ChemXpress: Applications).
April 1, 2002... Kemutec has installed solids handling equipment at AstraZeneca, with KEK cone type size reduction milling equipment supplied for tablet production facilities in the UK and overseas. The mills are used as part of the process of drying...

Telegan eases the load. (ChemXpress: Applications).
April 1, 2002... Industrial solvent recycler Chemical Recoveries is naturally highly conscious of the problem of volatile organic compound emissions at its plant in Avonmouth, near Bristol. The company had been using a photoioniser -- a heavy instrument which...

Fan club for Halifax. (ChemXpress: Applications).
April 1, 2002... Halifax Fan is used to providing bespoke solutions for its customers, and a recent order from a major pharmaceutical company provided a typical problem. The client needed a fan system for a critical clean process, and required a design which...

Hosokawa Stott keeps powder transfer safe. (ChemXpress: Applications).
April 1, 2002... Operator safety is a priority for agrochemical manufacturer Syngenta, so when the company was constructing a new plant to manufacture its fungicide Acanto in Grangemouth, Scotland, it was important to find the best design for the areas of the...

Towering achievment. (ChemXpress: Applications).
April 1, 2002... Surrey-based infrastructure specialist Mouchel deployed scme innovative design expertise to reinforce a prill tower for the Qatar Fertiliser company. The company shored up the concrete tower using lightweight carbon-fibre reinforced plastics,...

Taking a powder. (ChemXpress: Applications).
April 1, 2002... AstraZenecas production site at Chesterfield is expanding its powder technologies facilities, and the company turned to Hosokawa Micron to help it control its micronising capabilities. Teaming up with powder coatings manufacturer Sonneborn &...