Process Engineering articles from February 2002

Process Engineering archives from February 2002

Innovation team for chemicals. (News).
February 1, 2002... The government has appointed a panel of experts to an innovation and growth team (IGT) for the chemical industry. Chaired by BP Chemicals managing director Byron Grote, the IGT will identify the ways that UK chemicals producers can improve...

ABB to expand Polish plant. (News).
February 1, 2002... ABB has won a $165million contract to expand an ethylene plant in Plock, around 100 miles from Warsaw. The 21-year-old plant, the largest cracker in Poland, uses technology from Lummus, now part of ABB. The revamp will boost its production from...

Funding sought for Saudi plant. (News).
February 1, 2002... Aramco, the Saudi state oil company, is seeking investors and joint-venture partners for a petrochemical project near the Rabigh refinery on the Red Sea coast. The project would produce ethylene, propylene and a range of derivatives.

ICI to sell Synetix in bid to reduce debt mountain. (News).
February 1, 2002... Once known as the bellwether of British industry, ICI is now preparing to sell off its catalysts business, Synetix, and is preparing a rights issue to raise [pounds sterling]800million. The proceeds would go towards reducing the company's...

Meggit to commercialise microreactor technology. (News).
February 1, 2002... Microreactors - tiny reactors which can run reactions far more efficiently than full-sized vessels - are predicted to have a significant commercial impact in the fine and speciality chemicals fields. The Heatric division of Meggit, which...

Sandia set to boost plant security. (News).
February 1, 2002... In the wake of 11 September, security is an increasingly important issue for manufacturers and users of chemicals. How to make sure that plants are safe from attack is not a new challenge for operators, but the level of urgency has increased...

ABB faces asbestos hit. (News).
February 1, 2002... Insurance claims related to asbestos will drive ABB into loss in 2001, the company has claimed. Claims filed against a US subsidiary of the Swiss firm, Combustion Engineering, have forced the company to take a $470mi1lion charge against its...

A power policy built on straw? It could work. (News).
February 1, 2002... The world's largest and most efficient power station fuelled by straw has opened in the UK. The first of its kind in the country, the plant will produce 36MW of electrcity, and consume 200 000tpa of straw. The plant is in Sutton, near Ely...

Carbon Trust should lead the way, says Delay. (News).
February 1, 2002... Other countries should look at the UK's handling of the greenhouse gas issue for inspiration, according to the chief executive of the Carbon Trust, Tom Delay. 'The Carbon Trust reflects consensus between government and business about the...

Wastewater market rises as regulation bites. (News).
February 1, 2002... The EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is driving growth in the market for water treatment equipment, according to a report from market researchers Frost & Sullivan. Worth some $1.96billion in 2001, the market will climb to $2.42billion by...

Atofina sells phosphorus. (News).
February 1, 2002... Thermophos International, a Dutch-based specialist in phosphorus chemistry, has bought Atofina's phosphorus chloride, phosphorus pentoxide and polyphosphoric acid businesses for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes pentoxide and acid plants in...

Basell shuts styrene plant. (News).
February 1, 2002... Basell, the joint venture between BASE and Shell, has closed its 410 000tpa styrene plant at Wesselling because of a drop in demand for styrene and its polymers. The plant had been operating for over SO years.

While BASF expands its electronic plant. (News).
February 1, 2002... BASE has completed a 1300tpa expansion of its hydroxylamine free base plant at its Ludwigshafen headquarters, taking total capacity to 7000tpa. HAFB is a cleaning agent used in the manufacture of microchips, and is an intermediate for the...

Bayer launches NYSE listing. (News).
February 1, 2002... Bayer has listed its shares on the New York stock exchange for the first time, to take increase its access to US investors.

New head for Omron in UK. (Company News).
February 1, 2002... Nick Ferriday has joined Omron as general manager for the UK automation business. Previously with DuPont Connector Systems, Ferriday replaces Clive Lattimer, who is retiring in April after nine years in the position.

Green service goes West. (Company News).
February 1, 2002... Environmental science and engineering consultancy Aschact has opened a new office in Devizes, Wiltshire, to serve its clients in the Southwest. The office will be managed by Chris Hoggart, an expert in the new Integrated Pollution Prevention...

SRM builds Profuel plant. (Company News).
February 1, 2002... Waste management firm SRM is building a [pounds sterling]4million plant to convert dry organic wastes, including paper, plastic and other fibrous materials, into Profuel, an alternative fuel for cement production. The plant, at Ketton in...

Tyco takes the pressure. (Company News).
February 1, 2002... Tyco Valves and Controls subsidiary Anderson Greenwood Crosby is to supply [euro]1million-worth of safety valves and associated products to ABB Lummus Global, for use on a propylene oxide/styrene monomer plant under construction in Rotterdam....

Foster Wheeler wins award for Shell project. (Company News).
February 1, 2002... Shell Philippines Exploration has named Foster Wheeler Energy as the winner of its Outstanding Contractor's Award, recognising its contribution to the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power project (below). The contractor -- responsible for...

CEL builds in China. (Company News).
February 1, 2002... CEL Engineering has been awarded the contract to build a sealants and coatings plant in Jiangsu Province, China, for PRO DeSoto, a California-based subsidiary of PPG Industries. CEL will handle the entire project -- including preliminary and...

UK and International plant cost indices. (Company News).
February 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.sup.O]. These are now...

New design for pharma heat exchangers. (Product News).
February 1, 2002... The Pharma-X from Alfa Laval is a completely new type of compact heat exchanger, designed for duties in the pharmaceutical and other industries where high hygiene standards have to be met. Designed specifically for cooling...

Reactor modelling. (Product News).
February 1, 2002... The Femlab equationbased finite-element modelling package from Oxford-based Comsol has been upgraded with a new version of its chemical engineering module. Taking advantage of the new features in Femlab v2.2 -- such as extended...

Gearing up for more. (Product News).
February 1, 2002... With the introduction of its new GlobalGear series, Verder has widened the application potential of its gear pump range. Capable of handling a wide range of fluids, including high viscosity (maximum 220 000 centiStokes), high temperature Cup to...

Four geometries, one pump, many uses. (Product News).
February 1, 2002... Netzsch Pumps has expanded the versatility of its range of progressing cavity pumps by the simple expedient of introducing four new interchangeable rotor/stator geometries. The standard 'S' geometry is said to combine excellent...

HTFS links thermal and mechanical HEX design. (Product News).
February 1, 2002... Hyprotech's latest release of its HTFS heat transfer design system includes several additions that have considerably extended its scope. The first is Hyprotech's COMThermo package, which is a comprehensive databank of over 1000 components...

Forget history, says chemicals consultant. (News Analysis).
February 1, 2002... The chemical industry is overburdened with its history of destroying value and its perceived image as a bad neighbour, according to chemicals consultant Steve Hannan. What's needed is a ruthless cull of outdated and unneeded capacity, and a...

Chemicals are set to recover, but must court investment: the bad times of last year are set to recede with a sustained recovery, according to the CIA's economic forecasters. (News Analysis).
February 1, 2002... The chemical industry's prospects are set to improve in the coming year, according to BP's chief economist -- but it's going to be a long haul. Speaking in his capacity as chairman of the CIA's business and trade board, Malcolm Mitchell told...

An asbestos loophole that needs to be closed. (Comment).
February 1, 2002... As we report on page 2 this month, both ABB and ICI have run into serious problems with the stock markets, partly as a consequence of asbestos-related claims against the companies and their US subsidiaries. ABB's market value has dropped by...

Control without catalysts. (Research & Technology).
February 1, 2002... Nanometre-scale 'boxes' could help process engineers switch reactions on and off, according to Julius Rebek and colleagues at the Scripps Research Institute in California. Putting reacting mixtures inside nanocapsules causes the reaction to...

Slip sliding away. (Research & Technology).
February 1, 2002... Streams of granular material are found in many processes, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry. Controlling these streams is notoriously difficult -- they can suddenly develop waves and turbulence. This phenomenon is analoguous to the...

Spinning spidergoat silk. (Research & Technology).
February 1, 2002... Researchers in Canada and the US have succeeded in creating synthetic spider silk using proteins generated by genetically-engineered goats (including Peter and Webster, pictured). The silk, which has been named BinSteel, is likely to find uses...

Polymer blend 'pearl necklaces' convey light. (Research & Technology).
February 1, 2002... 'Pearl necklaces' of microscopic polymer beads could form important components in optical and conventional computers. The chains are described by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers Mike Barnes and Don Noid in the journal Physical Review...

Printer nozzles could aid drug discovery. (Research & Technology).
February 1, 2002... Chemical engineers at Purdue University in Indiana have refined the technology behind inkjet printers to reduce the amount of ink in each drop -- a discovery which could dramatically reduce the cost of genomics and drug discovery research....

Drum handling system helps hold hairspray. (Equipment in Action).
February 1, 2002... A troublesome manual handling procedure used by toiletry manufacturer Statestrong at its Lytham, Lancashire, factory has been replaced by a drum-tipping unit from Flexicon. Statestrong's principal product is hairspray. At the front-end...

Compact sieving cuts the mustard. (Equipment in Action).
February 1, 2002... At its Norwich factory, the world-renowned mustard producer Colman's of Norwich has improved process efficiency with two Russell Finex Compact 900 sieving machines. The machines have replaced 40-year-old sprung suspension, open top sieves,...

On-line repair keeps process running. (Equipment in Action).
February 1, 2002... A leading European chemical manufacturer recently managed to keep its process running, despite a damaged vessel, thanks to a new repair technique from FD Alliance -- a collaboration between DML Composites (a division of Devon port Royal...

Driving down the dust and smell problem. (Equipment in Action).
February 1, 2002... Used at the likes of sewage plants to suppress dust and obnoxious smells, the Rotary Atomiser from Probe Industries uses a spinning head to produce millions of microscopic water particles, which are then sprayed out in fine mist to suppress...

Clearing the air at treatment works. (Equipment in Action).
February 1, 2002... An odour control package, installed by Hygrade Industrial Plastics at the Queenborough wastewater treatment works on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, has not only reduced [H.sub.2]S stack emissions to well below 50ppb but also greatly improved...

Testing time for emissions. (Equipment in Action).
February 1, 2002... Westfield Biomass Plant in Scotland is the first in the world to use a fluidised bed combustion system to burn poultry litter and turn it into two useful products -- electricity and fertiliser. Owned by renewables developer Energy Power...

Changing places: Stuart Nathan looks at how ABB's process researchers are combining chemistry with engineering to maximise the efficiency of new catalysts. (Catalyst Design).
February 1, 2002... Catalysts represent one of the black arts of process engineering. Substances which allow reactions to proceed at low temperatures, and which promote the production of valuable products rather than useless or harmful by-products, they combine...

Humidity in bloom: Stuart Nathan looks at how developments in the manufacture of microscopic devices are leading to the invention of new techniques for humidity sensing. (Humidity Sensing).
February 1, 2002... Measuring humidity is a well-entrenched technology. Sensors based on chilled mirrors, which detect dew point by observing the temperature at which the mirror is obscured by condensing water, have been around for many years. But technology...

Land Infrared keeps its cool. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... A new model of Land Infrared's System 4 noncontact thermometer extends the line's temperature measurement range down to 0[degree]C. The new M8 thermometer operates at long wavelengths in the 8 to 14[micro]m waveband and covers temperatures...

Compact instrument includes laser range. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... The RayTemp range of portable non-contact infra-red thermometers are 'compact, lightweight and easy to use,' claims its manufacturer, Electronic Temperatue Instruments. The four models in the range all measure surface temperature over the range...

Sensors worm into mountings. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... Mounting directly onto tanks, pipes, motors, compressors, reactors and anywhere surface temperature measurement is needed, Moore Industries' temperature assemblies are supplied ready to install. The assemblies include the company's Worm...

Going with the cycle. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... The Millennium II logic controller from Crouzet is particularly suited to temperature control applications, its makers claim. Its built-in software functions allow simple design and programming of heating cycles, it says. The device is...

NEC camera from Metrum. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... Metrum Information Storage is now acting as UK distributor for NEC's infrared thermal imaging cameras. Formerly Honeywell's test instruments division, Metrum already distributes NEC's data acquisition products. The NEC range includes the...

Accuracy from ASL. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... ASL's high-accuracy hand held thermometer, the F15, allows calibration data to remain within each probe, so that accuracy is maintained no matter how often probes are changed. ASL claims that the device, which uses thermistor-based probes,...

Low-cost humidity. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... A new product range from Michell Instruments promises to lower the price barrier for accuracy and repeatability in humidity measurement. The instruments, dubbed 'Easidew', enable on- and off-line measurement of the moisture content of gases in...

GE Tech offers UKAS calibration service. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... Calibration laboratory GE Tech can now offer UKAS-accredited calibration for humidity sensors and systems over the ranges 10 per cent to 90 per cent relative humidity at temperatures from 15[degrees] to 30[degrees]C, dewpoint from -75[degrees]...

Remote function from IFM. (Equipment Focus: Temperature).
February 1, 2002... IFM Electronic has launched a new set of temperature sensors which allow the control monitor to be mounted separately from the sensor probe. This is useful when space at the sensing site is limited, the company says. There are two types of...

IT links in the paper chain. (Pulp and Paper Focus).
February 1, 2002... With its mix of continuous processing and discrete production, the pulp and paper industry lends itself to the integration of business and process information ABB's Matthew Montague looks at how IT is revolutionising the industry's supply chain...

A transparent view of Emulsifiers: a manufacturer of emulsification units for the global paper industry is using the latest in web-based technology to monitor its equipment worldwide from an office in Bradford. (Pulp and Paper Focus).
February 1, 2002... Although wood pulp and/or recycled paper provides the raw material for most papermaking, there is a variety of chemicals that are used as additives to control paper properties such as water absorbency. These additives are generally prepared on...

Planning for maintenance. (Pulp and Paper Focus).
February 1, 2002... At Rigid Paper's Selby site in North Yorkshire a predictive maintenance system relies on accessing live running plant data from the paper machines' control systems. Derek Cowgill and Clive de Salis describe the networking problems involved, and...