Process Engineering articles from January 2003

Process Engineering archives from January 2003

Emerson to automate LNG. (News).
January 1, 2003... Spain's largest natural gas suppliers, ENAGAS, has awarded Emerson the contract to automate its LNG regasification plant at Huelva in southern Spain. The plant's DCS system will be replaced, and PlantWeb architecture with DeltaV automation...

Furmanite seals Kemira work. (News).
January 1, 2003... Furmanite has won a 12-month contract for leak-sealing at Kemira Agro's agricultural fertilisers plant near Ellesmere Port. The plant operates at temperatures as high as 1200[degrees]C and pressures up to 240barg, and uses nitric acid and other...

New non-exec for AMEC. (News).
January 1, 2003... Jean-Paul Jacamon has been appointed a non-executive director of AMEC. Previously chief operating officer of Schneider Electric, Jacamon was appointed because of his experience in the French engineering sector, AMEC says.

Halifax moves. (News).
January 1, 2003... Halifax Fans is to move its entire operation from Halifax to a purpose-built site near Brighouse. Scheduled for the spring, the move will expand the company's manufacturing and office facilities as it increases its sales in overseas markets....

Government sets out White Paper position. (News).
January 1, 2003... The Chemical Industries Association has given a cautious welcome to the government's position statement on the European Unions chemicals policy White Paper. The government acknowledges the importance of the industry and states that the benefits...

Cuts at Linde. (News).
January 1, 2003... German engineering group Linde is to cut some 550 jobs at its industrial gases division as it moves production to the Czech Republic. In a major cost-cutting exercise, the company plans to reduce overall headcount by some 1500 people over the...

Chronos in sell-off. (News).
January 1, 2003... Solids handling specialist Chronos Richardson has been acquired by Canadian company Premier Tech for an undisclosed sum. Premier Tech, which has bought Chronos's holding company, is aiming to boost its position in the packaging market. ...

BNFL takes on safety projects at Leningrad nuclear power plant. (News).
January 1, 2003... Nuclear remediation and decommissioning specialist BNFL Environmental Services is to take on the task of improving safety at two Chernobyl-style reactors at the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant. The project, part of the European Commission-funded...

BP turns to ABB for ATEX compliance. (News).
January 1, 2003... Helping petrochemicals giant BP comply with the European ATEX directive, ABB has installed hazardous area low voltage motors for the Grangemouth complex. The motors will also ensure that the company complies with the Dangerous Substances and...

Blessed are the cheesemakers. (News).
January 1, 2003... The world's three largest makers of cheesemaking vats--Wincanton in the UK, Denmark's Damrow and Scherping of the US--are to merge. Based in Dorset, the new company will operate under the banner of Carlisle Process Systems. The move follows the...

Tyco scoops award. (News).
January 1, 2003... Market research company Frost & Sullivan has named Tyco Plow Control as the winner of its 2002 Market Leadership Award, recognising its performance in the European industrial valves and actuators market. Tyco's creation of a global sales...

Patents expiry forces GSK cuts. (News).
January 1, 2003... GlaxoSmithKline is to axe 400 jobs at its plant in Ulverston, Cumbria with the phase-out of production of aminocephalosporanic acid. Known as 7-ACA, the compound is an intermediate in the production of antibiotics. The company says that...

Manufacturing Excellence Week set for May. (News).
January 1, 2003... The third Manufacturing Excellence Week exhibition has been scheduled for the beginning of May, and will take place at a new venue on Teesside. Sponsored by Emerson Process Management, Huntsman International, Aker Kvaemer and the ISA, the event...

Growth for Foundation. (News).
January 1, 2003... There are now over 4000 installations using FOUNDATION fieldbus around the world, and over 205 000 installed devices, according to the Fieldbus Foundation. 'Many leading end users now specify fieldbus technology for their new control system...

Flowserve wins Chinese order. (News).
January 1, 2003... Flowserve--formerly Invensys Flow Control--is to supply electrically operated ball valve fitted with Fluorofill seals to the Harbin Boiler Company of China. The company, China's largest boiler maker, supplies power stations throughout Asia

Shell names new ceo. (News).
January 1, 2003... Jeroen van der Veer has succeeded Evert Henkes as chief executive of Shell Chemicals, following Henkes' retirement after 30 years with the company. Van der Veer is a senior figure at Shell, already holding the positions of president of Royal...

Foster Wheeler expands drugs. (News).
January 1, 2003... Foster Wheeler has strengthened its global pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare business lines by consolidating the engineering and construction operations of its Clinton, New Jersey, site under the leadership of its Reading office....

PLC scepticism. (News).
January 1, 2003... The process industry in Europe has still not yet made up its mind about the benefits of programmable logic controllers (PLCs), according to a report from market researcher IMS. Although some 90 per cent of end-users believe that PLCs are...

WEG makes Portuguese purchase. (News).
January 1, 2003... Brazilian firm WEG has bought a new manufacturing plant in Maia, Portugal, as part of its aim to become the world's largest manufacturer of low voltage electric motors. The new plant will bring the company closer to its European customers, it...

UK and international plant cost indices. (News).
January 1, 2003... The format of Process Engineering's PREDICT plant cost indices has recently changed, as detailed in PE, September 2002, p11. However, a couple of typographical errors crept into that explanation. The correct equations for the Eq and Ci...

Alfa Laval's star service. (Product News).
January 1, 2003... Not content with just selling its extensive ranges of process equipment--from compact heat exchangers, through separators and decanter centrifuges, to pumps--Alfa Laval has introduced a range of Performance Agreements designed to enhance their...

Self-cleaning filter saves on downtime. (Product News).
January 1, 2003... Building on the success of its Eco self-cleaning filter, Russell Finex has introduced a horizontal version that features significant improvements in terms of easier operation and maintenance. The major benefit of the filter is that only one...

Safer operation for valves. (Product News).
January 1, 2003... Because of the high torque applied during valve actuation--whether from pneumatic, hydraulic or electric actuators--mechanical safety locking is not practical, according to Smith Flow Control. Instead, interlocking of the actuator control...

High efficiency filter for air. (Product News).
January 1, 2003... The Finite 7CVP pleated coalescing filter element from Parker Filter Division Europe has been designed for use on compressed air and gas applications. Its, microglass structure ensures extremely low pressure drop and high efficiency. With...

Hazardous area position sensors. (Product News).
January 1, 2003... Ixthus Instrumentation has introduced a range of intrinsically safe LVDT position sensors for use with its PTI 750 loop-powered IS position transmitters. Factory Mutual certified for use in Class Div 1, Group A, B, C and D, and type 4...

Reaching for the impossible dream of chemicals control? (Comment).
January 1, 2003... To the more sceptical observers, it might seem to be standard government practice to release contentious, or sometimes just plain embarrassing, statements in the run-up to national holidays. However, it would be wrong to suggest that the...

Events.
January 1, 2003... 29-30 January Leading and Motivating Maintenance Teams is the title of a two-day conference in Birmingham, supported by (on 28 January) a pre-conference workshop and (on 31 January) a site visit to Ricoh. At the conference, organised by T...

Gold on them thar chips. (Research & Technology).
January 1, 2003... As microchip manufacturing techniques become more advanced, sensor designers are facing an increasingly difficult problem--how to connect the sensor to the tiny electronic components. Researchers from Purdue University in Indiana now claim to...

Removing salt of the earth. (Research & Technology).
January 1, 2003... A supercritical oxidation unit developed by two Japanese firms could be used to destroy wastes and sludges from water treatment and contaminated land clean-up, the companies claim. To be marketed under the name 'AquaFlame', the process uses...

Innovation honours at BASF. (Research & Technology).
January 1, 2003... BASF has selected a biodegradable plastic and a new process for making hydroxylamine free base (HAFB) as the winners of its Innovation Prize for 2002. The plastic, a styrenic polymer called Ecoflex, is used in food packaging and agricultural...

DuPont mixers get into gear. (Research & Technology).
January 1, 2003... One of the biggest challenges in designing many processes is how to mix various substances. It's particularly tricky when the substances have different viscosities. Process technicians at DuPont have adapted one of the most common mixing...

Du Pont moves up a gear in nylon production. (Equipment in Action).
January 1, 2003... As part of a [pounds sterling]500 000 maintenance contract, a total of 450 Brevini planetary gearboxes is currently being installed by BSL at Du Pont's nylon production plant in Gloucestershire. Costing [pounds sterling]338 000, the...

Mayo made easy with vacuum disperser/homogeniser. (Equipment in Action).
January 1, 2003... The UK's first Fryma-Koruma MaxxD vacuum disperser/homogeniser, available in the UK from Romaco, has been installed by sauces and dressings manufacturer Piquant at its Walsall factory. Our product portfolio,' says Piquant md Shan Nagendram,...

Aah! No lumps in this gravy. (Equipment in Action).
January 1, 2003... At its Middlewich. Cheshire site, Centura Foods has increased process efficiency and productivity in its manufacture of Bisto gravy granules and other dry food ingredients following the installation of high performance vibratory sieves from...

Burning the midnight oil. (Equipment in Action).
January 1, 2003... Stainless steel control valves from Spirax Sarco are at the heart of a novel system that enables steam boilers to be run on tallow instead of fuel oil. A fatty by-product of meat processing, tallow has a calorific value similar to fuel oil, and...

Maintaining future assets: with more of industry recognising the benefits of developing a maintenance strategy to increase output by maximising productivity, Ian Robinson suggests there's still more to be done. (Asset Management).
January 1, 2003... It seems as though industry has been concerned with cost-cutting for most of the past decade, and with the slowness of recovery from recession and the continued uncertainties on what the long-term future holds for UK manufacturing, the need for...

Joining forces to prevent leaks. (Asset Management).
January 1, 2003... Piping speciality Hedley Purvis has been helping the Health and Safety Executive draw up guidance for offshore opperators to prevent hydrocarbons escaping from fianges and other jointwork. According to the company, the attitude towards joint...

Monitran helps pick up the bad vibrations. (Asset Management).
January 1, 2003... Vibration monitoring is a vital component of a pump maintenance strategy, and Monitran's latest range of eddy current probes are designed to provide reliable monitoring without contact with the hardware. Made from stainless steel and with...

Spin doctors prevent wobbles. (Asset Management).
January 1, 2003... Ensuring that there are no wobbles is a basic part of asset management. Around half of all breakdowns in rotating machinery are caused by shaft misalignment, according to SKF, whose new alignment tool may be a valuable aid for maintenance...

Rounding up the plant's stranded assets. (Asset Management).
January 1, 2003... Successful plant asset management required a thorough knowledge of the status of plant level equipment. Mike Spear reports on a new hand-held, wireless automation system that helps make that knowledge more accessible to people on, and beyond,...

Choosing the right heat exchanger: faced with a wide choice of heat exchanger technologies, how does the process engineer make the right selection? Graham Polley argues that the choice needs to be made as early as possible in a project. (Heat Transfer).
January 1, 2003... Many types of heat exchanger are now available. Various types of compact heat exchanger have been developed, ranging from plate-and-frame units to exchangers using 'micro-channels', Even when it comes to the traditional shell-and-tube exchanger...

Condensed heat transfer. (Heat Transfer).
January 1, 2003... Alfa Laval's newly revamped Compabloc welded heat exchangers are said to deliver the same heat transfer capacity in just 3[m.sup.3] as a conventional shell-and-tube unit with a capacity of 1000[m.sup.2]. The Compabloc is built around an inner...

Bright duties for plate exchangers. (Heat Transfer).
January 1, 2003... Heat transfer company SWEP says it has so many of its plate exchanger units in operation at Huntsman's titanium dioxide plant at Greatham, near Hartlepool, that it has become the generic name for exchangers on the site. One of the duties...

Hygiene on a plate. (Heat Transfer).
January 1, 2003... HRS Heat Exchangers has introduced a new range of hygienic, stainless steel framed plate heat exchangers. They are constructed from either 304 or 316 stainless steel, glass beadblasteds end plates, and feature 304 tie bolts and guide bars. The...

APV in German expansion. (Heat Transfer).
January 1, 2003... Invensys APV has acquired the heat exchanger manufacturer Otto Thermotech, which will now operate under the APV Thermotech name from brand new, purpose-built premises in Artern. The newly acquired company can supply exchangers capable of...

Remote display. (Pressure Products).
January 1, 2003... IFM Electronic's latest range of solid-state pressure sensors are particularly suited for demanding environments, being designed to withstand very high overpressure levels. Constructed with stainless steel bodies with IP67 protection rating,...

Precision in a standard housing. (Pressure Products).
January 1, 2003... Designed to offer precision measurement in a standardised sensor housing, Sensortechnics' new digital output pressure sensors boast a typical accuracy of 0.1 per cent. Their serial outputs, available in 12- or 14-bit versions, are said to...

Versatile calibrator. (Pressure Products).
January 1, 2003... SI Pressure Instruments is manufacturing a new comprehensive high accuracy pressure and loop calibrator, designed for the testing and calibration of process instrumentation. The device, designated the PC6-Pro, can simultaneously display...

Sensor stays dry. (Pressure Products).
January 1, 2003... Designed for use in the water treatment industry, Gems Sensors' new slim line 2400 pressure transducer measures just 19mm in diameter. The sensor is triple-sealed to prevent water ingress and condensation. Even the cable is water blocked,...

Long-term accuracy. (Pressure Products).
January 1, 2003... Long-term operations such as test cells are the target for Druck's new PDR 3500 range of advanced pressure transducers. High measurement accuracies can be achieved and maintained over long periods and wide temperature ranges, thanks to the...

The gold standard. (Pressure Products).
January 1, 2003... Calibration and certification specialist Sira is offering a new service for pressure balances, aimed at further reducing measurement uncertainties. The '35 to 50ppm Gold Service' involves weighing the piston and each weight of the balance to an...

Coke needs automation. (Control Applications).
January 1, 2003... System integrator EKB is supplying GE Fanuc's PLCs and its monitoring and control software, Cimplicity, to automate two coke-making plants for Corus Ijmuiden in the Netherlands. The plants, which provide coke for Corus's steelmaking operations,...

Pay-as-you-save drives efficiency. (Control Applications).
January 1, 2003... Water treatment chemicals manufacturer Solutia is using ABB's 'Pay As You Save' scheme to pay for its variable speed drives using the money it saves from its energy bills. ABB carried out an energy audit at Solutia's site in Newport, South...

Future perfection. (Control Applications).
January 1, 2003... Unilever has turned to Emerson Process Management to provide the process automation for a new sodium hypochlorite plant in Athens. Working with contractor Uhdenora, Emerson supplied a PlantWeb digital architecture for the plant. The plant...

Good on paper. (Control Applications).
January 1, 2003... One of the largest installations of Foundation fieldbus technology in the pulp and paper industry is to begin in Chile. Celulosa Arauco y Contititcion is to use the system to automate a new mill, at Valdivia, which will produce 600 000tpa of...

Brewing up a storm. (Control Applications).
January 1, 2003... Interbrew's site at Salmesbury, near Preston, has problems with information management. The fermentation and maturation vessels use FIX32 Scada and Texas/Siemens PLCs for process control, but these systems provide limited data collection. The...

Sharing the load. (Control Applications).
January 1, 2003... A Jiskoot on-line sampling system is helping manage the cost allocation for a shared offshore pipeline in Malaysia. Installed for Shell Sarawak, the sampler uses a custombuilt sample extractor to ensure the correct allocation of condensate...

Programmable weighing control. (Process Control).
January 1, 2003... The IQ range of weight indicators form Applied Weighing is said to provide an ingenious, totally flexible and cost effective weighing solution for a range of industries. The flagship of the range is the 9201--a fully programmable weighing...

Power distribution on the large scale. (Process Control).
January 1, 2003... Rittal's PLS 1600 is said to be the perfect solution for larger power distribution systems up to 1600A, 415Vac. For systems with motor contactors, motor circuit breakers and miniature circuit breakers, installing the PLS 1600 increases free...

Try out fieldbus for free. (Process Control).
January 1, 2003... Up unit the end of March this year Mitsubishi Electric is offering a free CC-link fieldbus module to anyone purchasing one of its new Q series PLC systems. The company says this will allow users to create either peer to peer or master slave...

Custom control by design. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Colter Products offers a design and manufacturing service to provide control products to match customer requirements. As part of the overall service, a free consultancy allows Colter's engineers to recommend and incorporate improvements to meet...

Good stop. That II be the Daewoo. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Daewoo has announced the introduction of air-cooled disc brakes as a standard feature on all its diesel, LPGas and electric forklifts (excluding reach trucks) up to 7tonne capacity, in a move that will reduce operating costs and maximise...

Make mine a pint, precisely. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... The Titan beer flow meter gives a low-cost pints totaliser with anti-tampering features. Monitoring flow from 0.5 to 10 l/min and accurate to 1.5 per cent, the display shows pints delivered, zeroed only by using the manager's key fob. Any...

Serial to Ethernet interfacing. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... The RG2-1TX is a new Rail Gateway product from Hirschmann Electronics that allows most electronic products with a serial interface to be connected to an Ethernet network at low cost. It conforms to all relevant industrial standards and...

Pollution control guidance. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... A new 56-page brochure from pollution control specialist Darcy Products includes practical guidance on product selection based on location, type of pollutant and site conditions. It embraces the company's complete range of absorbents, booms,...

A belting belt for conveyors. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... BTL has recently extended its range of extruded conveyor belting with the addition of several new materials--notably the Yellow-Go 55D which has been developed for conveying coarse or abrasive materials. The range now includes polyurethane and...

Connectors take the pressure. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Fischer Connectors has introduced rear-mounting connectors that hold pressure inside the vessel. The DBPE micro miniature connector was tested with hydraulic oil pressure of 8000psi and left overnight at 5000psi. No electrical or mechanical...

Piezo-based pressure sensor. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... The HPS Series 902 Absolute Piezo sensor from MKS instruments allows a wide range of absolute pressure measurement, from [10.sup.-1] to 1000Torr. Featuring a simple modular design, high reliability and low cost, the Series 902 is said to...

Quiet mills require less energy. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Netzsch Condux Jet Mills are taking the place of spiral mills, unidirectional jet mills and wet grinding systems. This is because they require less energy and have a more favourable price to performance ratio. The machines also produce less...

Combinations for security. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Machine safety specialist Fortress interlocks has extended the CL range of lock mechanisms to include a masterable lock version. The Master Lock (ML) offers in excess of 200 000 masterable combinations in up to 2000 sets. Combinations are...

Earn while you learn. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... The Department of Chemical & Process Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow is inviting applications for its BEng Hons degree in chemical engineering by distance learning, which starts in January 2003. The course has been...

Manifold minimises leaks. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... A Merlin progressing cavity pump from Mono Pumps has given two years of smooth service to flooring manufacturer Bonar Floors at its Flotex plant in Derbyshire. The pump transfers liquid PVC from storage vessels to the coating heads on the...

Maidstone restricts access. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Mistura Systems has introduced a solenoid tongue switch with a side bolt activator for safety interlocking guards on machines. The Mistura Maidstone features a trapped key adaptor mounted between the solenoid release and the bolt actuator,...

Easy use meter is no fluke. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Fluke's 179 Digital Multimeter (DMM) offers features that make it an ideal general purpose maintenance tool for industrial technicians and engineers. With a category IV safety rating, the easy-to-use true-rms meter comes complete with a...

Free pump audit service. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... As part of a renewed focus on the UK water and waste treatment industry, Netszch Pumps has expanded its dedicated customer service centre in Walsall with the appointment of service engineer Brett Walters. For a limited time, the centre is...

Concentrate on transport. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... A packaged system has been designed by Tecstream OMG that is claimed to show considerable long-term savings on transportation costs for liquid raw materials. High concentrate fluids, such as surfactants or fruit juice concentrates, can be...

Mobile dry ice cleaning. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Industrial Mineral Supplies has launched the Green Tech Range of mobile dry ice cleaning systems onto the UK market. Tried and tested throughout Europe for over a decade, not only does cleaning with Green Tech dry ice equipment offer massive...

Safe temperatures. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Testo has launched an instrinsically safe version of its successful Pt100 thermometer. It is designed for fast and accurate temperature measurements in hazardous areas (Zones 0, 1, 2). Unlike other Ex thermometers, the Testo Ex-Pt 720...

Filters protect sugar quality. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Boll & Kirch Filters have been installed at British Sugar's plant in Wissington as check filters, protecting quality in the event of plant failure. Four Duplex double manual filters have been fitted downstream from the main process pre-coat...

Thermometer thinks for itself. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Smartest-ever thermometer with low life-costs--that's ASL's claim for the new F200 thermometer. Connect calibrated or uncalibrated thermometer probes, and F200 automatically uses the correct conversion to temperature. Smart-Plug technology...

Single-stage agglomerate. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Spray drying, agglomeration and granular technology are brought together in a single machine from Hosokawa Micron, reducing the need for multiple step processing and the amount of ancillary equipment used. The new Agglomaster fluidised bed...

Improved powder charging. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... PSL has added two new features to its ChargePoint range. The Extraction Ring annulus has a 360[degrees] perforated plenum to extract any airborne particles into a safe HEPA filter; while the Vortex System injects a mist between the two faces of...

One size fits all valve lockout. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... A specialist in lockout/tagout equipment, Reece Safety has introduced the new 'one size fits all' Hybrid Valve Lockout. This device, designed to fit on to any type and size of gate and ball valve, allows the valve to be padlocked in either the...

Lab toolkit for validation. (Marketplace).
January 1, 2003... Thermo LabSystems has released a Validation Toolkit for the latest version of its Atlas CDC chromatography data system. Comprising software and documentation, the toolkit features an automated test driver which allows users improved control...