Process Engineering articles from January 2009

Process Engineering archives from January 2009

EDITOR'S COMMENT: Carat and stick.(Editorial)
January 22, 2009... After years of over-hyped training and qualifications schemes, employers might be excused some degree of skepticism when represented with new initiatives in the skills arena. However, as explained by Solutia MD Steve Westhead in this issue,...

Relief over emissions deal.
January 22, 2009... EU leaders have backed away from a move to full carbon emission allowance auctioning Industry groups representing the process and chemical industries have given a guarded welcome to the European Union's package of measures to tackle...

UK carbon capture project 'within two years'.
January 22, 2009... Funding worth up to #8 billion for the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects across Europe is part of the climate protection deal agreed last month between the European Union's 27 heads of states. The agreement means CCS...

Taking the lead at PE Live.
January 22, 2009... Industry specialists will be addressing many of the vital issues facing the process industries at the conference running alongside the Process Engineering Live exhibition on 10-11 March at the Manchester Central in Manchester (see preview...

Five charged over Buncefield.
January 22, 2009... Five companies have been summoned to appear before West Hertfordshire Magistrates Court, Watford on 23 Jan in connection with the Buncefield explosion and fire on 10 Dec 2005. The incident injured over 40 people and caused massive damage to...

Upturn ahead.
January 22, 2009... Total process plant spending in the UK is expected to show a marked decline for the period 2007/2009, but this is anticipated to be offset by growth between 2009/10 and 2011/12, according to the latest UK Process Plant Market Development Report...

IN BRIEF: Evonik Industries.(Brief article)
January 22, 2009... Evonik Industries AG, based in Essen, Germany, has sold its Seal Sands specialty chemicals operation on Teesside to the management team at Evonik Degussa Seal Sands, Middlesbrough, UK. Terms of the deal are not being released. The MBO team...

IN BRIEF: The Isle of Grain LNG project.(Brief article)
January 22, 2009... The Isle of Grain LNG project, owned and operated by National Grid Grain LNG Ltd, has received its first shipment of LNG, the engineering, procurement and construction contractor CB&I has announced. Receipt of the shipment is part of the final...

IN BRIEF: Regulations on emission control.(Brief article)
January 22, 2009... Government regulations on emission control and the need for water and power resources will support steady, long-term growth in the world valves and actuators market, according to a new analysis by Frost & Sullivan. It says the market earned...

ANALYSIS: Making the most of your assets.
January 22, 2009... John Woodhouse explains why the newly-published PAS 55:2008 provides an objective standard across all aspects of good asset management There is, at last, a consensus-developed, clear definition of good asset management and what needs to...

ANALYSIS: Skills conference.(Conference news)
January 22, 2009... The National Skills Academy Process Industries in partnership with Cogent Sector Skills Council is staging the process industries' first national skills conference on 30 April at York racecourse. The event, for employers, training providers...

ANALYSIS: Union man for Maintec.
January 22, 2009... Former trade union chief Lord Bill Jordan CBE will chair a new summit conference at easyFairs Maintec 2009, 18 March at the NEC. He is to oversee the event, which includes papers and case studies on topics such as 'lean' plant management,...

PROCESS BUSINESS: Credits for R&D.
January 22, 2009... Tax credits have come into their own. If companies are determined enough to consider and access credits this could be one of the most worthwhile actions they take this year. Greville Warwick explains Tax credits have been around for about...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR.(Letter to the editor)
January 22, 2009... Dear Sir, It is interesting to note how the current economic climate is increasingly resulting in a culture of 'capital, capital' in preference to the whole-life-cost ethos. This is perhaps understandable given the pressures placed on...

PROFILE: Sjouke Tolsma.
January 22, 2009... Process Engineering features the views of talented people at various stages of their careers in the process industries I work for Atkins in the water & environment division. Atkins is a multinational design and engineering agency which...

SOLUTIA: Solutia goes for gold.
January 22, 2009... Chemicals site boss tips new industry training standard and process skills academy to deliver significant gains. Patrick Raleigh reports Like many chemicals manufacturing sites, the Solutia UK Limited operation at Newport, Wales is...

PLANT SAFETY: Lessons from Buncefield.
January 22, 2009... How much safer are the process industries, asks Patrick Raleigh, three years after the explosions and fires at the UK fuel storage depot? At 7.00pm on 10 Dec, 2005, a 14-inch pipeline began pumping aviation fuel at a rate of 550m3/hr...

CYBER SECURITY: Tracking cyber risk.
January 22, 2009... Leading IT expert gives Patrick Raleigh the inside track on how process companies are facing up to the problems posed by cyber security IT security issues have yet to cause the sky to fall in on the process industries, despite the most...

FLUIDS HANDLING: Going with the flow.
January 22, 2009... Process operators and equipment makers are coming up with clever ways to meet regulatory pressures and push the performance and efficiency of their facilities Step-changes in process technology As well as the regular development of...

FLUIDS HANDLING: Push-fits save time, money.
January 22, 2009... John Crane has invested over #2.4 million in its new gas seal test facility in Slough for testing turbomachinery (compressors) that can operate at up to 800bar, with seal shaft diameters of up to 500mm. In building this facility, Phastite...

FLUIDS HANDLING: Severn Trent turning to Archimedes.
January 22, 2009... Severn Trent Water is installing four of the largest Archimedes screw- type pumps ever used in the UK. The 34-tonne screws are to be employed on a new storm water management scheme at Green Lane in Derby. The screws have been manufactured...

FLUIDS HANDLING: Tanker unloading has a magnetic attraction.
January 22, 2009... The chemicals distribution market has seen huge growth and investment to utilise 'best practice' and ensure the safe and efficient handling of toxic and corrosive liquids. Government legislation and, more particularly, the...

FLUIDS HANDLING: Cutting lead times with 3D graphics.
January 22, 2009... Hayward Tyler Group, which manufactures glandless motor pumps, is using 3D modelling and finite element analysis (FEA) software to accurately predict overall stress distribution for complete motor pump assemblies, resulting in reduced...

FLUIDS HANDLING: Flipping valves.
January 22, 2009... Provision of the highest fluid control performance in the smallest possible space was Burkert's remit in developing its latest miniature solenoid valves for clinical, life science, analytical and fluid handling equipment. Suitable for use on...

FLUIDS HANDLING: Unilever checks costs.
January 22, 2009... Unilever's ice cream factory, based in Gloucestershire, has recently used a Grundfos Pump Audit to help reduce the power consumption of its existing pumps. The check-up examined the overall efficiency of the current pumps to establish how...

FLUIDS HANDLING: Romgaz requires.
January 22, 2009... Conditions at a Romanian natural gas facility led to the use of multi- diaphragm pumps at the drying stage. Patrick Raleigh reports German engineering company BIS EMS has recently completed a Euro24- million project to build 12 new gas...

WEIGHING: Explore all the options.
January 22, 2009... In common with many other process operations, weighing and measuring systems are being used in applications where once they would have been considered inappropriate. Nick Denbow reports Simple and straightforward they may seem, but...

All roads lead to PE Live in Manchester.(Company overview)
January 22, 2009... The Process Engineering Live 2009 exhibition and conference has attracted a range of leading edge exhibitors, whose technologies and services are applied across the process industries Process Engineering Live 2009 is a fresh, new-event...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Distillery goes batty for wireless monitors.
January 22, 2009... William Grant & Sons has implemented a wireless system from Invensys Process Systems (IPS) to control and monitor ground water extraction using remote wireless technology at its distillery in Girvan, in southwest Scotland. The Scottish...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Proportional pneumatic air pressure regulators.
January 22, 2009... Proportional pneumatic air pressure regulators have diverse applications, such as controlling the contact force in polishing and friction welding, controlling web tension, providing active load cushioning and weight compensation, controlling...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: AstraZeneca investigates.
January 22, 2009... In order to investigate the effects of pharmaceuticals and chemicals on the environment, the AstraZeneca Brixham Environmental Laboratory requires a reliable and consistent water supply. To meet this need, a water treatment plant and...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: 1,000 Remote valves in N Sea.
January 22, 2009... The Solberg Andersen and Emerson Process Management diagnostics centre in Norway is now remotely monitoring over 1,000 control valves on North Sea installations. "There is a drive within the Norwegian sector to limit the number of staff...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: E+H targets overspills.
January 22, 2009... Public bodies and operating companies are now more than ever challenged to improve their practices and procedures and take appropriate actions in order to respond to the industry's needs for overspill protection systems, according to Chris...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: BP Oil adds DeltaV at UK fuel storage sites.
January 22, 2009... BP Oil has awarded Emerson Process Management a contract to install its DeltaV SIS safety instrumented system at fuel storage and distribution sites operated by BP Oil across the UK. BP Oil selected DeltaV SIS following an evaluation of...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Hima-Sella unveils TOPS.
January 22, 2009... As a result of the incident at the Buncefield fuel depot in 2005 the UK Petroleum Industry Association and the Tank Storage Association have recently announced that their members had committed to the standards of BS EN 61508 Safety Integrity...

CONTRACTS: PPL Generation.
January 22, 2009... PPL Generation has improved mechanical and thermal performance at two of its power plants in Pennsylvania following the installation of Emerson Process Management's Smart Wireless technology. The wireless systems have proven to be extremely...

CONTRACTS: The Saudi Arabian Oil Company.
January 22, 2009... The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and ConocoPhillips have agreed to halt the bidding process associated with the construction of the planned 400,000 barrels/day export refinery at Yanbu Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi...

CONTRACTS: AMEC.
January 22, 2009... AMEC has been appointed by BP to begin conceptual engineering studies to test the potential for further development of the Clair oil and gas field in the North Sea. The scope of work includes both conceptual and front-end engineering and...

CONTRACTS: Network Integration Technologies.
January 22, 2009... Network Integration Technologies has been appointed as network security specialist by BNL (UK) Ltd, the international designer and manufacturer of plastic bearings. The contract, valued in excess of #20,000 annually, covers BNL's three...

CONTRACTS: Konecranes (UK).
January 22, 2009... Konecranes (UK) has won an order from Siemens for six overhead cranes for the 850MW Severn Power CCGT power plant at Uskmouth in South Wales. Siemens is responsible for the plant's design, engineering, construction and commissioning. ...

PEOPLE: Atlas Copco Compressors.
January 22, 2009... Atlas Copco Compressors has appointed Leen van Diggele as its new managing director for the UK. He joins the UK team from his current position as MD of Atlas Copco Compressors in The Netherlands. Van Deen,who holds a degree in mechanical...

PEOPLE: Aspen Technology Inc.
January 22, 2009... Alison Smith has joined Aspen Technology Inc as vice president of marketing strategy & research. She previously worked for AMR Research as research director for its manufacturing operations market service. One of the industry's foremost...

PEOPLE: Furmanite International.
January 22, 2009... Furmanite International has appointed a new director of sales, Gareth Morgan, to head up its national and international sales network. The appointment follows the move of Mike Tucker to take up the role of business development director for...

PEOPLE: Thermal Energy International Inc.
January 22, 2009... Thermal Energy International Inc has announced the appointment of Peter Bennett as sales and marketing director at GEM Ltd, the company's recently acquired steam trap manufacturing operation, based in Bristol, UK. Bennett has a wealth of...

PEOPLE: Hanovia.
January 22, 2009... Hanovia Ltd has appointed John Ryan as its new managing director. He joins from Christ Water Technology, where he served most recently as the head of group customer services, and previously as MD of Christ Water Technology in Ireland. ...