Process Engineering articles from June 2004

Process Engineering archives from June 2004

Operators will not be able to relax once they receive their IPPC permits ... underlying the regulations is a principle of continual improvement.(Comment)
June 1, 2004... Our cover montage this month conveys what is arguably still the public's perception of heavy industry, and the heavier ends of the process sector in particular--that is, as unreconstructed polluters of the worst kind. Nothing could be further...

Dystar sale.(News)
June 1, 2004... The German chemical majors, BASF, Bayer and Hoechst/Aventis, are to sell their textile dyes joint venture, Dystar, to Los Angeles-based global investment firm Platinum Equity for an undisclosed sum. Analysts believe the price to be around...

China crisis.(News)
June 1, 2004... A review of petrochemical installations in China could lead to those with small capacities, and those using environmentally-damaging technologies being scrapped. The review, which has been announced by China's National Development and Reform...

Foster Wheeler wins Saudi FEED contract.(News)
June 1, 2004... A year-long project for initial engineering work for a major refinery and petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia has been awarded to Foster Wheeler Energy. The FEED (front-end engineering design) contract was awarded by a joint venture between...

MPs REACH agreement.(News)
June 1, 2004... The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has come down on the side of the European Union's controversial REACH proposals for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals. In a report, 'Within REACH: The EU's New...

Manchester-based engineering contractor Haden Freeman has acquired the thermal technology specialist Birwelco, formerly part of Amec's AGRA subsidiary, for an undisclosed sum.(News)
June 1, 2004... Caption: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Manchester-based engineering contractor Haden Freeman has acquired the thermal techology specialist Birwelco, formerly part of Amec's AGRA subsidiary, for an undisclosed sum. Established in 1903,...

Siemens filters.(News)
June 1, 2004... Siemens has bought the water treatment systems and services arm of US Filter from the French environmental conglomerate Veolia Environnement for $993million. The company will be absorbed into Siemens' Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S)...

Unipol in China.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... Two new polyethylene plants in China are to use the Unipol process from US process technology licensors Univation. The plants, both operated by PetroChina, are to be swing low density/high density units producing more than 200 000tpa. They will...

Honeywell Pharma Award.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... Honeywell has received a Pharmaceutical Automation Customer Value award from market research company Frost & Sullivan. The award recognises 'its ability to take responsibility for consulting and validation services, automation, MES deployment...

Statoil picks AspenTech.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... Norwegian oil company Statoil is to use AspenTech's integrated software solution for Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) on major exploration and production projects. The system includes process simulation, economic evaluation and engineering...

Valve market grows.(News)
June 1, 2004... Fuelled by increasing demand for clean energy sources, the worldwide market for control valves is set to reach $3.4billion by the end of 2008, according to the ARC Advisory Group. As with most hardware markets in the process sector, the main...

BASF up despite oil rise.(News)
June 1, 2004... Restructuring is continuing to pay off for BASF, with first-quarter results showing sales volumes growing in all segments and income from operations climbing by 21% to [euro]1.1billion. Price levels remain unsatisfactory, says chairman Jurgen...

Shell to step up Asia investment.(News)
June 1, 2004... The eastward march of petrochemical investment shows no signs of slowing down, with one of the largest players in the region, Shell Chemicals, announcing its intention to direct even more of its capital into the Asia Pacific Middle East (APME)...

Ling Dynamic shake-up.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... Ling Dynamic Systems, which produces dynamic shaker systems, has bought Gould Instrument Systems and Nicolet Technologies for an undisclosed sum, and has relaunched itself as LDS Test and Measurement. The company will have two divisions, one...

Canadian Brotherhood.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... Compressor specialist Peter Brotherhood has won a contract to supply a [pounds sterling]400 000 hydrogen compressor system for Husky Energy in British Columbia, Canada. The system will be fed low-pressure hydrogen at 14bar, compress it to 25bar...

Lubrizol in Emerson Web.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... Emerson Process Management is to supply its PlantWeb suite of software and technologies to Lubrizol, which will use the systems to improve product quality and consistency at its lubricant and surfactant manufacturing plants around the world.

Point cloud.(News)
June 1, 2004... Software house Aveva is to link up with Leica Geosystems to incorporate Leica's laser-scanned plant data, known as point cloud data, into Aveva's Vantage PDMS plant design management system. Point cloud data uses laser measurements to map a...

Chlor-alkali win for Fluor.(News)
June 1, 2004... INEOS Chlor has awarded the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for a new chlor-alkali plant in Runcorn to Fluor Daniel. The plant will be the first to use INEOS's Bichlor process to meet the requirements of European environmental...

Bayer materials in main event.(News)
June 1, 2004... Water mains are one of the less glamorous, but most important, sectors of the process industry--a supply of clean water underpins our way of life. The water mains in Plymouth date back to Victorian times, and keeping them up to date is a...

Lubrication correction.(News)
June 1, 2004... In our feature 'Grease is the word' (PE May, p39) we stated that fluorinated polymers are not suitable for H1 applications. Kluber Lubrication has asked us to point out that it makes three products approved by NSF for H1 duty--Barrierta L5,...

Diary dates.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... 17 JUNE Flare Gas Measurement is the subject of this one-day conference organised by NEL Oil & Gas Services. With gas flaring representing about a quarter of the oil and gas industry's output of C[O.sub.2] to the atmosphere, reduction in...

Picking up bad vibrations.(Technology Today)
June 1, 2004... A new from of sensor which can withstand very high temperatures could help operators to monitor very large rotating equipment, such as gas turbines in power plants. Based on microwave technology, the sensors, from Atlanta, Georgia-based company...

Infusion kills milk bacteria.(Technology Today)
June 1, 2004... A rapid heating-and-cooling system developed by Invensys APV could help manufacturers of baby milk and milk concentrates improve the control of bacterial levels in their products, the company says. The Instant Infusion System (IIS) is said to...

LAST resort for waste heat.(Technology Today)
June 1, 2004... Heat recovery is commonplace in many process plants. So-called 'waste' heat can be used for process heating purposes, and even to generate power. It usually requires large amounts of complex piping and equipment. But imagine if a lump of...

Curry ingredient could clean up for food.(Technology Today)
June 1, 2004... The cuisines of Mexico and India aren't known for their subtlety or, perhaps unfairly, for their healthiness. But one of their most important ingredients, coriander, could not only help keep people more healthy, but could also boost cleanliness...

Looking at lakes.(Technology Today)
June 1, 2004... Environmental scientists around the world agree that the climate is changing, but one of the areas they don't all agree on is the best way to monitor it. One common method is to look at the state of the oceans--their temperature, and the...

Half-time report from Lisbon; Lisbon may be the focus for European football this month, but four years ago it set the scene for a wide-ranging EU economic strategy. Our regular European correspondent, Gwilym Roberts, reports on the latest steps in an ambitious ten-year programme.(Europe News)
June 1, 2004... FOUR years have passed since a previous European Council meeting in Lisbon set the goal of making the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledgebased economy in the world. Presenting the Commission's 'Spring Report,'...

Up to speed with IPPC: the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) regulations are set to change the way the process industries handle environmental issues. Elaine Coles looks at the main changes facing operators, and what might be on the way in the next few years.(Legislation)
June 1, 2004... COMPANIES throughout the process industries cannot fail to be aware of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control regime--most have either made, or are in the process of making, an application for a permit under IPPC. It's undoubtedly one...

Chiller chemistry: as environmental pressures continue to grow on users of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, Mike Spear reports on BOC's upgraded service facility and its innovative technology for on-site reclamation and cleaning of industrial refrigerants.(Refrigeration)
June 1, 2004... WHILE the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change has still to be ratified in many parts of the world, there is no doubt that it has already had far-reaching consequences on many industrial activities. The refrigeration and air conditioning...

Building on rice: an established technology for incineration and combustion could provide a way to convert waste material from rice production into a valuable material for building and road construction. Chris Dodson explains how the system works.(Recycling)
June 1, 2004... THE Torftech Group has developed a novel application of its Torbed technology for the precise control of the combustion of rice husks to produce energy for industrial processes and a valuable ash by-product--Rice Husk Ash (RHA). During the...

Efficient savings: by simply switching to energy efficient motor driven systems, UK industry could save over half a billion pounds a year. But how easy is it to make that switch? Mike Spear reports.(Energy Efficiency)
June 1, 2004... AROUND 65% of the electricity consumed by industry in the UK is used to power systems driven by electric motors. By adopting energy efficient systems, however, the UK could save more than 24billion kWh each year. In environmental terms, this...

On-line for business: the improvements in control afforded by on-line analysis can provide a valuable boost in the profitability of processes, but its take-up by smaller companies has been slow. Richard Bahu reports on a UK-based project to prove its worth in the speciality chemicals field.(On-Line Analysis)
June 1, 2004... SPECIALITY chemicals is a tough business, where competition is intense. According to Brian Murphy, managing director of speciality firm Robinson Brothers and leader of the Chemistry Leadership Council's Business Intensification project, 'to...

Gas concentrations monitoring from Siemens.(On-Line Analysis)
June 1, 2004... Two new gas analysers from Siemens employ different technologies to measure concentrations of hydrogen and oxygen. The Calomat 6 hydrogen sensor measures specific heat conductivities of gases; the Oxymat 61 oxygen sensor uses the paramagnetic...

Oxygen determination with high accuracy.(On-Line Analysis)
June 1, 2004... Used for monitoring and controlling gas streams in air separation, heat treatment, glass blending and other processes, GE Panametrics' CGA351 zicronium oxide oxygen analyser is now available in both rack and wall mounted versions. Its sensor...

Thermo Electron for pharma process analysis.(On-Line Analysis)
June 1, 2004... The Nicolet Antaris FT-near infrared (FT-NIR) analyser from Thermo Electron provides online analysis for pharmaceutical processes. The instrument, which has a single analyser platform connecting drug development and pharmaceutical...

Membrane momentum: growing industrial usage of ultra pure water is driving demand for membrane separation systems, with a wide range of technologies now available to suit most applications. Mike Spear reports on the state of the market and looks at some recent introductions.(Filtration)
June 1, 2004... IN the UK, close on three quarters of all fresh water is consumed by industry--and industry wants that water to be fit for purpose, which in many sectors calls for increasingly higher standards of purity. According to Frederick Royan, water...

Membranes for the dairy.(Filtration)
June 1, 2004... Carlisle Process Systems, a leading equipment supplier to the dairy, cheese, food and beverage industries, has signed an exclusive deal with the Danish company DSS Silkeborg to distribute its membrane filtration systems into the UK dairy...

RO for all uses.(Filtration)
June 1, 2004... The Elit[e.sup.Plus] range of high performance RO systems from Purite has been specifically designed for a diverse range of process applications. With a maximum pure water recovery capability of 75% and minimum salt rejection of 97% across the...

All in one pilot plant.(Filtration)
June 1, 2004... Selecting the right membrane technology for a particular application has been made easier by GEA Filtration with the introduction of its Model 'R' microfiltration pilot plant. Providing reliable scale-up to full production, the plant can...

Raw water pretreatment duty.(Filtration)
June 1, 2004... Many industrial membrane systems are used for high purity water applications, but they can also be used at the raw water pretreatment stage. The Ultrasil, from the Christ Water Technology Group, for example, is a ready-to-connect membrane...

Fieldbus puts new life into offshore platform.(Equipment in Action)
June 1, 2004... When Shell Expro decided to revive its Brent Alpha platform in the North Sea, following an assessment of the projected life of the hydrocarbon reserves, it needed to replace the existing control and safety systems. In part this was because the...

Protecting analysers from the elements (apart from mercury).(Equipment in Action)
June 1, 2004... When Orpington-based P S Analytical wanted to extend its mercury monitoring expertise from the laboratory to the plant, it sought the services of enclosure specialist Rittal to come up with the right type of instrument enclosure to cope with...

Flowmeters will ensure pharma safety.(Equipment in Action)
June 1, 2004... A five-stage vortex scrubber system, designed and built by Gilwood (Fabricators) for a leading pharmaceutical company, has been fitted with eight ATEX-certified Krohne H250 flowmeters to ensure process safety. The scrubber system is used to...

Block order for value blocks.(Equipment in Action)
June 1, 2004... Hygienic valve specialist Sudmo has won a contract to supply mix-proof, double-seat and process valves for a major expansion at Carlton and United Breweries' Yatala brewery near Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Due to be completed by the end...

Electric for gas.(Equipment in Action)
June 1, 2004... National Grid Transco's North Sea gas terminal at Bacton in Norfolk has been in continuous operation since the early 1970s--as has much of the plant equipment that has contributed to its success. In 2002, however, NGT embarked on a strategic...

Turnkey centrifuge systems.(Equipment in Action)
June 1, 2004... Centrifuges are often seen as merely part of a downstream separation system, but centrifuge manufacturer Krauss Maffei has recently undertaken three complete turnkey centrifugal processing systems for crop protection company Zeneca...

Sent to Siberia for being up to the job.(Equipment in Action)
June 1, 2004... With average winter temperatures of around -30[degrees]C and up to 1.5m depth of sea ice, the Pitun Astokhskoye oil field and Lunskoye gas field at Sakhalin Island off the coast of Siberia is no place for the faint-hearted, nor for equipment...

Boost for compressor efficiency.(Product News)
June 1, 2004... Two new models in the mid range of CompAir's rotary screw range of compressors feature new air-end technology that is said to promise significant efficiency improvements. The compression element used in the L55 and L75 models has been imported...

Extending shutdown intervals.(Product News)
June 1, 2004... Following a pilot scheme run in conjunction with Huntsman and ABB Eutech, Huntsman's inspection authority, Furmanite has demonstrated that its Trevitest on-line valve testing system can be used to accomplish the required 'Thorough Examination'...

Waterproof Ethernet.(Product News)
June 1, 2004... Overcoming the need to put Ethernet connections into enclosures, the latest Beckhoff fieldbus boxes from Hayes Control Systems are rated to IP67 and can be mounted in the open. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Resistant to dust and water, the...

Extreme images.(Product News)
June 1, 2004... The new Legend XE camera from DVT Sensors has brought the power and flexibility of high speed machine vision sensors to harsh, high humidity or wash-down environments, such as can be found in the food processing industry. Housed in a...

Take a virtual tour.(Product News)
June 1, 2004... The latest version of Alfa Laval's Virtual Showroom (visit www.alfalaval.com/expo) provides an interactive, 3D guide to many of the company's products introduced over the past six months. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Highlighted are 16 new...

Controller meets flexible demands.(Product News)
June 1, 2004... The latest addition to its PACSystems family, GE Fanuc's new RX3i controller is said to offer high level of automation functionality in a compact, cost-effective package. Featuring the same control engine as the PACSystems RX7I, it provides...

On-line analysers extended.(Product News)
June 1, 2004... The AX430 single input and AX433 dual input conductivity transmitters extend ABB's Analyz[e.sup.IT] AX400 range of on-line analysers into new application areas. The new transmitters can be used in maintaining wash-solution strengths in bottle...

Toast in Burgundy.(Process Economics)
June 1, 2004... The way that process industry contracts have been drawn up has changed a great deal in recent years. In addition to the two long-established types of contract, lump-sum and reimbursable, new types of 'target cost' contract have become...

UK and International Plant Cost Indices.(Process Economics)
June 1, 2004... First appearing in Process Engineering in 1973, our long-running UK and International Plant Cost Indices provide important data for process design and project engineers. For the benefit of new readers, a brief explanation of the background...