Process Engineering articles from March 2000

Process Engineering archives from March 2000

ChemConnect opens in London.
March 1, 2000... The Internet marketplace for chemicals, ChemConnect, has opened its first European office in London (see p22). Headed by former Dewitt consultant Paul Hodges, the office is the first of a planned network across Europe. Copyright: Centaur...

BASF announces new Korea plan.
March 1, 2000... Riding the wave of the Southeast Asian recovery, BASF has announced plans for a large expansion of its business in Korea. The company is spending around E400million (#250million) on building and enlarging its plastics precursors, specialities...

HCl leak at EVC sparks alerts.
March 1, 2000... A leak of gaseous hydrogen chloride at EVC's Runcorn plant caused a widespread alert but no casualties, the company says. Some 18tonnes of the gas escaped from a storage vessel at the plant, but fire services acted quickly after the...

Government is criticised over green tax proposals.
March 1, 2000... The government's plans for environmental taxes have come in for stinging criticism from the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee. In its pre-budget report, the committee finds the government's approach to pesticides `unacceptable' and...

Something in the air at AEA.
March 1, 2000... Air quality monitoring is to take a leap forward at AEA Technology, which has been awarded two government contracts to measure levels of airborne hazardous pollutants. Worth a total of #1.5million over the next three years, the projects will...

Praise from Aventis.
March 1, 2000... Rotork Control & Safety has won praise from its client, speciality producer Aventis, for its help in validating a new control system it has installed at the firm's research facility in Dagenham, Essex. The cGMP-compliant facility was equipped...

Smelter boost.
March 1, 2000... You can call me Al: despite its seeming tranquillity, the Alcan aluminium smelter on the Northumberland coast at Lynemouth processes over 140,000tpa of aluminium, using alumina ore imported from Ireland. The plant is set to receive a #1million...

Akzo Nobel plans plant closures.
March 1, 2000... Dutch firm Akzo Nobel is planning to close two-thirds of its coatings plants, concentrating production on 20 facilities. Chief executive Cees van Lede described the closures as a `defensive cost-cutting move'. Copyright: Centaur...

DEHP cleared of cancer charge.
March 1, 2000... The common phthalate plasticiser di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) does not cause cancer, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organisation. The agency says that previous findings in rats and...

BNFL faces German pull-out.
March 1, 2000... The German government has suspended its contracts to buy reprocessed nuclear fuel from BNFL. This casts doubt over the future of a #300million reprocessed fuel plant and the Thorp plutonium plant. Meanwhile, former Virginia Power and East...

PE hits the web as E4 Network goes live.
March 1, 2000... Process Engineering's parent company, Centaur Engineering, has taken its first step into e-business (see p21) with the launch of the E4 Network, a portal site on the worldwide web for the company's engineering products, which can be found on...

BP Amoco aims to avoid joint trouble.
March 1, 2000... BP Amoco is planning to disentangle itself from two joint ventures following restructuring at both of its partner companies. Elf Atochem's impending integration into TotalFina Elf is likely to lead to the end of the Appryl polypropylene...

Gas leak fine triggers HSE crackdown on offshore safety.
March 1, 2000... A gas leak on an offshore platform is set to cost BG Exploration and Production #300,000 in fines - the largest penalty imposed on an offshore operator in an HSE prosecution. The company was also ordered to pay almost #200 000 in costs. ...

Scottish gas on.
March 1, 2000... BP Amoco has recently commissioned a 350tonne per day nitrogen generator at its complex at Grangemouth, Scotland from BOC packaged systems. The nitrogen will be used for inerting and process applications in BP Amoco's large expansion projects...

World control.
March 1, 2000... The pharmaceutical giant, Smithkline-Beecham, has recently signed a worldwide buying agreement with Fisher-Rosemount, after a full evaluation of available automation systems and field devices. Copyright: Centaur Communications Limited.

Fieldbus values.
March 1, 2000... Rotork's heavy duty valve actuators have won registered approval from Foundation Fieldbus. Registration is applicable to Rotork's entire current range of electric actuators as well as hydraulic and pneumatic actuators which are used in the oil...

Simply a name.
March 1, 2000... Simplatroll, Bedford based drive specialist, has taken the name of Lenze. The change integrates the company into the Lenze group of which it has been a member for the last 12 months. Copyright: Centaur Communications Limited.

Under pressure.
March 1, 2000... International process pump manufacturer, Bran + Luebbe, has won a new order for its high pressure double diaphragm pumps from a major paint manufacturer for a new production plant in China. Copyright: Centaur Communications Limited.

DCE settles down with Donaldson at long last.
March 1, 2000... The Donaldson Company has completed its purchase of the DCE dust control business. The DCE company will be known as DCE Donaldson and will trade under the new name of Torit DCE. The acquisition brings together the expertise of Torit in the...

ABB drives forwards.
March 1, 2000... ABB drives forwards after exhibiting at Drives & Controls 2000: the installation of ac drives at Pirelli tyres upgrades the automation at the manufacturing plant in Carlisle. The drives control the pumps that supply steam, water and air...

Turck Banner created as it senses niche in UK market.
March 1, 2000... The UK sensor and control market will see the emergence of a new company in the form of Turck Banner. Hans Turck GmbH in Germany pioneered much of the development of inductive proximity sensors in the early 1960s. Banner Engineering Corporation...

BNFL finds itself in dock.
March 1, 2000... BNFL and BNFL Engineering are to appear at Whitehaven Magistrates' Court next month to answer a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive following a release of nitric acid at Sellafield's solvent treatment plant on 11 March last...

HSE casts cloud over future for Sellafield.
March 1, 2000... BNFL's Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site was the subject of three highly critical reports from the HSE last month. Mike Spear reports To have the Health and Safety Executive issue one critical report on your company's activities might...

COMMENT: BNFL boss bows out, but management muddles on.
March 1, 2000... `We deeply regret these events and the problems they have caused for our customers. We now need to get on with implementing the action plan and restoring our credibility,' said BNFL's chief executive John Taylor last month just before leaving...

Workers of the world united.
March 1, 2000... As the process industries become increasingly globalised in scope, the cost of labour in different parts of the world takes on ever greater importance At the beginning of this year we introduced eight new countries to our list of...

EXTENDING OUR COST DATA BOUNDARIES.
March 1, 2000... Last month we introduced eight new countries to our international indices. While we could present data up to 1998 last month, more recent data is proving harder to come by, but we hope to rectify this soon. The base for all data is 1996=100....

UK AND INTERNATIONAL PLANT COST INDICES.
March 1, 2000... Process Engineering's PREDICT plant cost index for the UK is made up of five components covering mechanical IM, electrical IE, civil engineering IC, site engineering IS, and project overheads IO. These are all calculated to the base 1996=100,...

Water and waste industry website.
March 1, 2000... Water and effluent treatment specialist ARL Consulting has been awarded the contract to prepare and manage an effluent management web site. The contract has been awarded as part of the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme, managed...

Electric blight orchestra.
March 1, 2000... A combination of electrochemistry and specific microorganisms could help reduce levels of nitrates in contaminated water, according to researchers at EA Technology. Although the technique is still in its early stages, the researchers believe it...

Super elastomer replaces silicone.
March 1, 2000... Speciality plastics producer AlphaGary has introduced new thermoplastic elastomers, which it claims are a cost-effective replacement for silicone. Dubbed Evoprene Super G, the material is styrene-based and is suitable for moulding and extrusion...

Carbon dioxide as choice solvent for extraction of basic compounds.
March 1, 2000... According to recent studies by the Supercritical Technology Research Group at VTT Chemical Technology, weakly basic compounds such as pyridine can be extracted effectively from aqueous solutions using dense carbon dioxide as a solvent. New...

Borstar goes east in China PE production.
March 1, 2000... China Petrochemical (Sinopec) has opted for Borealis' Borstar polyethylene process for a plant in Shanghai, said to be the largest polyolefins complex in China. The deal is Borstar's first licence in China, which Borealis sees as a major...

Centrifuge speeds up vitamin C.
March 1, 2000... Roche Products' decision to modernise its vitamin C production has provided a new application for the Broadbent decanter centrifuge. The project involved a new chemical process involving the separation of artificial sugar suspended in...

Safety features at gas plant.
March 1, 2000... ICS Triplex is to provide an integrated turnkey control and safety system for the new liquid petroleum gas storage plant which is being built at Raffineria di Milazzo, in Sicily. The refinery's operators wanted to combine emergency shut...

Going into a spin.
March 1, 2000... Two major centrifuge refurbishment projects have helped chemicals company Archimica to increase its rate of production on a process to dewater a pharmaceutical intermediate. The project was carried out by Thomas Broadbent. Copyright:...

Valves cut biosolids cake.
March 1, 2000... New lime dosing plants at Anglian Water's Whitlington and Cliffs Quay Sewage treatment works use 250mm diameter biway knife gate valves from Reiss Valves, a division of PCC Flow technologies. The valves handle the extrusion of cake with 40 per...

Tiles make the daily grind.
March 1, 2000... Enough tiles to cover two football pitches a day should soon start pouring out of British Ceramic Tile, following the Devon-based company's #1million investment in grinding, pumping and classification plant from Svedala. BCT's tiles are...

Urea process steels itself against corrosion.
March 1, 2000... Stainless steel tubes from Sandvik Steel are still in operation after 25 years at the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative manufacturing plant. The tubes were installed in the stripper which is the most aggressive part of the urea process....

E-BUSINESS BOOM OR BUST?
March 1, 2000... Can the process industries afford to fall behind the current boom in e- business? What should they be doing to embrace the Internet economy? Mike Spear hears from companies with some of the answers Last September, Ford in the US announced a...

E-business at the World Chemical Exchange.
March 1, 2000... As the World-Wide Web spreads into more homes and offices, companies are increasingly seeking ways to use it for business, writes Stuart Nathan. The company website, with its eye-catching graphics and animations, is no longer enough; what's...

Turning data into information.
March 1, 2000... Today's process plant can generate a wealth of data but how do you turn it into accessible information? Mike Spear reports on a database that sets out to bridge the gap between plant and business systems By their very nature process...

Openness, Productivity, Connectivity.
March 1, 2000... According to Automsoft's Tony Prylowski, for a typical Scada system around 30 per cent of engineering development time will be spent writing driver software, just to enable the system to interface with the host of proprietary control devices...

CLEAN STEAM for hygienic processes.
March 1, 2000... Steam is an ideal medium for process heating but, in those industries where it comes into direct contact with the product, there is a risk of product contamination. Murdo MacDonald explains the benefits of clean steam for hygienic processing...

Partners reap rewards of active lifestyle.
March 1, 2000... Stuart Nathan looks at the progress of some of the projects undertaken as part of ACTIVE, which seeks to reduce project costs through partnerships between contractor, suppliers and operators It's been four years since the ACTIVE - Achieving...

A VALID PRESCRIPTION.
March 1, 2000... Strict requirements from international regulators mean that pharmaceutical firms have to prove that all their processes - including their warehousing software systems - comply with good manufacturing practice. David Thompson explains what's...

The load cell strikes back.
March 1, 2000... Load cell measurement slipped out of favour during the 1990s, but Peter Zecchin explains why the new century will see its resurgence The technological buzz words of the late 20th Century were Quality and Reliability. The 21st Century will...

Simple system belies low cost.
March 1, 2000... The L125 process weighing indicator from Avery Berkel is said to offer simple installation and high performance at a low cost. Based on a standard 1/8 DIN size, the indicator can be used with a range of load cell types with up to four cells...

No danger of a high output.
March 1, 2000... Nobel Systems' new AST3 IS weight transmitter has now been granted Cenelec approval for use with load cells and weighing systems located in hazardous areas. Meeting Eex ia requirements, the transmitter contains its own power- limiting...

Top marks for Applied Weighing.
March 1, 2000... After installing twenty weighing systems in 1997 at agrochemicals manufacturer A H Marks, Applied Weighing is now celebrating an order for nineteen further systems. The order includes eighty load cells in total, along with installation,...

Bulk handling no problem for belt weigher.
March 1, 2000... One of the most versatile conveyor belt weighing systems on the market, Milltronics' Universal Scale (MUS) can be found in the quarrying, mining, chemical and utility industries. The MUS continuously weighs products such as aggregates, sand...

Tighten up your belt.
March 1, 2000... Accuracy of +/-0.5 per cent is claimed for a range of belt weighers from T A Shore. This is achieved with a single idle configuration, supported by a single fully floating cantilever load cell. The mechanical arrangement can be tailored to suit...

Single column cell way to go.
March 1, 2000... Designed specifically for process weighing applications in harsh environments, Revere Transducers' KSR load cell is now available in the UK from Variohm Components. The KSR is a single column compression cell. It compensates for vessel...

A tough coating.
March 1, 2000... Thanks to a tough new coating from weighing specialist Thames Side- Maywood, load cell assemblies can now be used in harsh environments. The `autophoretic' coating is very hard and corrosion-resistant, yet ductile enough for it not to crack or...

A total system for weighing under control.
March 1, 2000... Clyde Materials Handling has introduced the Richard Simon Computapak IV weighing controller system. UK and European weights and measures approved, the controller features a menu-driven, full screen display for ease of use and is guaranteed to...

Advanced vector control is key to FKI's `3-in-1' drives.
March 1, 2000... The FID 3000 series of drives from FKI Industrial Drives provides 3-in- 1 functionality using an advanced vector control (AVC) algorithm. AVC measures the parameters of the drive motor and uses a microprocessor to create an accurate software...

Vacon UK division debuts with new software toolset.
March 1, 2000... Finnish drives manufacturer Vacon is making its UK exhibition debut at Drives and Controls, marking the formation of its UK dedicated sales office and service centre. The firm sees the UK as a vital link in its ambitious expansion plans. ...

Only connect with Han-Brid.
March 1, 2000... Among the new products at Drives & Controls are a number of fibre-optic interconnection products, designed to optimise data rates and minimise electromagnetic interference in industrial networking. A new version of the Han-Brid hybrid connector...

Parker heads into lower power sector.
March 1, 2000... A new addition to the Compax series of digital servo controllers from Parker Hannifin was on show in Telford, extending the series' power range down to 1kVA. The new unit can increase the use of digital servo drive technology in low power...

Ups and downs no problem for Oriental duo.
March 1, 2000... Oriental Motor (UK) is launching two new products at the show. AlphaStep is a new speed control motor which combines selective loop control with a stepping motor to give synchronous accuracy. The speed control motor's micro stepping function...

Western Electric in Torc show.
March 1, 2000... Torc Electric Motors is exhibiting the range of high specification motors from Western Electric for the first time in the UK. The new range of cast iron AC metric motors are designed for all engineering applications, giving high efficiency...

AMEC and Agra merge in a #221million deal.
March 1, 2000... AMEC and Agra have agreed to merge the two groups to create a leader in the provision of design, services, applied technology and project delivery in the global engineering, construction and environmental industries. The merger claims to...

Tiny particles make large impact.
March 1, 2000... A joint research project into the production of nano materials is under way in Germany at a cost of DM 20 million. For three years a team comprising 14 staff from Degussa-Huls, a company producing fine powders, and scientists from seven German...