Process Engineering articles from May 2004

Process Engineering archives from May 2004

Comment.
May 1, 2004... Perhaps more than other disciplines, process engineering embraces a wide spread of industries, which at first sight have little in common. Put the layman in the middle of an oil refinery, for instance, and try explaining that the same engineers...

Spin-off ahead for BP O & D.(News)
May 1, 2004... BP is preparing to spin off half of its petrochemicals business, concentrating on developing its aromatics and acetyls businesses. The olefins and derivatives (O & D) business, including the Grangemouth complex in Scotland, will be sold,...

Stainless store.(News)
May 1, 2004... Housing over [pounds sterling]4million-worth of stainless steel tube, pipe, fittings, flanges, bar and box section, Sandvik Materials Technology UK's new warehouse in Halesowen, West Midlands, has opened barely a year after the company was...

Queen's Awards for process innovation.(News)
May 1, 2004... Air Products has won a Queen's Award for Innovation for a self-contained purification system that can be built into gas cylinders. Intended for analytical laboratories, the system, called BIP, is used to provide ultrapure helium, nitrogen and...

CIA welcomes emissions trading linkage decision.(News)
May 1, 2004... The European Union's decision not to impose a 'cap' on its emissions trading scheme has won applause from the UK Chemical Industries Association. However, the CIA warns that individual countries can still impose their own caps on schemes, which...

Akzo Nobel divestments.(News)
May 1, 2004... Akzo Nobel (AN) has closed a number of deals for what it regards as non-core businesses, selling its refinery catalysts operations to Albemarle and its phosphorus chemicals division to investment company Ripplewood Holdings. Meanwhile, the...

Manufacturing Excellence conference confirmed.(News)
May 1, 2004... This year's Manufacturing Excellence conference on process automaton and asset management has been confirmed for next month (15-17 June) at the Marriott Forest of Arden hotel and country club at Meriden, Warwickshire. Following two...

SK opts for AspenTech.(In Brief)
May 1, 2004... SK Corporation, South Korea's largest refining and petrochemicals company, has adopted AspenTech's engineering tools to optimise the design and operational performance of its production assets. Key applications for the software will include...

Alstom in nuclear deal.(In Brief)
May 1, 2004... Alstom has been awarded a lifetime maintenance contract, worth some [euro]9million, to maintain steam turbines, generators and auxiliary plant at Magnox Electric's Sizewell A and Wylfa nuclear power plants. The company will also maintain steam...

ERP market picks up.(In Brief)
May 1, 2004... The expansion of the EU will boost the market for ERP systems, according to ARC. Worth $9.1billion last year, the market will reach $12billion by 2008, it says.

New Caspian contract for ABB.(News)
May 1, 2004... BP's Caspian Sea oil and gas project is proving to be a major money-spinner for ABB. The company has won new contracts to supply equipment for offshore platforms, onshore terminals and pipelines for both oil and gas, bringing the total amount...

Wilton upgrade.(News)
May 1, 2004... Aker Kvaerner's AK Engineering Services division is to undertake the overhaul and upgrading of a section of Invista's adipic acid plant at Wilton. The contract, worth some [pounds sterling]2.5million, involves a retrofit of the ketone alcohol...

Flow centre expands.(News)
May 1, 2004... Science minister Lord Sainsbury has opened the National Engineering Laboratory's improved flow measurement facility in East Kilbride, near Glasgow, which houses calibration and testing systems for flowmeters used by the oil and gas and process...

Fluor/OMV win ACTIVE award.(News)
May 1, 2004... Two clean fuel projects at OMV's refinery in Schwechat, Austria, have won the European Construction Industry (ECI) ACTIVE award for project of the year for their EPC contractor, Fluor. The award, presented to the joint team of both companies,...

Control safety guide.(In Brief)
May 1, 2004... The HSE has updated its guide to safety-related control systems. 'Out of control: why control systems go wrong and how to prevent failure' includes detailed case studies of 12 accidents and summaries of a further 22 incidents. Priced at [pounds...

Nuclear course.(In Brief)
May 1, 2004... The University of Manchester is developing a part-time postgraduate programme in nuclear engineering to help meet a predicted shortage in nuclear skills in the UK. The programme, focusing on maintenance of existing assets, will include units on...

Bayer Technology MES link.(In Brief)
May 1, 2004... Bayer Technology Services and Werum Software and Systems have agreed to develop joint projects to implement manufacturing execution systems in the pharmaceutical sector using Werum's PAS-X MES package.

Nobel is prize for Rockwood.(News)
May 1, 2004... German industrial conglomerate mg technologies has sold Dynamit Nobel to a US firm, Rockwood Specialties, for [euro]2.25billion. The acquisition, which was backed by private equity investors Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Credit Suisse First...

BASF IT contract won by BASF IT.(News)
May 1, 2004... BASF IT Services has won a [pounds sterling]5million contract from the UK arm of its parent company to provide all its IT requirements over the next three years. The sites covered by the contract--which was won in competition with other IT...

Honeywell opts for PSE simulator.(News)
May 1, 2004... Honeywell has signed a license, development and distribution agreement with Process Systems Enterprise (PSE). Under the agreement, PSE's gPROMS dynamic process modelling software will be integrated with Honeywell's Experion PKS process...

Diary dates.(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... 27-28 MAY The first European Conference on Electrical and Instrumentation Applications in the Petroleum and the Chemical Industry (PCIC) takes place in Basle, Switzerland. Organised by the German VDI organisation with help from the likes...

Super sonics keep it cool.(Technology Today)
May 1, 2004... A refrigerator powered by sound waves has made its debut--fittingly, thanks to eco-conscious ice cream producer Ben & Jerry's. The prototype acoustic chiller was developed by Steven Garret of Penn State University's acoustics department, based...

Low cost for green tyres.(Technology Today)
May 1, 2004... New developments in the manufacture of silane could lead to the production of tyres which are safer for drivers and less damaging to the environment. Researchers at Dow Corning's sites in Barry, South Wales, and in Midland, Michigan, have found...

Cleaning oil.(Technology Today)
May 1, 2004... Oil companies looking to reduce the costs of handling and shipping waste materials are the target for a new technology from Edinburgh-based Surface Active Solutions. The company has devised a way to clean oil from cutting equipment, mud tanks...

Highland battleground.(Technology Today)
May 1, 2004... The biggest problem facing Scotland's tourist industry is deceptively small. It has six legs, it flies, and it loves to drink human blood. It's the dreaded Highland midge, and there are ten of them for every man, woman and child in the country....

Enzymes in armour.(Technology Today)
May 1, 2004... Microscopic polymer armour might allow chemists to develop highly effective and environmentally friendly anti-fouling coatings for ships and oilrigs, and might also prevent rejection of surgical implants. The armour, which has been developed by...

Cleaner baths come from Bath.(Technology Today)
May 1, 2004... It's one of the minor ironies of Western civilisation that the substances we use to keep ourselves clean are themselves major pollutants. When detergents from washing powders, shampoos and soaps are flushed down the drain, even the most...

Action on innovation: continuing our new regular series of reports on European developments, Gwilym Roberts counts up the scores on the Innovation Scoreboard and finds that Europe could better.(Europe News)
May 1, 2004... THE latest European Innovation Scoreboard shows that Europe is still trailing the US and Japan on most of the available indicators. While the poorer performing EU Member States, and the acceding countries, generally appear to be catching up on...

Composite solution: Paul Smith looks at some of the benefits of the relatively new technology of composites to the process industry, and its growing acceptance and application as a permanent repair and strengthening solution for piping, vessels and storage tanks.(Materials)
May 1, 2004... COMPOSITES technology, once considered solely the domain of high-tech industries such as aerospace and motor racing, is fast becoming accepted in industry as a cost-effective repair option. Where steel has traditionally been held as the...

Welds make the money go round.(Materials)
May 1, 2004... There can be no doubt: if it weren't for welding, the process industry would fall apart. But maintaining welded joints is a tricky business. Mixtures of metals brought together at high temperatures behave in complex and unpredictable ways,...

Protection from the heat.(Materials)
May 1, 2004... Kanthal APMT, a new grade of material for use in furnace tubes, combines high strength with good corrosion resistance under extreme conditions. Kanthal, a product area of Sandvik Materials Technology, says that the metal is best suited for...

Ultra-clean tube system.(Materials)
May 1, 2004... Designed to provide maximum hygiene integrity in ultra-clean processes. Alfa Laval's Surfex tube range is targeted firmly at applications in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The tubes were developed in cooperation with Avesta...

Watching the detectors: new technologies are making gas detectors cheaper, more efficient, and easier to calibrate and maintain, as Ian Tindall explains.(Sensors)
May 1, 2004... IN common with most electronic apparatus, modern gas detectors have become cheaper to buy and much 'smarter' in operation through the introduction of new technologies. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The cost of a gas detector system is not...

Open market for MES: as demand grows for better links between plant and business levels, Nigel Bowden looks at the growing world market for specialist manufacturing execution and operational excellence systems (MES/OES) and the challenge of global open standards.(Open Systems)
May 1, 2004... THE global marketplace for state-of-the-art process control software development and integration is substantial. New-build and refurbishment of the world's largest production plants is racing ahead to satisfy new market demands, new quality...

From fieldbus to Ethernet? With more than 10million Profibus devices now installed worldwide, and the rival Foundation fieldbus firmly established in many major process sectors, the long running 'fieldbus wars' would appear to be over. But could another saga be about to start--this time over moves towards Ethernet-based systems? Mike Spear reports.(Open Systems)
May 1, 2004... ACCORDING to Profibus International (PI), at the end of 2003 the number of Profibus fieldbus devices installed in factory and process automation applications worldwide had passed the 10million mark. Although this figure is substantially...

Welcome in the hillsides: single-malt whisky is synonymous with Scotland, but there's a newcomer to the field--and it's in Wales. The Welsh Whisky Company's single-pass still may represent the biggest change in distillery technology for centuries, as Stuart Nathan reports.(Distilling)
May 1, 2004... SINGLE malt whisky is a venerable product with long-established roots and technology that was perfected centuries ago. And, apart from a very few examples, it's overwhelmingly Scottish. So it takes some doing to decide to set up a new...

Sensors sensibility: transferring technologies from one sector to another is not always easy, and when the target is the food sector, the problems are particularly acute. The Food Sensors Network aims to smooth the path by encouraging dialogue, as Catherine Entwisle explains.(Monitoring)
May 1, 2004... PHYSICAL, chemical or biological properties of food have always been of interest to food producers in their drive to produce food of a high quality, but consideration of the cost of traditional methods of assessment and control has been a...

Grease is the word: like all machinery, food processing equipment must be kept lubricated if it is to work efficiently. The rules governing which substances can be used in food manufacturing are complex. Stuart Nathan rounds up the latest rules on what can and can't be used.(Lubricants)
May 1, 2004... GREASY food may be bad for the health, but many foods can't be made without grease, or rather, without lubricants. Like all manufacturing industries, the food and beverage sector needs to keep its machinery moving, and lubricants are as vital...

Transport costs: process industries as different as food and chemicals can all benefit from improving their transport costs. Mark Parsons looks at why logistics is a strategic way of gaining a competitive edge, and how industries can share best practice such as efficient freight tendering.(Logistics)
May 1, 2004... AS all businesses try to drive their costs down to maximise their profit, the focus has turned to logistics. Any improvement in transport costs goes straight to the bottom line and logistics is now an important strategic way for businesses to...

Scrubbing out a problem.(Equipment in Action)
May 1, 2004... Trying out capital equipment before committing to purchase might be a safe option, but it's seldom possible with large-scale systems such as gas scrubbers. Pollution control specialist Begg Cousland, however, has overcome this problem with a...

Filters keep paper board mill on line.(Equipment in Action)
May 1, 2004... Recently modernised and expanded, one of the largest paperboard mills in the UK was experiencing problems with its new pulpmill pumps that use water to lubricate their mechanical seals and glands. These pumps are protected against a...

In search of Beagle?(Equipment in Action)
May 1, 2004... A thermal analyser that is more commonly at home in food and pharmaceuticals QA laboratories has been given a date with destiny. The Decagon Devices KD2 analyser, or at least a modified version of the normal handheld instrument, is to be sent...

Seven-year success story.(Equipment in Action)
May 1, 2004... Schering-Plough's choice of a conical dryer package for its new Singapore multi-purpose pharmaceuticals plant was based partly on successful results the company has had from a similar dryer, installed seven years previously at its synthesis...

Fluid-bed cuts cheese drying time.(Equipment in Action)
May 1, 2004... For 50 years US cheese producing company Castle Importing of California had dried its products by spreading it on to trays placed in a dehydrating room. But when it wanted to increase output it turned to the much more modern technology of...

Power opts for on-line analyser.(Equipment in Action)
May 1, 2004... At AEP Energy Service's Ferrybridge C power station in West Yorkshire an on-line process analyser from Metrohm is ensuring that the station's boilers stay on line for as long as possible. The 2MW coal-fired station has four boiler units,...

Motor/drive package keeps paper rolling.(Equipment in Action)
May 1, 2004... At its Chesterfield mill, SCA Hygiene produces paper for use in tissues and paper towels. Production is continuous, 365 days a year, from a 50m-long papermaking machine. A critical part of the machine is a drying cylinder, served by large...

Off-the-shelf Scada system.(Product News)
May 1, 2004... Aimed at large scale plants in process industries such as brewing, pulp, paper and water treatment, a distributed Scada package from Rockwell Automation is said to offer redundant, multi-server functionality off the shelf. The RSView...

Improving the mix.(Product News)
May 1, 2004... Well known for its range of metering pumps and fluids handling systems, Milton Roy has now introduced a range of mixers to meet the demands of most applications. The Helisem range, for example, covers tank capacities from 0.5 up to...

Pressure transmitters set safety standard.(Product News)
May 1, 2004... Yokogawa's latest addition to its range of pressure transmitters is the EJX model. Building on the success of the established EJA series--which has just been certified for safety use by BNFL--the EJX has been developed specifically to meet the...

Larger particle sizing.(Product News)
May 1, 2004... Designed specifically to measure larger particle sizes up to 2.5mm, the Parsum inline probes have been added to the Malvern Instrument's range of in-line particle size analysers. Inserted directly in the process line, there is no need for...

UK and International Plant Cost Indices.(Plant Cost Indices)
May 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...