Process Engineering articles from May 2006

Process Engineering archives from May 2006

PROCESS ENGINEERING: Comment.
May 22, 2006... In this month's issue, PE highlights a number of UK companies that are addressing these issues with initiatives that set the agenda for the adoption of advanced technologies in their particular markets. Process modelling software...

Corrosion causes BP oil leaks in Alaska.
May 22, 2006... BP has blamed corrosion for two major leaks on its pipelines at the company's Prudhoe Bay, Alaska oil field, which have necessitated a massive clean-up operation in the tundra region. On 6 April, BP discovered a leak of about 12,000 cubic...

Evans to part from IChemE.
May 22, 2006... Dr Trevor Evans will be stepping down from his position as IChemE chief executive once a successor has been found. Earlier this year, Dr Evans advised the IChemE president that he wanted to retire on his 60th birthday, 14 February 2007,...

Modelling advance 'not pie in sky'.
May 22, 2006... While modelling software developers have made important advances in simulating an increasing range of processes there are still some major barriers to overcome, according to Costas Pantelides, managing director of Process Systems Enterprise...

Food industry shuns automation.
May 22, 2006... The UK's food manufacturing industry is failing to exploit the potential of automation and robotics handling, principally because of a lack of long term relationships between food suppliers and retailers. Stop-start contract relationships...

Siemens adds US flowmeter firm.
May 22, 2006... Siemens Automation and Drives (A&D) is to acquire Controlotron, a New York-based manufacturer of ultrasonic flowmeters for an undisclosed sum. The firm's 120 staff and global sales network is to join Siemens with effect from May, the German...

Harting creates industrial division.
May 22, 2006... A complete range of systems for communications and control in industrial environments is being offered by the new industrial communications & power networks division of Harting. Particular emphasis will be put on industrial Ethernet. New...

IN BRIEF: Surge in China's DCS.(Brief article)
May 22, 2006... Growth in grassroots construction of plants in the traditional heavy process industries is driving the market for distributed control systems in China, says a new report from ARC Advisory Group. This will lead to a compound average growth rate...

IN BRIEF: Energy confusion.(Brief article)
May 22, 2006... Growing businesses in the engineering and manufacturing sector (EM) are not doing enough to control their consumption of energy and are largely ignorant of incentives for becoming energy efficient, according to a survey by PKF accountants...

IN BRIEF: Scada system for UAE gas plant.(Brief article)
May 22, 2006... Invensys Process Systems is to supply SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems for Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd. (GASCO) in its role as manager of the Habshan gas plant expansion project, OGD- III, on behalf of Abu Dhabi...

IN BRIEF: Tetra Pak global deal.(Brief article)
May 22, 2006... Packaging specialist Tetra Pak has signed a global purchase agreement for implementation of ABB's System 800xA Extended Automation. Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and Holland are the first countries to implement the deal, which will also include...

Renewable energy powers North Sea rig.
May 22, 2006... Production of natural gas from the Cutter field in the southern North Sea is being powered solely by energy from wind and solar sources. The platform, a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil, is powered by two wind turbines and a...

ARC tracks 'booming' robotics market.
May 22, 2006... The market for industrial robotics is booming as a result of new automotive sector investments and strong growth among small and medium- sized businesses. According to a new study from ARC Advisory Group, the global market for industrial...

ABB increases drives recycling.
May 22, 2006... ABB recycled over 11 tonnes of electrical and electronic waste from its variable speed drives in the UK last year. This was up 57% on the prior year and double the quantity collected in 2003. The drives have been recycled in accordance...

TECHNOLOGY TODAY: Scanner goes with the flow.
May 22, 2006... Management of complex fluid flow conditions is among a select group of technologies earmarked for Government funding under the Technology Programme Spring 2006 competition (see story p11). The initiative is offering #12 million to support...

TECHNOLOGY TODAY: DCS plus fiscal metering.
May 22, 2006... The Teesside refinery of Petroplus will be the first in the UK to implement Honeywell's MeterSuite fiscal metering system for liquids in conjunction with a distributed control system. It will be used for blending ultra low sulphur diesel with...

TECHNOLOGY TODAY: Networking 'first' for wireless sensors.
May 22, 2006... Senicast Systems Inc has launched what it claims is the first ever comprehensive wireless sensor networking system for industrial and process automation applications The Sensicast Wireless Advantage integrates sensors, software, and mesh...

TECHNOLOGY TODAY: Nano, micro, metro launch.
May 22, 2006... The Department of Trade and Industry has launched a five-year project to help bridge the gap between the UK's strengths in metrology and its emerging micro and nano technology business and science base. The Centre of Excellence in...

TECHNOLOGY TODAY: Nickel nanodevices promise to tackle water pollution.
May 22, 2006... Tiny machines that could search and destroy toxic organic molecules in polluted water streams is one of the possible applications from work at the University of Toronto investigating nickel's ability to catalyse the breakdown of hydrogen...

TECHNOLOGY TODAY: UK targets key technologies.
May 22, 2006... London - Business organisations have until 31 May to provide input for a programme to develop the UK's key medium-term strategies for technology, Graham Spittle, chairman of the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) announced. The plan was unveiled...

PROCESS OPERATING - SEPARATION PROCESSES: Clear for the beer.
May 22, 2006... With concern growing over the safety of established filtration processes in the brewing industry, Peter Rose reports on how membrane technology offers a way forward Walking through the average UK town centre on a Friday night, one could...

PROCESS OPERATING - SEPARATION PROCESSES: Reverse engineering.
May 22, 2006... With hosepipe bans now the norm around the UK, Pierre Couty foresees a growing role for reverse osmosis in the generation of clean water for potable and industrial applications Demand for water has risen steadily in the UK over recent...

PROCESS OPERATING - SEPARATION PROCESSES: Presure point.
May 22, 2006... The reverse osmosis process places intense pressures on the pipework of the system. Not only must the system sustain working pressures in excess of 1,200psi/83 bar, but the piping infrastructure needs to withstand galvanic corrosion,...

CONTROL & AUTOMATION - DRIVES/CONTROLS: Driving a bargain.
May 22, 2006... Increasingly competitive markets and advances in technology are pushing the case for investment in drives systems higher up the agenda at many process companies Drives users can look forward to a period of competitive pricing from...

CONTROL & AUTOMATION - DRIVES/CONTROLS: Air handing drives.
May 22, 2006... Novenco AS of Bergen is employing Danfoss drives for the air handling systems on 'The World' - a 40,000-tonne luxury cruise liner that combines the features of a private yacht, a seaside villa and an exclusive country club. The air handing...

CONTROL & AUTOMATION - DRIVES/CONTROLS: Stop-start co-ordination.
May 22, 2006... TorqProve is an added feature on the Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 700 range of AC drives that offers both torque control and mechanical brake redundancy that is beneficial in lifting and hoisting applications. The addition provides users with more...

CONTROL & AUTOMATION - DRIVES/CONTROLS: China drives market growth.
May 22, 2006... The China AC & DC motor drives market grew by an estimated 18.6% last year to reach a value of $860 million (#470 million), according to IMS Research, a UK- and US-based research group. Standard and premium AC drives generated the most...

CONTROL & AUTOMATION - DRIVES/CONTROLS: Small drives, big savings.
May 22, 2006... The cost benefits of switching to small motors and drives is often overlooked according to Justin Peters, who explains how these units can add up to highly significant savings Employing variable speed drives and high efficiency motors to...

CONTROL & AUTOMATION - DRIVES/CONTROLS: Sparkling performance.
May 22, 2006... NPS Drive Automation has employed Lenze sub-micro drives (smds) on a diamond cutting machine to automate the process and achieve the largest possible diamond from the rough original. An smd is used to slowly rotate a rough diamond while...

PLANT MANAGEMENT - WASTE/WATER: Lighting the way.
May 22, 2006... UV can provide an attractive alternative to chemical disinfection techniques for providing microbiologically pure water for industrial and domestic use For many years chemical disinfection techniques have been used to provide...

WATER & WASTER - APPLICATIONS: New gearboxes halve costs.
May 22, 2006... Direct replacement of end-of-life Varatio Strateline gearboxes with new Brevini multi-stage planetary gearboxes on a series of half-bridge scrapers at Maidenhead Sewage Treatment Works was achieved for less than half the cost of either...

WATER & WASTER - APPLICATIONS: Upgrade targets THM risk.
May 22, 2006... Recent European Union legislation to raise the quality of potable water prompted Essex & Suffolk Water to initiate a project to upgrade its Lound Water Treatment Works. The focus was to reduce the risk of THM (trihalomethane) formation,...

WATER & WASTER - APPLICATIONS: RTS extends Sellafield storage.
May 22, 2006... RTS has recently completed a two-year, #1.8-million project at British Nuclear Group's (BNG) Sellafield site to extend the storage capacity for spent filtration sand that is used to filter liquid effluent. The project has secured a...

WATER & WASTER - APPLICATIONS: Waste water focus cuts costs.
May 22, 2006... Food and drink manufacturers should increasingly focus on the detection and control of product loss from their processes, according to Envitech, which supplies waste water monitoring equipment to the sector Monitoring offers large...

WATER & WASTER - APPLICATIONS: Sensors for desalination.
May 22, 2006... An extensive range of Rosemount analytical sensors and transmitters is to be deployed at a major sea water desalination project in Dubai being constructed by Italy's FISIA Italimpianti. The sensors will be used mainly for conductivity...

WATER & WASTER - APPLICATIONS: Water filter acts as quality monitor.
May 22, 2006... Cross Manufacturing's water filters use a patented, zero-gravity filter coil with raised nodes on the surface that produce a precise filtration gap, selectable between 12-400 microns. Automatic backwashing, triggered by selecting a set point...

WATER & WASTER - APPLICATIONS: EH actuators prevent plant disruption.
May 22, 2006... Electro-hydraulic, heavy duty valve actuators have replaced conventional hydraulic actuators at a US water treatment plant to prevent incidents such as the leak of 50 gallons of oil from a hydraulic circuit onto the surrounding floor space. ...

WATER & WASTER - APPLICATIONS: Siemens wins Polish automation contract.
May 22, 2006... The Industrial Solutions & Services Group of Siemens has won an Euro1.03 million contract for a control and monitoring installation that will upgrade the automation systems at a waste water treatment plant in Bialystok, Poland. The contract,...

ENGINEERING PRACTICE: Cheese production double in Belarus.
May 22, 2006... Two contracts for cheese-making plants in Belarus with a combined value of #5.0 million have been won by CPS Damrow. In addition to all the production equipment, the company has full responsibility for the design and installation of pipework...

ENGINEERING PRACTICE: Predictive maintenance plan saves UK Coal.
May 22, 2006... UK Coal's implementation of a reliability based maintenance programme using Emerson Process Management's machinery health management technologies provided production savings estimated at Euro 1.5 million during 2005. The savings were made by...

ENGINEERING PRACTICE: Capacity gains for sulphur plant.
May 22, 2006... Sandvik Process Systems has completed successful trials and several months of full production of its Rotoform HS pastillation system at the sulphur plant of Econova in Sicily. The HS is a high capacity version of the standard Rotoform system,...

ENGINEERING PRACTICE: Absorber sprayers boost Drax efficiency.
May 22, 2006... Drax power station is installing absorber sprayers to improve the performance of its flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) plant. The spray nozzles, from Lewes-based Bete, transform bulk limestone slurry into droplets and bring them into contact with...

PLANT COST INDICES: UK and International Plant Cost Indices.
May 22, 2006... 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...