Process Engineering articles from May 2008

Process Engineering archives from May 2008

COMMENT: Adventure or culture shock.
May 23, 2008... However, these high-tech concepts are now firmly on the agenda for any major process operation planning its long-term business and manufacturing strategy. It is down to management to put in place organisational cultures with the vision...

Grangemouth picks up the pieces.
May 23, 2008... Ineos will take up to three weeks to restart production at its Grangemouth complex, but the damage to employee relations could take much longer to repair Ineos has signalled progress with proposals to end its pensions dispute with the...

Rockwell highlights process ambitions.
May 23, 2008... Rockwell Automation expects to make significant inroads into the process control and automation market, helped by new acquisitions and its partnership with instrumentation company Endress + Hauser. The mix of technologies gained from the...

CPI in high-tech NE merger.
May 23, 2008... The North East-based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and the Centre of Excellence for Nano, Micro and Photonic Systems (Cenamps) are to merge. The expanded CPI is to champion four key technology areas: advanced processes, low carbon...

BTL biofuel unit is a first.
May 23, 2008... Choren Industries GmbH has completed the building phase of the world's first commercial production plant to convert biomass into synthetic diesel fuel. The plant in Freiberg, Germany will produce fuel called BTL (biomass to liquid) from...

Lunchtime date with SONHOE.
May 23, 2008... SONHOE Development Co will present supplier opportunities surrounding its project to build a #2-billion crude oil processing facility in the Tees Valley in the North East of England at a networking lunch, 10 July at Middlesbrough Football...

IN BRIEF: GE Fanuc acquisition.(Brief article)
May 23, 2008... GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms is acquiring the MTL Open Systems Technology (MOST) product lines from MTL Instruments Group, based in Luton, UK. The deal, which includes the MTL8000 general purpose I/O, intrinsically safe I/O, SafetyNet system,...

IN BRIEF: NSAP appointment.(Brief article)
May 23, 2008... Philip Jones has been appointed chief executive officer of the National Skills Academy Process Industries (NSAPI) to replace interim CEO Craig Crowther, effective 12 May. Jones, who has spent much of his career at BASF in senior HR roles and...

IN BRIEF: Wheat processing plant.(Brief article)
May 23, 2008... Cargill has opened a wheat processing plant at Trafford Park, Manchester, following a #75 million investment to convert it from processing imported maize to domestic wheat. The facility will process around 750ktpa of wheat to provide sweeteners...

IN BRIEF: Grundfos results.(Brief article)
May 23, 2008... Grundfos' 2007 results show a new annual sales record of #1.68bn. Emerging markets within Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia and China showed strong growth, while even the more mature markets within Western Europe grew by a healthy 6%. The Danish...

IN BRIEF: Industry's first wireless pH/ORP transmitter.(Brief article)
May 23, 2008... Following approval of the WirelessHART standard, Emerson has launched what it claims is the industry's first wireless pH/ORP transmitter. The Rosemount Analytical Model 6081-P unit enables analytical measurements that were previously...

ANALYSIS: Fieldbus needs skills to grow.
May 23, 2008... Fieldbus technology continues to advance in the process industries - a view supported by (conflicting) data from the two main network technology camps. Nick Denbow reports Activity levels on systems involving FOUNDATION fieldbus and...

ANALYSIS: Market shares clash.
May 23, 2008... In February, the Fieldbus Foundation general assembly claimed a 68% market share for FOUNDATION Fieldbus in the market for intelligent networks in the process industries, against a PROFIBUS share of 27%. These figures came from an ARC report,...

ANALYSIS: Fieldbus technology traning.
May 23, 2008... UK chemicals manufacturers are meeting their fieldbus technology training needs by using the facilities at the CATCH (Centre for the Assessment of Technical Competence) training centre for the industry in Stallingborough, near Grimsby, North...

PLANT VISIT - KROHNE: UK meter facility goes with the flow.
May 23, 2008... Patrick Raleigh visits the Krohne Coriolis flowmeter plant in Wellingborough, which is gearing up to meet the challenges of supplying the oil and gas industries IN contrast to the many highly automated process facilities it supplies into,...

PLANT VISIT - KROHNE: Tube sourcing is vital.
May 23, 2008... At the core of Krohne's Coriolis flowmeter is seamless drawn tubing in stainless steel, Hastelloy, titanium and even tantalum, which the company buys in. This can be very expensive, Krohne managers highlighting, for instance, that a titanium...

BIOFUELS: Biodiesel in crisis.
May 23, 2008... They've invested heavily in new capacity, but UK biodiesel producers are now being hit for six by subsidised US imports, explains Patrick Raleigh The fledgling UK biodiesel industry is being undermined by heavily subsidised US imports,...

BIOFUELS: D1 Oils goes back to its roots.
May 23, 2008... D1 Oils plc has announced that it is shutting down its UK biofuels refining and trading operations, which are based at Middlesbrough and Bromborough, and will instead concentrate on the upstream breeding, development and planting of new...

REACH: Chemicals suppliers facing.
May 23, 2008... It's now time to sign up and pay up for the controversial European chemical safety regulations. The European Commission has ALERTED TENS OF thousands of chemicals manufacturers and importers that they will soon have to pre-register...

AUTOMATION: Business software sector targets process market.
May 23, 2008... Process operators are at the early stages of a fundamental shift towards enterprise-wide integration. Patrick Raleigh reports These days it seems that every announcement of a new technology or business partnership in the automation arena -...

AUTOMATION: How to link disparate systems.
May 23, 2008... Many manufacturers have invested, over many years, in multiple production systems, which were never designed to communicate via open and flexible technologies, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP and web- technologies. These companies, typically,...

AUTOMATION: Bayer's data plus.
May 23, 2008... Polymer manufacturer Bayer MaterialScience has reduced planning time and effort by a third and achieved improvements in delivery reliability through the use of a single data platform for all planning activities. Patrick Raleigh reports ...

AUTOMATION: Bridging process with the IT people.
May 23, 2008... Jim Ricigliano of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Rockwell's Matthew Bauer explain how manufacturing IT strategy is now key to the future of many process companies For many manufacturing enterprises, serious investment in plant-wide...

PLANT MAINTENANCE: How lean is your UK site regime?
May 23, 2008... PICME CEO Michael Glass has inspected around 100 process facilities and gives a personal view on current maintenance practices in the UK It is well over a decade now since I was last responsible for the engineering and maintenance of a...

PLANT MAINTENANCE: Five steps to effective maintenance.
May 23, 2008... ABB has drawn up a quick guide to developing an effective maintenance plan: 1 Selection The starting point for reliable and accurate instrumentation is choosing the right device. Look out for low-maintenance options and equipment...

PLANT MAINTENANCE: Your machinery is on the line.
May 23, 2008... The hype has died down but demand for remote monitoring technology is now really on a steady upward path, says Patrick Raleigh Remote Condition Monitoring (RCM) is becoming of increasing interest to a diverse cross- section of industries....

PLANT MAINTENANCE: Steel maker sees infrared.
May 23, 2008... Engineers at the Huttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH (HKM), steelworks in Duisburg are using infrared camera technology to inspect, maintain and optimise production processes. The German company manufactures pig iron and steel and also...

PLANT MAINTENANCE: Polimeri solves pump problem.
May 23, 2008... Global elastomers supplier Polimeri Europa, which has UK plants in Hythe and Grangemouth, has cut its pump maintenance costs by over 80% through the use of a new impeller and pump design that allows latex coagulate to be pumped more reliably...

ETHERNET: Rocky road to the industrial highway.
May 23, 2008... The industrial Ethernet market is growing, but not at the expense of fieldbus. Patrick Raleigh reports The market for industrial Ethernet products and technologies is set to grow rapidly over the next few years. Analysts estimates for...

ETHERNET: Profinet's 3m forecast for 2010.
May 23, 2008... PROFIBUS estimates there were around 1.14 million PROFINET nodes installed by the end of 2007 compared with 23.3 million PROFIBUS nodes. And, forecasts PI deputy chairman Joerg Freitag, "Three million PROFINET nodes will have been installed by...

ETHERNET: Irish upgrade delivers benefits galore.
May 23, 2008... Irish Distillers Group's Midleton distillery in east Cork produces some of the world's best-known Irish whiskeys. Combining a number of distilleries in one, Midleton is a complex plant that relies on a sophisticated industrial Ethernet...

ETHERNET: The latest technology advances.
May 23, 2008... SIXNET/SL-8MG Slim Line industrial Ethernet switches: Have eight ultra- fast gigabit ports for auto-sensing 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet links. Switches feature four flexible combination ports, offering the convenience of both a copper RJ45 and...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Pump for omelettes.
May 23, 2008... A Japanese food processing company has switched to peristaltic technology from Watson-Marlow Bredel to pump egg yolks and whites through a chilling process before despatch to food manufacturers who make extra-thick omelettes for use in sushi....

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Mills on monitor.
May 23, 2008... Aleris Aluminium, based in Koblenz, Germany, is achieving annual cost savings of around Euro200,000 following its installation of online condition monitoring systems on its aluminium rolling mills. The on-line system - from Schaeffler...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Tyco bags nuclear deal.
May 23, 2008... Tyco Flow Control has won a #13-million order from the European Commission and Russian nuclear operator Rosenergoatom to manufacture, deliver and install its type GA251 Sempell gate valves at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) near...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Bostik targets overfill protection.
May 23, 2008... A multi-point alarm, overfill protection system installed on latex- and bitumen-based storage tanks is playing a crucial safety role at Bostik's manufacturing plant at Saltney, near Chester, UK. The site, formerly owned by Laybond Products,...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Air Liquide steels ahead.
May 23, 2008... Air Liquide is claiming a world first with its development of a technology to enable CO2 to be separated from blast furnace gases, while at the same time recovering residual gases. The project is part of the European ULCOS initiative (Ultra Low...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Safe wireless for Seal Sands.
May 23, 2008... Evonik Degussa Seal Sands is installing a new intrinsically safe wireless network to improve its operational efficiency. The WLAN is to extend the chemical company's assessment of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) into the extreme...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Automation project buoys Petrobras.
May 23, 2008... The Petrobras Zarate polystyrene plant 80km north of Buenos Aires is achieving production gains and reduced plant downtime through a multi- year digital automation project with Emerson Process Management. The PS manufacturer has increased...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Bring me sunshine.
May 23, 2008... Spain is building three commercial-scale solar power plants to collect heat and convert it to electrical energy, taking advantage of the country's sunny climate and favourable tax incentives together with a special heat transfer fluid from...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Argent steams ahead.
May 23, 2008... Argent Energy has installed Waukesha Cherry-Burrell (WCB) pumps from AxFlow UK for biodiesel processing at its 45,000 tonnes/year plant near Motherwell, Scotland, one of Europe's largest biodiesel processing facilities. The new pumps...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Czech chemical unit reports APC gains.
May 23, 2008... Deza, a Czech processor of benzol and crude coking tar, has reported significant performance gains from the application of advanced process control (APC) on its phthalic anhydride (PA) plant at Valasske Mezirici. Since it was commissioned in...

CONTRACTS: Fluor.
May 23, 2008... LDK Solar Co has chosen Fluor Corp to supply the engineering, procurement and construction management services for the world's largest new polysilicon facility. The $1bn project includes a trichlorosilane plant, chemical vapour deposition...

APPOINTMENTS: Haden Freeman Risk Services.
May 23, 2008... After 16 years at the Health & Safety Executive, Andrew Fowler has become a principal consultant with Haden Freeman Risk Services, based in Manchester. Fowler's HSE career began as a specialist inspector of process safety and in COMAH...

APPOINTMENTS: Emerson Process Management UK.
May 23, 2008... Emerson Process Management has appointed Andy Hammond as sales manager, asset optimisation for the UK and Ireland. Hammond was previously business development manager, refining, having transferred from Emerson's tank gauging business, where...

APPOINTMENTS: Victualic.
May 23, 2008... Victaulic has appointed Larry Thau as executive vice president and chief technical officer. Thau has served in a number of key capacities related to the development of new products during his 35-year career at Victaulic. He Is the inventor or...

APPOINTMENTS: Sandvik UK.
May 23, 2008... Sandvik has appointed Barinder Ghai as product manager for process industries in the UK. With over six years' experience within the Sandvik organisation and expertise on projects both large and small, Ghai is able to advise customers on...

APPOINTMENTS: Baldor-Dodge-Reliance.
May 23, 2008... Baldor-Dodge-Reliance has appointed Frank Schlosser as head of sales, Europe. He joins from Rexnord, where he spent over 10 years, finishing his career with the power transmission vendor as regional sales manager for Germany, Austria,...

APPOINTMENTS: Excel Automation.
May 23, 2008... David McCulloch has been appointed operations director of Excel Automation, renewing a previous connection with the conveying and materials handling company. McCulloch has gained extensive experience of the industry including a period as...