Process Engineering articles from November 2001

Process Engineering archives from November 2001

BP cuts deep at Grangemouth. (News).
November 1, 2001... Workers at Britain's largest petrochemicals complex, BP Grangemouth in Scotland, are bracing themselves for the latest round of redundancies announced by the company this month. Up to 40 per cent of the 2500 workforce are to lose their jobs...

While scoring technology first. (News).
November 1, 2001... The first commercial refinery unit to use BP's OATS desulphurisation technology has begun production of ultra-low sulphur gasoline at the Bayemoil refinery in Neustadt, Bavaria, Germany. The new unit will help Bayemoil -- a BP j-v with Agip and...

New dates for ISA conference. (News).
November 1, 2001... The England Section of ISA -- the instrumentation, systems and automation society -- has announced new dates for its Bretby conference and exhibition, postponed in the aftermath of 11 September. It will now be in Burton-on-Trent on 13-14 March,...

Kvaerner still in crisis despite Yukos funding. (News).
November 1, 2001... The beleaguered Anglo-Norwegian engineering firm Kvaerner is still in crisis despite selling off several divisions to Russian oil company Yukos. Its second-largest shareholder and bitter business rival, Aker Maritime, is pushing for a...

Superconductors are hot stuff at Siemens. (News).
November 1, 2001... Power-saving electric motors could be a major step closer, with the start-up of the first motor in Europe with a winding made from high-temperature superconductors. Designed and built at Siemens Research Centre at Erlangan, Germany, the motor...

Surfing with dinosaurs. (News).
November 1, 2001... The engineering sector's use of the internet is 'dinosaur-like', causing it to miss out on valuable benefits, according to a survey by AVEVA Consulting. More than half of the survey respondents acknowledged that the internet can improve...

BASF and Huntsman aim high for Shanghai project. (News).
November 1, 2001... Two of the world's largest, but most different, chemical companies, are to join forces on a major integrated facility in China. The market-quoted German giant BASF and the family-run Huntsman have now completed a feasibility study for the...

Chemical industry centres on innovation. (News).
November 1, 2001... The Chemical Industries Association has thrown its weight behind the creation of a national innovation centre for high-value chemicals. The centre, for which the CIA is now conducting a feasibility study, would coordinate resources and help UK...

Mega-dairy pioneers environmental permit. (News).
November 1, 2001... The Environment Agency has awarded the first permit for a food and drink factory under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) directive to Robert Wiseman Dairies' new Droitwich plant, claimed to be the world's largest dairy. ...

Shell to expand polyol ouput. (News).
November 1, 2001... Shell Chemicals is to build a new 50 000tpa polymer polyol plant at Pernis, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Due on stream in the second quarter of 2003, the investment 'will strengthen Shell Chemicals position in the global polyurethane industry,'...

DuPont extends Aspen tie-up. (News).
November 1, 2001... DuPont has signed licensing agreements with Aspen Technology to extend for a further five years its use of AspenTech's engineering, modelling and process information management solutions. DuPont has used AspenTech's software solutions since...

CIA call for cuts in regulations. (News).
November 1, 2001... The Chemical Industries Association has called on the Government to reduce the regulatory and economic burden on the UK chemical industry. CIA communication director Dr Anil Kumar said: 'If the UK is to retain its chemical manufacturing...

Ciba opens China site. (News).
November 1, 2001... Ciba Specialties has bolstered its presence in the Far East with the opening of a textile effects facility in Guangzhou, China. The plant will manufacture around 20 different products for pretreatment, finishing, softening, and auxiliaries for...

Siemens merges automation arms. (Company News).
November 1, 2001... Siemens is to amalgamate three of its businesses, Siemens Moore Process Automation, Siemens Process Instruments, and Siemens Applied Automation, into a single unit to be known as Siemens Process Automation. The business, with a [pounds...

ABB wins power plant contract. (Company News).
November 1, 2001... ABB is to supply the complete electrical and control package for Kirklees Waste Services' waste to power plant in West Yorkshire. The company is to supply site management, electrical installation cable containment and instrumentation...

BOC shops at Smiths. (Company News).
November 1, 2001... BOC has agreed to buy the vacuum and pressure interests of Smiths Group for [pounds sterling]12.8million. Four businesses are involved in the deal: Stokes Vacuum, Hick Hargreaves, Hibon and Wilhelm Klein. Together, they will add over [pounds...

One of Europe's most advanced ethanol blending systems has been installed at Simon Storage's Seal Sands terminal. (Company News).
November 1, 2001... CAPTION: One of Europe's most advanced ethanol blending systems has been installed at Simon Storage's Seal Sands terminal. The five-stream in-line system can blend ethanol with combinations of up to nine additives. The system is based...

Salt of the earth. (Company News).
November 1, 2001... Rotork Control & Safety has won the contract to supply an integrated control and safety system for Aquila's new gas storage facility in Cheshire. The 56million tonne facility, housed within the cavern left behind by salt mining, will be...

UK and International Plant Cost Indices. (Company News).
November 1, 2001... Process Engineering's PREDICT plant cost index for the UK is made up of five components covering mechanical [I.sub.M], electrical [I.sub.E], civil engineering [I.sub.C] site engineering [I.sub.S], and project overheads [I.sub.O]. These are now...

The changing face of seals. (Product News).
November 1, 2001... New sealing technology from John Crane promises to give improved performance for reduced cost. The 'LaserFace' seal system, a low-friction development of the company's tried-and-tested spiral groove sealing technology, is aimed at applications...

Multipoint particle emission monitoring. (Product News).
November 1, 2001... PCME's latest particle emission monitor, the DT-990, allows up to 32 sensors to be connected to a single control unit, which provides automated data recording and PC reporting options for regulatory compliance. The instrument combines...

Motors made for process. (Product News).
November 1, 2001... ABB has launched a new motor specifically for the process industries. Designed for high reliability, the M3000 features improved cooling to double the operational life of bearings and wirings - thereby addressing the causes of 90 per cent of...

Adopting a low profile. (Product News).
November 1, 2001... May not always be the best way to be noticed. But an exception can be made for Portasilo's new low profile version of its Rotoflo discharger for bins and silos. The new version has an external gearbox, which serves to aid maintenance and also...

How low can you go... ppt?. (Product News).
November 1, 2001... For industries such semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and aerospace, Able Instruments & Controls has introduced a moisture detection system that can go down to parts per trillion levels 'in milliseconds with absolute accuracy'. The MTO is the...

Clamp-on gas flowmetering. (Product News).
November 1, 2001... In what is claimed as a major breakthrough for flow measurement, Panametrics has launched a clamp-on flowmeter for gases. This was previously considered impossible, the company says, as clamp-on methods were only suitable for liquids. The...

Europe to fuel biodiesel growth. (News Analysis).
November 1, 2001... European Union directives are set to boost the market for biodiesel, according to market researchers Frost & Sullivan. The directives will institute tax breaks for biodiesel to bring its price down to the level of conventional diesel, and will...

Green chemistry partners aim to change UK culture: Green chemistry research is gathering pace in the UK with the setting up of a new 'virtual centre of excellence'. (News Analysis).
November 1, 2001... The latest round of Faraday Partnerships -- the government-sponsored partnerships focusing industrial and academic research on technological hot-spots -- includes a method to change the way industry thinks and acts. Nothing new there, of course...

A lesson in the finer points of the chemical industry. (Comment).
November 1, 2001... Ever since its earliest days, the chemical industry has had something of an image problem. One of the original 'smokestack' industries so easily dismissed as having no future in a modern economy, the industry - in all its forms, from inorganic...

Events.
November 1, 2001... 13 November Calibration Principles is a one-day training course organised by Sira Test & Certification at its Kent headquarters. It should act as a lead-in for the company's more specific calibration courses on humidity measurement and...

A good rate of return. (Research & Technology).
November 1, 2001... Research into reaction rates could help boost the profits of pharmaceutical companies, according to the project's directors. Dubbed 'From microgrammes to multikilos', the EPSRC-funded project aims to streamline pharmaceutical processes,...

Colour for Colloids. (Research & Technology).
November 1, 2001... Allied Colloids has enhanced the capabilities of its R&D labs by installing a Demag compact injection moulding machine, shown here. Designed for use in pigments and masterbatch research, the machine will allow researchers to mould samples to a...

Making light work of anthrax spores. (Research & Technology).
November 1, 2001... It could just be the idea whose time has come. An indoor air cleaning system designed to kill off dust mites and mould spores is also capable of destroying airborne anthrax and other pathogens, according to its developer, Yogi Goswagi of the...

Truth from tomography. (Research & Technology).
November 1, 2001... Efficient slurry transport is vital to most coal preparation processes. A flow swirling facility at the University of Nottingham has been created to keep particulate solids suspended in a homogeneous distribution at different concentrations and...

Ciba launches polymer service. (Research & Technology).
November 1, 2001... Aimed at providing 'knowledge-based services' for the global polymer industry, Ciba Specialty Chemicals' new Expert Services division will allow companies to use Ciba's expertise in polymer research. The company is offering laboratory services...

Oman optS for Axens process. (Research & Technology).
November 1, 2001... The Sultanate of Oman has opted to use the Axens Prime G+ process for petroleum sulphur reduction at the new state-owned refinery at Sohar. The technology is to be combined with light naphtha etherification from Fortum. The Prime-G+ process is...

Steam heating beats electric for hot water. (Equipment in Action).
November 1, 2001... At Rich Sauces' factory in Northern Ireland a new boiler house and hot water system installed by Spirax Sarco is proving to be 35 per cent more efficient than the electrical system previously used to generate hot water. Rich uses steam...

Thermal oil regenerator slashes maintenance costs. (Equipment in Action).
November 1, 2001... A mobile thermal oil regeneration system, developed by Derbyshire-based Heat Transfer Systems, looks set to halve maintenance costs for A P Chemicals at its Cheddleton plant in Leek, Staffordshire. Site engineer Richard Coult says that before...

Fume extraction system makes its mark. (Equipment in Action).
November 1, 2001... The use of lasers in the packaging industry to code products with use-by dates and bar codes is growing, as are the amounts of dust and fumes generated as a result. For example, PVC and PET materials release both particles and fumes when marked...

Keeping cool over plastics. (Equipment in Action).
November 1, 2001... Plastic cooling specialist Coolmation has completed a [pounds]750 000 turnkey project, one of its largest ever, at Plastek UK's European headquarters in Mansfield. The project, the installation of an energy efficient cooling system, will help...

Gas burners save money while making money. (Equipment in Action).
November 1, 2001... The Royal Mint at Llantrisant, Mid-Glamorgan, produces more than 3.6billion coins each year for some 80 countries around the world. Central to this moneymaking operation are the plating operations, which have recently been improved with the...

Better safe than sorry. (Plant Security).
November 1, 2001... The world is a different place after the 11 September attacks, and process companies are increasingly concerned about the security of their most visible assets. Stuart Nathan reports on some of the concerns, and on what can be and is being done...

A hose by any other name could lead to problems if fitted to peristaltic pumps. (Materials).
November 1, 2001... Philip Bolton warns about the dangers of specifying cheaper non-standard hoses, while overleaf Colin Newton advises similar caution over parts from 'compressor cowboys' Among pump users across a of industries, a spread notable recent...

Pressure flowing back into the big time?: With last month's introduction of its 305 1S series of pressure instrumentation, Rosemount has raised the tried and trusted technique of differential- pessure flow metering to a new performance level. (Pressure Management).
November 1, 2001... 'Are users giving up pressure transmitters?' asked industry analyst Wil Chin only three months ago. As director of field devices for the ARC Advisory Group, Chin is well qualified to give an answer. Introducing his updated ARC study Pressure...

Detection is hot stuff: Leslie Bauman and William Von Drasek explain how Air Liquide used new software to update its equipment for measuring flame temperatures using emission absorption spectroscopy. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Measurement of temperature is fundamental for diagnosing high temperature flows. Familiar in the laboratory and used increasingly in industrial processes, spectroscopic techniques represent a valuable non-intrusive method for obtaining...

Electric dreams. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Mitsubishi Electric has enhanced its FX2N PLC range with the release of a compact temperature control block. Equipped with two independent control channels which can be connected to all common thermocouple types, the PID loop controller can...

A Peak at products. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Peak Sensors has launched a CD-ROM design guide and product catalogue to help research and select sensor/sheath combinations. The design guide contains in depth and accurate information on sensors, sheaths, components, instrumentation and the...

Storage capacity. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Signatrol's AAC-2 data logger, designed to be connected to a PC or used in remote locations, can store up to 580 000 values. Equipped with a built-in LED display, the unit can accept 24 current, voltage, thermocouple or Pt100 analogue inputs....

Felt-tip pens boost for welders. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... A range of temperature indicators the size of a felt-tip pen will help make life easier for welders, according to Thermographic Measurements. Temp-Rite sticks, which deposit a mark that indicates when a target temperature has been reached, are...

Material gains at Voith. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Voith Fabrics, which manufactures forming, press and dryer fabrics for papermaking machines, has turned to FLIR Systems to help solve process quality control problems. The company has supplied a ThermaCAM PM695 thermal imaging system for...

Digital performance at analogue cost. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Claimed to provide 'digital performance at analogue cost', the thermocouple version of Status Instruments' SEM203 temperature transmitter includes advanced features such as drift-free linearisation and full galvanic isolation. The units are...

Smart moves. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Foxboro's I/A series of temperature transmitters combine microprocessor-based technology with simplified packaging, the company says. All of the versions of the RTT20 transmitter are configured with a plug-in LCD indicator with pushbutton...

Palmtop data is portable. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Electronic Temperature Instruments have introduced ThermaData Logger software, to run on handheld computers running the Palm operating system. The software allows the handhelds to store large amounts of data from onsite dataloggers, which can...

Scan the temperature. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Cropico's 3002-10 PRT thermometer offers measurement resolution of 0.001[degrees]C and 0.010[degrees]C accuracy, thanks to its internal scanner. This device, which is equipped with Pt100 and thermocouple cards, can be configured to carry out...

System saves space. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... IFM Electronic's TR8 temperature monitor is designed to be compact and easy to mount, allowing users to save time, space and money while still providing accurate and reliable temperature control. Each unit can replace four conventional sensors,...

Rosemount can mount 60 sensors. (Temperature Focus).
November 1, 2001... Rosemount's new range of temperature sensor assemblies can provide up to 60 individual sensor assemblies down a single thermowell tube, the company says. Such assemblies can monitor the temperature distribution through a process tabk or up a...

Upgrades help expand Scada market. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... Demand for new products and systems from end-users wanting to upgrade existing systems is keeping the European Scada market in dynamic shape, according to industry analyst Frost & Sullivan. The latest report from F&S shows the European...

On-line viscosity analysis improves boiler efficiency. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... Producing over a million tonnes of aromatics a year at its Teesside operation, Huntsman Petrochemicals UK has improved the efficiency of its process heating systems by installing an on-line digital viscometer from Solartron Mobrey. Seven...

APC ups capacity at Antwerp. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... One of the largest ethylene plants in Europe, the 730 000 tpa steam cracker at BASF's Antwerp facility in Belgium, is benefiting from an advanced process control project, completed in just 44 weeks by Aspen Technology. Delivering increased...

ABB boost for Corus from start to finish. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... At Corus's giant steelmaking plant in Scunthorpe, ABB has been involved in process improvements at both ends of the production cycle. There are four blast furnaces on the site, with three of them feeding slag granulation plants to produce a...

Profibus PA choice proves a success on greenfield project. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... When Yorkshire-based Lambson Fine Chemicals commissioned Lundy Projects to design and build a turnkey liquid fertiliser plant, fieldbus technology was the preferred choice for the control system. The deciding factor was its fast-track build and...

Radar level system guides BP to big savings. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... At BP Oil's Coryton refinery in Essex an Eclipse guided wave radar level system from Magnetrol is helping to solve a very expensive problem. The HT (high temperature) Eclipse system has replaced an existing displacer transmitter on a...

pH problems solved. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... Sensors from Yokogawa UK have helped BP Chemicals solve a problem of obtaining accurate pH measurements on boiler feed water at the company s Hull plant. Prior to opting for the Yokogawa system, BP had tried a number of different sensors,...

4-20mA takes the pressure. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... For applications where 2-way Smart/HART digital communications are not required, Druck has recently expanded its RTX 1000 Series of 4-20mA 2-wire pressure transmitters. The units are now available in ranges from 70mbar up to 1400bar with full...

Taking Calibration in hand. (Control Applications).
November 1, 2001... Able Instruments & Controls has released a range of calibrators with personal digital assistance (PDAs or palm-top computers). The first six members of the Series 3 calibrator family are for mA/pressure, mA, voltage, thermocouple, RTD and...

Here Comes the Sun: The vast number of products made by BASF have led to the development of some surprising products and processes. (Speciality Chemicals).
November 1, 2001... Keeping safe in the sun is not only good sense, it's big business. Since the links between exposure to sunlight and skin cancer have been more widely researched and publicised, demand for effective suncreens has grown rapidly. However,...

Clear and pure. (Water Supply).
November 1, 2001... Pharmaceutical companies need to ensure that they are using the correct purity of water for specific applications in their manufacturing plants. Vivendi Water Systems is launching a variety of systems to meet these needs. According to the...

Software the key to finer performance: The production of fine chemicals, from pharmaceuticals to pigments, relies on efficient batch processing. (Specialist Software).
November 1, 2001... Mike Spear reports on how some of the latest software solutions deliver that efficiency. With its complexities of recipe, inventory, asset and order management, batch processing in the fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries has...

AstraZeneca turns to ABB control. (Applications).
November 1, 2001... AstraZeneca's R&D centre at Charnwood, Leicestershire, is growing so fast that it's outgrown its control systems. The company has turned to ABB for an upgrade for the control system on its pilot plant area. 'We had to expand the system now, as...

Sweet smell of success. (Applications).
November 1, 2001... When Lever Faberge wanted to introduce a safer and more efficient method of filling mixers at its deodorant plant in Leeds, it turned to NEU International for a flexible solution. The company needed a system which could direct material to any...

Drinks are ON GSK. (Applications).
November 1, 2001... GlaxoSmithKline has installed a standalone processing line for aspetic drinks production at its Royal Forest plant in Coleford, Gloucestershire. Supplied by Tetra Pak Processing, the unit has a capacity of 20000litre. The unit centres...

Merck sees the benefits of Morton. (Applications).
November 1, 2001... A mixer supplied by Morton Machines is helping Merck Sharp & Dohme to prevent a disease which causes blindness in the Third World. Installed at MSD's Haarlem plant in the Netherlands, the unit is being used to produce Mectizan, a treatment for...

Laporte finds key to cutting product losses. (Applications).
November 1, 2001... Preventing escape of product is a priority at Laporte Performance Chemicals's Southampton plant, both to maintain safety levels for staff and to minimise the site's environmental impact. So when the company was designing a new barrel filling...