Process Engineering articles from September 2000

Process Engineering archives from September 2000

Sub salvage imperative.
September 1, 2000... A nuclear reactor onboard the Russian submarine Kursk could leak into the Barents sea if the vessel is not salvaged soon, according to former Russian naval officer Aleksandr Nikitin. Addressing a meeting of the American Chemical Society in...

DuPont sells HCN licensing.
September 1, 2000... Kvaerner has acquired exclusive rights to market DuPont's proprietary hydrogen cyanide technology, and will provide engineering packages for clients up to and including economic feasibility studies. The process, which is used to manufacture...

BP streamlines supply chain.
September 1, 2000... BP is to use Aspen Technology software to optimise performance of its chemical operations. AspenTech will use its supply chain management packages to 'optimise BP's value chain and improve customer service through strategic global planning,...

BASF posts record sales.
September 1, 2000... BASF marked the first three months of the new century by posting record first-quarter sales. And then things got better. Second quarter sales exceeded the first three months by 5 per cent. 'The company is on top form and will generate even...

Kraton sale completes Shell's reshaping.
September 1, 2000... Shell has completed its chemicals operation divestment programme by agreeing to the sale of its Kraton polymers business to Ripplewood Holdings, a New York-based private equity investment firm for an undisclosed sum. The divestment...

Hickson sold to US specialities firm.
September 1, 2000... US specialities manufacturer Arch Chemicals has bought Hickson International for [pound]96.8million. The Connecticut-based company intends to sell off the UK firm's organic chemicals business, including Hickson & Welch. Arch, part of Olin...

ABB moves into polypropylene.
September 1, 2000... ABB is to join forces with Equistar Chemicals to buy BASF's Novolen polypropylene process technology from the German firm's Targor subsidiary. The deal, ABB's first move into the polymers market, also includes the rights to license and market...

DSM buys Catalytica.
September 1, 2000... Dutch chemicals major DSM has boosted its fine chemicals operations by buying Catalytica Pharmaceuticals for $800million. Catalytica's other businesses, combustion systems and advanced technologies, are to be bundled into a single company and...

Amec prospers after acquisitions.
September 1, 2000... UK contractor Amec had posted an 18 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for the six months including its acquisition of Canadian maintenance engineering firm Agra. 'The early signs are most encouraging,' comments chief executive Peter Mason. ...

MIAA formality.
September 1, 2000... The 46 companies shortlisted for PE publisher Centaur Communications' Manufacturing Industry Achievement Awards (MIAAs) don't have long to wait to find out whether they are winners. The awards ceremony on 19 September at Grosvenor House,...

PE, B+L and C&I join forces.
September 1, 2000... Process Engineering and its sister Centaur magazine Control & Instrumentation are to co-host a forum on processing technology with process systems company Bran + Luebbe on 11 October. Chaired by C&I editor Paul Gay, the forum will be held at...

Correction.
September 1, 2000... In last month's SHAPA Supplement, the pictures corresponding to the articles on Flomat Bagfilla International and Dust Extraction (international) on page s23 were accidentally transposed. Apologies to both companies for the mistake.

Pump power.
September 1, 2000... Weir Pumps has won orders worth [pound]11 million to supply pumping equipment to power plants in the Far and Middle East by ABB Alstom Power. The company is to supply boiler feed and condensate extraction pumps to Manjung coal-fired power...

Origin of species.
September 1, 2000... Akcros Chemicals has signed an agreement with Origin to provide IT support for the entire business group. The contract, valued at [pound]4.85mi1lion over five years, is for the management of the company's ERP system. Origin will also provide...

Web step.
September 1, 2000... Fisher-Rosemount and Bristol-Myers Squibb have teamed up to use PlantWeb field based architecture for process automation. The project known as the Cruiserath Bulk Manufacturing Facility is for multi-purpose batch manufacture of health care...

Refinery on air.
September 1, 2000... Tyco Valves & Controls has been awarded a further order from Reliance Petroleum for the Installation of air and motor operated valve packages at the Jamnagar refinery in North-west India. The addition of this order takes the value of valve...

BP Amoco profits up with rebranding at top.
September 1, 2000... BP has rebranded across its operations and with immediate effect, BP Amoco will come under the umbrella of BP. The renaming comes as BP Amoco reports record quarter results. First half replacement cost profit before exceptional items is...

Invensys takes a large piece of pie.
September 1, 2000... Invensys has assumed full management control of Baan with approximately 72 per cent of the company's outstanding shares. The company will become part of the software and systems division (ISS) as reported in PE June p6. The division will...

Alfa Laval realises more than capital.
September 1, 2000... Tetra Laval, the Swedish packaging business, is to divest Alfa Laval, its division which specialises in separation and flow equipment and heat exchangers. A Swedish private equity firm, Industri Kapital, will acquire Alfa Laval for an...

Severn Glocon.
September 1, 2000... Severn Glocon has been awarded the contract to supply control valves for an upgrade project on the Tern Alpha production platform in the North Sea, operated by Shell UK. The Series 5000 globe control valves will be used for hydrocarbon gas and...

Oil pinches across the process sector.
September 1, 2000... Rotork, has posted a 27 per cent fall in first-half profits to [pounds]9.56million. The run of decline started half way through last year with low levels of investment in many of Rotork's markets and the absence of major projects. The rise in...

Wastewater costs evaporate away.
September 1, 2000... Following the expansion into the US of its parent company Severn Trent Services (see PE July/August 2000, p13), Capital Controls is now introducing into the UK an innovative way of treating wastewater from a variety of industrial processes....

Swedish belt beats conveyors.
September 1, 2000... An award-winning design from Swedish company Sicon Roulunds could put paid to all the dust and spillage problems associated with traditional open belt conveyers. As shown here, the system is based on a rubber belt that folds up to form a...

Setting a standard for on-site calibration.
September 1, 2000... Recently introduced to the UK by Hawco, Ametek's advanced temperature calibrator, the Joffra ATC, has been designed to meet new EA guidelines established by European standards laboratories. Combining the accuracy of laboratory calibrators...

CIA pleased, FoE confused.
September 1, 2000... The UK Chemical Industries Association broadly welcomed the report. 'The chemical industry fully favours openness,' says Director General Elliot Finer. 'We welcome the broader context in this report, but believe that this needs to go much...

Environment Agency spotlights polluters.
September 1, 2000... A report on industry's environmental performance pulls no punches in naming and shaming the miscreants, as Stuart Nathan reports Naming-and-shaming has been in the headlines for a while now, and it was only a matter of time before the...

Engineers all, but some are more in demand than others.
September 1, 2000... 'The survey highlights a growing shortage of practically-oriented engineers' What's in a name? Well, if you call yourself an engineer -- and if you receive PE regularly, you do -- you know all about the never-ending arguments over the use...

Workers of the world, divided.
September 1, 2000... By their very nature, capital investment projects -- be they civil, architectural, mechanical, aerospace, marine or process -- have a very high labour element built into the project pricing. Generally, this can be as high as some 70 per cent of...

EXTENDING OUR COST DATA BOUNDARIES.
September 1, 2000... The countries listed here were recently added to our long-standing international indices. The data is still somewhat inconsistent but we hope to have full details soon. The base for all data is 1996=100

UK AND INTERNATIONAL PLANT COST INDICES.
September 1, 2000... 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 all...

Red and Yellow and Green and... now Brown.
September 1, 2000... The latest in the IChemE's Model Forms of Conditions of Contract for Process Plant has just been published. 'The Brown Book' fills a long-perceived gap in the series with guidelines on subcontracts for civil engineering works. Compatible...

Under pressure.
September 1, 2000... A new process under development at the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratory can create pressures of around a million atmospheres in a few billionths of a second. The researchers, led by Clint Hall, plan to use the technique to...

Vinyl makers Criticise report.
September 1, 2000... An EC-sponsored report into the environmental impact of PVC waste treatments has sparked criticism from vinyl producers and environmentalists. The report concludes that in most cases, landfilling or recycling PVC is less environmentally...

US Army tests chemical weapons destruction method.
September 1, 2000... A process developed by AEA Technology could be used to destroy the US's stockpile of chemical weapons. Based around the oxidising power of silver ions, the process is currently being tested by the US Army. The process, called SilverII, was...

CFD research in the swim.
September 1, 2000... The US Olympic swimming teem is pinning its medal hopes on techniques more familiar from process plant design. Barry Bixler of Honeywell Engines & Systems is leading a team that uses computational fluid dynamics models to advise swimmers on the...

Fullerenes on the market.
September 1, 2000... Mitsubishi, Materials and Electrochemical Research and Research Corporation Technologies are to join forces to form Fullerene International, a company which aims to manufacture and commercialise fullerenes. Fullerenes are produced by...

A dab hand for sludge.
September 1, 2000... A small-scale sludge thickening and dewatering unit has been installed at Bowhouse waste water treatment works. Simon-Hartley's Dab system has decreased transport costs at East of Scotland Water by 75 per cent. The system is located between two...

Pfizer analyses the organic loading.
September 1, 2000... Pfizer's Ringaskiddy pharmaceutical processing complex near Cork, Ireland treats its waste effluent in a purpose-built $15million wastewater treatment plant to handle 1300 [m.sup.3]/day. Pfizer undertakes continuous monitoring of total organic...

Full to the crop.
September 1, 2000... Aventis CropScience has installed a filling system from the liquids handling division of Permex to complement its existing weighing system. The system is used to fill containers from 20 to 220 litres with herbicides. The design consists of a...

Vacuum pumps lubricate the times of oil change.
September 1, 2000... Gone are the days of constant oil changes and sumps full of sludge. Responsible for this change are companies such as Lubrizol, who manufacture additives for lubricants and fuels. Lubrizol required a vacuum system for its high performance,...

Not the run of the mill.
September 1, 2000... An air classifier mill system has been installed at the Du Pont Cereals Innovation Centre in Cambridge by Hosokawa Micron. The mill is able to process a variety of cereal and vegetable products in the range of diameters from 97 to 10 microns....

Building business.
September 1, 2000... Stuart Nathan looks at the merger and acquisition activity in the process contractors market, where some familiar names have vanished altogether, while others are about to expand For most of the process industries, consolidation is a way of...

Cleaner fuels with TEAMWORK.
September 1, 2000... An innovative approach to the use of 3D plant design software and partnerships between contractors, designers and operators helped Parsons Energy and Chemicals complete a major project for Conoco, as Martin Brooks explains The London...

Supercritical fluids make custom powders.
September 1, 2000... The technology behind particle engineering has moved on from the use of large quantities of solvents to reproduce particles of consistent size. Tania Coates and Stuart Nathan look at the single stage operation using supercritical fluids to...

SCADA SYSTEMS weave around the web.
September 1, 2000... The Internet is bringing a new lease of life to established Scada (supervisory control and data acquisition) system technologies. Mike Spear reports on new ways of opening up your plant information to a worldwide audience The ability to...

Phone home for plant data.
September 1, 2000... Not all remote access to real-time plant data need be done over the web -- your mobile phone might do the job. With the IN4MA device from Oakes, for example, users can acquire process data from anywhere within the international GSM network. It...

Manufacturers face changing markets for HEAT EXCHANGERS.
September 1, 2000... This month's Equipment Focus looks at how heat transfer equipment manufacturers are responding to the changing demands of their traditional markets According to US-based market analysts Frost & Sullivan, the heat exchanger market in Europe...

Heaters for samplers.
September 1, 2000... Designed to heat samples entering instrumentation systems and to preheat liquids to prevent condensation of gases prior to analysis, the GO Series HPR-2 vaporising pressure regulators are now available in the UK from Circor. Enhanced...

Plate spares go on-line.
September 1, 2000... Set to rival the aftersales services of major exchanger manufacturers, a 'dot.com' company set up by HRS has launched an eponymous website (heatexchangerspares.com) from which plate exchanger spare parts can be ordered. A main advantage of...

Air-cooled units for process cooling.
September 1, 2000... Designed for most process cooling applications, Searle's flatbed and V-bank dry-air liquid-cooler ranges can cater for a wide range of control options. The DKG units (nominally 33-826kW) have one to five fans arranged in a single bank or...

Keeping the heat on, safely.
September 1, 2000... Hazardous area heating specialist Heatex has introduced its RFA-C range of flameproof immersion heaters. Featuring a removable ceramic core, the heaters can be maintained without any need for draining the contents of the tank or vessel they are...

Serving up steam on a plate.
September 1, 2000... A range of steam heaters from Alfa Laval Thermal Division makes use of the company's well-established design of plate heat exchangers. The TS-M series features a special plate geometry, stainless steel plates and special gaskets capable of...

Keeping in the front line.
September 1, 2000... Replacing Alfa Laval Thermal's ClipLine range of plate heat exchangers, the Front Line series is aimed at heating and cooling duties in the dairy, brewery, beverage and food industries. Existing users of ClipLine exchangers will not be...

Packaged exchanger solutions set for growth.
September 1, 2000... According to research carried out on behalf of specialist heat exchanger manufacturer Rycroft, the market for packaged heat exchangers is expected to grow well ahead of other engineering sectors over the next five years. End-users demands for...

Boiler runs out of steam, but replacement fires up.
September 1, 2000... After 50 years in service and more than 120 000 units sold worldwide, the venerable Fulton Series 'E' steam boiler is being replaced by the new Series 'J'. Nine models are available in the new series, with outputs ranging from 96 to 960kg/h,...

Patented non-fouling exchanger.
September 1, 2000... Launched at this year's Achema exhibition by HRS Heat Exchangers, the patented HRS Dynamic range of exchangers has been designed as a competitively priced, reliable unit to handle viscous, particulate containing and heat sensitive products that...

Coiled exchanger is a space-saver.
September 1, 2000... The latest model in HRS Heat Exchangers' Spiratube range is the HRS Double Tube Coil. Developed for applications where one long product tube is the best option, but where space is a problem, this coiled heat exchanger combines a high surface...

ABB licenses Helixchanger design to Wellman Graham.
September 1, 2000... Following the signing of a licence agreement between the two companies, Wellman Graham is to manufacture, at its Gloucester works, the Helixchanger which was originally designed by ABB's Lummus Heat Transfer division. Proven to increase...

ALL WRAPPED UP PPMA.
September 1, 2000... This year's PPMA Show is set to be bigger and better than ever before with nearly 400 exhibitors at the NEC in Halls 1, 2 and 3. Process Engineering previews some of the companies from SHAPA and those from the processing industries Once...

Two divisions for Neu Engineering.
September 1, 2000... The materials and handling and processing divisions of Neu Engineering will be showing a range of pneumatic conveying technologies at this year's PPMA show. The techniques include lean and dense phase, pressure and vacuum or combination, inert...

Invicta in the vibe.
September 1, 2000... For the first time, Invicta Vibrators will be exhibiting at the PPMA show on stand 3161, with a wide range of rotary electric and pneumatic piston vibrators used to power vibratory screens, conveyors and feeders. The new vibrators have been...

Silverson creates mixing in a flash.
September 1, 2000... High shear mixers from Silverson Machines will be shown at the PPMA show. Amongst other equipment will be the Flashbend FLB30 powder/liquid mixing system. Powder is reduced to a minimum and the unit is designed for high speed, homogeneous...

All systems designed from dust to dawn.
September 1, 2000... Dust Extraction (International) continues to design and install dust extraction and centralised vacuum cleaning systems to suit each of its clients' very individual requirements. Each plant is carefully engineered to ensure that a customer's...

Shear magnetism.
September 1, 2000... Eriez Magnetic, exhibiting for the first time at PPMA, will be showing a range of light to medium duty vibratory feeders on stand 3260, Hall 3. The High Deflection feeder, suitable for handling powdery, leafy or other difficult materials, will...

Separate from all the rest.
September 1, 2000... Separation technology specialist Russell Finex is using the PPMA Show as a launchpad for its Compact and Finex ranges of vibratory sieves. The former, designed to fit into existing production lines even when headroom is limited, is available in...

Silo discharge.
September 1, 2000... Portasilo BulkHandling Systems will be displaying a range of equipment on Stand 3345 to include the Superflo dense phase pneumatic conveying system, the Rotoflo discharge system and the Vibroflo vibratory discharger. The Superflo can handle a...

In power.
September 1, 2000... Two new products from Kemutec's Kek and Gardner ranges will be on display on stand 3146 at the NEC, both designed for powder processing. The Gardner U-trough ribbon feeders represent significant improvements in both hygiene and cleanability....

Mini mixer moistens powders.
September 1, 2000... Hosokawa Micron, powder and particulate processing equipment manufacturer, will be exhibiting the Allgaier screening machine and an explosion proof barrier valve designed to prevent flames developing during powder handling. A small version...

Twin frames.
September 1, 2000... Reflecting its versatility in the handling, movement and conveying of bulk solids, Flexicon (Europe) will be displaying a range of technologies for bulk bag discharge, bulk bag filling and multipoint delivery at the PPMA show. The Model BFF-20...

Clean and sunny.
September 1, 2000... Suncombe's MobileCIP cleaning system is making its first UK appearance on stand 3471 at the PPMA Show. Designed to allow the entire system to be moved to its point of use, the system reduces the need for pipework routing and can be positioned...

Excellent conveying.
September 1, 2000... The Pneuvac vacuum conveying system promises dust-free transfer of poorly-flowing products, claims Spiroflow, which is showing this equipment for the first time in the UK on stand 3116. The device is fabricated with seamless welds inside and...

Full up.
September 1, 2000... Masterfil has redesigned its Multifil range of automatic filling and capping machines to be unveiled at the PPMA show on stand 2460, Hall 2. The volume change is now altered by a hand-wheel with a digital readout, cutting down on the time the...

Reliable.
September 1, 2000... The Zanchetta Isovalve will be launched at the PPMA show by Romaco. The Isovalve is an [alpha]-[beta] butterfly valve which can reduce operator exposure levels to dust to less than 1mg/[m.sup.3]. With a one piece body and single arm design,...

Coat of armour.
September 1, 2000... Manesty will be promoting its new XL tablet coater which offers a new standard of analytical and process power for R&D and clinical coating trials. The mobile plug and play machine offers faster coating times, a wide range of batch sizes and...

Acrison belts up the market.
September 1, 2000... An 'entirely new concept in vertical in-line weigh feeding' will be on display at Acrison's stand at PPMA. The model 270 weigh feeder, designed for hygienic metering at moderate to high rates, includes only one moving part -- the pocketed...

Agreement in the bag.
September 1, 2000... Recently acquired by the BMH division of Babcock International, Chronos Richardson is focusing on its weighing, bagging and batching systems. Stand 3140 will feature new products in each of these areas. Weighing systems include the SpeedAC...

Take a probe into weighing.
September 1, 2000... Applied Weighing will be exhibiting the very latest weighing equipment at this year's PPMA Show. Over the past 18 months, a range of load cells have achieved BASEEFA certification and earlier this year, the company launched the Uniprobe 100 and...

A taste of value.
September 1, 2000... Sudmo UK designs, implements and manages projects for the food, drink and pharmaceutical industries. In 1998 Sudmo Components was added to the business to increase the range of valves and components. The company will be exhibiting the latest...

A cloud of dust is done.
September 1, 2000... Dust control solutions will be shown by Torit DCE on Stand 3221. Equipment will include dust and fume control in line with health and safety, environmental and COSHH regulations. A range of products from cylindrical filter cartridges to fabric...

Debut with a flowing design.
September 1, 2000... Jenco will be making its first appearance at the PPMA show on stand 3163 with lean phase vacuum conveyors for granules, powders and difficult materials. Also on show will be gravimetric batch blenders which handle a maximum of 3000kg/hr with up...

Crisp and new.
September 1, 2000... Also making its PPMA debut this year, Mogensen has two units designed and built to food hygiene standards on stand 3350. The Type SRSL 1220/610 vibratory screen has a stainless steel mesh with adjustable inclination. The other device is a...

Trapeze feeds savings.
September 1, 2000... Brabender Technologie is showing a variety of gravimetric and volumetric metering feeders at the PPMA show. Models on display include FlexWall feeders with massaged flexible hoppers in a new trapezoidal design. This both improves mass flow and...

Alfa Laval's top marks...and valves for aseptic duties.
September 1, 2000... Alfa Laval says its plate heat exchangers and semi-welded plate exchangers are the first to carry the European Union CE mark to show compliance with the UK Pressure Equipment Regulations and the EC Pressure Equipment Directive. The EU appoints...

Alfa Laval's top marks...and valves for aseptic duties.
September 1, 2000... The new AMP aseptic mixproof valve from Alfa Laval's Flow Division is said to offer the best of both worlds for hygienic processes -- security against contamination combined with the benefits of a genuine mixproof valve. It is an aseptic double...