Process Engineering articles from September 2007

Process Engineering archives from September 2007

COMMENT: Turning the global tide.
September 30, 2007... At first glance, for example, the almost 150-year-old Flexsys Rubber Chemicals site at Ruabon in North Wales might not seem a likely base from which to compete with producers in cheap-labour countries, especially in the automotive-related...

Fresh blow to UK pharma industry.
September 30, 2007... Concern as Pfizer decides to shutdown manufacturing operations in Kent - the latest in a series of restructuring moves by the world's largest pharmaceuticals companies Pfizer is to shut its manufacturing operations at Sandwich with the...

Emerson, Cisco attune.
September 30, 2007... Emerson Process Management and Cisco have linked up to offer open- standard systems for wireless process and plant management applications in the process industries. Emerson's wireless technology features self-organising field networks...

LPG lessons from ICL blast.
September 30, 2007... ICL Plastics Ltd/ICL Tech Ltd have been fined #400,000 for breaching health and safety regulations relating to the explosion and building collapse at their Maryhill, Glasgow site on 11 May 2004. The blast, which killed nine people and...

Investors turn off water.
September 30, 2007... Private investors are showing little interest in funding projects in the water sector, a senior industry executive has warned global governments and non-governmental organisations. State-of-the-art water and wastewater treatment and the...

Industrial gases to contract.
September 30, 2007... Demand for UK industrial gases will remain static this year prior to five years of very modest decline. This year the market is estimated at #773.5 million, from which there will be modest annual contractions until a 1% decline in 2012...

IN BRIEF: ABB.(Brief article)
September 30, 2007... ABB is targeting 8% compound annual growth over the next five years, driven mainly by continuing business expansion in the power utility and industrial automation markets. The group expects its markets to grow at some 6% a year to 2011,...

IN BRIEF: Institution of Engineering and Technology.(Brief article)
September 30, 2007... The Institution of Engineering and Technology is staging a seminar plus associated exhibition titled Industrial Networking and Wireless Communications in Control on 16 Oct at Coombe Abbey, near Coventry. It will highlight the latest...

IN BRIEF: Safety of chemical substances.(Brief article)
September 30, 2007... Companies that are quick to comply with REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Registration of Chemicals) legislation will have real commercial advantage over rivals who are slow to act, according to lawyers at Walker Morris. The...

IN BRIEF: Spirax Sarco.(Brief article)
September 30, 2007... Spirax Sarco is among seven funding award winners under the Carbon Trust's Applied Research scheme. It has gained #150,000 to develop a steam trap performance sensor. Use of these sensors on the estimated 600,000 steam traps in use in the UK...

IN BRIEF: Improved energy efficiency.(Brief article)
September 30, 2007... Government climate change agreement (CCA) figures for 2006 show that the UK chemical sector has improved its energy efficiency by 20% since 1998, exceeding its target for last year of 18%, the Chemical Industries Association has reported. ...

BUSINESS: Foot & Mouth outbreak linked to process failings.
September 30, 2007... Poor maintenance and control procedures allowed virus to transfer from research centre to farmland via waste pipeline. Patrick Raleigh reports The Health & Safety Executive has linked the recent outbreaks of Foot & Mouth disease at farms...

LETTER: Safety system design.(Letter to the editor)
September 30, 2007... Dear Sir, When working with safety-related standards, such as IEC 62061 and EN ISO 13849-1, many control system designers gravitate toward the formulae contained in the standards to confirm the 'correctness' of their designs. In doing...

LETTER: The need for traceablility.(Letter to the editor)
September 30, 2007... Dear Sir, It comes as no great surprise that the International Standards Organisation has found it necessary to issue ISO 22005 to underpin the implementation of traceability systems along the food chain. In recent years, high profile...

LETTER: Return to apprenticeships.(Letter to the editor)
September 30, 2007... Dear Sir, I was delighted to read that Mono Pumps is taking in a steady stream of apprentices each year (PE Newsletter No 22, 16 July). At Kimberly-Clark, Barrow Mill we have been taking between four and six apprentices in mechanical...

LETTER: The changing face of ICI.(Letter to the editor)
September 30, 2007... Dear Sir, Your commentary in the recent Process Engineering on-line newsletter was very appropriate. [The item related to Akzo Nobel's acquisition of ICI, once the flagship of the UK chemicals industry]. As an ex-employee of ICI it...

PLANT VISIT: KPI: No more heroes.(Company overview)
September 30, 2007... Patrick Raleigh visits Flexsys' Ruabon Works - now a world-class chemicals operation following a series of management initiatives to establish effective performance measures across the site one of the UK's oldest chemicals PLANTS, THE...

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE: Business as usual?
September 30, 2007... UK industry sites are releasing fewer air pollutants but greenhouse-gas and waste-production levels are creeping up. Tim Tunbridge reports The environmental performance of businesses in England and Wales is not improving as much as might...

WIRELESS: Cutting out cable.
September 30, 2007... Despite some lingering concerns, the flexibility and lower costs of wireless could see it take a major slice of the industrial networking market. Patrick Raleigh and Tim Tunbridge report End-users are driving the growth in wireless...

WIRELESS: Considering options.
September 30, 2007... "We have not installed wireless in to our plants yet - although we do have it in offices - but we are considering its use in plants, said Peter Lidstone, supply chain director for ICI paints UK and Republic of Ireland. "So far we have not...

WIRELESS: Industrial-strength problem.
September 30, 2007... David Robinson UK country manager of Norman Data Defense Systems (UK) - a supplier of anti-malware technology and services - warns against underestimating the problems that can ensue from inadequately secured wireless. "It's an...

WIRELESS: Strong focus on security.
September 30, 2007... There is an "increased awareness" regarding the benefit of industrial wireless applications and their impact on industrial communication technologies, said Christian Siemens, a BASF AG spokesman. Until now, though, industrial wireless...

WIRELESS: Hands-on monitoring.
September 30, 2007... "There are areas where we do use wireless, but most of our maintenance is done by people going around collecting data and manual monitoring of things," said Les Lemmon, head of engineering and mechanical section at the Drax Power coal-fired...

WIRELESS: Unravelling today's networks tangle.
September 30, 2007... Steve Mustard offers an in-depth guide through the maze of standards and technologies facing process engineers tasked with installing industrial wireless networks With so many wireless standards and products available, the process...

PUMPS & VALVES: Clean and flexible.
September 30, 2007... Regulatory and commercial pressures are driving the market for hygienic processing equipment that is easily cleaned and allows quick changeovers. Patrick Raleigh reports Regulatory and commercial pressures are the two clear drivers in the...

PUMPS & VALVES: Two routes into market.
September 30, 2007... Leading pumps manufacturers Grundfos and Mono Pumps are following significantly different strategies to gain a firm foothold in the increasingly important market for hygienic process equipment. Danish major Grundfos aims to become the...

PUMPS & VALVES: Making pumps smarter.
September 30, 2007... Pump makers are moving to develop a new generation of intelligent pumps that offer built-in condition monitoring and control features and facilitate ready integration with the plant control systems in process facilities. Much of this work...

PUMPS & VALVES: Quinn adds 1000 valves.
September 30, 2007... Quinn Glass has installed over 1000 mechanical service butterfly valves from Tomoe on the furnace and filling hall pipeline links at its new 70,000 m2 manufacturing plant at Ince in Cheshire, UK. The facility, which started production late...

PUMPS & VALVES: Board maker gets unstuck.
September 30, 2007... Europe's leading manufacturer of particle board Pfleiderer has overcome production issues at its Gravejo, Poland plant, which had required it to frequently replace high-pressure pumps on its production lines. At Gravejo, the pumps...

PUMPS & VALVES: CIP answer to brewery prayers.
September 30, 2007... Until recently, Scotland's Belhaven Brewery - which was founded by Benedictine monks back in 1415 - operated a CIP (Clean in Place) system employing an AOD (air-operated diaphragm) pump to scavenge cleaning solution from bright beer holding...

SEPARATION & FILTRATION: Membrane filtration to deliver ultrapure water.
September 30, 2007... Water in its original quality may not always be directly treated to meet the requirements of the pharmaceutical, cosmetic or chemical industry for production or rinsing purposes. Christ Water Technology Group (CWTG) has introduced a...

SEPARATION & FILTRATION: Reverse osmosis links into national gas grid.
September 30, 2007... Process Combustion has turned to reverse osmosis technology to improve the performance of its equipment for vaporising liquefied natural gas (LOG) stored at 85bar, prior to delivery to the national gas grid. The vaporisers are...

SEPARATION & FILTRATION: Block of chocolate.
September 30, 2007... Gertrude Hawk Chocolates (GHC), a US chocolate manufacturer serves high volume markets that demand consistently high quality results. The company's plant must also meet strict hygiene and safety standards, including HACCP, FDA inspection,...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Marmite project saves time and energy.
September 30, 2007... Unilever UK has increased throughput by 30%, made waste savings of 10% and cut energy consumption by a third following an overhaul at its Marmite/Bovril plant in Burton-upon-Trent. The multi-million pound project featured the installation 16...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Bayer nano advance.
September 30, 2007... High manufacturing costs have, to date, prevented the commercial exploitation of carbon nanotubes. The microscopic materials are typically produced by the gram and require cleaning via complex, expensive processes. Bayer Technology Services,...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Keeping roast chicken juicy.
September 30, 2007... Moy Park is operating an advanced new oven with highly accurate steam controls to roast chicken at its factory in Grantham. The oven features two pneumatically-actuated Spirax Sarco KE control valves to reduce the pressure from the plant's...

TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION: Wessex Water facility turns to stone.
September 30, 2007... Wessex Water is employing special stonewool insulation panels as part of a #30-million upgrade at its Avonmouth wastewater treatment works to generate renewable energy and improve sewage treatment. The utility company installed stonewool...

UK and International Plant Cost Indices.
September 30, 2007... 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...

CONTRACTS: Honeywell.
September 30, 2007... A new generation bio-waste incineration power plant being built in Kotka, Finland will include the installation of Honeywell's Experion Process Knowledge System to control waste incineration, which must be kept steady and consistent. The...

CONTRACTS: Foster Wheeler.
September 30, 2007... Foster Wheeler is to carry out a feasibility and optimisation study for the US-based Electric Power Research Institute. It will cover the engineering and economic assessment of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal power plants...

CONTRACTS: Emerson Process Management.
September 30, 2007... Emerson Process Management is to be the main instrumentation vendor for Lucite's methyl methacrylate plant in Singapore, which is currently under construction and due to start up in 2008. It is the first plant to utilise Lucite's patented...

CONTRACTS: Yokogawa UK.
September 30, 2007... AMEC Group has awarded Yokogawa UK a contract to supply an integrated distributed control and safety system for National Grid's LNG storage facility at Glenmavis, Scotland. The project includes the deconstruction of two liquefaction plants...

APPOINTMENTS: CC-Link Partners' Association.
September 30, 2007... Steve Jones has joined CC-Link Partners' Association (Fieldbus users' group) as general manager for its European operations. He is returning to the UK after a four-year posting to Germany, where he led Mitsubishi's advance into Central and...

APPOINTMENTS: IMO Precision Controls.
September 30, 2007... Automation and electronic components supplier IMO Precision Controls has named David Ede as chief executive. He joins from WEG UK, where he oversaw the company's growth during seven years as managing director Copyright: Centaur...

APPOINTMENTS: Purex International.
September 30, 2007... Paul Priestley is joining Purex International as managing director. He replaces Phil Mullins, who is to retire after 22 years leading the Rotherham-based fume extraction business. Priestley has extensive UK and international sales experience...

APPOINTMENTS: Swagelok.
September 30, 2007... Simon Cooke has recently been appointed regional director, Europe, Middle East & Africa for fluid systems technologies company Swagelok. He has worked with Swagelok for the past 15 years, firstly as a sales engineer and most recently as...

APPOINTMENTS: Testo.
September 30, 2007... Tom Tonkins is the new managing director of instrument manufacturer Testo. He replaces Barry Whittaker, who has decided to resign after 24 years' service. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

APPOINTMENTS: Hanovia.
September 30, 2007... Andrew Clark has been appointed technical director of Hanovia Ltd; responsible for developing its UV expertise in process water applications such as pharma and electronics manufacturing, food & beverage processing, brewing and swimming pools....