Control and Instrumentation articles from January 1999

Control and Instrumentation archives from January 1999

Siemens sets new goals.
January 1, 1999... Siemens outlined its new business goals for the UK at last month's annual press conference, citing `high profits with growth' as the main objectives for the new, slimline, rationalised group (see C&I December 1998, Business). The...

Warning over dangerous electric goods.
January 1, 1999... At the annual luncheon of the EIEMA (electrical installation equipment manufacturers association) president, Brian Peipenstock, highlighted problems and failures caused by sale of potentially dangerous products. He urged partners in the...

3500+ visitors for Interphex.
January 1, 1999... Pharmaceutical manufacturing exhibition Interphex reported good business with an attendance of over 3500 visitors. The Interphex awards, held in conjunction with Manufacturing Chemist magazine went to Newson Gale for process equipment,...

Have you heard about Jo'burg.
January 1, 1999... UK manufacturer Cegelec Industrial Controls has opened its first international centre of excellence in South Africa (pictured left). The ALSPA technical centre in Johannesburg will provide technical advice, training and a systems...

COMPANIES.
January 1, 1999... ABB Process Analytics is to supply on-line process analysers and associated equipment worth 750,000 [pounds sterling] for major petrochemical plant extensions in Saudi Arabia. The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency has awarded Boward...

NEWS IN BRIEF.
January 1, 1999... Fluid control over the Web Asco Joucomatic has launched a new web site with world-wide listings of contact details, information on fluid control and fluid power products and literature ordering facilities. You can visit Asco Joucomatic's...

Tanknology award.
January 1, 1999... Tank gauging system manufacturer TM Technology of Harrogate sent out more than 7000 questionnaires as part of its research programme into future industry requirements. The company offered an appropriate `first out of the hat' prize for...

Hell on (three) wheels.
January 1, 1999... BBC2's current series of Robot Wars features a three-wheeled contender powered in part by a David Brown Radicon Series M28 gear unit. The `Mule' bears some resemblance to its namesake. It provides a brutal kick from three legs and can lift...

Bright future for displays.
January 1, 1999... CRL of Hayes, Middlesex, is to manage a European project for the development of reflective colour displays for portable IT products. The two-year HELICOS project has a budget of 4 million ECU and will involve ASULAB, Thomson LCD, IMEC,...

Comark's new territory.
January 1, 1999... Comark, the manufacturer of temperature, humidity, pH and airflow measurement instruments, has a new owner. In a management buyout, buyin deal led by the London Transaction Team of 31, the venture capital company, the company has been...

Single source for self feeders.
January 1, 1999... CompAir Tools & Equipment, working with Omron and Siebe Pneumatics, is introducing a full systems approach for purchasers of self feed units. The service offers PLCs, pneumatic to PLC interfaces, inverters, pneumatic logic and rotary index...

PACS picks up Communique.
January 1, 1999... PACS, the low power radio telemetry specialist, has acquired Communique (UK), designers of radio modules and modems. Both companies' products are used in the utilities for remote monitoring and control and it is expected that the...

Designer gases.
January 1, 1999... BG Technology is offering a consultancy and design service for the treatment of gases under the name of ADAPT (ADvanced Adsorption Process Technology). At the heart of the service is the company's adsorption system which adjusts the water and...

PEOPLE.
January 1, 1999... Delta Tau, the motion control specialist, has made Brian Riley its sales manager for the north England. Rick Focke has become product manager, security systems, at Andover Controls. Danfoss has appointed John Green as its product...

Profits up again at Druck.
January 1, 1999... Druck ended 1998 on a high note, posting interim pretax profits up 48% to 6.2m [pounds sterling] in the half year to 30 September. Orders were generally up 12% despite a downturn in the UK. Turnover at the Leicester based operating company...

Siemens sets 1999 targets.
January 1, 1999... Last year Siemens plc forecast membership of the exclusive 4bn [pounds sterling] club; this year, ceo Alan Wood (above) was more cautions in setting out goals for his company. With news of the closure of its Tyneside chip factory still fresh,...

Future tense.
January 1, 1999... Dewhurst, the control systems group, announced better than expected end-of-year results but cautioned that the future would see still more severe price competition, compounded by the strong pound. Group sales were up 7% to 18.2m [pounds...

Mitsubishi feels chill.
January 1, 1999... Global contraction in the semiconductor and automotive markets, and the subsequent reduced demand for factory automation equipment such as programmable controllers and inverters, was blamed for a drop in sales at Mitsubishi Electric...

Two form jv in DRAM race.
January 1, 1999... Toshiba and Fujitsu have announced a major collaboration in semiconductor devices that will include development of sub-micron level DRAM technologies. Under an agreement signed in Tokyo in early December, a joint project team of 100...

Going nuts over pumps.
January 1, 1999... JP Combinorm pumps are being used in the processing of horse chestnut extract for pharmaceutical preparations. The pumps were supplied by JP Pumps through its Irish agent Combiflow to Klinge Pharma in Co Kerry. The pumps perform an...

Pump action.
January 1, 1999... Progressing cavity subrotor pumps from Mono are being used at Greater Manchester's Hyde sewage treatment works (STW) to prevent algae build-up on weir walls in final settlement tanks. In these tanks scum is skimmed from the surface of the...

Tailor-made protection.
January 1, 1999... Down in the bilges of sea-going merchant vessels, the air is damp and salty, posing a considerable challenge to Sarel last year when it needed to come up with a reliable enclosure solution for bilge water monitoring systems for Rivertrace...

NIR for a dream coat.
January 1, 1999... Imperial Home Decor Group (IHDG), a producer of wall coverings for brands such as Crown, Shand Kydd and Storey's Decor, has improved its coating process by using in-line near infrared (NIR) measurement techniques. Coatings are applied to...

Cutting inspection cost.
January 1, 1999... National Power has become one of the first UK organisations to use state-of-the-art ultrasonic testing equipment in regular condition monitoring of plant. The Tomoscan Focus system, supplied by Phoenix Inspection Systems of Warrington,...

Emissions cut.
January 1, 1999... Texaco's 180,000bpd Pembroke Refinery is using Ionic's fuel technology system to cut [CO.sub.2] and [NO.sub.2] emissions. Installation follows an extensive evaluation of a Foster Wheeler boiler, rated at 175,000lbs/hr, and burning heavy...

No trouble at t'mill now.
January 1, 1999... Fifteen Eurotherm Drives 590 d.c. drives, rated at between 35 and 40A, and with full fibre optic based LINK2 control systems, have been installed at Wansbrough paper mill, Watchet, Somerset, in a major refurbishment for St Regis. They...

Barcode labels brought to book.
January 1, 1999... Reading based printer Cox & Wyman is using a Markem Cimjet 300 print and apply labeller and Markem Composer message creation software on lines mass producing paperback books. The Cimjet is mostly being used to code information such as...

Volvo engines gather speed.
January 1, 1999... Assembly of Swedish car maker Volvo's new S80 is reaping the benefits of a new, faster, more batch-flexible materials handling line at the engine plant, designed by MTH Constructor. It means the engines, of which there are 3000 variants,...

Coke is all bottled up.
January 1, 1999... At the Coca Cola plant in Liederbach, Germany, the bottling system previously used [CO.sub.2] as the filling and measurement gas with pressure equalisation serving as the bottle-filled signal. Although the method works perfectly well for...

PLC PROGRESS an open but not shut case.
January 1, 1999... More speed and flexibility are being demanded of PLCs by engineers. However, the manufacturers are responding The PLC is dead. Long live the PLC. The demise of the programmable logic controller has been long predicted but so far the...

Automation is the key to MONITORING.
January 1, 1999... A new, simpler, approach to data interpretation is boosting adoption of condition monitoring in industry Successful application of condition monitoring (CM) has, until quite recently, relied on very high levels of experience from users,...

STANDARDS putting ESD to the test.
January 1, 1999... What are the implications of safety standard IEC 61508 on the testing of emergency shut down systems? Feared yet much respected, the IEC 61508 is fast becoming the industry standard for all aspects of safety management. Although some...