News

Industrial equipment, services and inspection news and information for manufacturing, process, facilities and related fields.

03/01/2014 BAE Systems plans record apprentice intake BAE Systems is offering 568 apprenticeship places in 2014, the highest intake since the company was formed 14 years ago. » Read More

03/01/2014 HSE reveals better, but not good enough worker death stats for 2012—2013 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is urging plant owners and managers to focus on their legal responsibility to ensure lives are not put at risk, and to make the safety of workers their top priority for 2014. » Read More

03/01/2014 Engineering specialist Stopford gets £1m boost Process technology, engineering and environment consultancy Stopford Projects has secured a £1million investment to help drive its expansion plans. » Read More

02/01/2014 New Year’s Honours low on engineering endeavour Professor Helen Atkinson, head of the Department of Engineering at the University of Leicester and vice president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board, prof Stephen Cannon, ... » Read More

02/01/2014 Carnivorous plant flesh inspires new protective coating type A tropical carnivorous plant (the pitcher plant, or Nepenthes) – which traps its prey inside its tubular body, using a virtually frictionless surface – is inspiring a new generation of coatings capable of repelling liquids such as blood, ... » Read More

23/12/2013 Trawsfynydd decommissioning underway with Doosan Keltbray Nuclear decommissioning work at Magnox's Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in North Wales has started, under the direction of the Doosan Keltbray consortium. » Read More

23/12/2013 New standard for unfired fusion welded pressure vessels PD 5500:2012 – the latest specification for unfired fusion welded pressure vessels, covering vessels manufactured from carbon, ferritic alloy and austenitic steels, aluminium, copper and nickel – is now available from BSI Standards. » Read More

20/12/2013 Cold bonding cuts through-wall corrosion for Wessex Water Wessex Water is reporting that a GFS (glass fused to steel) sludge buffer tank at one of its sewage treatment sites has been swiftly and easily repaired using Belzona polymeric repair composites and cold bonding techniques. » Read More

20/12/2013 Emerson acquires APM Automation Solutions for solid improvement Emerson has acquired solids volume and level measurement instrumentation developer APM Automation Solutions for an undisclosed sum – expanding its portfolio into solids-based process and inventory control. » Read More

19/12/2013 World-class centre for renewable energy manufacturing to go ahead The £450m Able Marine Energy Park, in North Lincolnshire – the largest offshore wind energy manufacturing facility in Europe, expected to create around 4,000 jobs – has been given the go-ahead. » Read More

19/12/2013 McQuay launches “world’s most advanced chiller” McQuay UK launched what it describes as the world's most advanced air-cooled chiller, at the London Transport Museum, yesterday (18 November 2013). » Read More

19/12/2013 Drake Extrusion improves efficiency with Babcock Wanson process heating Polypropylene fibres and yarns manufacturer Drake Extrusion has upgraded process heating at its Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, plant, with two new Babcock Wanson thermal fluid heaters. » Read More

18/12/2013 European consortium to take on fugitive methane emissions Cuadrilla Resources, Veolia Environnement and National Grid are to work with a European consortium, led by the Centre for Carbon Measurement at NPL (the National Physical Laboratory), to develop and test methane instruments for monitoring ... » Read More

18/12/2013 Firm fined after teenager’s arm crushed in unguarded machinery Glass recycling firm Reuse Collections, of South Kirkby, Pontefract, has been fined £5,000 with £3,638 costs after Sheffield teenager had his arm crushed when it was drawn into the unguarded danger zone of a machine. » Read More

17/12/2013 Engineering is back in class for 14 - 19 year olds Two new GCSE-level vocational engineering qualifications will be available to schools in the UK from September 2014. » Read More

17/12/2013 Massive Gazprom gas line stays snug with Pentair heat trace system Thermal protection for nine compressor stations along a gas transmission line from the huge Bovanenkovo natural gas field, in the far north of Siberia, has been successfully installed by Pentair Thermal Management. » Read More

17/12/2013 Bread factory fined for dough cutting machine injury Pontypridd bread manufacturer Easibake Foods has been fined £14,000 plus £9,931 costs after an employee's hand was trapped by moving blades on an unguarded dough-cutting machine. » Read More

16/12/2013 Pharmaceuticals firms fined for chemical incidents at Welsh plant Flintshire pharmaceutical firms Archimica Chemicals and its trading partner Euticals have been fined £80,000 and £20,000 respectively for safety breaches and a further £20,000 for environmental failures that caused major health problems ... » Read More

16/12/2013 Smart valve control sweetens fruit syrup production French fruit syrup manufacturer Teisseire, which recently saw a major investment in process equipment at its Crolles plant, is reporting improved performance, thanks to smart control technology. » Read More

13/12/2013 Drives cut £10,000 pump repairs for Alkane Energy Independent gas-to-power generator Alkane Energy – which runs 81MW of installed generating capacity – is reporting reduced pumping costs and maintenance, as well as improved equipment reliability and longevity, since installing ABB ... » Read More

13/12/2013 Honeywell separates fact from fiction for facilities managers Facilities managers and consultants should find it easier to select the best building management system for their needs, following publication of a white paper by Honeywell. » Read More

13/12/2013 Staffordshire firm in court after worker shatters arm in dangerous machinery A Leek company that weaves and dyes webbing for seatbelts and harnesses has been fined £35,000 and ordered to pay a further £5,257 in costs after an employee seriously injured his arm in an unguarded machine. » Read More

12/12/2013 Total Petrochemicals UK polystyrene manufacturing site comes down Total Petrochemicals UK is using specialist decommissioning, and demolition consultancy RVA Group to oversee and co-ordinate the dismantling of its polystyrene manufacturing site close to the centre of Stalybridge, near Manchester. » Read More

12/12/2013 Biogas production safety turns on oxygen analyzer A unnamed Scandinavian biogas producer has selected Michell Instruments' analysers to monitor oxygen levels for safety and quality at two sites. » Read More

12/12/2013 Unguarded machinery causes worker’s head injury Envases (UK), which manufacturers aluminium containers, was fined £13,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,590 in court yesterday (11 December 2013) for safety failings after an employee suffered serious injuries when her head became trapped ... » Read More