News

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

01/11/2009 Pump precision is tasty St Helens-based Lea Green Foods reports that a peristaltic pump from Watson-Marlow Pumps is accurately and hygienically dosing oil into vegetable trays to make pastes and purees. » Read More

01/11/2009 Moon shot History was made on Friday 9 October when NASA sent a 2,200kg Centaur rocket stage hurtling into the far side of the surface of the moon, followed by an unmanned spacecraft containing an array of sensors, including an infrared camera to ... » Read More

01/11/2009 Sustainable power protection Electrical engineering firm BE White and solar specialist Solarcentury say they have met new French UTE (Union Technique de I'Electricité) regulations for photovoltaic generators by developing functional earth and surge protectors. » Read More

01/11/2009 Functional safety ABB has released a technical guide to functional safety, available as a free PDF. » Read More

01/11/2009 Machine protection rules highlighted as firms fined over deaths Plant managers are being reminded of their duty of care, as rice producer Veetee Rice, in Rochester, is fined £140,000 plus costs for health and safety breaches after one of its employees died when his leg became entangled in a machine. » Read More

01/11/2009 Novel conveyor shifts Mini cockpits for new plant Mini cockpits are now being delivered in sequence 20m further down the BMW production line, thanks to a bespoke conveyor at the Oxford plant. » Read More

01/11/2009 £2 million energy saving flows from HVAC upgrade Pfizer's R&D campus in Kent expects not only improved air quality but energy savings worth £2.1 million over five years, as well as significant emissions reductions, from upgraded HVAC plant. » Read More

01/11/2009 Biomass monitoring must be future proof Developers of biomass-burning renewable energy plants, which are increasingly seeing consents granted, should future-proof their instrumentation. » Read More

01/11/2009 Advice available on converting from R-22 refrigerant Use of R-22 refrigerant is banned from the end of this year, as it contains ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). » Read More

01/11/2009 SOE dues frozen for 2010 The Society of Operations Engineers (SOE) has confirmed that membership fees in 2010 are to remain at 2009 levels, in recognition of the ongoing recession. » Read More

01/11/2009 LEEA reaches 300 with Magnox South Magnox South, the firm responsible for decommissioning five closed nuclear power stations in southern England, has become the 300th LEEA member. » Read More

01/11/2009 Chemicals guide updated by HSE HSE has published new guidance for plant operators on hazardous substances and updated COSHH (control of substances hazardous to health) guidance on its website. » Read More

01/11/2009 Asbestos warning, as death toll tops 35,000 A new generation of workers are at risk unless construction workers on plant get to grips with asbestos – Britain's biggest workplace killer. » Read More

01/11/2009 Rented analysers save £ half million Portable gas analysers have helped a municipal waste incineration plant to save £500,000 by preventing shutdown. » Read More

01/11/2009 Change treatment, urges boiler supplier All plants using steam on site could be making substantial savings on their gas bills, simply by changing their water treatment arrangements. » Read More

01/11/2009 Aero derivative gas turbine transforms power efficiency Cartiere del Garda paper mill and Italy's Alto Garda Servizi utility have commissioned a combined heat and power plant that marks a high point in mutually beneficial collaboration. » Read More

01/11/2009 Draw wire sensors for wind turbine blade testing Draw-wire displacement sensors are being used to test wind turbine blades at the Fraunhofer Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany. » Read More

01/11/2009 Smelter speeds up to local control Severniy, which runs an integrated mining and smelting plant in Krivoy Rog, Ukraine, producing pig iron, reports a 20% increase in throughput, as well as reduced costs and improved quality, since installing local digital automation. » Read More

01/11/2009 Valve block design is good wheeze Costs of automating a machine that fills asthma inhaler cartridges have been slashed by cutting its aseptic diaphragm valve requirement from eight to just four. » Read More

01/11/2009 Integrated valve and positioner turbocharge Castrol test rig A precision globe valve and positioner combination is delivering excellent control on an engine test rig at BP Castrol's Technology Centre in Berkshire. » Read More

01/11/2009 Paper plant gets 25% air uplift Stationery manufacturer Sinclairs says it has improved its site compressed air efficiency 25%. » Read More

01/11/2009 Banbury betters sludge handling Thames Water says it has improved pumping efficiency and solved downtime problems at its Banbury sewage treatment works by installing a TR Muncher from NOV Mono. » Read More

01/11/2009 Tiny PLCs shine new light on automatic process control The power of today's smallest PLCs has been captured by a self-taught control engineer, using them to grow cell cultures in automated bioreactors. » Read More

01/11/2009 Insulated bearings key to higher maintenance intervals Today's generation of trains can travel further, faster and with much longer maintenance intervals, largely as a result of developments with ac traction motors. » Read More

01/11/2009 Eatonite laser coating breaks corrosion and hardness barriers Eaton's Eatonite laser clad coating for piston rods is the first anti-corrosion technology to earn JIP certification, from test services firm DNV, for use on offshore platforms. » Read More