Automation Parts

Temposonic Transducer Range Extended By RDP The MTS Temposonic range of magnetostrictive transducers from RDP Electronics now extends to versions for double or triple redundancy. The Temposonic series of transducers accurately measure the position of the ring magnet along the metal tube. They are frequently used inside hydraulic cylinders to measure the position of the cylinder. The GT2 and GT3 series retain the same dimensions as the standard G series magnetostrictive MTS transducers making installation in hydraulic cylinders equally straightforward, or indeed for use in general measurement of displacement in automation and control applications. At the heart of the magnetostrictive contactless technology is the wave guide, which is duplicated in the GT2 version to provide two independent measuring systems within a single housing. The GT3 takes this a stage further with three systems within the same 10mm-diameter rod, which is pressure rated to 350 bar (700 bar peak). Both the GT...

Beko Introduces Measurement Technology Programme Beko Technologies offers a comprehensive programme of systems designed to save energy and improve efficiency in the application of compressed air. From the company's perspective, one of the key areas requiring attention in most production facilities is the acquisition and analysis of data regarding compressed air use. According to Beko, many plant managers are simply unaware of how much air is used or how much each cubic metre of air costs. With its new Metpoint range, Beko offers a product portfolio that is said to fill this gap, offering facility managers the opportunity to accrue valuable data on the performance of one of the most expensive energy sources - compressed air. The range includes 24/7 online evaluation of oil vapour content; a dewpoint meter; accurate measurement of compressed air moisture content; portable dewpoint monitoring; and compressed air consumption logging.

SICK Encoders Position Wimbledon Roof Critical to the operation of the roof over Wimbledon's Centre Court is the accurate positioning provided by linear encoders from SICK for each of the 10 77m long, 100-tonne roof trusses. Engineered, manufactured and assembled by specialist hoist and crane designers Street Crane Xpress for the All England Lawn Tennis Club and its main contractor Galliford Try, the roof trusses run on 80m tracks either side of the court roof. Each truss has a SICK KH53 encoder read head mounted at either end, which monitors the truss position and progress across the roof from the KH53's magnetic measurement scale alongside the running track. They are moved by electric motors on either end of each truss, powered from a bus bar system running the length of the track. In addition, to the linear encoders, SICK supplied SRM50 Hiperface absolute rotary encoders to monitor the rotational positioning of each motor. The motors move the 10 trusses across the roof b...

Honeywell To Help Boost Efficiency At Sugar Plant Honeywell has announced it has been awarded a three-year maintenance and support contract with Turkey's largest private sugar producer, Konya Sugar. As part of the Solution Enhancement Support Program (SESP) contract, Honeywell will upgrade the Experion process knowledge system (PKS) at Konya Sugar's Cumra production site. SESP is Honeywell's core system support programme that helps customers keep automation investments up to date. In addition, SESP provides several support mechanisms that can improve the performance and uptime of automation systems, such as training for engineers and operators, access to Honeywell's on-line knowledge base, and access to the experts in the technical assistance centre to assist with troubleshooting. 'We selected Honeywell after seeing significant improvements in product quality and production capacity as well as a reduction in production costs with the earlier implementation of Ex...

Prelube Pumps Extend Equipment Life According to ESE, pre-lubing before every start is an inexpensive way to extend the life of engine-driven equipment. When an engine is running, the engine's oil pump supplies pressurised oil into the centre of the bearings to create a cushion that separates the bearing surface from the crankshaft. Once the engine is running, the surfaces never touch because they ride on this film of oil. As soon as the engine shuts down, however, the oil that comprises the cushion begins to drain away and the film thins. After only a few seconds, the film thins to the point that 'metal-to-metal' contact can begin to occur. In other words, the cushion is gone and the crankshaft is resting directly on the bearing. Pre-lubing the engine before every start can extend engine life by eliminating metal-to-metal contact during the first several seconds of running. Those few seconds after cranking the engine can be suspenseful for the operator as the oil press...

Lamellas Increase Water Treatment Efficiency A city in the north of England needed to increase its drinking water supply and decided to achieve this by upgrading an existing treatment plant. A more traditional/conventional method of sludge settlement was replaced by Nordic Water Lamellas, leading to increases in efficiencies of maintenance and operation. Carlisle is a city with a population of around 70,000 people on the north-west coast of England. A shortfall in drinking water supply for the Carlisle area was identified in 1998. There followed a six-year period of consultation, environmental studies, planning and design. During this period of preparation, more than 100 interest groups were notified and meetings were held with more than 30 organisations, before construction started in 2004. The scheme involved a GBP16m upgrading of the existing water treatment plant at Cumwhinton both to increase capacity and to reduce the risk of crytospordium. The flow for the plant is taken pre...

Electronic Descaling Prevents Limescale Build Up Environmental Treatment Concepts has partnered Hull University's Department for Chemistry in Industry to develop an effective, environmentally friendly method of testing physical water treatment. Water that is naturally hard, as in 70 per cent of the UK, contains dissolved calcium and other minerals. These help to build and maintain healthy bodies, but their effect on pipework and water systems can be disastrous. When water-borne minerals, such as calcium bicarbonate, revert to their solid carbonate state, limescale is formed in water systems, and this narrows pipes, blocks jets, slows the flow, reduces thermal efficiency and provides a breeding ground for bacteria. Research has shown that just 6mm of limescale will reduce energy efficiency by 40 per cent and, in a moderately hard water area, 6mm of limescale can form in pipework, or on heat exchangers in just two years. This in turn results in higher running costs. Portsmouth Un...

Bearing Programme Saves Lost Production Costs The NSK bearing substitution programme has saved a major producer of frozen food products GBP5,984 a year in downtime and lost production costs. The savings are a result of solving a problem of repeated heat-related bearing failures in a heat shrink tunnel used for packaging beef burgers. The failures, on a hot-air circulation fan, were a major cause of concern to the food producer, as each time they resulted in costly downtime and lost production. NSK engineers visited the frozen food plant to view the application and obtain samples of the failed bearings for inspection and analysis. The subsequent report, compiled by NSK, confirmed that the main cause of failure was the excessive temperature the bearings had been subjected to. In view of this, NSK suggested that its HLT Self-Lube inserts would be more suited for the application. HLT Self-Lube inserts can allow companies to reduce maintenance, downtime and replacement costs at temperat...

IDC Introduces Wireless Call Button IDC has added the wireless-based ZB112 call button to its Zigbee range of interactive paging and call systems products, for use in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and disabled facilities. The ZB112 is programmable and battery powered, removing the requirement for external power supplies or control cables. The device has extremely low power consumption, enabling it to operate for years without the need to replace batteries in most applications. The ZB112 is designed for use in hospital wards, toilets, bathrooms and rest facilities - anywhere where there is a requirement for patients to call for assistance quickly. It can be sited at any convenient location, as it requires no external cabling. The device integrates a single large button - with the facility for customisation by the addition of further buttons, if required. The button has a tactile feel for ease of operation and offers back lighting when depressed. The ZB112 is programmable and con...

Energair Cuts Compressed Air Energy Bill Gelpack Industrial has made an annual saving of more than 45 per cent on energy used to generate compressed air using a retro-fit variable speed drive package from Energair. A compressed air audit conducted at Gelpack Industrial revealed that 40.189 per cent of the input energy used to power the compressors was not productive, and that the system pressure was kept above what was required. This was due to the inefficient operation of two fixed-speed, 75kW, Worthington Rollair compressors, which were used on a rotating system to provide compressed air to the factory. The audit highlighted the potential savings that could be made by retro fitting a variable speed drive (VSD) package to reduce offload running and match air generation more closely to system demand. One area that can use a lot of non-productive energy is compressed air generation. Many companies are still unwittingly operating systems inefficiently through excessive compressors id...

Alfa Unveils Energy-Saving Compabloc 120 Alfa Laval has launched its largest ever Compabloc welded compact heat exchanger, the Compabloc 120, to help plant operators reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions while increasing uptime. The all-welded Compabloc 120 can withstand pressures of up to 42 barg, which makes it suitable for a wide range of duties in industries such as oil and gas, refinery, power, petrochemicals, chemicals and pulp and paper. In many applications, a single Compabloc 120 will be able to replace one or more large shell and tube exchangers because of its superior performance; providing the same or greater capacity for a lower capital investment. As an example, this could mean reducing the physical size of an interchanger by as much as 80 per cent. A combination of high turbulence and true counter-current flow offers maximum heat recovery that, in turn, provides energy savings, because energy can be recovered and recycled, reducing overall consumption. Liquids or vap...

Gas Analyser Helps Reveal Nitrabar Success A portable FTIR multi-parameter gas analyser from Quantitech is helping researchers at the University of Strathclyde prove the efficacy of a technique that helps remove nitrates from groundwater. The Nitrabar system uses permeable reactive barrier technology and consists of a trench containing a mixture of natural materials, which removes nitrate from shallow groundwater immediately before it enters rivers or lakes. A key feature of the Nitrabar system is its ability to convert dissolved nitrate in the groundwater to harmless nitrogen gas through the action of bacteria. This process is known as denitrification and involves a transition from nitrate (NO3) to nitrite (NO2), to nitric oxide gas (NO), to nitrous oxide gas (N2O) and ultimately to nitrogen gas (N2). University researcher, Antoine Assal, of Strathclyde's Department of Civil Engineering, has employed the gas analyser (Gasmet DX 4030) to perform a complete analysis of gaseous e...

Yokogawa Marex Provides Plant Upgrades Yokogawa Marex has won three major international projects in the first quarter of 2009; two in Saudi Arabia and one Russia. The three orders were won for systems at Ibn Zahr in Saudi Arabia, Ma'aden, also in Saudi Arabia, and the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant in Russia. Ibn Zahr in Saudi Arabia is a large chemical complex located in Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia producing PP (polypropylene) and MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether). PP is used in a wide range of applications such as packaging, textiles, stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers. Yokogawa Middle East will upgrade its plant-wide control and information systems with Yokogawa Marex providing specialist integration and upgrading of its Plant Information Management System. Yokogawa's Enterprise Historian, Exaquantum, has been selected to replace the existing Promace systems, bringing together existing information systems under a single solution platform. Ma'aden (Saud...