Recently I was given the opportunity to interview Twain Drewett, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand for Rockwell Automation. I asked him some questions about how he sees the automation sector has been faring of late, and about Rockwell’s views in relation to integrated security and wireless networks.

The goal of every lubrication program should be to ensure that all equipment receives and maintains the proper levels of lubrication such that no equipment fails due to inadequate or improper lubrication.

Unleashed by new safety standards that embrace the latest microprocessor technologies, modern safety control systems are now intricately tied to how the plant operates — not only optimising worker safety, but improving productivity and uptime.

In the coal mining industry, the dragline is the workhorse of the open-cut mine's operation, moving massive amounts of overburden 24 hours a day throughout the year.

Emerging technologies present new challenges for compressor manufacturers — a trend report from ACHEMA 2009 provides some details.

Predictive maintenance programs provide miners with valuable insight into the condition of their in-service equipment, and are crucial in keeping mining and mineral processing applications online, streamlining maintenance schedules and minimising repair expenses.

The Andasol 1 plant in the Spanish province of Granada is a parabolic trough power plant and is claimed as the world’s largest solar power plant. Intelligent electric actuators with digital control have been specified for valve control in all areas of the generating process.

The Murray Goulburn dairy factory in Maffra, Victoria, processes four million litres of raw milk per year into intermediate products including butter, cream, anhydrous milk fat and milk powders. The installation of a total organic carbon (TOC) analyser has paid back its investment several times over by limiting COD discharge levels outside the trade waste agreement, thus minimising additional charges previously incurred.

Industrial applications are often associated with harsh, demanding environments. Facilities and key computing equipment may be located at remote sites where there is little or no protection from severe weather conditions or in industrial environments near sources of heat. Computers that are not designed to tolerate harsh conditions face significant limitations in how they can be used in industrial applications.

With over 13,000 employees, the VW plant in Baunatal — 10 km south of Kassel — is Volkswagen’s second largest production site in Germany and one of the concern’s most important component suppliers. This primary transmission plant in Kassel supplies the entire Volkswagen organisation worldwide with around 2.8 million manual and automatic transmission systems annually.

The metering of bunker fuel oil represents a series of difficult technical challenges, but BP Marine Fuels believed that by employing advanced technology, the arcane practice of manually measuring or ‘dipping’ the amount of bunker fuel oil on a fuel barge will be consigned to the past. Shipowners can now reconcile the volume of bunker fuel oil delivered without the requirement for inspection.

In today’s climate of rising energy costs and carbon trading schemes, any technology which helps plants use energy more efficiently should be adopted. Variable speed drives offer the ability to control the speed and torque of motors in many applications while providing significant energy savings — but only if implemented correctly in the right application.

In developed countries worldwide, more and more attention is being focused on fugitive emissions — equipment leaks, as opposed to point-source emissions from reactor vents or boiler exhaust stacks. Governments worldwide are focusing on fugitive emissions and legislating to force utilities and plant operators to curtail them.

RVO Enterprises, a food processing solutions provider, has developed a new food processing technology that allows dry ingredients to be transferred from a collapsible intermediate bulk container (IBC) directly to the manufacturing process — the collapsible IBC process integration system (CIPIS).

The introduction of Australia’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is being delayed a year, but legislation is still expected to be passed this year. This will give businesses affected by the CPRS some breathing space, but also provide some certainty if the legislation is passed.