Articles
Research and development helps Australian manufacturers
Melbourne-based automation and robotics specialist Andrew Donald Design Engineers is reaping great benefits from its work with Australian manufacturers. The company works with its customers to design automated processes to improve efficiency and productivity, and with its strong focus on research and development, has claimed the Australian Government’s R&D Tax Concession since 1998.
[ + ]Science in a beer bottle reveals the natural attractions of DAF liquid-solid separation
Dissolved air flotation (DAF) remains one of the most popular processes used for separation of solids from liquids.
[ + ]Putting the focus on sustainable process engineering
As one of the world’s leading suppliers of products, services and solutions to the process industries, Emerson Process Management has begun to take a serious look at the future of the industry in terms of sustainability. In a recent interview with ProcessOnline, the many ways the company is adapting to the global changes that are forcing companies to become more environmentally aware were discussed.
[ + ]Uni to help navy retain corporate knowledge
Specialised corporate knowledge loss is a significant business risk in the 21st century with a large number of ‘baby boomers’ now approaching retirement. The University of Wollongong and the Navy have committed themselves to a project that plans to maximise retention of irreplaceable knowledge before it ‘walks out the door’. The research project will be directly applied to Navy’s maritime engineering community and the knowledge gained could also provide benefits for other Australian organisations.
[ + ]On the safe side at Shell Clyde
The Shell oil refinery at Clyde — nestled among the mangroves on the banks of the Parramatta River — is a well-known Sydney landmark. With encroaching suburbia and the surrounding fragile ecology of the Parramatta River on its doorstep, there is a need to maintain high safety and environmental standards. With the safety systems at Clyde due for an upgrade, Shell wanted to maximise the safety and operational requirements of the plant.
[ + ]Realise the benefits of Design, Operate, Maintain thinking today
Design, Operate, Maintain (DOM), the term coined by industry analysts ARC Advisory Group, gives us a vocabulary to talk about some of the key concepts in asset management and in industrial maintenance, repair and operation. Industrial facility designers and those that operate and maintain those facilities need to work together closely if plant efficiency and business profitability are to improve over time.
[ + ]Premium platform for SolarGas
Engineers and scientists around the world are looking for ways to harness the sun’s thermal energy to replace the diminishing global supplies of fossil fuel with a ‘clean’, carbon-neutral energy source. Australia is particularly well placed to do this, since it has the highest average amount of solar radiation per square metre per year on Earth.
[ + ]Premium platform for SolarGas
Engineers and scientists around the world are looking for ways to harness the sun’s thermal energy to replace the diminishing global supplies of fossil fuel with a ‘clean’, carbon-neutral energy source. Australia is particularly well placed to do this, since it has the highest average amount of solar radiation per square metre per year on Earth.
[ + ]Building a better maintenance force — how knowledge testing simplifies training
The maintenance manager of any facility has as first priority the efficient and reliable operation of the organisation. But sometimes the individual employee assigned to a maintenance activity may not be equal to the task at hand.
[ + ]On the safe side at Shell Clyde
The Shell oil refinery at Clyde — nestled among the mangroves on the banks of the Parramatta River — is a well-known Sydney landmark. With encroaching suburbia and the surrounding fragile ecology of the Parramatta River on its doorstep, there is a need to maintain high safety and environmental standards. With the safety systems at Clyde due for an upgrade, Shell wanted to maximise the safety and operational requirements of the plant.
[ + ]Optimising service: cutting the costs of equipment ownership
Irrespective of whether you are a professional service provider, a manufacturer, an educator or a retailer, technology-based equipment plays a significant role in your ability to produce and supply services or goods to your customer. It logically follows, therefore, that failure of technology, plant or equipment in your business will impact upon your ability to supply — either in absolute terms, or by impacting on quality — with a consequent increase in costs to your business, erosion of profitability and loss of credibility with your customer.
[ + ]Seeking self-adjusting instruments
Modern process instruments incorporate a fair degree of intelligence used to optimise process variable accuracy and reliability, and can even undertake predictive maintenance. But they fail miserably in two critical aspects even when compared with technologies we use every day — self-adjustment and self-healing.
[ + ]Where vision meets sensors
Discrete sensors and vision tend to be at polar opposites in complexity and capability. But sensor suppliers are now providing more sophisticated sensors and application techniques advancing up the curve towards vision solutions, and vision providers are trying to expand down the curve towards the discrete sensor world. But instead of a crash of technologies, a new layer of technology is evolving that combines the best from each.
[ + ]Digital pipeline leak detection — using fibre-optic distributed temperature sensing
With conventional pipeline leak detection methods there is a gap between what you believe is occurring along your pipeline and what is actually happening. This information gap can result in a delay in you discovering and locating leaks.
[ + ]How functional safety helps to save lives
In this article, Ron Bell of the IEC explains functional safety and looks ahead to the revision of the IEC 61508 standard that is due for publication in 2010.
[ + ]