Gerd Kielburger

Monolithic structures in process automation will soon be outdated. This will lead to even more competition, Jürgen Brandes, CEO of Siemens Division Process Industries and Drives, says in a double interview with his colleague and CTO Jörn Oprzynski. What role will be left for Distributed Control Systems (DCS) in the future? What can assistance systems already do today, and is autonomous plant operation really going to happen? Our exclusive interview offers up answers to all of these and a lot more questions.

Tomorrow's automation technology starts today. From field device daily routine through the chances of modularization up to data mining. Suspense and excitement continued on the second day of the Namur Annual General Meeting. Here, it was clearly palpable: The modernization tempo that users and operators in the process automation have jointly unleashed has increased significantly.

Faster, more flexible and customer oriented – this is how the Japanese process automation company Yokogawa wants to position itself in the market in the future. The new business slogan ‘Co-innovating tomorrow’ describes the change – it is supposed to show new products and services.

The race for the competitive advantages through Internet of Things, Industry 4.0 and digitalization has begun. Siemens Division Head Dr. Jürgen Brandes gives insights on how Siemens will optimally support the challenges in the process industries with more speed, innovation, shortening of the Time to Market, flexibility and efficiency. This can happen only through more industry expertise, open interfaces and Coopetition. No doubt: The Siemens world is becoming more open.

China's government takes safety and environmental protection seriously and closes a number of chemical parks in Jiangsu Province. This affects a total of 1,431 chemical companies, some of which are considered major environmental polluters. A huge wave of production closures, modernizations and relocations is imminent.

A company that operates and manages a chemical park needs to be involved in a broad range of activities, from networking to infrastucture via innovation. Currenta CEO Günter Hilken is nevertheless certain that the Chempark in Germany, located in the Rhine area, is excellently positioned.

The process of choosing appropriate compressed air systems for pharmaceutical applications comprises a number of selection criteria, all of which contribute immensely to air quality and equipment performance.

Tomorrow's automation technology starts today. From field device daily routine through the chances of modularization up to data mining. Suspense and excitement continued on the second day of the Namur Annual General Meeting. Here, it was clearly palpable: The modernization tempo that users and operators in the process automation have jointly unleashed has increased significantly.

Emerson wants to score points with more consultation — The global economy is booming, and after the years of crisis the oil and gas industries also seem to be back in play. This is the time when digital transformation is bringing companies in the process industry to new challenges that should lead to further reductions in costs and complexity — the perfect framework for this year’s Emerson User Exchange Meeting in The Hague, which attracted 1,600 participants this time.

With MTP (Module Type Package) and NOA (Namur Open Architecture), Namur has launched important game changers in process automation. While the complexity of the topics in the context of the digitization challenges continues to increase, the users need simple solutions. Are sensors the key or the driver for successful digitization? This was discussed under the motto “Field Instruments Supporting Digital Transformation” at the annual users meeting of process automation technology.

The race for the competitive advantages through Internet of Things, Industry 4.0 and digitalization has begun. Siemens Division Head Dr. Jürgen Brandes gives insights on how Siemens will optimally support the challenges in the process industries with more speed, innovation, shortening of the Time to Market, flexibility and efficiency. This can happen only through more industry expertise, open interfaces and Coopetition. No doubt: The Siemens world is becoming more open.

Faster, more flexible and customer oriented – this is how the Japanese process automation company Yokogawa wants to position itself in the market in the future. The new business slogan ‘Co-innovating tomorrow’ describes the change – it is supposed to show new products and services.

On 1 October, Siemens started for the first time with their own division for the process industry–Germany's biggest industrial group has restructured. "Yet again?", critics asked. But this time the group came up with concrete action in keeping with their Vision 2020 and formed their own "Process Industries and Drives" division. Division head Peter Herweck speaks in the PROCESS interview about his strategies, aims and opportunities in the new structure.

How does a user know that degradation is taking place in a pump and that it will eventually lead to a major fault? Manufacturers are working hard to develop intelligent diagnostic systems. The goal is to develop simple solutions which are cost-effective even on small pumps. Suppliers are developing early fault detection strategies which are designed to enhance pump availability. PROCESS takes a look at the latest developments.

“Napoleon Bonaparte used to sleep on his horse. Generals must be visible at all time,” says Dr KH Gharda - Chairman and Managing Director of Gharda Chemicals Ltd (GCL), in a tête-à-tête with PROCESS India. This 81-year-old stalwart — who believes in silently fulfilling his role of a front liner, maintains a low profile and lets his work speak for him — has made far-reaching contributions to the Indian chemical industry.

Monolithic structures in process automation will soon be outdated. This will lead to even more competition, Jürgen Brandes, CEO of Siemens Division Process Industries and Drives, says in a double interview with his colleague and CTO Jörn Oprzynski. What role will be left for Distributed Control Systems (DCS) in the future? What can assistance systems already do today, and is autonomous plant operation really going to happen? Our exclusive interview offers up answers to all of these and a lot more questions.

High growth rates coupled with attractive relocation packages are the best incentives for enticing international chemicals companies to develop production sites in India. Lanxess is responding to the invitation with significant investment. The latest step is the opening of an ultramodern plant for ion exchangers in Jhagadia.

Industrial IT Reloaded —With Version 6 of their System 800xA process control system, ABB are seeking to conquer a new peak in process automation. What these process automation specialists are offering must be called, strictly speaking, Industrial IT Reloaded, says Tobias Becker, director of the global ABB business unit “Control Technologies”. Fundamentally, the 800xA is not a pure control system, but an integration platform for various systems — a platform that simultaneously serves as an information hub. PROCESS wanted to go deeper.

—Hundreds of pump suppliers are showing up at Achema again this year. Besides the handful of big players in the industry, a large number of SMEs will be at the show, including some highly-specialized market leaders. The list of hidden champions includes companies like Lewa which exports roughly 90 % of its production output and has in-depth expertise in providing solutions.

Energy costs have now become a long-term issue in the chemicals sector and are becoming an important efficiency factor. Process versions which only a few years ago laid abandoned and disregarded in the drawer due to their high investment costs are benefiting from this sea change. This also includes mechanical compression of vapors in evaporators which remained in the long grass for a long time and is now enjoying a renaissance.

From the device level to the Cloud, customers are finding efficiencies — When Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) announced in April this year that the company had established a new business unit, its formation was to help manufacturers harness the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). This will allow them to more efficiently gather and analyze a broader range of data across multiple operations and plants to use data to transform entire enterprises.

Wireless measurement systems have long been more than just a vision even in the process industry. Emerson Process Management will be bringing its 2.4 GHz In-plant Smart Wireless solutions onto the market this spring. This technology should bring about a quantum leap for users in the reliability of their plants and in the efficiency of their operations.

Technip has agreed to provide PTT Global Company subsidiary PTTGC America with technology licensing and expertise for an ethylene plant in Ohio, USA. The facility, with an expected capacity of 1,000 KTA, will be part of PTTGCA’s first world-scale petrochemical complex outside of Thailand.

The jumbo merger of the gas giants is imminent: After tough negotiations, Linde and the US competitor Praxair have agreed on the conditions of the fusion. The merger will see the creation of a new Number One of global gas companies…