Dr. Jörg Kempf

Chemical, pharmaceutical and food producers, colleges and universities all over the world use them: Wet-milling technology has been revolutionized by WAB with the development of its horizontal agitator bead mills. At this year’s Achema, the resourceful Swiss company was presenting the latest generation of its Dyno-Mill UBM (Universal Bead Mill).

... after not quite four years! Even the radar experts from the German Black Forest area themselves were surprised that the rather conservative market accepted the new technology so quickly. A look back and into the future.

Plant construction without annoying interfaces — There are not many technology and plant construction firms who can cover the full range of engineering services. But the EPC Group can! PROCESS visited the traditional — yet highly innovative — company from Thüringen/Germany.

What is going on at hygienic pump specialists Hilge, now present in the market as GEA Hilge after the acquisition by the GEA Group? Recently, the company gave the trade press a glimpse into its goals and objectives and also introduced a new hygienic pump.

Microbiologists, biochemists, and chemical engineers need to cultivate organisms in a highly controlled manner. As such, bioreactors have become integral to the pharmaceutical, food, and chemical industries. In order to successfully fulfill experimental requirements, suitable conditions and parameters must be provided, which include accurate temperature control, i.e., heating and cooling.

The digital twin of a plant is a virtual image, which not only allows internal process states to be displayed transparently, but also allows process optimizations to be worked out. Take the example of steam crackers — the king’s class of process plants — and learn how models, simulations and digital twins can be used to generate benefits over the entire life cycle of plants.

It stands as the benchmark: Those who operate with thermowell strength calculations in accordance with the globally recognised standard ASME PTC 19.3, will protect themselves against all eventualities. With the additional mark of “TW-2016”, the standard specifications are now available in a revised version. The revision provides some clearer and more-detailed definitions.

Maximum value and life cycle from steam control valves wanted! But how to achieve it? To find the answer, not only the steam control valve itself has to be viewed closer. Twelve steps lead to proper installation and application of control valves.

Selection and configuration of centrifugal pumps — Even though it doesn’t make happy reading for manufacturers of displacement pumps, centrifugal pumps are generally regarded as the workhorse of the process industry — with an estimated market share of around 80 %. And workhorses need to be properly looked after, meaning that operators can reduce trouble down the line with a more careful selection and configuration of centrifugal pumps. Here are some ideas and suggestions for this …

Evaluating (and minimizing) water hammer in a liquid sampling system — A common yet often unidentified problem poses a significant threat to any liquid sampling system. It is called water hammer, and it may be lurking in a system, ready to wreak havoc on fluid system components. How to mitigate water hammer?

Guided Wave Radar (GWR) technology has transformed the way process companies measure level in challenging applications: Providing accurate and reliable results, GWR modules have no moving parts, reducing maintenance to a minimum. Critical for a GWR application is, nevertheless, the correct installation.

Ever since the 1920s, Phoenix Contact has been driven by one thing: the pursuit of “better.” Already in its early years, the company demonstrated with its first series terminal block, the so-called RWE terminal block, that it works closely with its customers on all new developments. Then and today, it has always been about connectivity: from the field, through mapping and on to connectivity to the process control level. And time and time again, Phoenix Contact products have spearheaded new technology trends.

For the production of sulfuric acid and oleum, fertilizers, batteries and detergents as well as oil refining, chemical synthesis, and wastewater processing an accurate and reliable measurement of sulfuric acid is important.

Single-use systems are gaining ground in the upstream and downstream processing of biopharmaceutical production. One of their strengths is flexibility — but at the same time it is a challenge for measurement technology. For example, level measurement must be as flexible and efficient as the entire single-use equipment.

Operational Excellence is high on the agenda at many companies. Production process optimization presents new challenges, but it also offers new opportunities. The following article describes the Bayer Technology Services approach.

The digital future is all about communication. Big data applications turn huge amounts of raw data into usable information for detailed analysis and informed decision making. IoT-enabled devices seamlessly integrate into comprehensive communication infrastructures. End-to-end Ethernet provides the enabling technology for direct communication free from platform limitations and hierarchical structures. Cloud-based solutions allow the access to any information anytime and anywhere. Industrie 4.0 is finally becoming reality.

Whether pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, viable cell density or redox, while analog sensors have been the product of choice in many areas and still are, modern intelligent sensors offer a range of advantages.

The year is 1864 — The Bavarian fairy-tale king Ludwig II ascends the throne. The first pneumatic post dispatch system starts up in Hamburg. Lincoln wins the US presidential elections. And the 28-year old Wilhelm Meyer from Hanover/Germany founds a machine company (Maschinenfabrik) in Aerzen. Of all these things, only the company Aerzener Maschinenfabrik is still a presence today. It has grown. And it has benefited from a pioneering spirit and a richness of ideas, courage and hard work.

The Sandvik Group’s expertise in sulphur solidification has been well established over many decades and its Rotoform system has now been installed at most of the world’s major refineries. On example is Hellenic Petroleum’s Elefsis refinery near Athens.

Virtual worlds have until now mainly been known from the field of computer games. But through information technology, they have also found their way into industrial automation. What are the opportunities and risks of a production plant in a virtual environment and how can virtualization solutions be implemented?

Highly flexible and modular production plants with decentralised automation enable the process industry to react to fluctuations in demand. Decentralised controllers are perfect for this. Festo developed a tool for programming these controllers to enable simple application engineering in line with the Module Type Package (MTP) from Namur and ZVEI.

Harmonization of European laws has increased the stringency of requirements covering design, safe use, and leakage control in pumps. When handling inherently hazardous liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) pump designs should tick all the regulatory boxes as well as bring economic benefits to operators.

If you want to see the checkered flag, you need to get your pit stop strategy right. The same applies to plant inspection, maintenance and revamp. With good turnaround organization and management, a plant shutdown can be turned into a competitive weapon. We were in The Netherlands to witness a refinery turnaround.

Filtration centrifuges provide a good method for mechanically separating suspended solids from liquids. Separation in a centrifugal field generated by equipment rotating at high speed has a number of advantages compared to simple vacuum and pressure based techniques.

Guided Wave Radar (GWR) transmitters are often favoured devices, as they — unlike traditional mechanical technologies — virtually have no moving parts, reducing maintenance costs and extending operational life. Many GWR installations require a separate instrument chamber, and choosing the right chamber is important for rapid installation, accurate measurements and reliability.

Scaling, fouling and oxidation are the natural enemies of reverse osmosis (RO) systems in water treatment—especially in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Proper process monitoring and control of critical parameters such as pH, ORP, conductivity, flow, temperature and differential pressure can provide advanced warning and protection of scaling, fouling or chemical attacked. If early warnings are ignored, the membrane may become irreparably damaged.

There are different technical and administrative requirements on the one side for active storage of chemicals and on the other side for passive storage of chemicals. When do we refer to active storage and when to passive storage? Discover, what is important for safe hazardous substance storage in this article.

While the early days of Endress+Hauser were all about delivering reliable and accurate measured values, today the family company is driving digitalization and Industry 4.0 projects at high speed — always with a focus on the customer.

... after not quite four years! Even the radar experts from the German Black Forest area themselves were surprised that the rather conservative market accepted the new technology so quickly. A look back and into the future.

The advantages of flexible automation solutions have long been talked about, and now it comes down to putting them into practice. In doing so, the aim is to link the respective smart modules in such a way that the overall plant runs in harmony. ABB shows that it has mastered all the parts in the orchestra.

Again this year, outstanding, groundbreaking diploma/master's and doctoral theses on the subject of "Innovative process and operational management" are worthy of highly endowed prizes awarded by Namur, User Association of Automation Technology in Process Industries. In the article you will find out how to apply in which subject areas.

The goal of debottlenecking is to increase production capacity at an existing plant by making modifications to the equipment configuration or workflow. This is accomplished by eliminating bottlenecks that limit throughput. It can be an extremely profitable exercise for users, because in most cases debottlenecking adds extra capacity at a fraction of the cost of new build or expansion. PROCESS has put together some practical examples.

Guided wave radar (GWR) has become increasingly popular as an alternative to mechanical technology for level and interface measurements in bypass chamber applications. This measurement method, which has no moving parts and is not affected by density changes, provides reliable and accurate level and interface measurements.

The basic sealing task in mixing applications is to seal the rotating shaft as it passes through the vessel wall. Depending on the operating conditions — pressure, temperature, agitator speed, etc. — different types of seals are used. As this article shows, mechanical seals offer many advantages over other types of seals. Particularly if hazardous or explosive substances are being mixed, a mechanical seal is mandatory.

The grinding stage in a cement plant is extremely energy-intensive, consuming almost half the plant’s total electric power requirement. Expert systems designed for cement production, can use real-time plant data to make precise statements about the plant’s quality parameters.

In water/sewage applications Radar offers considerable advantages over ultrasonics. For one thing, measurement with radar is independent of temperature influences, wind movements, fog or rain.

Industry is under pressure to develop sustainable processing methods. With this in mind, the List kneader processor provides an alternative to the stirred-tank reactor for the production of polymers, allowing solvents to be eliminated from the reaction step. The kneader processor is also an alternative to the extruder for polymer devolatilization.

Keeping NGL (Natural Gas Liquid) pipeline components operating in optimal condition is an ongoing challenge for the oil and gas industry. Rising temperatures in the liquid pumps and the resulting issues for their seals represent one such challenge.Learn how you can profit from dry gas seals.

While food lovers immediately think of cherry gateau and the regional ham, measurement and control engineers all around the world associate the Black Forest with level and pressure measurement. With close regional ties to its site in Schiltach right in the heart of the Black Forest, Vega has been focusing on these two measuring methods for decades and is regarded an innovation driver in the field. Radar measurement technology in particular has made a major contribution to the success of the company.

More and more sealless canned motor pumps are being employed for the conveying of liquefied gases. They are distinguished by operational safety, an extremely low level of noise, low life cycle costs and in particular by the high degree of environmental friendliness, alongside their compactness and easy installation. They are a safe alternative to conventional centrifugal pumps and magnetic drive pumps.

Water treatment and purification is a technologically demanding process. Dosing is a core task here: Additives and auxiliary agents or highly effective chemicals need to be added both cost-effectively and safely for the environment, which means that the requirements for dosing pumps are just as high. Digitalization is the order of the day here as well.

During Achema 2018, powder size-reduction equipment company Frewitt is featuring a hammer mill and a solids crusher at its stand. The company’s hammer mill, known as the Fredrive Hammerwitt, combines multiple milling technologies in a single milling platform.

What’s happening in terms of vacuum pumps? PROCESS has tracked down the current trends and latest developments. And one thing’s for sure: Producing “empty spaces” is and remains attractive.

The pulsation inherent in vane-type pumps turns out not to be a problem for Coriolis flowmeters—Coriolis flowmeters offer users many advantages over positive-displacement (PD) meters. But can they be used with PD pumps? Engineers from pump manufacturer Blackmer decided to investigate.

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.

Rentschler Biotechnologie has built a reputation as one of the biopharmaceutical industry’s top contract manufacturing organizations with the help of Quattroflow quaternary diaphragm pumps. In the company’s new single-use production facility, these pumps’ ability to operate with minimal pulsation helps to keep the process within validation boundaries, especially when it comes to minimizing pressure fluctuations during critical filtration steps.

The world of bulk material handling seems easy at first glance: moving, filling, delivering. The art of dealing with a variety of different materials, however, lies in the details, such as the docking and undocking of containers at weighing stations. In the process, cross-contaminations and the release of dusts can occur. Azo Clean Dock prevents this problem. Its latest generation can do even more: it “thinks” for itself.

Natural gas is not only a flammable, but also a corrosive medium. The production process requires the use of robust systems and equipment — as an application from North Africa shows.

Data forms the basis for any optimization strategy. In the framework of the NOA concept, Phoenix Contact now provides with the Cloudwriter an app, with which the measurement data recorded in the systems can be transferred simply, without retroactive effects and securely to a cloud for evaluation.

Vega is sending to the starting line a real “game changer” in radar level measurement — the first 80-GHz sensor for liquids characterized especially by extremely good focusing. This feature will make level measurement more reliable than ever before. Measuring points that were previously considered problematic, such as vessels with internal installations, will benefit most from this “world first”.

Expectations from the Namur Annual General Meeting are understandably high - and once again, no one was disappointed. Many exciting and future-oriented lectures and discussions on subjects like Remote Operation, Industry 4.0, modularized automation and plant performance illustrated on the very first day the direction in which users and suppliers in process automation are being forced. The sector must overcome its limits in order to embrace new solutions...

In the process industry, the requirements placed on system availability and system safety are often more stringent than those in other industries. That also applies to power supplies.

The connection of pneumatic control lines in brewery systems always requires the use of materials that are highly durable. Learn about stainless steel push-in connectors providing a lasting and reliable seal even in humid environments. The material also features good hygienic properties.

The WirelessHart and ISA100 wireless standards provide facility operators with two additional communications solutions for transmitting field data. Many users are therefore asking which wired or wireless protocol represents the future-oriented technology that is best suited for efficient and safe production.