Gea supplied their Norwegian customer Borregaard with the supply of a turnkey plant for the spray drying of lignosulfonate in the double-digit million range. The solution also includes a new silo for feeding stored powder materials into the plant's packaging system and a large wet scrubber for dedusting. The entire process solution will be installed at the Norwegian site in Sarpsborg and commissioning is scheduled for the middle of 2019.

Although PLC and DCS are both used in the automation systems, there were completely different purposes behind their creation, and up to a certain time their functionalities were quite different. Today, advanced automation solutions can even over-perform both of them. Recently, in an exclusive discussion with PROCESS India team, A. Bhaduri, General Manager-Process Solutions, Rockwell Automation (India), explained the origin, evolution, convergence and next level of these two technologies. An excerpt...

With an aim to support the company’s growth plans, Exxon Mobil has undertaken this move. The firm also plans to centralise its project delivery across the company and further integrate its upstream business with the downstream and chemical segments.

Right application of blowers and compressors is very essential for the most optimised performance. A good system layout offers more power saving and higher efficiency. It is also important to make sure that proper care is taken during piping design and installation.

Technip bags a three–digits million Euros contract from Tupi, a Brazilian offshore consortium. The plant engineers will supply 200 kilometers of flexible pipes and associated equipment for the development of the Lala Alto offshore field.

For companies in the process industry, increasing global competition and enormous time and cost pressure require special solutions. The software solutions for integrated engineering from Siemens represent a very promising approach to improving competitiveness. They enable integrated plant management throughout all phases of the lifecycle.

Small is beautiful: R&D machines don't need to be big. But when the feature the same characteristics as a production machine, it facilitates scale-up remarkably.

CFD Simulation in Chemical Reaction Engineering — The goal of reaction engineering is to optimize transport processes (heat transfer, mass transfer and mixing) in order to improve yield/conversion of desired products whilst ensuring the safe operation of the reactor. CFD simulation can help maximizing yield while minimizing costs.

Dairy and cheese production is by no means a business of hillbilly herdsmen: To ensure sustained maximum quality and productivity, big dairies regularly invest large sums in the modernization of their production plants — using the latest automation technology and process control systems.

Evonik Industries is building a new production plant for specialty copolyesters at its Witten site in Germany. According to the company, the project is on track to reach mechanical completion by end of November 2017.