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”.

The maxim “Time is money” is particularly appropriate for the current situation in the pharmaceutical industry. The companies here are therefore striving to keep the time to market launch of a product as short as possible. An efficient information management system helps them in this and optimizes the design and operation of a plant. Consequently, they achieve considerable competitive advantages.

Evonik is investing a double-digit million dollar amount in the construction of a new multi-purpose facility at its Geesthacht location in Northern Germany, 30 km outside the city of Hamburg.

A story of the replacement of the process control system – Cht R. Beitlich’s decentralized control system with isolated PDA had seen better days. Rather than helping to optimize production, it was tying up valuable resources. Changes to the system were tedious; replacement parts were getting harder and harder to come by. The company began surveying the market for an appropriate replacement. In the end, there was only one system that met all of their requirements.

Fluor and IBM announced the use of artificial intelligence-based systems to predict, monitor and measure the status of engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction (EPC) megaprojects from inception to completion.

Market and raw material trends set the direction in the chemical industry. That is one of the reasons why the 2008/2009 crisis signaled the start of a paradigm shift in chemical plant engineering and construction. Traditional EPC suppliers (general contractors based in the Western industrialized nations) are facing increased competition from Asia. At the same time, the plant engineering teams at global chemical companies are intensifying their partnerships with EPCs and spreading the workload across the international engineering resource base.

Ineos goes digital plant: The chemical producer uses Intergraph's CAD Worx plant design suit to standardize and automate work processes, minimize the amount of transposition errors and increase integration, speakers explained...

... and so to provide an overview at all times into the aggregated wastewater treatment facility. A single intelligent solution for completely networking sensor-based measuring systems makes it possible.

In the age of Industrie 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT), Ethernet is also making inroads into process manufacturing. Specialized gateways simplify the transition and create the environment needed for a consistent, rapid and secure flow of information in both a horizontal and vertical direction. Performance is also boosted and plant operators become significantly more flexible.

Enzymes specialist Novozymes want to participate in the US–biofuesl–boom: The company inaugurated an enzyme production in Blair, Nebraska. Creating 100 career positions and 400 construction jobs, the plant will specialize in making world-leading enzymes, a key technology component for both the existing and advanced biofuel markets.