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.

Bayer Technology Services wants to stay on the growth curve. For that to happen, the company has to find the right balance between its internal and external customer base. Dr. Dirk Van Meirvenne, who took over as CEO on June 1st, answered a series of questions from PROCESS Editor-in-Chief Gerd Kielburger.

This year decanter specialist Flottweg celebrates its 75th anniversary. The decanters are used for continuous separation of suspended solids from liquids, clarification of liquids, and classification of fine particles. But, it all began with a motor...

Arkema and Hexcel’s new lab aims to develop carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic prepreg tapes which are capable of producing lightweight parts for aircrafts of the future. The companies are keen to install an initial industrial pilot line in the new lab soon.

BASF commissioned Rockwell Automation to modernize an automation system in a loading bay used for polymer dispersions at the company’s Ludwigshafen Verbund site in Germany. With only eight months to plan the new system and just three days for commissioning, the project required an extraordinarily structured approach and an intensive test phase. The result is a system with high levels of flexibility and availability as well as easier maintenance.

The reliability of technical test methods and models designed to forecast the behaviour of components under stress has increased over recent years. Nevertheless, insufficient maintenance or unsuitable strategies still sometimes result in failures and significant damage in process plants. The right overall strategy must be customised to each plant, taking individual features into account. This approach helps to reduce both costs and damage.

The CSL30 laser coder from Linx Printing Technologies is providing a craft beer start-up with an enhanced coding and marking solution to support its growth. Edinburgh Beer Factory is benefitting from improved codes, reliability, and ease of use from the Linx CSL30, which also has the potential to handle more production and new bottle sizes as the business continues to expand and enter export markets.

When building stadiums, planners are increasingly taking advantage of the benefits offered by membrane architecture, enabling the creation of new and modern forms. Two well-known examples are the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.

A Foster Wheeler subsidiary will supply engineering and materials for a new double-cell Terrace Wall steam reformer heater and air preheating system of Russian oil company Gazprom. The unit will be part of a hydrogen production at the Salavat Refinery, in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia.

Many industrial processes require heat energy to be moved from one place to another via a heat transfer fluid: typically water and steam at temperatures up to 200 °C, and heat transfer oils for the range 200–450 °C. Pumping fluids reliably at such high temperatures is a challenge that sealless canned motor pumps can meet. The new generation of solar thermal power stations provides a practical example.