Last week Garry Mahoney of Honeywell Process Solutions discussed bringing process data together to improve cost structures through better decision-making. Technology borrowed from the IT industry can help a great deal, but you have to spend the money to save money. [ + ]

Honeywell Process Solutions recently held its Honeywell Users Group Asia-Pacific forum in Perth. ProcessOnline caught up with Garry Mahoney, who had some interesting things to say on better decision-making through making better use of process data. [ + ]

If you are an operator in the resources industry, it is undeniable that the cost of doing business in Australia and New Zealand is rising. A higher price for labour, more taxes and greater regulation have all increased the cost of extracting resources from the ground. [ + ]

It is, of course, desirable that industrial air or gas supply lines be free of particulate, water, oil and other contaminants. But in reality, supply lines usually deliver some contaminants along with the air or gas they were designed to carry. [ + ]

Mobile devices have great potential to increase the efficiency, productivity and satisfaction of plant personnel in industrial settings, but despite the obvious gains to be had, mobile devices in industrial settings are not being utilised to their fullest. [ + ]

Rotork intelligent electric valve actuators and two-wire digital control systems have been specified for a major plant upgrade at the Caltex Kurnell site in Sydney, Australia, where the existing refinery site into an import terminal for the storage and distribution of petrol, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil. [ + ]

A global leader in the production of green energy from food and agribusiness wastewater is deploying advanced anaerobic technologies that achieve high returns of biogas from the world’s largest crop - sugar cane. [ + ]

The Kilcoy Pastoral Company (Kilcoy) has drastically reduced energy expenditure in its facilities in Queensland by refurbishing existing plant and installing new compressor equipment supplied by Compressed Air and Power Solutions Australia (CAPS). [ + ]

China is experiencing a strong, but unexpected, rise in demand for online quality assurance products and solutions. [ + ]

What links together sour gas, declining fuel pressure and blow downs in the oil and gas industry? Well, they’re just some of the challenges in major projects that Australia’s biggest contractor, WorleyParsons, has grappled with in recent times. [ + ]

Antennas that are capable of transmitting radio waves turn components into intelligent objects. Researchers have now found a way to embed these antennas in fibre composites. As a result, the technology also works with carbon and glass fibres. [ + ]

The production of agricultural and industrial chemicals frequently involves the use of steam-powered plants, and pure water is needed to generate the steam for such plants. SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz uses Phoenix Contact coupling relays to control their generators as they require less space in the control cabinet.

Woodside Petroleum has awarded Compressed Air and Power Solutions (CAPS) Australia a supply contract to provide an air compressor package for the new $5 billion North Rankin B Platform. [ + ]

Large smelters in electricity-intensive, metal-winning industries can use as much power as a medium-sized city, so finding ways to reduce their energy requirement is a high priority.  In a bid to help smelters cut their consumption and associated emissions, the Australian research agency CSIRO, in partnership with industry players, is assessing and testing new electrical connection systems. [ + ]

Thousands of budding marine biologists have been invited to examine images captured by Sirius, an autonomous underwater vehicle belonging to the University of Sydney’s ACFR designed to track the location of kelp and sea urchin populations. [ + ]