Articles
Legacy systems and today’s safety standards
It is estimated that about 66% of the programmable electronic systems (PES) running in the process industry were installed before the publication of today’s commonly used safety standards (IEC 61508 and IEC 61511/ISA 84). [ + ]
The importance of standardisation
Can you imagine a world where telephone systems only worked within a city but not outside it? Or where emails could only be sent within a company’s intranet but not externally? Can you imagine the resultant inefficiency and lack of productivity? [ + ]
Gearmotors keep mining industry equipment working in the toughest of conditions
Smart thinking, coupled with innovative technology and ultrareliable equipment, is paying dividends for Queensland-based manufacturer OreKinetics. [ + ]
Building a bridge to safety: automation safety over a non-safe industrial network
Safety in today’s market has come a long way from the simple, single-function safety relays of the past. Now engineers are left to question which is best for the efficient implementation of the prevailing safety requirements in their process: programmable, network-enabled safety controllers or spatially limited, configurable safety relays? [ + ]
Powerful drives for a modern brewhouse
Over 40 years of continuous around-the-clock operation, the tanks and vats in the Forst specialty beer brewery’s old brewhouse in Italy produced 25 million hectolitres of beer. Now, since brewing technology has progressed, the management decided to construct a completely new brewhouse, saving 30% in energy consumption. [ + ]
High-intensity grinding at its finest
It is a well-recognised fact that global ore grades are declining while commodity demands continue to rise. These ore bodies are increasingly complex, requiring a finer grind size for maximum mineral recovery and grade, and are setting new challenges, particularly for grinding technology. [ + ]
Mainpac assists power plant with better asset management
As an asset-intensive operation with more than 8500 assets, the Smithfield Energy Facility in Sydney, New South Wales, needed a better way to manage and maintain its assets. It chose Mainpac 2011 Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software to provide better visibility into its asset base. [ + ]
Choices in automated level detection: Part 2
In part 1 of this article we looked at the challenges associated with level measurement and at a few of the common point level detection technologies available. In this part we move on to overview continuous level measurement technologies. [ + ]
The truth about compressed air audits
Regardless of the brand or type of equipment that you currently use on site, the expectation is that any company providing compressed air auditing services would provide a well-rounded and unbiased set of recommendations ... [ + ]
The advance of the robots: helping manufacturers become more competitive
Industrial robot technology has come a long way from the simple machines of the early ’60s and today offers more flexibility and cost-effectiveness than ever before. Can Australian manufacturing capitalise on the benefits? [ + ]
How to connect robot cells to any industrial network
SVIA in Sweden uses Anybus X-gateways to connect its DeviceNet-based robot cells to any network that its customers are using. [ + ]
Expanding plant networks with WirelessHART
With process instruments getting ‘smarter’ every year, their capabilities are often underutilised. Important data that could help save costs remains unused. This potential can be tapped by using WirelessHART. [ + ]
Model-based design of control systems: simulate and test before committing to hardware
The demand for better performance and accuracy of motor control systems is growing rapidly and reaching the point where traditional design and verification methodologies are falling short. [ + ]
Choices in automated level detection: Part 1
There are many technologies available today for the automated measurement of the level of a material in a vessel. All the available techniques work when applied correctly in the appropriate situation. [ + ]
Become an engineering entrepreneur today
The days of expecting a job for 30 to 40 years, say, from one company are rapidly diminishing as competition intensifies, so we need to approach the problem of employment from a different angle and create engineering jobs ourselves. [ + ]