Industrial processes involving dry foodstuffs or animal feed can quickly create an explosive atmosphere by stirring up dust. Dust explosions present a huge risk not only to human life, but also in terms of destroyed equipment and unplanned production downtimes. Bormann & Neupert by BS&B offers efficient safety systems that effectively nip dust explosions in the bud or minimise their effects.
A hydrogen-fuelled kiln test rig is helping brick and ceramics manufacturers to support the energy transition. In a first for the UK, a kiln and furnace manufacturer has partnered with flow control specialist Bürkert to manage the precise and reliable control of hydrogen. The result for end users is increased production quality and confidence in the transition to hydrogen, enabling a more sustainable process.
Advanced pressure measurement technologies not only provide outstanding accuracy and reliability in chemical industry applications, but also help to minimise operational costs without compromising plant safety.
Mitsubishi Electric technologies have enabled the development of innovative composting machines that can turn food waste into high-quality fertiliser in just 24 hours. This solution responds to the global problem of waste, in particular food waste, which constitutes about 30% of landfill waste. For Radisson Blu Scandinavia, this technology enables the daily processing of food waste from restaurants, room service, and other food-related operations.
The climate crisis is driving demand for the electrification of transportation and energy infrastructure, which in turn is accelerating the need for more powerful and safer rechargeable batteries, including li-ion, sodium-ion, and solid-state. However, one of the key issues affecting battery quality is accurate humidity monitoring and dry control during manufacture.
Process industries, with a focus on Chemicals plants, are currently experiencing an evolution. Plant operators are grappling with a market that is shifting towards shorter product lifecycles, regularly changing feedstocks, an overall more precise yet rapid approach to production and narrowing profit margins.
Personalized medicine means an elementary change for the pharma and biotech industry aimed at the production of large quantities. Pharmabotix is developing automation and robotics solutions for filling smaller batches as they occur in cell and gene therapy. The Swiss company is thereby focusing on a hygienically designed Yaskawa Motoman HD8 industrial robot.
Ethernet-APL extends connectivity all the way to process automation field devices. This is achieved with 2-wire cabling via Ethernet-APL switches at data transfer rates of 10 MB/s. Transmissions are intrinsically safe and therefore possible into Ex zones as well. This paves the way for the straightforward collection of large volumes of field data, which facilitates plant optimization as well as the development of new business models in process engineering. Yet physical transmission is only part of the story.
Product packaging has always polarized: while it is indispensable for maintaining product and consumer safety, some materials are constantly under scrutiny regarding their environmental impact. The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) introduces binding regulations across the EU to mitigate these effects by reducing and replacing certain types of packaging. Packaging manufacturers and brand owners alike can meet those challenges and become PPWR-compliant without sacrificing efficiency and packing quality.
Steen-Hansen – a Norwegian manufacturer of fouling prevention and net protecting solutions for aquaculture use as well as of specialized industrial paint systems – has not only successfully overcome quality problems with its newly developed antifouling coatings, but also significantly shortened process times, simply by switching its production facilities to state-of-the-art mixing and dispersion technology.
JUMO has added a comprehensive solution for process technology operations to the automation range. Using the JUMO variTRON system and the new JUMO smartWARE Program graphical program editor, customer-specific solutions can be configured easily and without special programming skills.
Clean water for rearing healthy fish – High-performance systems for sustainable production in RAS
The VisuNet GXP and VisuNet FLX series HMIs from Pepperl+Fuchs set new standards for safety and efficiency in hazardous industrial environments, meeting rigorous explosion protection requirements while offering sleek designs and flexible adaptability. Featuring modular designs and advanced technologies, these HMIs ensure operational excellence and compliance with industry standards, making them a smart investment for industries prioritizing safety and productivity.
Absolute sterility, optimised processes and lower operating costs – the food industry is challenged to align its production procedures amid these conflicting interests. The measurement technology employed to check individual process parameters plays a decisive role here. WIKA has now opened up a new chapter in pressure instrumentation: an in-line process transmitter with a “dry” measuring cell takes monitoring of this variable in sterile applications to a higher level.
For fluid control applications in sectors such as pharmaceuticals as well as food & beverage production, manufacturers can increase productivity and reduce costs while helping to meet their sustainability objectives by integrating improved control valves. Hydroformed valve bodies for diaphragm valves achieve high strength and light weight. This makes hydroformed valve bodies far more energy efficient compared to forged or cast designs, and the manufacturing process is inherently more sustainable too.
Ethernet APL is a game changer for networking at field level – especially for the process industry. It offers consistent networking with a single protocol, high speeds for cable lengths of up to 1000 metres and intrinsic safety for areas at risk of explosion.
Digital Plant Asset Management is a topic that often comes up in discussions about process engineering facilities. Today, while intelligent field devices might be the standard, system owners have yet to exploit their full potential. To provide the connectivity needed, Softing offers the right solutions with the smartLink product family.
Water management is an increasingly important and challenging issue, particularly in light of concerns such as water scarcity. Greater value is thus being placed on disinfection processes. To protect against bacteria, viruses and other harmful organisms, drinking water requires disinfection and hygiene measures. This also applies to the environment in order that lakes and water-based activities can be enjoyed without hesitation. Disinfection processes play a large role in industrial processes as well. In the beverage industry, drinking water flows directly into the products, while surface waters are frequently used as a coolant in other segments such as energy generation.
Concrete producer PRO BETON’s lone worker protection equipment has incorporated Wearin's IoT solution, which alerts the control center in the event of an accident and detects falls with unrivalled reliability.
Supply chain optimization with wireless level measurement: The IIoT radar sensor measures fill levels in mobile tanks, containers and silos. The values are sent to the cloud so that they are available at any time and from anywhere. Close cooperation with users of the innovative sensor has led to further expansion of its fields of application since its market introduction three years ago.
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