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.
Converts standard pulse output flow meters to give linearised analog and NPN/PNP outputs
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.
Clean water for rearing healthy fish – High-performance systems for sustainable production in RAS
High precision measurements despite high temperatures
The measurement of low flow is becoming widely used in many industries. However, the smaller the flow, the trickier it is to control and measure, and finding a suitable flow measuring technology at reasonable cost can prove challenging for both users and flow sensor manufacturers.
Cooling systems are crucial parts of industrial facilities, and an efficient cooling tower is of critical importance for the performance and durability of the facility
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.
Growth in incoming orders, sales, profit and employment reported for 2023 by Matthias Altendorf and Luc Schultheiss
PCN Europe spoke to Mark Pontin, Managing Director of Resolve Optics about the challenges for lenses in optical material inspection and sorting applications.
Flexibly expandable solution that is suitable for use with static and retractable fittings
For easier access to diagnostic data of sensors
New Emerson Software solution provides a sandbox to deploy and run applications with easy, secure, contextualized data access
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.
Exciting opportunity for real-time measurements in a metals refinery
Reliable measurements despite films and adhesion
Dr Klaus Endress, CEO of the Endress+Hauser Group for many years and president of the Supervisory Board since 2014, celebrated his 75th birthday. As previously announced, he will end his active involvement in the family-owned business at the end of the year. However, he will remain closely associated with the Group as a shareholder and chairman of the Endress Family Council.
Leak Detection Sensor Certified for Multiple HVAC Refrigerants
Sulzer’s repair expertise supports reliability of water utilities with large-scale pump refurbishment project in Africa
A digital twin is not only the basis for a holistic view of the system and the individual processes. It is also the basis for automatic routines that react autonomously to changes in the process. It helps applications identify unwanted situations and the countermeasures to be taken often long before the plant comes to a standstill. Predictive maintenance is a key to the efficient operation of a process plant. However, digital processes are not a question of individual products or components, but require the seamless interaction of people and systems.
To date, the KHS coating of wafer-thin, chemically pure glass on the inside wall of PET bottles was primarily applied to improve the quality and shelf life of sensitive soft drinks and juice. VILSA-BRUNNEN Otto Rodekohr GmbH is now the first mineral water bottling plant to profit from Plasmax technology. The family business is consistently investing in its product quality and the long-lasting freshness protection of its premium beverages – and in doing so is setting standards on the market.
How can mining companies make their operations more sustainable to reduce their environmental footprints? One element that can be perfectly adapted to match the conditions is the efficient transport of the mined material. Here overland conveyors that can move large quantities of material over long distances are required. BEUMER Group relies on modern planning and layout tools to support operators at an early stage of the project and design the ideal conveying solution together with the customer.
For increases cost efficiency amd lower lead times
Mechanical bearings and gearboxes — like those used in electric vehicles and wind farms — are often treated with lubricants to avoid friction and wear. The voltage the components might be under impairs the effectiveness of the lubricants to such a degree that the tribological contacts are damaged. As part of the Lube.Life joint research project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM have developed a virtual lubricant lab, which can be used to predict the effects of electrical fields on lubricant stability.
With the increase in hydrogen mobility, the network of refuelling stations is densifying. The sector is investing heavily into the infrastructure. This creates a significant demand for measurement technology, mainly to ensure the safety of the refuelling process.
The use of conventional analysis equipment in hazardous areas is complicated due to a lack of approvals. Equipment without ATEX or IECEx certification must be specially protected so that it does not act as an ignition source. At the same time, analysis equipment is essential for many processes. For example, for testing the purity of hydrogen at hydrogen refuelling stations.
Precise and fast determination of bound nitrogen monitoring
Enhanced sensitivity to fulfil tighter international regulation
When older equipment starts to affect the output from the power plant – operators need to act fast, to avoid production risks escalating. This is especially true for legacy pumps. However, sourcing new units to fit the surrounding infrastructure and application requirements of the plant can be challenging.
The quality of manufactured or processed products at cleanroom facilities are protected by applicable good manufacturing practices (GMP) that specify stringent environmental monitoring requirements.
Silicon Resonant Water Pressure Gauge for Successful Deep Sea Observation of Sea Level Fluctuations
Transforming Plant Process Management with AI
Implementing safe I/Os for FSoE (Functional Safety over EtherCAT) according to ETG 5100 V1.2.0.
Cocoa plays an important role in Brazilian agriculture. However, the fruit of the cacao tree (cocoa pods) is prone to fungal diseases. pest infestations are responsible for crop losses of up to 40 percent worldwide. In collaboration with the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV are looking to establish new ways of using damaged cocoa pods as part of the Damaged Beans project.
The world is facing a fundamental change to its entire energy supply. All current methods of generating energy are under scrutiny. Nuclear energy has fallen into disrepute for a number of reasons. Meanwhile, hydropower has its own limitations in terms of scope, one of which is its immense impact on the landscape and the associated consequences for flora and fauna. Biomass is another option, but it competes with food production and is also a limited resource. Author: Wolfgang Weber, Pepperl+Fuchs
PCN Europe interviewed Rob Watkinson, Customer Support Manager at Resolve Optics about the design for optics able to withstand the high levels of radiation found in and around nuclear plants.
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