Articles and News

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Honeywell system integrator initiative was launched in 2009 and has quickly become a solid program to serve small to midrange customers with Honeywell’s modular systems. There are 200 system integrators in the program with 55 of them located in the United States.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Metropolitan Solutions, a showcase created by Deutsche Messe and run concurrently with the 2013 Hannover Messe, provided a focal point for learning about the application of technology to improve cities. Real-time automation and control technologies are the logical building blocks for cities to modernize, improve safety and reliability, and provide efficient environments for people to live.

The Instrumentation Testing Association (ITA) and the International Society of Automation (ISA) are teaming up to co-promote the 2013 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls (WWAC) Symposium.

By Kevin L. Finnan The trend toward intelligent devices in remote SCADA installations would seem to put remote terminal units (RTUs) on the path to obsolescence. Instead, it illustrates the evolving value of RTUs in contemporary systems.

Metso will supply 30 continuously-operating water-quality measuring stations to Vapo, a power complany in Finland.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Over the last two years, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) UK Petrochemicals has empowered users to create custom dashboards based on Excel spreadsheet data and calculations using software from Sabisu. The software enables people to organize their data around "Communities" related to areas of interest.

By Bill Lydon, Editor In February 2013, Schneider Electric announced the PlantStruxure PES (Process Expert System) as, “The innovative Process Automation System that brings together the best from the PLC/SCADA and DCS worlds and combines this with integrated energy management features…” To gain a better understanding, I had the opportunity to ask their Product Marketing Manager some questions about this new offering.

Amaco Automation will serve the oil and gas market with controls engineering and automation services.

ITS will upgrade nine Siemens S5 PLC Water Distribution Systems with Siemens S7 equipment in the QAB and Formulation 1 plants at AstraZeneca’s Macclesfield site in the UK.

IMS says the oil and gas business along with the water and wastewater industry will generate the largest growth of all application markets for medium-voltage motor control centers (MCCs) and soft starters.

Honeywell's Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) will be deployed throughout the Azzour Water Distribution Scheme so that operators at a central location can control a network of six different treatment plants.

Flowserve will provide a pump package and energy recovery devices (ERDs) to be used at Larnaca, a 15.9 million gallons/day seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant located in the Republic of Cyprus.

ARC says India’s water & wastewater SCADA systems market is spurred by the need to improve the sustainability of its water utility infrastructure.

Water World will deploy the financial, logistics and manufacturing modules of Epicor ERP in its offices in Egypt and the USA.

ARC says automation expenditures in the water & wastewater industry will grow at a rate of 7.8 percent over the next five years.

DeLaura was named ISA’s Water and Wastewater Industry Division Member of the Year for his work to promote collaboration between WEF’s Automation and Information Technology Committee and the ISA Water and Wastewater Division.

By Hugh Davies, Optical Metrology Services How high precision laser profile measurement tools and video inspection equipment are helping companies verify the quality of CRA-lined pipes by detecting the presence of wrinkles or buckling.

Shipments for the U.S. industrial valve industry will grow to nearly $4.3 billion, according to figures released by the Valve Manufacturers Association (VMA). This exceeds the industry’s previous 10-year peak in 2008.

Analytical Technology’s Q45P AutoClean pH monitors and D15-76 monitor with an Air Blast AutoClean system to indicate water quality and the presence of suspended solids in its waste water stream for Britannia Food Ingredients.

A roundtable discussion with water industry and regulatory experts says there is a need for improved maintenance of dissolved oxygen sensors to increase the accuracy of measurements.