Articles and News

Automation.com, January 2012 By Matthew Littlefield, LNS Research There are a whole slew of new technologies and system architectures being adopted in the automation industry at a very rapid pace. Companies today face the very real possibility that if they don’t effectively understand, adopt, and leverage these new technologies to their advantage; they will be left in an increasingly uncompetitive position.

The environmentally-friendly cruise ferry will use liquefied natural gas as its fuel, which will be a first for a passenger vessel of this size.

ABB supplied gearless mill drives, process and electrical control systems, power quality systems, a substation and a System 800xA integrated operations center.

Vega level sensors are being used in the decommissioning of the Dounreay nuclear plant in north Scotland.

Qualification was based on EPRI TR-107330 under an audited quality management program meeting the requirement of 10CFR50 Appendix B, NQA-1, and 10CFR21.

Automation.com, January 2012 By Bill Lydon, Editor Here are my thoughts on major automation and control trends in 2012. These opinions are based on a wide range of inputs from users, suppliers and industry consultants, and from attending numerous industry forums, conferences and trade shows every year.

ARC says manufacturing companies in India are increasingly turning to system integrators to implement automation projects and seamlessly integrate disparate systems.

ÅF AB will use AVEVA Plant across all new large and medium sized design projects, including new paper machines, biomass power plants, nuclear, thermal and renewables.

Impuls in Russia reports that projects that typically took three months or more are now being completed in 5-6 weeks.

Website contains information on monitoring systems, fault detection & diagnostics systems, wind farm management information systems, process control systems and project management services.

Honeywell will integrate its Experion control system with Statoil’s existing Kvitebjørn platform to enable remote command of the facility.

ABB will supply AC subsea power cables to the world's largest offshore gas platform, Troll A, about 70 kilometers off the west coast of Norway.

Automation.com, January 2012 By Bill Lydon, Editor The 17th Annual PI North America General Assembly Meeting was held October 4-6, 2011 in Phoenix, AZ and included vendors and users who provided updates on PROFIBUS and PROFINET technologies. Topics included PROFINET survey, GE IP, Chrysler-Fiat, Wireless and PROFIenergy.

The project is part of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) program, aimed at increasing the contribution of renewable energy in Texas by up to 18 gigawatts.

ABB will rovide a high-voltage underground cable system for the South-West Link power transmission project in southern Sweden.

Pace Global is an energy consulting and management company that helps organizations maximize value and manage risk in today’s complex energy and environmental markets.

CVA electric actuator has been specified for critical valve control duty on high temperature gas turbine pre-heater equipment supplied to the power generation industry.

Brochure explains how the precision metering of flare gases and feed lines optimizes the disposal of waste gases in oil/gas land-based and offshore production fields as well as refineries.

The market will exceed $750 million in 2011 and is expected to reach more than $1.4 billion by 2016, according to ARC.

ARC says the current SCADA T&D market is $2.4 billion, and it is expected to grow to $3.8 billion at a CAGR of 8.9 percent--especially in China.