Controls upgrade for compounding facility
USA. A major controls upgrade at MBL (USA) Corp, a subsidiary of Japanese Corporation Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd, involves the supply of Chronos Richardson’s new CR600XP process control system. The compounding facility in Ottawa, Illinois, USA manufactures a range of transmission and drive belts for the worldwide automotive and recreational vehicle sectors.
   The CR600XP system will replace two existing control systems: a CR1000 control system originally supplied by Chronos Richardson in the mid-1990s, which provided the batch weighing control and materials traceability for carbon black preparation and an off-line small chemical weighing system; and a Henderson PLC-based control system that currently controls the mixer and preparation of oils. Polymer additions are carried out by hand.
   The CR600XP will control batch weighing of all the compounding line’s weighing activities (carbon black, polymers, oils and small chemicals) and control of the mixer. An integral MTS software package will allow material tracking throughout the mixing room, from material intake through to compound batch-off.
   Steve Saunders, technology director for Chronos Richardson Systems Europe, said that as well as improving operational safety and reducing plant downtime at the factory, the CR600XP would also replace obsolete control systems, ensuring that MBL is able to achieve full material traceability for every batch of compound produced. “This will enable them to fulfil the quality control expectations of all of their customers for many years to come”, he said.
Thu Sep 15 10:29:02 2005

Breakthrough in hybrid powders
UK. QinetiQ Nanomaterials Ltd (QNL) has announced a breakthrough in hybrid aluminium powders which provides new pyrotechnic and explosive applications possibilities.
   Tesimorph® EAB-80 is an experimental aluminium/boron material with a particle size of 80nm, developed under a research contract from the UK MOD. It offers significant potential for applications like pyrotechnics for air bags, rocket motors (both hybrid motors and solid propellant) and other propellants where enhanced energy and faster burn rates are required.
   Dr Paul Reip, MD of QNL, claims that his is the first time that an aluminium boron hybrid particle has been produced at the nano scale, many times smaller than anything currently available. Conventional process methods for aluminium powders tend to produce relatively large, micron size particles, but this latest work on alloyed and structured metal nanoparticles produces commercial quantities of nano size aluminium particles. It also opens up a wide range of potential applications and can also result in hybrid materials and alloys that cannot otherwise be produced.
   Dr Reip said that the company was actively seeking industrial partners to further develop the Tesimorph family of metallic nanomaterials and bring them to market.
  Recently developed nanomaterials include: silver – a material with numerous applications, particularly valued for its anti-microbial properties; aluminium for energetics and explosive applications; cuprous oxide for anti-fungal applications; tungsten carbide for cermets; zinc oxide for UV protection; and cerium oxide for catalysts.
Tue Sep 13 11:47:21 2005

Merger move by K-Tron
USA. K-Tron International Inc has announced the formation of the K-Tron Process Group which merges the company's pneumatic conveying group into the K-Tron Feeder Group. The aim is to more closely align the pneumatic conveying business with the feeder business as both share common customers and the feeder group represents a significant distribution channel for pneumatic conveying products. The K-Tron Process Group will have three brands and product lines: K-Tron Feeders, K-Tron Pneumatic Conveying Systems (PCS) and K-Tron Colormax.
   Part of that reorganisation will involve the phasing out of the Hurricane brand name that the company has used for its sale of pneumatic conveying products and instead use K-Tron Pneumatic Conveying Systems (PCS). The K-Tron Soder brand name for feeders will also be phased out, using K-Tron Feeders instead.
   Kevin C. Bowen, who has served as president of K-Tron America and executive vice-president of the global K-Tron Feeder Group, now heads the global K-Tron Process Group. "Going forward, we want to use the worldwide strength of the K-Tron name as much as possible in all of our brands. The K-Tron brand has been recognised as having number one market share in gravimetric feeders in both the USA and Europe in recent Frost & Sullivan reports”, he said.
   The plan is to focus more strongly on the growth of both pneumatic conveying and systems engineering services, building on the success of the feeder business and providing broader, more integrated solutions. Mr Bowen said that the new, simpler organisational structure would also enable a more efficient service at competitive prices. “Research studies have repeatedly shown us that customers in the process industries prefer to acquire one integrated solution from one supplier over dealing with multiple vendors and then working out the interface themselves", he said.
   As a result of the reorganization, K-Tron will close its Brantford, Canada plant, which was the original Hurricane pneumatic conveying facility and transfer these operations to the Pitman, NJ manufacturing facility. K-Tron's three businesses in the UK - K-Tron Great Britain (direct sales for feeders), Pneumatic Conveying Systems Limited (PCS) and Colormax - will be combined into one business unit, K-Tron PCS GB. The feeder and PCS businesses are located in Stockport and Colormax in Telford.
• K-Tron entered the pneumatic conveying business in 1997, with the acquisition of Hurricane, a small Canadian company. The pneumatic conveying business was further strengthened by the acquisition of Colormax Limited in 2000 and Pneumatic Conveying Systems Ltd (PCS) in 2001, both in the UK. The PCS and Colormax businesses have been run by a separate K-Tron division, the Pneumatic Conveying Group, and have focused mainly on the UK market
Thu Sep 08 11:13:45 2005

First white cement plant for Algeria
Algeria. FLSmidth has signed a €111m with Ciment Blanc Algerien (CIBA) to supply a greenfield white cement plant with a capacity of 1500 t per day. To be built in the northwestern part of Algeria near the ports of Oran and Mostaganem, it is expected to be commissioned by mid-2007.
  FLSmidth will supply all machinery and auxiliary equipment with several of the company’s subsidiaries and divisions participating as subcontractors. Included in the project are a crusher, complete kiln with preheater and rotary cooler plus a cement grinding plant. The contract also includes civil engineering in addition to raw material stores, silos, electrostatic precipitators, a complete quality and process control system and two complete Ventomatic packing lines.
   The plant will be constructed in cooperation with Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), an Egyptian-based international building contractor with whom FLSmidth has already successfully undertaken similar projects in Algeria and Libya. This is Algeria's first white cement facility with a capacity more than sufficient to cover the nation's consumption of white cement which is currently around 260,000 t per annum.
Wed Sep 07 16:28:53 2005

Outstanding results for Greenwich
UK. The University of Greenwich School of Engineering¹s £2.4 m research programme into bulk solids handling has been described as an outstanding example in its field according to the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the main government research funding agency. This endorsement follows a review of research undertaken by the university¹s Wolfson Centre.
   The Wolfson Centre, which will relocate to Medway from Woolwich in the autumn, achieved high status in all areas of the assessment criteria, including research quality, potential benefits to society and cost effectiveness. It also achieved internationally leading status on research planning and practice.
   Prof Alan Reed, University of Greenwich Director of Regional Liaison (Kent & Medway), said: “After so much effort by our research team we are delighted that the high quality of this programme has been recognised by the main government research funding agency. In particular, we are pleased the potential benefits of this work to society have been singled out for praise. This is clear recognition that the university¹s policy to use research to benefit the community, is really working.”
   The Quality in Particulate Based Manufacturing initiative research (QPM) began in 1998, with £1 m funding from the EPSRC and £1.4 m from a consortium of blue chip industrial partners including GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, Tate & Lyle, Borax and United Biscuits. The main aim was to iron out problems with the handling and processing of powdered and granular solid materials to ensure more consistent and better quality pharmaceutical, food and chemical products. The results of the work are now under development and will be rolled out for the benefit of industry.
Wed Sep 07 16:22:57 2005

Joint venture for cement in China
PRC. Lafarge and Shui On Construction And Materials Limited (SOCAM), a leading cement producer in South West China, have announced a joint venture to merge their cement operations in China, establishing a new cement force in the South West Region, one of the largest and fastest growing areas in China. To be named Lafarge Shui On Cement, the enterprise will be 55 per cent owned by Lafarge and 45 per cent owned by SOCAM.
   The operation will combine Lafarge’s cement operations in the Chinese Mainland, located in Sichuan, Chongqing and Beijing, with SOCAM’s cement operations in Chongqing and Sichuan, its larger plants in Guizhou, and the prospective acquisition of several important plants in Yunnan, awaiting approval from Government authorities. Total projected capacity of the venture will be 17.4 mt per annum by the end of 2005.
   China currently accounts for about 45 per cent of the world’s cement consumption, with an estimated market of 900 mt in 2004. Lafarge have had a ten-year presence in the country.
Thu Sep 01 12:14:54 2005

PPMA show imminent
UK. The PPMA Show, taking place on the 27 - 29 September at the NEC, Birmingham, UK, is organised by the Processing and Packaging Machinery Association (PPMA) and Reed Exhibitions. This year’s event has a complement of over 300 exhibitors and includes a Research Village featuring research projects carried out by a number of organisations, including the Universities of Bath, Loughborough and Nottingham, many of which have involved PPMA members.
   The work has been in the fields of packaging machinery, processing equipment and information technology and includes: optimisation of in-place cleaning; computer methods for evaluating the ergonomic design of equipment and machinery; software for evaluating the design of machinery using virtual reality techniques; and web-based data management.
   The exhibition offers a few surprises with Arodo UK showing how powders can be de-aerated and packed into hermetically sealed bags without perforations using the Arovac system which employs a closed vacuum process to reduce product volume significantly. Exhibits by Ishida Europe include the R Series multihead weigher and Atlas bagmaker. Springvale Equipment are showing the German built Behn + Bates bulk powder filling machinery in the UK for the first time, including a new open-mouth sack filler for fills of 5-25kg. TNA Europe are offering three new generation Robag 3 bagging machines in Europe for the first time, including the Robag 3 rotary flat jaw machine for large bags.
   New to the UK on Aetna’s stand is the Robopac Genesis Futura pallet wrapper for speeds of 45 - 60 pallets an hour, making 'ring' style spiral wrapping machinery more affordable. Webster Griffin is showing the latest Okura robot palletiser, said to offer an improved cost-performance ratio with its OXPA 'easy-teach' programming system.
• Contact: Barbara Jackson Tel: +44 (0) 208 910 7833 Email: Barbara.Jackson@reedexpo.co.uk
Thu Sep 01 11:54:59 2005

Further order from Portuguese compounder
Portugal. A recently secured order has enabled Chronos Richardson to further extend its fifteen-year business relationship with Empresa Industrial de Barracha S.A. [EIB] in Marinha Grande, Portugal. EIB mix a range of rubber compounds and pre-cured treads for tyre re-treading companies. This latest contract includes a second plant upgrade of existing Chronos Richardson equipment supplied in 1998, which itself was an expansion upgrade of a system supplied in the early 1990s.
  Key aspects of the latest project include: a new mixing line with oils/polymer weighing and feeding equipment and a pressure scale system to weigh and dose carbon black, white fillers and silica into a new 250-litre mixer, with mixing line control provided by CR 600 XP control system; a second CR 600 XP system for retrofitting to an existing mixing line to upgrade a CR1000 control system; and the final element is a new silo transfer system for transferring high-usage carbon black from an existing bulk silo to both new and existing mixing lines.
Thu Aug 25 13:41:01 2005

FIBC meets new IEC standard
UK. An exclusive European agreement with fabric manufacturer Palrig, Israel, has enabled Structure-flex to launch Palstat+, claimed to be one of the first FIBCs in the market manufactured to a Type D+ design.
   Using a new fabric that meets the new IEC international standard (61340-4-4), which comes into force in October, Palstat+ combines Type C and Type D technologies to provide the highest levels of protection against static build-up, even if the FIBC is left ungrounded. The FIBC is said to be the only one approved by both the Swiss Institute according to the new specification for Type D+ and by Chilworth in the US (for Type D) to this new standard.
   Palstat+ is expected to make an impact in sectors which use high volumes of fine or sensitive powders in volatile environments. MD Ian Doughty urges bulk packaging users to get in touch with the company for a review, which not only covers compliance with the new legislation, but also looks at safety and design performance, rationalisation of specifications and the potential for cost reductions.
Thu Aug 25 13:42:41 2005

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