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K-Tron makes Forbes list
USA. Forbes Magazine has ranked K-Tron International 19th on its list of ‘The 200 Best Small Companies’ in America. The October 29, 2007 issue of the magazine profiles its top publicly traded companies by rank, and includes sales revenues, five-year averages in sales growth, earnings per share growth and share market value. The feature story also includes an article on K-Tron’s dynamic CEO Ed Cloues.
A former mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Philadelphia, Cloues has transformed the company into a global business and made a number of key acquisitions. Starting out as a small maker of pneumatic scales in Pitman, NJ, in 1949, K-Tron now has wholly owned operations in the US, Switzerland, UK, Germany, France, China and Singapore. Forbes has a rigorous ranking process which is not based purely on a company’s books. If a business has too much debt, any signs of an impending financial downturn in the future, or even present or potential legal problems, they are disqualified. Several companies that made the Top 200 list last year are noticeable by their absence this year and K-Tron International is one of seven companies new to the list. 09:51 06/12/2007
Global meeting place in 2009
Germany. ACHEMA 2009, global focal point for chemical processing equipment, opens its doors for business on 11 -15 May 2009. The gargantuan event, considered to be one of the world’s largest, is expected to attract 180,000 visitors, with as many as 4000 organisations from 50 countries exhibiting within twelve exhibition groups.
One of the largest non-German contingent of exhibitors is from the UK, with at least 200 UK companies planning to exhibit directly. Exhibitors from the USA, Italy and France will also be out in force and a large growth in numbers of Asian exhibitors is anticipated - more than 200 Asian booths were present at the 2006 event. Many UK and other foreign companies also exhibit through their German subsidiaries.
The last event demonstrated its ability to be a magnet for the whole supply chain, not just from within Europe, but increasingly from emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere and up to 50,000 of the visitors came from outside Germany.
Powder Systems Ltd’s Connie Bird explained that the show had been a great success. “We met a large number of existing and new contacts, mainly for the German, Swiss, French, UK, Scandinavian and American markets that have already resulted in a considerable increase of sales. So far we can directly attribute sales of over £250,000 to ACHEMA, and we expect this figure to rise much further with the conversion of several larger isolator and filter dryer enquiries in the UK and Europe".
www.achema.de 10:40 29/11/2007
Containment contract for Far East
Singapore. Extract Technology has been awarded a major contract in Singapore from engineering contractors Bovis Lend Lease Pharmaceutical Pte Ltd. Swiss custom manufacturing firm Lonza, has embarked on a $290 m expansion project to build a new biologics manufacturing plant and critical containment equipment in the dispensary and sampling areas is to be supplied by Extract Technology Ltd. This follows successful installation of equipment at Lonza's existing biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant site in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA and the new Singapore site was initially designed to be a replica facility. Extract are supplying three of its dispensing booths, one sampling booth and two dispensing benches, an almost identical installation to New Hampshire, with all equipment designed to offer maximum product and operator protection by precisely controlling airflow and the capture of micro-fine dust particles.
Mike Davies, Extract Technology, said that apart from a few minor adjustments, the installation would replicate the system successfully operating in the US. Equipment will be installed and commissioned early in 2008.
The Singapore facility is Lonza's second in the country and will be a large-scale commercial mammalian cell culture manufacturing plant, intended to strengthen the company’s leading position as a global custom manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals entering the fast growing Asian market. 21:21 25/11/2007
Cost effective route to compliance
UK. Industry statistics reveal that a massive 36 per cent of fires take place in bakeries. Braby points out that, nearly three and a half years after ATEX regulations were imposed, the same figures indicate that many manufacturers have been slow to comply. In the baking industry, explosive atmospheres can occur when flour or sugar are present, in addition to the more obvious hazardous chemicals. Individual powders have their own explosive characteristics, and, when mixed with air or exposed to different pressures, can form potentially dangerous combinations. Braby poses the question that, with this level of danger facing the industry, why are so many companies failing to meet ATEX standards. Compliance is potentially costly, especially in cases where machinery modifications are more difficult to achieve in older plants. There is the need for vigorous workplace risk assessments and equipment in hazardous areas must be inspected and regularly maintained. On top of this is the requirement for vessels, silos and bins to be built to stringent ATEX standards and the need for staff to undergo health and safety training.
With this in mind, Braby has come up with Vacatex, claimed to be the first standard low cost, fully ATEX compliant bulk handling package for the food industry. Due to be launched in January 2008, it meets the European Directive regulations and will stand alongside the company's bespoke tailored process systems. Paul Mayer, sales and marketing director, says that ATEX compliance is a major concern for the food industry, and particularly so for many small to medium companies where cost can be an even bigger issue. Vacatex is designed to be a cost effective compliance route, bringing with it all the necessary reassurances in terms of ATEX construction, documentation and certification. 17:48 25/11/2007
IBC guide launched - review by Dr Eddie McGee, Ajax
Equipment
UK. Flexible and rigid Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) are widely used throughout the process industries because of their ability to deliver product efficiently and cleanly to the point of use. However, choosing a system can be a daunting task because of the vast array of designs on the market. To help the selection process, the
British Materials Handling Board has just published its Guide to
selection and use of intermediate bulk containers (IBCs).
The book has been written by Tom Taylor, an expert in powder and drying technology whose background is in the chemical industry at ICI and Unilever and who until recently was chairman of the IChemE Particle Technology Subject Group and technical chairman of the Fine Particle Research Institute.
IBCs are generally defined as flexible or rigid containers, occupying a volume of 0.5 - 3 cu m, with a load capacity of 0.5 - 2 t and capable of transporting liquids or solids. The guide is only concerned with IBCs for solids in powder, granule, particulate or prill form. Early
on in the publication IBC selection criteria such as material flow characteristics, storage, loading/unloading and interfacing IBCs with processes and the supply chain are dealt with. A comprehensive chapter on IBC safety including HAZOP, COMAH and ATEX is essential reading.
Reliable discharge is at the heart of any successful system, given the wide variation in material properties, where there may even be a requirement in for external assistance to initiate and sustain flow. This can take the form of either vibration, where the container is mounted on a frame and shaken violently, or special shaped, rigid bins that exploit the effects of gravity. Choosing an IBC, whether rigid or flexible, brings with it its own set of problems in terms of filling, transporting and emptying. The guide includes a detailed review of all the options available, reflecting on recent advances, most notably secure containment during filling/discharge. Process systems design for IBCs is an important chapter in cases where there is a need to integrate the container with a particular process, and there have been many innovations introduced to achieve this using flexible screw conveyors, aero-mechanical machines and screw feeders to provide a more integrated package for loading/discharging stations. Examples from the chemical, plastics and food industries are cited throughout the book. A useful feature of the publication is an appendix that outlines the proprietary IBC designs or integrated handling systems of leading manufacturers, enabling the reader to compare the merits of different systems for a particular application.
• Copies of the Guide
to selection and use of intermediate bulk containers (IBCs)
cost £20 plus £3 p & p (UK) and are available from the BMHB.
www.bmhb.co.uk 17:48 25/11/2007
Chemical industry predictions
Brussels. Cefic, the European
Chemical Industry Council, has stated that it expects chemical industry output (excluding pharmaceuticals) to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2007, compared to 2.1 per cent in 2006. Although the figure is above the average growth rate for the last five years, 2008 may see a slowdown. For the whole of 2007, all segments of the industry are expected to show positive growth; consumer chemicals possibly outperforming other chemicals sub-sectors, petrochemicals showing a recovery in 2007 after a modest year in 2006, polymers recovering from low growth last year, and basic inorganics expected to show only moderate growth figures. Pharmaceuticals
are not expected to match up to their extraordinary growth performance during 2006, but will still be among the growth leaders in 2007 and 2008. The speciality chemicals sector will experience slightly slower growth due to lower demand from manufacturing industries in Europe overall. Cefic expects an output growth of 2.3 per cent in 2008 for the EU chemical industry (including pharmaceuticals), a figure that is down on the 3 per cent this year. However, the industry remains sensitive to risks from continuing US Dollar weakness against the Euro and its effect on export performance. Other contributing factors include continuously high oil prices and the financial crisis in the USA which could have a stronger than expected impact on the global economy. Cefic estimates world GDP growth will decrease from 3.5 per cent this year to 3.3 per cent next year. On the positive side, high economic growth, especially in emerging Asian countries, Eastern Europe and South America continue to offer interesting trade opportunities for Europe.
19:50 20/11/2007
Skills to be improved
UK. The Process Industry is the latest sector to enter The National Skills Academy network, joining existing Academies in Construction, Financial Services, Food and Drink Manufacturing, Nuclear and Manufacturing. The aim is to have 12 Skills Academies up and running by the end of 2008. The network is a unique structure of employer-led centres of excellence for sector training, developed by the Learning and Skills Council, with support from Government and industry, to address skills gaps in the workforce – equivalent to 1.3 m workers. It is estimated that around one in six businesses in the UK are experiencing skills gaps in their workforce. In a recent statement, Skills Minister David Lammy emphasised the importance of the process industries, contributing £23bn of value added to the economy. He said that there was a need for people with skills from apprentice process engineers to analysts and from environmental managers to site directors, and the Academy would enable them to acquire these skills nationally. Current data indicates that one in three technicians and skilled operators in the process sector hold Level 3 roles, yet less than 20 per cent of these are Level 3 qualified. The need is to raise the skills of approximately 32,000 employees, from Level 2 to Level 3 and above. In the polymer industry 40 per cent of the workforce only has NVQ Level 1 or less and fewer than twenty per cent have achieved NVQ Level 2. 15:17 20/11/2007
Solids Rotterdam imminent
Netherlands. A key exhibit on Rotex Europe’s stand at the forthcoming EasyFairs Solids Rotterdam exhibition will be its latest machine the APEX® screener together with a range of new spare parts including connecting sleeves, mesh cleaning balls and compensating clamps for Rotex screeners. The stand
will
be manned by the company’s new sales engineer for Benelux, Freddy Holle, together with sales and marketing director Olivier Thouvard. On the 22 November, Mr Holle will give a presentation entitled “Durable modification/upgrade of your Rotex screener” as part of the Learnshop series of events which run in parallel with the exhibition. This will cover the modification of screeners to allow two different products on one screener without the need to change it, as well as upgrading/improving the capacity of a screener by modifying the mesh on one deck. 21:47 09/11/2007
Single accreditation body
UK. In a move designed to maximise the efficiency of its external auditing, pressure relief specialist Elfab has moved to a single accreditation body. Lloyd’s Register, which already oversees its PED (Pressure Equipment Directive) compliance, and has been engaged to handle its environmental approvals, will now handle ISO 9001 accreditation for the company. Multiple external accreditations for quality management are in force both within Europe and the rest of the world, including ASME VIII (USA), GOST R (Russia) and SQL (China). Elfab says that in view of the fact that safety critical applications demand technically advanced products whose quality is a primary concern, it has recently introduced a new testing and inspection lab. In addition, work is underway to achieve Environmental Management System ISO 14001, and effective ways of minimising environmental risks and demonstrating an environmentally responsible approach are also being looked into. 18:46 04/11/2007
New MHEA president
UK. The MHEA (Materials Handling Engineers Association) has elected Steve Clewley, MD of Stock Redler Ltd, as its President for the next two years. Mr
Clewley started his career as a mIning engineer with UK Coal then moved to Dowty as sales manager. This was followed by periods as operations manager for Australia Longwall, business development manager for Long Airdox in the USA, prior to joining Redler Ltd (now Stock Redler Ltd) firstly as general sales manager and subsequently MD. 19:16 04/11/2007
Solids picks up momentum
UK. easyFairs® SOLIDS 2008 claims to be the only UK exhibition for solids processing, handling and storage. Taking place at the NEC, Birmingham, UK on 11 - 12 March 2008, the event will, for the first time, be run in parallel with easyFairs® MAINTEC, covering maintenance and asset management - an arrangement that is designed to build on the synergies between specialist sectors and help attract a wider audience.
For the first time there is a dedicated Industrial Environment forum focusing on developments to improve plant performance, efficiency and compliance in areas such as: dust and emissions monitoring and control; effluent/slurry monitoring and disposal; filtration and separation; noise and odour control; energy efficiency; waste and recycling; and safety and fire and explosion protection. Peter Heath, MD easyFairs UK Ltd, said that the aim is to bring under one roof the latest solutions that help plant engineers and managers discharge their environmental responsibilities, comply with regulations and realise the bottom line benefits of improving plant efficiency and resource management. As a way of promoting knowledge transfer and good practice, there are short practical learnShop™ seminars within the exhibition. Developed in partnership with SHAPA (Solids Handling & Processing Association) and other key organisations, the sessions give both visitors and exhibitors alike the opportunity to hear industry experts speak about hot topics and common processing and handling issues facing the industry. There will be a particular focus on real life, practical problem solving illustrated by case studies.
Key bodies supporting the event include SHAPA, IChemE, IMechE, IOM3, SOE/IPlantE, and the Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology.
• Visitors can register free at: www.easyfairs.com/solids
• For stand bookings and information contact Sunita Puee Tel: 0208 622 4416 or Email: sunita.puee@easyfairs.com 13:53 29/10/2007
Science centres - the way forward
UK. The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) has broadly welcomed the report of the Science and Technology Select Committee on the Funding of Science and Discovery Centres, supporting the recommendation that the government researches the effectiveness of Science Centres as a way of encouraging students into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects and address the security of long term funding. Collaboration and best practice between Science Centres and partners is also a key recommendation.
Steve Elliott, CIA Chief Executive explained that Science Centres are an integral part of the work to raise science understanding in the UK. Elliott added, “I have worked closely with the Catalyst Science and Discovery Centre in Widnes which takes science out of the text books and into real life in the most exciting hands on way possible. It is an inspiring and educational experience for children and adults alike. I am convinced that Catalyst and other centres have a long-term impact on attitudes to science”. Ian Pearson MP, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, has indicated his willingness to take on Ministerial responsibility for the centres, a move welcomed by the chemical industry which sees the appointment of a government champion as an important step forward. 14:05 23/10/2007
Engineering unknown to teens
UK. It is revealed that 90 per cent of 14 and 15 year olds know little or nothing about careers in engineering and technology. The results of a study by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), one of Europe’s largest professional societies for engineers, indicates that engineering features outside the top ten career choices among this age group, ranking behind hotel management. The top three professions are listed as lawyer, teacher and, unsurprisingly, professional sportsperson.
This is first IET STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) research study and coincides with the launch of the new IET Faraday, the flagship STEM education programme established for every secondary school pupil in the UK. Jan Stapleton, Head of Education 5-19, IET said she expected the results to show young people had an increasingly positive view towards STEM subjects and the careers they can lead to. However, the first wave of results has shown that this is simply not the case despite the many activities and initiatives in this area. The recent Sainsbury review into the UK science and innovation system recently highlighted this as one of the key issues.
Ms Stapleton said that there was no magic solution to the problem. “We must look at all our activities and initiatives to see if they are really making an impact with our pupils. Engineering brings wealth creation to the economy and it is imperative that the UK attracts more young people into engineering and technology to tackle the growing skills shortage.”
During the study, more than 700 pupils in years nine and ten from a selection of schools in England were surveyed and focus groups were held with pupils, teachers and educationalists, with the objective of assessing each group’s needs and requirements to help improve interest and uptake. This research is the start of a longitudinal study which will track the same cohort of pupils to assess changes in behaviour and attitude towards STEM subjects.
11:31 19/10/2007
Exhibiting at K 2007
Germany. Bulk handling equipment manufacturer Rotex Europe is exhibiting for the second time at the K 2007 International Trade Fair in Düsseldorf from 24 to 31 October 2007. This is considered to be one of the world's largest trade fairs for the plastics and rubber industries with over 3000 exhibitors taking part.
Rotex Europe's sales director Olivier Thouvard explained that Germany remained one of the key markets for the company’s products and services, and that K2007 would provide the opportunity to demonstrate its full screening, feeding and conveying expertise to a European
and international range of visitors.
“Our US colleagues as well as our own team of screening and vibratory equipment experts will be on hand to discuss the full range of equipment for use internationally”, he added. Key exhibits include Rotex screeners and the Rotex plastic pellet screener. 11:36 18/10/2007
Bulk conference in Singapore
Far East. Bulk Materials Handling is the title of a conference in Singapore on 23 - 25 January 2008. Described as, ‘the one dedicated bulk materials handling event - by the mining industry, for the mining industry’, the aim is to provide delegates with the means to improve mine and port efficiencies and productivity through best material handling practices. Eliminating capacity bottlenecks while maximising infrastructure developments are key targets for the mining industry and the intention of the event is to provide opportunities for in-depth discussion, information exchange and networking amongst those mining operators, contractors, port owners and managers keen to remain competitive. Featured will be some of the most interesting and insightful mining case studies from across the industry with a forum showcasing major mine and port expansions currently underway in the region.
Topics to be highlighted included: Designing and planning bulk materials handling facilities; Improving handling operations to increase efficiency; Effective bulk material transportation by rail and barges; Efficiency, expansion and connectivity of Indian and Indonesian ports; Managing contractors safety for bulk material handling operations; Streamlining bulk materials handling systems at ports to reduce bottlenecking; Integrating port and transport capacity planning; and Implementing an efficient and cost-effective conveyor belt system to meet bulk material handling needs. Added to this are interactive hands-on workshops.
There will be the opportunity to hear from key industry players such as: PT Freeport Indonesia; PT Banpu Indonesia; Rail Vikas Nigam; Thiess Sedgman Joint Venture; Centennial Coal; Metso Minerals; Queensland Rail Ltd; PT Connell Wagner; Connell Hatch; Sinclair Knight Merz; Logmarin; and BMT Group.
• Contact: IBC Asia (S) Pte Ltd; No. 1 Grange Road, #08-02; Orchard Building; Singapore 239693; Tel: (65) 6514 3180 Fax: (65) 6733 5087 E-mail: register@ibcasia.com.sg
www.ibc-asia.com
10:24 17/10/2007
New GB subsidiary
UK.
Zeppelin’s holding company Zeppelin Silos & Systems GmbH (Friedrichshafen) has acquired Chronos Richardson’s Materials Processing Systems [MPS] division located in Nottingham, UK, establishing a new subsidiary there. The official announcement of the move follows completion of an Antitrust Commission consent process, allowing the conveying, dosing and weighing and control technology product portfolios to be acquired. Zeppelin and Chronos’s complementary skills (Chronos is known for its expertise in control technologies) and the consolidated product range is designed to provide optimum system solutions world wide, with engineering capabilities and experience available through Zeppelin’s global network. Research and development in various industrial sectors is seen as a key strength for the enterprise. One of the world’s largest test centres for handling bulk solids, including two purpose built research plants (one for pellets and one for powder), is located at Zeppelin’s Friedrichshafen site in Germany.
The former MPS business unit itself will be integrated into the Zeppelin Systems Ltd subsidiary in Nottingham and be responsible for servicing the dry bulk materials conveying and storage sector in the UK. It will also serve UK-based engineering companies for engineering, procurement and construction contracts worldwide and will have direct access to the Zeppelin network of worldwide companies.
The Nottingham subsidiary will sell the Zeppelin product range to the chemical, mineral, tyre and technical rubber, plastics producer, plastics processor and other premium bulk solids sectors, and will also provide engineering, commissioning and service support in the UK and the rest of the world. Zeppelin is considered a leader in the construction of silo plants and conveying, weighing and dosing systems, supplying turnkey logistic centres to plastic producers and forwarding agents, with an extensive product portfolio for the plastics processing industry (especially PVC). 11:31 11/10/2007
Investments in speciality polymers
China. Solvay Solexis, subsidiary of the Solvay Group, has confirmed that its new polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) micronised powder plant currently under construction in Changshu, China, will be completed and operational in the first quarter of 2008. The company also intends to further develop its activities on the site, including the production of other fluorinated polymers. Located within the Jiangsu High-Tech Fluorochemical Industrial Park in Changshu, some 100 km west of Shanghai, the site was selected because of its proximity to Shanghai and the dedication of the Industrial Park to complex technologies in specialty chemicals and polymers - particularly in the area of fluor technologies. Subsequent development projects under consideration by the company include an integrated production plant for polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) resin for coating applications and related monomers. 11:21 10/10/2007
Plant opened in India
India. Hapman has opened a new plant in India. The inauguration by the company’s VP of Global Operations, Joe Provenzano, was undertaken at a ceremony in Vadodara on 18 September 2007.
The facility includes sales, admin, engineering, and will manufacture Hapman’s complete product lines, serving industries throughout India, Middle East and Asia.
Greg Patterson, Hapman’s VP said that the facility would strengthen the company’s position in the region and provide a platform for continued growth.
Hapman claim to be one of the world's foremost providers of powder and bulk material handling conveyors and equipment and now manufacture in the USA, Europe and India. 11:07 03/10/2007
Expanded US facilities
USA. Malvern Instruments has relocated its US headquarters to new, purpose-designed facilities in Westborough MA. The move follows the relocation of the company's analytical imaging group to new premises in Columbia MD, where it has established a centre of excellence for chemical and morphological imaging. The developments are
said to reflect the growth and success of the company in recent years and expansion of the business to encompass a broadening range of technologies and instrumentation for materials characterisation - the new premises providing the necessary infrastructure and facilities to underpin future growth.
With a commitment to deliver excellence in education and customer support, Malvern offers extensive programs delivered in person and via the internet. Both of the new US facilities house expanded laboratory and application spaces, allowing an even greater number of customers and potential clients to be welcomed for live demonstrations, training and education.
www.malvern.com 10:27 02/10/2007
Demerger in weighing industry
UK. Avery Weigh-Tronix has sold its food retail weighing business, Avery Berkel, to ITW Inc, with the sale finalised on the 17 September and the process of splitting the two parts of the company now complete.
CEO Jerry Bowe said that the sale would enable the company, which designs, manufactures, sells and services industrial scales, to better focus on its core customers whilst continuing to push into advanced industrial weighing technologies, software and solutions. The divested company will continue to trade as Avery Berkel.
In the UK around 300 people will be affected by the demerger and a further 150 worldwide. ITW itself is a diversified manufacturer of highly engineered components and industrial systems and consumables with a $14.1 bn revenue, consisting of approximately 750 business units in 49 countries and employing approximately 55,000 people.
Avery Weigh-Tronix, specialists in industrial weighing and based in Smethwick, UK, has major operations and manufacturing facilities in Fairmont, MN, USA, Montreal, Quebec, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Ballabgarth, India and Suzhou, China. Employing over 1500 people worldwide, it counts Tarmac and Aggregate Industries as its customers. 12:35 21/09/2007
Foam drives tablet innovation
USA. Dow foam granulation technology has been licensed to Bristol-Myers Squibb for innovative tablet manufacture. Dow Wolff Cellulosics, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, announced the commercial contract to use the technology in the client’s development and manufacture of tablets intended for clinical and commercial use.
Foams have inherently large surface areas, providing more efficient particle coverage than would be achieved by conventional spray technology, says the company. They also say that eliminating spray nozzles removes some of the variables commonly encountered in spray granulation. Observations also indicate that particle size distribution is virtually unaffected by foam addition rate, leading to a dramatic simplification in product scale-up. In addition, drug content uniformity is said to be improved, an important consideration in low-dose formulations.
“Tablets of all kinds have been manufactured the same way for nearly 50 years,” says Philip Pilnik, global market manager for pharmaceuticals at Dow Wolff Cellulosics. “This new technology allows for fast, simple and cost effective granulation, and could minimise issues associated with conventional processes. Without modifying existing equipment and using a low-cost foam generator, the manufacturing process uses less water than traditional wet granulation processing while rapidly coating particle surfaces and shortening processing time.” 11:39 06/09/2007
Endangered species?
UK. A conference discussing the projected shortage of engineers and technical professionals in Europe and its impact on European competitiveness has been organised by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Entitled, The European Engineer - an Endangered Species?, it takes place on 25 September 2007 at the IMechE’s headquarters in London.
It will feature presentations from, and discussions with, senior level stakeholders from each stage of the 'Value Chain for Engineers', discussing the projected shortage and the effect it will have. Also examined will be the responsibility of industry and actions that need to be taken.
• For more information contact Charlotte Newton 020 7304 6837 Email: c_newton@imeche.org
www.imeche.org/events/shortage 17:42 28/08/2007
Acquisition on the
cards FLSmidth had signed a conditional
agreement with Groupe Laperriere & Verreault Inc (GL&V), a listed
Canadian company, to acquire its Process Division (GL&V Process) which
consists of Dorr-Oliver Eimco and Krebs Engineers. The asking price is DKK
5bn. The acquisition is considered to
be in line with FLSmidth’s strategic objective of strengthening its
minerals activities, bringing them up to the same level as Group
activities in the cement industry. This will enable the
companies to offer complete solutions covering the entire process chain
from minerals extraction to final end product. Up until now, FLSmidth Mineral’s
competencies have primarily been in crushing, grinding, materials handing
and pyro technology, with Dorr-Oliver Eimco and Krebs Engineers
specialising in downstream separation processes. Together the companies
are expected to complement each other, making them a global leader in
crushers, mills, hydrocyclones, flotation, sedimentation, materials
handling and calcination for the minerals industry. 15:09 28/08/2007
Plan for further investments USA. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has
revealed plans for major global investments and says it is considering
potential new tyre factories in Eastern Europe and Asia. This is in addition to previously
announced intentions to invest in existing tyre factories to increase high
value-added capacity by 40 per cent globally and provide capacity
increases of 33 per cent in existing low cost plants. Together, these are
intended to drive the company toward having 50 per cent of its global
capacity in low cost countries by 2012. The programme also includes
modernisation in North America to Goodyear's Fayetteville and Gadsden tyre
plants. Successful completion of the
sale of Engineered Products combined with an equity offering has allowed
this expansion, says Goodyear Chairman and CEO Robert J Keegan. Eighteen
months into a cost savings plan, nearly $750 m worth of savings have been
achieved, more than $500 m of this resulting from continuous improvement
initiatives. Savings of $135 m have resulted from the elimination of high
cost manufacturing, whilst sourcing raw materials, equipment and products
from Asia and other low-cost countries has generated economies of $60
m. 14:03 23/08/2007
World filtration congress Germany. The 10th World Filtration Congress
(WFC10) will be held from 14 - 18 April 2008 in Leipzig, Germany. This is
regarded as the foremost event in the world for filtration, having
previously been held in the USA, UK, France, Belgium, Japan and Hungary,
and this time hosted by the VDI-GVC German Society for Chemical &
Process Engineering. The congress is
run over five days - three and a half days for the technical conference
and accompanying exhibition, a first day allocated for short technical
courses and the afternoon of the last day reserved for plant tours. In
total there will be 300 technical presentations with concurrent sessions
and a major international exhibition featuring all aspects of filtration
and separation. More than 2,000 participants are expected. www.wfc10.com 13:59 20/08/2007
Energy target beaten UK. Results for the Government’s climate change
agreement (CCA) for 2006 show that the chemical sector improved its energy
efficiency by 20 per cent since 1998. The sector has
actually exceeded the 18 per cent target set and improvements
since 1998 equate to an annual saving of 3 mt of carbon dioxide
emissions. Nick Sturgeon, the
Chemical Industries Assocation's Head of Climate Change and Energy,
said that the results were an indication of the commitment of chemical
businesses to drive forward energy efficiency programmes. Incidently,
the results have been achieved despite the impact of excessively high gas
prices during the first quarter of 2006. Mr Sturgeon said that secure and
competitive energy supplies were the key to industrial efficiency. " ...
even with the recent introduction of new gas supply infrastructure we
should not be complacent about the effects of a cold winter in the short
term, and it is vital that Energy White Paper policies are converted into
action to ensure long term security of supply". 21:19 14/08/2007
Expansion of carbon black facility China. Cabot Corp has announced that it is to
expand its carbon black facility in the Tianjin Economic Technical
Development Area (TEDA). Cabot Chemical (Tianjin) Co Ltd, a joint venture
with Shanghai Coking Chemical Co, will invest approximately $65 m to
construct two additional rubber blacks units, increasing plant capacity to
approximately 250,000 t. Existing
rubber blacks units at the facility are currently operating at full
capacity and this expansion will support growing demand in the market
there. William J Brady, executive
vice president and general manager, Carbon Black Business, said that Cabot
was pleased to be able to expand the Tianjin facility, one of the most
technologically advanced carbon black manufacturing sites in the world. At the official groundbreaking ceremony,
Xinsheng Zhang, vice president of Cabot Corp and president of Cabot
(China) Ltd said that the project, scheduled for completion in 15 months,
includes advanced waste energy recovery and environmental technologies. 17:22 09/08/2007
Facility
gears up for small volume projects Denmark.
Niro A/S, Copenhagen, has recently installed a PHARMASD™ size PSD-1
pharmaceutical spray dryer in its Pharmaceutical Test Station (PTS). Joining the much larger PSD-4, the new
addition is aimed at providing even greater flexibility when processing
smaller quantities of active ingredients – including high potency actives
- during drug development. The PTS
enables customers to spray dry pharmaceutical material, study safety,
stability and toxicology and perform clinical trials. Clients can pursue
projects without needing to invest in plant or a specialist workforce at
an early stage. The facility meets GMP standards with a clean room rating
of 100,000, is process control compliant to 21 CFR Part 11 and can
evaluate spray drying processes using both aqueous and organic solvent
feeds. Adding the PSD-1 to the
facility provides the features and operating parameters of the PSD-4, but
with a feed rate of up to 10kg per hour as opposed to the 400kg per hour
of the PSD-4. The ability to handle smaller quantities allows high value
or highly potent compounds to be developed that would otherwise be
uneconomic or inappropriate full scale. The client is therefore able to achieve
the best product quality commensurate with the chosen drug delivery
method, with minimal development time and increased security of outcome.
Test work can be performed during the project implementation phase,
providing input to the validation process, training for customer project
teams and reduced commissioning periods for the commercial production
unit. Svenn Ryberg, vice president of
Niro’s Pharma Division, explained that the PTS represented a unique
co-operation between Niro and its customers. “The PTS allows us to work
with our customers, combining our expertise to optimise processes and
maximise the clinical effectiveness of new products.....the PSD-1 will
allow us to offer this service for a much wider range of projects.” Niro
is regarded as a pioneer in the use of spray drying for final solid dosage
drug delivery both in US, EU as well as in the rest of world and this
latest move is aimed at further strengthening its position in the
market. svr@niro.dk www.niro.dk 14:14 11/07/2007
Screening development UK. Orthos has been appointed UK distributor for
a new bulk solids vibratory screening machine from Swedish company Fredrik
Mogensen AB, part of the German Allgaier Group. The development follows a period of
rigorous consultation to maximise marketing penetration of Mogensen’s new
VRS screen range, coupled to an in-depth study of the UK screening
equipment market by the Swedish Trade Council. www.orthos.uk.com 21:43 09/07/2007
Soda ash production expansion Bulgaria. Solvay has announced that Solvay Sodi,
its joint venture for producing soda ash in Bulgaria, is expanding
production capacity at the Devnya plant to 1.5 mt, up from 1.2 mt. This
accompanies the growth of its clients in the Balkans, Community of
Independent States (CIS) and Middle East, making Devnya one of the largest
plants of its kind in the world. The
development is part of a €50m three-year investment programme which
includes a new line of dense soda ash aimed at clients in the glass
industry. Solvay Sodi is to also invest €70 m in an upgrade to the site’s
power supply, with a state-of-the art boiler scheduled to enter operation
in 2008. Solvay Sodi has consistently
invested in the site since its privatisation, to improve product quality,
reduce energy consumption, maximise overall environmental performance and
lift worker safety. Solvay group, its partner Sisecam - a Turkish glass
and chemicals manufacturer headquartered in Istanbul - and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), acquired a controlling
stake in the state-owned company Sodi, in 1997. Solvay now holds 75 per
cent and Sisecam, 25 per cent. 11:20 06/07/2007
New E-brochure launched UK. To help customers order from its expanding
range of particle size calibration standards, Whitehouse Scientific has
added a new E-brochure to its website. Now, a single page brochure containing
technical information and prices can be downloaded directly whether the
interest is in Polydisperse, Monodisperse or Sieve calibration
standards. There is also a brochure
for the recently introduced black Basalt beads and, for those interested
in more detailed scientific information, the company’s scientific library
now contains 40 technical papers by the founder Dr Graham Rideal, one of
the most visited areas of the site. www.whitehousescientific.com 20:51 02/07/2007
Click on image to
magnify
Site enhances online experience USA. The K-Tron Process Group has announced a new
and improved web site which features a new "Industries Served" section
with detailed descriptions of more than 20 feeder and pneumatic conveying
applications in the plastics, food, pharmaceutical and chemical
industries. Navigation throughout the site has been enhanced and visitors
can choose to have the information presented in English, German, French,
Portuguese or Spanish. Enhancements
include: left-hand navigation for a more intuitive and consistent
experience: greater technical content in the new "Industries Served"
section and other sections of the site; PDF download of literature such as
spec sheets, brochures, flyers, white papers, case studies, technical
article reprints and industry-specific applications; and the ability to
easily find a local office. www.ktron.com 20:56 27/06/2007
Step change in exhibition scene China. The purchase of the International
Powder/Bulk Conference & Exhibition (IPB) in Shanghai by NürnbergMesse
is now signed and sealed. This is only days after the official
opening of the NürnbergMesse subsidiary NürnbergMesse China Co Ltd which
secured the event rights for the annual exhibition and conference covering
the Asian region. Claus Rättich,
NürnbergMesse, said that the move provided the opportunity to distinctly
strengthen the organisation’s competitive position in China, in turn
helping to improve the internationality of POWTECH, the powder and bulk
solids technologies exhibition organised in Nuremberg, Germany. IPB, which this year takes place in the
Shanghai Everbright Convention & Exhibition Centre from 23 - 25
October 2007, has up until now been organised by the Chinese exhibition
organiser WES, who will retain responsibility for the 2007 event with
NürnbergMesse taking over in 2008. Axel Bartkus, MD of NürnbergMesse China,
said that the aim was to improve and develop the event concept, supported
by WES as strategic partner. An agreement has already been reached with
the Chinese Society of Particuology concerning cooperation on conferences
accompanying exhibitions in addition to IPB. The development comes at a particularly
timely moment as The World Congress on Particle Technology,
the leading global event for particle experts, takes place in Peking
in 2014 under the direction of Prof D Jinghai Li, President of the Chinese
Society of Particuology. In 2010, the World Congress is hosted in
Nuremberg in conjunction with the POWTECH and TechnoPharm events. www.nuernbergmesse.de 13:00 26/06/2007
Explosive
subject tackled Australia. Dust Explosions
2007 took place in Penrith, NSW on 27 - 28 September 2007, assessing the
latest developments in new standards for mechanical equipment operating in
hazardous areas. Through a programme
of case studies, practical sessions and live demonstrations, delegates had
the opportunity to examine the latest information and new products in
what is thought to be the only event of its kind held in Australasia this
year. It was a unique opportunity for
professionals working in the areas of processing, milling, mixing,
extraction, drying, handling and storage, and many other industrial
sectors, to meet up with Australian and international experts to get the
inside track on preventing and controlling dust explosions. Speakers included: Dr Franz Alfert and
Gerry van Laar - Inburex Consulting, Germany; Dr Chris Bloore - Dairy
Industry Systems Consultant, New Zealand; Prof Peter Wypych - Centre for
Bulk Solids and Particulate Technologies, University of Wollongong; Dr
Anthony Green - Senior Lecturer, Department, of Safety Science, University
of NSW; David Pearson - Senior Fire & Explosions Specialist, TestSafe
Australia; and Neil Dennis - Standards Australia. The event also included live dust
explosions, demonstrations and a tour of TestSafe Australia’s facility,
with a pre-conference workshop covering dust explosion protection showing
how hazards can be reduced and the best protection measures to adopt. • Contact the Customer Service Team on +61 (02) 9080
4307 or email registration@informa.com.au www.informa.com.au/dustexplosions 11:04 26/06/2007
Restructuring of carbon black production USA. Cabot Corp has announced that it intends to
close its carbon black manufacturing facility in Waverly, West Virginia,
with the intention to cease manufacturing operations in March 2008.
Customer shipments from the facility will continue through the middle of
2008. The decision is the result of
changes in the industry. Over the past 18 months there has been
significant restructuring, with multiple tyre capacity reductions in North
America, coupled to expansion of facilities in China and other countries
in the Asia Pacific and South America regions. This, together with
projected growth of imported tyres to the US, resulted in the capacity
adjustment. Cabot is also ‘debottlenecking’ several of its carbon black
manufacturing facilities in North America to fulfill customer
requirements. According to William J
Brady, executive vice president and general manager, Carbon Black, the
decision has been a difficult one due to the impact on personnel and local
community. The closure plan is expected to result in a pre-tax charge to
earnings of approximately $22 m over the next two years. 22:01 24/06/2007
Powder use set to surge in China China. A recent communication from the organisers
of International Powder/Bulk Conference & Exhibition estimates that
market demand for micronised powder products in China will grow at an
average 8.5 per cent annually for the next 15 years. This, says the
organisers, provides added impetus for IPB2007 which takes place in
Shanghai, China on 23-25 October 2007. The large market potential offered by
China has attracted suppliers from around the world keen to introduce
their products and technologies to end users in the country. To further
the input of Western companies, IPB2007 has developed a partnership with
Nuremberg Global Fairs, organisers of POWTECH in Germany, to bring in more
than 20 European companies. In
addition, APPIE, the Association of Powder Process Industry and
Engineering in Japan is supporting the event, with France and Australia
occupying their own country pavilions. There is also a Bulk Logistics
China pavilion, set up by bulk distributors from the UK, showcasing
advancements in European bulk handling technologies. The opportunity to meet foreign company
representatives is a must for visitors from China and other Asian
countries keen to learn about the latest powder industry trends and
intending to make advance purchases for their manufacturing plants. In its entirety, IPB focuses on the
complete production/supply chain with both domestic and overseas companies
displaying powder processing equipment. A Powder Material Pavilion will
showcase materials like inorganic salt, industrial ceramics, nano-size
products and magnetic materials and there is the usual selection of
industry forums, seminars and new product launches. Email grace.yuan@sh-wes.com for more information www.ipbexpo.com/en 10:07 21/05/2007
How lean can you get UK. Lean manufacturing in powder processing is a
two-day conference organised by Matcon in Moreton-in-March,
Gloucestershire, UK on the 27 - 28 June 2007. Under the subheading of Current academic
thinking - Real industrial solutions, the event will show how lean
manufacturing techniques currently used in other manufacturing areas can
be applied in a powder setting.
Topics to be covered include: manufacturing on demand; efficient
traceability, the seven deadly wastes; packing with total flexibility;
mixing without cleaning; and overall equipment effectiveness. Places can
be booked online at: www.matconibc.com/conference 10:07 21/05/2007
Latest addition for test Centre Denmark. Niro’s process and product test centre
in Copenhagen has recently installed a SPRAY FLUIDIZER™, aimed at
strengthening their leading position in the global chemical market. The technology, widely used throughout
industry for many years, combines drying and granulation in a single
operation, transforming pumpable feed into a non-dusty, non-chalky,
free-flowing granulate. Because most
materials behave differently in the system, this added piece of equipment
fulfills an important role in instances where applications need to be
tested in a pilot plant prior to full-scale production. The test centre, considered to be the
largest of its kind in Europe, includes over 35 different pilot plants for
spray, freeze, fluid bed and flash drying, agglomeration, extraction,
concentration and swirl fluidisation, all backed up by extensive
laboratory facilities. Full product
and process evaluation are provided for clients, with the ability to
provide a comparison between spray fluidisation and alternative
technologies. The centre is also able to process batches of client
products for contract manufacturing projects. www.niro.dk 23:26 13/05/2007
Freeman's founder and MD Reg
Freeman
Queen's Award for Freeman UK. Freeman Technology is to receive the Queen's
Award for Enterprise 2007. One of the UK's most prestigious commercial
prizes, the award is in the Innovation category and recognises
development, commercialisation and sales success of the company's FT4
Powder Rheometer. The novel universal
powder tester is now used globally to measure flow properties of an
extremely wide range of materials, with an established customer base in
Europe, US and Japan in the ceramics, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and
powder coatings sectors. Importantly,
powder is characterised in ways that relate directly to processes,
providing a sound basis for process management, optimisation, efficiency,
increased productivity and improved profitability. Freeman's founder and MD Reg Freeman
says that, since introducing the first powder rheometer in 1999, the
company has adopted a pioneering approach, working closely with clients to
increase understanding of powder behaviour and help resolve processing
issues by developing new ways of testing powders. "What most excites me is that our clients
are recognising that powder characterisation is now viable - that powder
processing is being transformed from an art into a science by measurements
that are differentiating and highly reproducible. ... This is a strong
foundation for the future growth of our business as we continue to develop
with and serve the powder processing industries", he explained. FT4 offers automated bulk, shear and
dynamic property measurement in one instrument - producing data that
correlates with real processing behaviour. It can be used to help solve
powder processing problems ranging from bridging at hopper outlets,
through unwanted fluidisation and air entrainment, to batch variability
and issues with tabletting, encapsulation and vial filling. Speed is a key
issue, and a test programme is typically completed in around 5 minutes
using the latest software to deliver rapid data analysis, remote from the
laboratory if necessary. www.freemantech.co.uk 10:15 02/05/2007
Exhibition success Germany. 16,174 trade visitors attended the
recent POWTECH/TechnoPharm exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany, representing
22 per cent more visitors than last time. The organisers, NürnbergMesse,
say that extra marketing activities put into place beforehand played a
major part. There were over 1,000 exhibitors, 28 per cent of which were
from overseas. Synergy between
POWTECH/TechnoPharm is now seen as a major strength of the event - powder,
granule and bulk solids technologies shown at POWTECH are also used in
specialist applications such as clean room processes and hygienic
production, issues which are covered by TechnoPharm. In terms of visitor quality, 92 per cent
of those attending were involved in procurement. 39 per cent of
visitors came from the chemical industry, 10 per cent from
pharmaceuticals, 18 per cent from machinery and plant manufacture, 10 per
cent from food and feed, 5 per cent from glass, ceramic and mineral
product manufacture and 3 per cent from quarrying and earthworks. The accompanying PARTEC Congress
provided a unique focus for particle experts from around the globe,
attracting 669 participants from 32 nations and providing a forum for the
exchange of views between industry and academia. The next Congress is
scheduled to takes place at POWTECH 2010 in conjunction with the World
Congress on Particle Technology (WCPT). “Internet is changing the nature of
exhibitions” said a recent item in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,
Germany’s biggest business paper, and the indications are that visitors
are increasingly using the Internet for preparing and following up
exhibitions. Over 100,000 page views were recorded the day before the
Nuremberg event, and the organisers report that internet pages are also
sourced thousands of times after the exhibition. The next POWTECH/TechnoPharm takes place
in Nuremberg on 30 September – 2 October 2008. www.powtech.de 23:10 02/05/2007
Web seminar program big hit Malvern Instruments' web seminar program for 2007 is
expected to be the biggest and most varied yet. The free webinars, which
have grown in popularity over the past seven years, have seen an
increasing number of people logging on, with a much wider variety and
scope of subjects than ever before.
Malvern say that this indicates the breadth of applications for its
advanced analytical systems, which provide particle, rheological and
chemical composition data, so essential in characterising a wide variety
of materials. This year, many of the
seminars will be repeated, to allow the global audience to select the most
appropriate one to tie in with their work schedule, and there are
presentations in English, German and French. Commenting on the success of the
seminars, Malvern's VP Marketing, Randy Byrne, said that a great deal of
time and effort had gone into establishing the webinars, to ensure that
content and presentation are of a high standard. Feedback from
participants has been overwhelmingly positive, he added. The seminars are
recorded and can be freely downloaded after the event if you miss them. Register at www.malvernevents.com 21:30 15/04/2007
Action demanded on skills shortages UK. The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) has
welcomed some aspects of the UK's recent budget, including increased
spending on science and an increase in the R&D tax allowance. However,
the CIA is encouraging industry, government and trade unions to join
forces to ensure that the country continues to train, recruit and
retain quality scientists and engineers. Commenting at a conference of chemical
businesses in the North East of England, Steve Elliott, CIA Chief
Executive, told industry leaders that, “Increasing the supply of skilled
labour through investment in science and chemistry education, as well as
providing incentives to employers to up-skill their workforce, is
absolutely critical”. He also
underlined industry’s role in the equation, urging it to give full support
to the proposed Skills Academy for the chemicals, pharmaceutical and
polymer industries, which is regarded as a once in a lifetime opportunity
to secure the workforce for the future. 13:40 27/03/2007
Goodyear division to be acquired US. The mighty Carlyle Group is to sign a
definitive agreement to acquire The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s
Engineered Products Division in a cash transaction worth $1.475 bn.
Conditions regarding the sale include receipt of regulatory approvals as
well as completion of a labour agreement with the United Steelworkers
union. Founded in 1898, Goodyear
Engineered Products manufactures hoses, conveyor belts and power
transmission belts, as well as tank tracks for military and off-road
vehicles. With approximately $1.5 bn in sales, the Company serves more
than 4,500 customers globally in a variety of end user markets. The Division employs around 6,500
associates in 32 manufacturing facilities worldwide, including
approximately 3,100 associates in the US. The company’s headquarters
will remain in Akron, Ohio with the current management, including
President and CEO Timothy R Toppen, continuing to lead the business. “Engineered Products is a successful
business....”, said Goodyear Chairman and CEO Robert J Keegan. Carlyle MD
Daniel A Pryor explained that the markets served by the Division offered
many opportunities for growth, both in the US and internationally. • The Carlyle Group is a
global private equity firm with $54.5 bn under management, employing more
than 400 investment professionals in 16 countries. Carlyle portfolio
companies have more than $68 bn in revenue and employ more than 200,000
people globally. 13:49 26/03/2007
Alec Osborn MBE, IMechE
President
Need for a common voice UK. Discussions between the Institution of Civil
Engineers (ICE) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) on
possible convergence has resulted in the decision to only pursue joint
initiatives and activities on topics where clear benefit can be identified
and achieved. The IMechE’s Trustee
Board had sought a more proactive approach towards convergence, but
the ICE Council has decided on a more limited partnership. Work by the two
parties has already been undertaken in areas such as waste, energy and
transport, indicating strong merit in a joint approach and providing
a stronger voice for engineering.
The move follows an extensive benchmarking study in 2006 which identified
a number of opportunities for the Institutions, including international
and UK regional cooperation, and joint young members’ groups - activities
that will undoubtedly continue to be developed. Expressing disappointment at the the
move, Alec Osborn MBE, IMechE President, said that the Institution would
continue to explore areas of collaboration that increase member benefits
and enhance the reputations of both bodies. “The need to speak with a
common voice has never been more apparent,” he added. 09:29 12/03/2007
Record results Global. Holcim, the global cement and aggregates
conglomerate, has announced record results and high organic growth during
2006. This is coupled to expansion of cement production capacity in key
markets and strengthening of the aggregates business. The dynamic state of the construction
sector in virtually all markets and exceptionally favourable weather
conditions for construction operations resulted in a boom in demand for
the Group’s products and services last year. The global spread of its activities is
said to have been of particular benefit, with approximately three quarters
of the Group's total cement capacity located in developing markets where
there is high growth in the building materials sector. In terms of cost efficiencies,
remarkable progress is said to have been achieved by optimising plant
capacity, innovative products and numerous efficiency improvements. One
claim is that the company now lead the field in replacing fossil fuels
with alternative energy sources.
Cement deliveries increased to 140.7 mt (2005: 110.6mt), a reflection of
the strengthened presence in India. The first-time full-year consolidation
of Aggregate Industries and acquisition of Meyer Material Company in the
US and Foster Yeoman in the UK resulted in a sizable rise in sales of
aggregates to 187.6 mt. New
developments include construction of the St Genevieve cement plant on the
Mississippi where work is now focused on building the plant facilities -
reckoned to be the largest in the US with an annual capacity of 4 mt.
Commissioning by Holcim US is due in 2009. Plans for India include a rapid increase
in cement production from a figure of 40 mt per annum to over 50 mt by
2010 and globally, projects are currently underway in the US, India,
Morocco, Romania, Bulgaria and France. 14:35 01/03/2007
Buoyant market Denmark. Accounts for January - December 2006
show that FLSmidth & Co A/S show a 20 per cent rise in
turnover to DKK 12.311m compared to 2005, accompanied by a 39 per
cent rise in order intake to DKK 18.534m. Activity during 2006 was
historically high within all the group’s business segments and is expected
to remain so in 2007. The global
market for new contracted cement kiln capacity (exclusive of China)
amounted to 140m t per year in 2006 (2005: 75m t per year), with FLSmidth
& Co's share amounting to 29 per cent (2005: 33 per cent). In
minerals, the level of investment was particularly high due to sustained
large global demand and is expected to continue during 2007. Earnings from Minerals in the longer
term are expected to account for a relatively larger part of the Group's
overall earnings, which will in turn reduce the effects of any
fluctuations in the cement market. 14:37 01/03/2007
Tyre production expansion Poland. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
has announced that its Poland affiliate plans to invest more than $100 m
to expand production of high-value tyres. This is planned to take place
over the next four years at the company's TC Debica operation, regarded as
one of Goodyear's lowest cost facilities. Jarro F Kaplan, president of Goodyear’s
Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East tyre business, said that the
investment provided a clear indication of the company’s confidence in
Debica's ability to deliver the highest quality products at a competitive
cost. "This investment will put us in an excellent position to capitalize
on the growing market for high performance tyres throughout Eastern and
Western Europe”, he added. • Goodyear holds a 60 per cent interest in TC Debica,
Poland's largest tyremaker, and has invested almost $200 m to enhance
Debica's operations since acquiring an interest in 1995. 12:20 26/02/2007
Engineering’s week of activities UK. The IMechE is encouraging individuals,
families, schools, employers, and even grandparents, to take part in the
National Science and Engineering Week which takes place from 9 - 18 March
2007. A wide spread of activities and
events are taking place throughout the UK which can be checked out on the
NSEW’s activity directory contained within the BA’s (British Association
for the Advancement of Science) website . As
part of the celebration, there is an exciting nationwide competition to
design an eco-friendly city of the future, inspired by the release of
Disney's new animated adventure, Meet The
Robinsons, which is released on 30 March 2007. The most imaginative and innovative
designs in each age group will win a private screening of the film for
their class and the overall winner will get a trip to the Disneyland
Resort Paris. Closing date is Friday 16 February. Click here to find out how to enter. There is also the chance to win an XBox
360 games console, so it is worth keeping an eye on the NSEW website from
around mid-February to get further details. • Please help publicise the event by passing this
information on to colleagues, networks, family or friends and ensure that
the week is better than ever. 18:38
15/02/2007
Premier Pneumatics branding USA. Following its recent acquisition of Premier Pneumatics of Salina, Kansas, USA,
K-Tron Process Group is to now use
the Premier Pneumatics brand name for all of its pneumatic conveying
lines, reflecting Premier's leading position in the North American
pneumatic conveying business. K-Tron
has marketed its vacuum conveying systems as K-Tron Pneumatic Conveying Systems (PCS), based
on the PCS business located in Stockport, UK. PCS, which was purchased by
K-Tron in 2001, will continue to manufacture the PCS line of sanitary
vacuum conveyors at the Stockport, UK facility. In addition, the K-Tron Colormax line of conveying and auxiliary
equipment will also be integrated into Premier Pneumatics. Colormax, a
member of K-Tron group since 2000, will continue to serve the plastics
industry with its established range of equipment manufactured in Telford,
UK. Acquiring Premier Pneumatics
greatly expands K-Tron's pneumatic conveying capabilities to include
continuous as well as vacuum sequencing systems. It is planned to
introduce the Premier Pneumatics products to the European market at the
end of 2007, following an engineering review to ensure compliance with
European standards. In the meantime, K-Tron will begin to sell the PCS and
Colormax product lines under the Premier Pneumatics brand name. All existing contact points for PCS and
Colormax partners remain the same within the UK. www.ktron.com 17:13 11/02/2007
Pharma facility opens Egypt. A new $32m tablet factory built by
AstraZeneca near Cairo has just been opened, the company’s first
manufacturing investment in the Middle East. It starts production this year and is
designed to manufacture products for the treatment of cardiovascular
disease, cancer and psychiatric disorders. Three production lines will
provide a capacity of 250 m tablets with the possibility of expanding to
400 m tablets a year. CEO David
Brennan said that this was a new era for the company, representing the
first manufacturing investment in the Middle East. The company has
identified Egypt as one of the key emerging markets for further
development, together with such countries as China and Mexico, as part of
a regional expansion strategy. The
Egyptian pharmaceutical market is thought to be worth $1.6 bn annually,
with multi-national companies supplying around 65 per cent of the market
through direct local manufacturing (30 per cent) or through licensing
agreements (35 per cent). Egypt has
also adopted the World Trade Organisation’s ‘TRIPS’ agreement which aims
to protect intellectual property rights and bring them under common
international rules. 22:42
17/01/2007
Facility to discontinue production Canada. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is
planning to discontinue tyre production at its plant in Valleyfield,
Quebec and transfer the facility over to a materials mixing centre during
2007. The move is seen as part of an ongoing global strategy to reduce
excess high cost manufacturing capacity. Goodyear currently plans to reduce costs
by between $100 and $150 m. With the already announced closures of tyre
plants in Washington, UK, Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and Tyler, Texas, the
Valleyfield announcement yields a total of $125 m in projected annual
savings. The company is one of the largest of its kind, manufacturing
tyres, engineered rubber products and chemicals in more than 100
facilities in 29 countries and employing around 80,000 people
worldwide. 10:12
09/01/2007
Name revived
under new ownership UK. A major name in
containment equipment for the pharmaceutical, chemical and biotech
industries has recently been revived.
US-based private investment firm, Insight Equity, which recently acquired
the Walker Group (parent group of CPS Extract), will see the
Huddersfield-based manufacturer of pharmaceutical containment equipment
reverting to its former name of Extract Technology Ltd. The move
represents a renewed commitment to provide leading technologies and
services to specific core markets worldwide. Since 1979, Extract Technology has been
synonymous with high quality containment systems and innovative product
ranges, including the Downflow Booth for dispensing and sampling powdered
product, rigid and flexible processing isolators and custom-made pack-off
systems for many applications. The company is seen as a leader in
engineering containment solutions and processes involving full
installation, commissioning and validation, backed up by support
services. David Pallister, based in
the USA for the last seven years and heading up expansion in the North
American market, will lead the company. He will continue to operate from
Raleigh, NC, directing Extract business into new opportunities worldwide.
Mr Pallister said that there were plans to move the business forward to
generate healthy and profitable sales growth, benefiting customers in the
key target sectors. There has also been a rebranding of the corporate look
together with a new logo and website. Contact Mike
Davies on 01484 317001 or e-mail
mdavies@extract-technology.co.uk 11:24 08/01/2007
New production line for Casablanca Morocco. Lafarge has inaugurated a new production
line at its Bouskoura plant near Casablanca. With an annual production
capacity of 900,000 t, the new line is designed to significantly increase
the group’s cement production capacity in the country and represents an
€80m investment.Total production capacity of the plant will reach 3 mt. The move strengthens the company’s
presence in Morocco, where the cement market has grown at a rapid pace
over the past two years. This is part of a dynamic investment policy by
Lafarge Maroc to adapt to a fast-growing market and to finish
modernisation of production facilities. Since 2000, Lafarge Maroc has increased
its cement production capacity by 50 per cent to 5.4 mt and investment at
Bouskoura has also covered renovation of the bagging process as it is the
only cement plant in the country with white cement grinding and bagging
facilities. The plant has also launched a performance enhancement
programme by introducing ISO 9001 and 14001 certificated
quality/environment integrated management systems. 20:30 15/12/2006
Divestment in Turkey Turkey. Following a competitive auction process,
Lafarge has announced that it is to divest itself of Yibitas Lafarge Orta
Anadolu Cimento (YLOAC), in which it holds a 50 per cent share, to
Cimpor. Founded in 1994, YLOAC is a
50/50 joint venture between Lafarge and Yibitas Holding, involving three
cement plants and three grinding stations with a total cement grinding
capacity of 3.5 mt. Also included are twelve concrete plants and two
aggregates quarries, mainly located in Central Anatolia. The enterprise is
valued at €535m and the project will be submitted for approval to the
competition authorities. Following
the transaction, Lafarge will continue to remain a significant
player in the Turkish building materials sector, with a presence mainly in
the Marmara region, composed of a cement plant of 1.2 mt of clinker
capacity, a grinding station of 250,000 t capacity, ten concrete plants
and three quarries, as well as gypsum activities. 20:32 15/12/2006
White cement production line Egypt. FLSmidth has signed a contract to provide
equipment and technical services for a new 1,300 t per day white cement
production line to Sinai White Cement Company in Egypt, a subsidiary of
Aalborg Portland White, which will make it the world's largest white
cement plant. Total order value is in excess of €28m. Machinery and auxiliary equipment for
will be supplied for the expansion of an existing cement plant built by
FLSmidth between 1999 and 2001.
Included in the new order is a raw grinding mill with MAAG gear unit, kiln
with four-stage preheater, calciner and rotary cooler plus a cement mill,
electrostatic precipitators, two sand mills and Pfister feeding equipment.
The contract also includes engineering and the supply of drawings and
documentation, enabling some machinery and equipment to be produced
locally. Plant commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2008. 20:23 15/12/2006
PRC event gears up PRC. The International Powder/Bulk Conference & Exhibition
(IPB) is the only powder/bulk trade show hosted by Chinese
Society of Particuology in China. Due to take place in Shanghai, PRC on 23
- 25 October 2007, the event has seen steady growth in the level of
overseas participation. A wide spread of visitors are expected from the
chemical industry, metals/mining, port equipment, metallurgy, power
generation, environmental protection, plastics/rubber, building materials,
pharmaceuticals, new materials, food and R&D. Two conferences will
also be held in conjunction with IPB 2007. The China
International Advanced Ceramics event provides a platform for
advanced ceramics experts from China, Japan and Korea. Technical
specialists from leading companies will present seminars and new product
innovations. This event is hosted by Shanghai Silicate Association,
Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Japan Fine
Ceramics Centre, Korean Kiln Technology Academy, Korea Institute of
Ceramic Engineering and Technology and GANGWON Ceramic Cluster Agency,
Korea. The focus is on ceramics development, especially in Japan and
Korea. The second event is the 27th
Exchange Conference of Inorganic Chemical Engineering and Technology. This
is hosted by the Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China
(CIESC), The Inorganic Acids, Alkalis and Salts Branch of CIESC, China
National Inorganic Chemicals Information Centre, Tianjin Research and
Design Institute of Chemical Industry, China Productivity Promotion Center
of Inorganic Chemicals and Worldwide Exhibition Service Co Ltd. In order
to further expand its influence outside Shanghai, IPB are also in the
process of organising several road shows in the North and South of the
country. • Contact: Ms. Shunan Wang, Worldwide
Exhibitions Service Co Ltd Tel: +86-21-5228 7057 Fax: +86-21-5228 7022
Email: shunan.wang@sh-wes.com http://www.ipbexpo.com 11:09 23/11/2006
Under new ownership UK. US-based private investment firm Insight Equity has acquired the Walker Group, parent company of Carlisle Process Systems (CPS) and CPS Extract. The Huddersfield, UK based
manufacturer of containment and aseptic solutions will revert to the name
Extract Technology Ltd. Heading up
the business is David Pallister who will continue to operate from the US
where he has spearheaded expansion in North America. There are plans to
develop the business to drive sales growth in the pharmaceutical, chemical
and biotech sectors. Day to day business will remain in the UK under the
operational management of Alan Wainwright. Since its inception in 1979, Extract
Technology has been associated with high quality containment systems and
product ranges that include: downflow booths for dispensing and sampling
of powdered product; dispensing and sampling facilities incorporating
booths, airlocks, roller conveyors etc; rigid and flexible isolators for
containing potent compounds; aseptic processing isolators; pack-off
systems for containing powder during offloading applications; engineering
and design studies for assessing containment applications and processes;
and installation, commissioning, validation, spares and service
support. 12:20
09/11/2006
Subsidiary to be established PRC. K-Tron International
Inc has signed an agreement to acquire certain assets of Wuxi Chenghao Machinery Co Ltd , a privately held
company and a leading feeder and ancillary equipment manufacturer in PRC.
The acquisition is subject to various conditions, including government
approval. Founded in 2002, Wuxi
Chenghao designs, manufactures, markets and services volumetric and
gravimetric single and twin screw feeders and controls, vibratory trays,
pelletisers and pneumatic screen changers for plastics compounding and
injection moulding applications, establishing a leading position in the
domestic PRC market for industrial feeders. K-Tron expects to obtain approval to form
a Wholly-Foreign Owned Entity (WFOE) which will purchase certain assets
from Wuxi Chenghao and serve as the entity to conduct business following
the agreement. Wuxi Chenghao's top
management is expected to join the WFOE following completion of the
transaction, including current owner and general manager Wang Hongliang.
Kevin Bowen, senior VP of K-Tron responsible for its process equipment
business line, will serve as chairman of the board of the WFOE and will
have operating responsibility for the venture. K-Tron chairman and CEO Edward B Cloues
II said that the acquisition is a major step forward in a strategic plan
to expand globally in feeding and pneumatic conveying equipment for
difficult-to-handle materials. The upper-tier PRC market has already been
served for many years by selling equipment primarily to multinational end
users through resellers in Europe and the US, through independent
representatives in the PRC and by providing support through a
representative office in Shanghai. The domestic PRC market for plastics
processing equipment is currently growing at double-digit rates and this
latest acquisition will enable K-Tron to provide products designed and
manufactured in the PRC to be sold in local currency. Kevin Bowen said that the country has
developed into a leading area for base resin manufacturing and plastics
compounding, core markets for feeders and pneumatic conveying equipment.
This latest move will therefore increase K-Tron’s presence and take
advantage of domestic manufacturing and labour efficiencies. www.ktron.com 17:49 08/11/2006
Europe’s leading event Germany. Around 700 exhibitors are expected to
take part in POWTECH, Europe’s leading
exhibition for mechanical processing technologies and instrumentation
which takes place in Nuremberg on 27 - 29 March 2007. Running in
conjunction with the event is the TechnoPharm
exhibition (life science process technologies), PARTEC Congress (particle technology) and ESMG Symposium (explosion protection). The scope of POWTECH includes: basic
processing technologies for powder and bulk materials; plant engineering
and processing components; particle analysis and characterisation;
Nanoparticle technology; measurement and control; safety and environmental
technology; and services (eg plant construction/planning, analysis). Safety and explosion protection in
industrial plants is high on the agenda with the European Safety
Management Group providing information about process safety and industrial
explosion protection at its international symposium. Presentations deal
with the analysis of industrial damage incidents, new methods from safety
research, new findings on risk assessment, safety engineering and new
techniques for preventive and design measures for explosion protection. The PARTEC Congress is the global event
for those involved in particle technology and around 500 participants are
expected to attend this particular event alone. www.partec2007.de 14:49 08/11/2006
Mexican developments Mexico. CEMEX, a leading global cement producer,
has awarded FLSmidth a contract for what is expected to be the largest
kiln system in Mexico and Latin America. Situated at the Tepeaca plant,
Mexico, the new line will have a capacity of 10,000 t clinker per day. The kiln system is part of a 4.4 mt per
year expansion project that will see the client inviting tenders for
additional supplies at a later stage. The project is worth $35.9m and
FLSmidth's US project centre based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is
responsible for providing engineering services, project management and
commissioning as well as all major machines for the clinker line. Thu Nov 02 18:23:44 2006
Reduction in working days lost UK. Statistics just published by the Health and
Safety Commission (HSC) reveal that working days lost in Great Britain due
to work-related injury and ill health fell from 40 m in 2000/02 to 30 m in
2005/06. There is currently a ten-year target to improve national health
and safety performance by 2010.
Progress to reduce ill health by 20 per cent is on target and the aim of a
30 per cent reduction in working days lost is, in the words of the HSC,
probably on track. Fatal and major injuries fell in 2005/06, though
progress is not on schedule to meet a ten per cent reduction. Ill health
accounted for around 24 m lost working days with stress and
musculoskeletal disorders cited as the most common causes of absence. Reported non-fatal major injuries to
workers fell for the second year in a row to just under 30,000, a drop of
six percent on 2004/05. Agriculture and construction remain the two most
hazardous industries, with average rates of self-reported non-fatal
injuries to workers over the past three years of 2,020 and 1,790 per
100,000 respectively. Figures for enforcement notices issued, and
prosecutions taken, by HSE and Local Authority inspectors indicate a
decrease in the last two years.
Commenting on the figures, HSE Chief Executive Geoffrey Podger said that
he understood the concerns regarding the fall in enforcement and that a
recent audit of enforcement activity revealed areas for improvement. He
said that initial data for 2006/07 suggested that the fall in enforcement
has been significantly reversed and this would continue to be
monitored. Thu Nov 02
18:16:58 2006
IChemE award
for QPM UK. Engineers from the Wolfson Centre
for Bulk Solids Handling Technology at the University of Greenwich have
been highly commended in the prestigious international 2006 Institution of
Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Awards. The award was recently presented to
the team by popular science broadcaster Adam Hart-Davies at a ceremony in
London. The team took second place in
the Chemistry Innovation Award for Innovation in Applied Catalysis and
Colloid – Particle Science, beating off strong competition from
international pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Merck &
Co. Wolfson Centre Engineers worked
with a team from the University of Surrey and seven companies to develop
Quality in the Particulate-based Manufacturing (QPM) technology. The aim
is to reduce problems associated with handling particulates in
manufacturing processes, such as lump formation, breakage and separation.
It has already helped one UK-based multi-national pharmaceutical company
cut manufacturing losses by £1 m at a new processing plant. Prof Alan Reed, Director of the Wolfson
Centre, told POWDEReporter that he was delighted that the Wolfson Centre
has been Highly Commended for its QPM work. ”It is recognition from our
peers of how our business-facing research has, through a well-planned
programme of knowledge transfer, been used by a number of multi-national
companies for competitive advantage. We are convinced that the potential
for further roll-out of QPM technology to business is huge.” • Contact: The Wolfson Centre
for Bulk Solids Handling Technology www.bulksolids.com Tel: +44 (0) 20
8331 8646. • Picture shows Broadcaster Adam Hart-Davies with Dr
Hugo Steven - Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network, Prof Keith
Guy - Chemistry Innovation Strategic Advisory Group and Prof Michael
Bradley - University of Greenwich Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling
Technology Wed Oct 25 14:27:54 2006
More large contracts India. FLSmidth has signed a DKK 202m contract to
supply all machinery and equipment for a 5,500 t per day cement plant in
the South Indian state of Karnataka. To be built for Jay Kay Cem Ltd,
wholly-owned subsidiary of J K Cement Ltd, the plant is expected to come
on stream in the second half of 2008.
In a separate development, the company has also been awarded a DKK 98m
cement plant contract by Rain Industries Ltd, long standing customer of
FFE Minerals, FLSmidth Group's engineered minerals processing solutions
provider. The contract includes machinery and equipment for a 3,800 t per
day cement production line for a plant to be built in the Andhra Pradesh
state which is expected to come on stream at the end of 2007. FLSmidth’s Indian project division
conducted negotiations for both production lines and will also be
responsible for implementing the projects. The division will supply
machinery and auxiliary equipment and supervise installation and
commissioning. Equipment to be supplied includes four vertical mills for
raw meal and coal grinding, five ball mills for cement grinding and two
complete pyro processing systems featuring preheaters, kilns and Cross-Bar
coolers. FLSmidth subsidiary MAAG Gear will deliver gear units for both
projects. Group CEO Jørgen Huno
Rasmussen said that the contracts confirm expectations regarding the
rapidly growing Indian cement market, demonstrating the strength of the
Group’s local organisation which has doubled in size over the past three
years. Further orders in the country are expected this year. Mon Oct 23 17:51:52 2006
Top target for acquisitions Indian companies will spend more than $10 bn on
acquisitions in Europe this year, accounting for almost 90 per cent of
total overseas purchases, says IndusView Advisors Private Ltd. Acquisition of the UK’s top steel maker
Corus Group Plc by India’s Tata Steel Ltd for $8 bn adds to the $2.68 bn
spent by Indian firms during the first half of 2006 on 32 acquisitions of
European companies. This incidentally does not include the $38 bn purchase
of Arcelor SA by Mittal Steel Co as the latter is not India-based.
IndusView points out a number of interesting facts. Mergers and acquisitions worth $10.8 bn
involved Indian companies during the first six months of 2006, including
$4 bn spent by Indian companies on 85 overseas acquisitions, with two
thirds of the money spent on buying European firms. On the flip side,
foreign companies bought 34 Indian firms worth $3.4 bn. The UK remained the top destination for
acquisitions by Indian companies, and India also became the third largest
investor in the UK, investing about $2 bn here during the financial year
to March 2006, more than twice the previous year. Mon Oct 23 17:49:33 2006
Improving asset management UK. Profit margins in the pharmaceutical industry
continue to tighten, putting manufacturers under increasing pressure to
balance quality, cost and production requirements against increasing
regulatory demands. A seminar organised by the Pharmaceutical Committee of
the IMechE in Runcorn, UK on 21 November 2006 will attempt to address
these issues. The aim is for
delegates to better understand strategies for determining and implementing
an asset management policy that is profitable. Delegates will discover
ways of identifying practices and tactics that maximise capital invested
in facilities and equipment and there is also the opportunity to learn
from experts as they share best practices across industry. The event is of interest to engineers
and managers responsible for asset management strategy and its
implementation, senior engineering managers, business managers,
contracting company managers, operations managers and facility
managers. • Contact: Dunni
Akinola Tel: 020 7973 1243 Email d_akinola@imeche.org.uk Thu Oct 19 17:31:38 2006
Record profits for fertiliser Leading fertiliser producers achieved record profits
and profit margins in 2005 says a study of the world's 60 leading
producers by Integer Research. Combined fertiliser revenues were more than
$50 bn in 2005 as compared with $43 bn in 2004. This is partly due to
higher sales prices, combined with increased global consumption,
indicating that despite the effect of high gas prices on production costs,
there are still significant profits and increasing revenues. In terms of
fertiliser revenues, Yara is still regarded as the world’s biggest player,
continuing to expand its business with significant developments in Brazil
and China. Although the five largest
companies are still based in North America and Western Europe, other
companies in the top ten have changed in the last few years with Eurochem
of Russia rising through the rankings into the top ten, relegating Terra
Industries to 11th position. This trend seems likely to continue, with
nitrogen producers from Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East taking
advantage of high fertiliser prices and relatively low gas costs. Other companies showing strong profits
include potash producers, with potash and nitrogen businesses achieving a
bumper year in 2005, many achieving record profits and profit margins.
China, of course, is becoming more influential in the global market and
there are now nine Chinese companies in the top 60, (only four in
2003). • Integer Research
is a leading supplier of market analysis, forecasts and strategy
consultancy to the fertiliser industry. Thu Oct 12
09:09:50 2006
ATEX gets top billing UK. The easyFairs SOLIDS event takes place on 1 -
2 November 2006 at Coventry, UK. Supported by SHAPA (The Solids, Handling
and Processing Association), the event has a comprehensive line-up of free
learnShop seminars, offering what is described as "bite-sized informative
sessions packed with practical information and case study led insights
presented by leading industry experts". One of the key sessions will be given by
Declan Barry, ATEX Explosion Hazards Ltd, revealing new developments
within explosion protection and using real-life examples reinforced with
high impact visuals and video footage. Other sessions include: Benefits of
modular mill system design - Martin Thomson Kemutec Powder Technologies
Ltd; Cost saving and efficient system performance through good design and
plant maintenance - Mike Bradley, Wolfson Centre; Meeting operational
objectives through weighing and process control - Mark Hopkins, Procon;
and Design principles for reliable operation of mechanical handling
systems - Peter Guttridge, Guttridge Services. www.easyfairs.com
Spider diagram technique UK. Dr Eddie McGee’s presentation at the
forthcoming easyFairs SOLIDS 2006 event focuses on the Properties of bulk solids and their influence on
equipment selection. This highly contentious subject is part of the
learnShop seminar programme that forms part of the SOLIDS experience. Dr McGee, technical director of Ajax
Equipment, says his aim is to provide engineers with practical approaches
to ensure that materials flow efficiently. The paper, which identifies the
symptoms and causes of flow problems, highlights how important materials
testing is in determining characteristics such as wall friction, shear
strength and bulk density, allowing the hopper or silo design to be
optimised to achieve mass flow. Using
Spider Diagram analysis techniques, delegates will be shown how to use
materials testing results to best advantage. This highly visual technique
can be used for quickly assessing material flow properties, says Dr McGee.
The presentation shows how the technique has been used to assess solids
handling equipment and chutes so that they can be modified to optimise
flow. • The presentation
is at 10.30am on 1 November 2006 in learnShop 1 - Solids handling and
processing Tue Oct 10 21:57:50 2006
Further cement developments India. Lafarge has announced a project to
increase production capacity at its Sonadih plant in the Raipur District
of the state of Chhattisgarh, in the growing Eastern region of the
country, where the Group has developed a strong presence over the past six
years. The scheme, scheduled in two phases, will increase cement capacity
by 3 mt over the next five years.
Phase I, due to be completed within two years and worth around €140 m,
involves constructing a second production line at Lafarge’s Sonadih plant.
This will increase clinker capacity by 1.6 mt to 3 mt per year and will be
accompanied by a 1 mt grinding station at Mejia in the key market of West
Bengal. During Phase II, 2 mt of
additional grinding capacity will be added to serve the main Eastern
markets, with construction timed to allow the company to respond to future
growth in these markets. In total,
production capacity in the region will increase from the current 5.5 mt to
around 9 mt, with the overall project representing a total investment of
around €75 per new t of capacity.
This development, together with another project to build a new 3 mt cement
plant in Himachal Pradesh in Northern India, will allow the group to more
than double its cement capacity in the country, taking it from around 5.5
million tons to approximately 12 million tons within the next 5 years. • The Group has emerged as a
major player in the eastern region of the country, with a market share of
around 20 per cent. Marketing strategy has been adapted to suit the Indian
market, where cement is largely sold in bags as a consumer product to
individual homebuilders. Mon Oct 09 18:01:34
2006
Premier acquired USA.
K-Tron International Inc has acquired Premier Pneumatics Inc, a leading manufacturer of
pneumatic conveying and bulk handling equipment for the North American
market. Purchase price was approximately $27.565 m. Premier, based in Salina, Kansas,
manufactures and markets components for pneumatic conveying systems, such
as the Aerolock rotary valve, Series II 2400 vacuum receiver, blower
package and diverter valve product lines. Other areas of activity include
systems for rail car and truck unloading, as well as
storage-to-production-line transfer systems for the plastics, compounding,
food and chemical industries.
Operating management is expected to remain in place, including Mike Wedel, VP sales and marketing, Todd Smith, VP engineering and manufacturing, and
Gary Lee, VP finance. Kevin Bowen, senior VP of K-Tron, responsible for
the K-Tron Process Group, will serve as Premier’s president. K-Tron’s chairman and CEO Edward B Cloues II commented that the acquisition
significantly expands the scope of K-Tron's activities in both the
pneumatic conveying business - which they entered in 1997 - and in the
solids feeding business, where K-Tron is regarded as a global leader with
its volumetric and gravimetric screw and belt feeders. “The combination of these two market
leaders will enable both K-Tron and Premier to offer their customers
integrated pneumatic conveying and feeding systems with engineering,
manufacturing, commissioning and after-sale services from a single source,
something that is not widely available today”, said Mr Cloues. K-Tron's
global network of wholly-owned subsidiaries and independent sales
representatives is considered to be the ideal platform on which to expand
Premier's scope beyond the North American market. In a related development, K-Tron and its
US subsidiaries has entered into a loan agreement with Citizens Bank of
Pennsylvania which provides for $50 m of unsecured credit. The purchase
price for Premier was funded under this new arrangement. www.ktron.com Mon Oct 09 09:47:35 2006
Collaborative event for pharmaceuticals K-Tron Process Group, in collaboration with key
suppliers of equipment and instrumentation to the pharmaceutical industry
including Malvern Process Systems, Howorth Pharma, Fitzpatrick, and
Leistritz, are to present a joint pharmaceutical seminar entitled Innovations in pharmaceutical processing. The
seminar will be held in Cork, Ireland on 29 November 2006 and in
Manchester, UK on 30 November 2006.
The free one-day event will include detailed process and analytical
information about key topics and trends in the pharmaceutical processing
industry. A wide variety of important processing issues will also be
examined, with the intention of providing an objective, technical overview
of these processes and introducing processors to methods of improving
current processes and utilising new technologies. Topics to be dealt with include:
Integrating the most efficient feeder technology for continuous and batch
processing; Pneumatic conveying applications in the pharmaceutical
industry; Online particle size analysis and control for process uniformity
and quality; High potency containment solutions including glove
boxes/isolators, downflow and laminar flow booths; Continuous
pharmaceutical processing via twin screw extrusion for controlled solid
dosage release forms; and Product containment and inert processing for
safe size reduction. The presenters
are drawn from some of the top process specialists in the industry
including: Malvern Process Systems - particle characterisation, with
analyser solutions for both online real time process measurement and
off-line for the laboratory; Howorth Pharma - powder handling and process
containment equipment including glove box isolators and pack out solutions
for the global pharmaceutical industry; Fitzpatrick - prebreaking, size
reduction, agglomeration and drying for the pharmaceutical, food and
chemical industries; K-Tron Process Group, with over 50 years experience
in high accuracy feeding and vacuum conveying of pharmaceutical processes
with a product line that includes loss-in-weight and volumetric feeders as
well as vacuum conveying equipment for sanitary applications; and
Leistritz - GMP twin screw extruders and systems for continuous twin screw
extrusion processing, as well as mixing/solvent extraction, wet
granulation, pelletisation, transdermal/dissolvable films and shape
extraction. To register online visit http://www.ktron.com Fri Sep 29 23:15:44 2006
Cement plant for India India. Lafarge has announced that it will build a
large new cement plant at Alsindi in Northern India, following approval
granted by the state government of Himachal Pradesh. Expected to be completed in 2010, the
plant will be designed to produce 3 mt of cement per year and represent a
total investment of around €160. With this greenfield facility, the
company will be entering a new fast-growing regional market and
significantly increase its cement capacity from 5.5 to 8.5 mt. Lafarge says that the expansion
demonstrates its ongoing commitment to the Indian market, one of the
world’s largest and most promising cement markets. There is also a
long-standing commitment to sustainable development with state of the art
environmental standards. • Lafarge entered the Indian market in 1999, firstly
acquiring the cement business of Tata Steel and then purchasing the
Raymond Cement facility in 2001. Three cement plants are currently
operated in the country with a total production capacity of 5.5 mt. Wed Sep 27 17:54:21 2006
Engineering plastics plants Netherlands. Royal DSM NV is to construct two new
manufacturing facilities at its Chemelot site in Geleen, the Netherlands
in response to excellent market growth for two of its specialty products,
Stanyl® polyamide 46 and Stamylan® UH ultra-high molecular weight
polyethylene, which is used among other things as a raw material for
Dyneema® high strength fibers. The
new Stanyl® plant and the new Stamylan® facility, will each double
production capacity and will come on stream in 2008. Total investment is
around €100m. DSM is the sole
worldwide producer of polyamide 46 and, with the new Stanyl® plant, will
operate two Stanyl® plants at the Chemelot site to supply Stanyl® base
resin worldwide to company operations in Europe, USA, Japan and, most
recently, China. Wed Sep
20 22:18:49 2006
Online video resource Engineers facing hopper flow problems can now log
onto Ajax Equipment’s web site (www.ajax.co.uk) to view a video of common
flow problems and get advice on how to solve them. Problems such as
arching, cohesive arching and segregation are featured along with examples
of how extraction patterns can be improved to overcome a flow problem. "Poor hopper flow is amongst the most
common materials handling problem faced by chemical engineers. The videos
on the Ajax Equipment web site are intended to show engineers what's going
on inside the hopper and how they can overcome the problem," said Eddie
McGee, technical director of the company. Ajax boasts over 30 year's experience of
solids handling processing and equipment design and manufacture including
screw feeders, screw conveyors, continuous mixers and IBC systems. The web
site also features many powder handling and processing papers on topics
such as hopper design, stress in screws and materials bulk density
database. Wed Sep 20
22:15:52 2006
Expanded vinyls production in Latin America Brazil. Solvay has announced that its affiliate
Solvay Indupa has approved a $150m investment program to expand and
modernise vinyls production at its Santo Andre plant in Brazil. This is in
anticipation of rapidly growing demand in Latin America. It is expected that, by the end of 2008,
the plant will have a total annual vinyl chloride monomer and polyvinyl
chloride production capacity of 300,000 t using world-class,
state-of-the-art installations. Subsequent developments will be considered
to further expand the plant, and PVC capacity could be easily lifted in
line with growth. Solvay Group, a
leading global vinyls producer, ranks second in Europe and third globally.
In addition to SolVin, its joint venture with BASF in Europe, the Group’s
activities in PVC and other vinyl chain products span across Asia and
Latin America, through affiliates Vinythai in Thailand and Solvay Indupa
in Argentina and Brazil.
Solvay Indupa, part of the Solvay group, is one of the most important
petrochemical companies in the Mercosur trading bloc. Its main products
are PVC resins and caustic soda. Fri Sep 15 10:07:56 2006
Record contract in India India. A contract worth DKK 255m for a 5,500 t
per day cement clinker plant has been awarded to FLSmidth by Zuari Cement
Ltd, owned by Italcementi of Italy, one of the world's five largest cement
producers. The production line is to
be built at an existing cement plant supplied by FLSmidth in 1981 situated
in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh in India. FLSmidth's Indian project
division in Chennai conducted negotiations and will also be responsible
for project implementation. This is
FLSmidth India's hitherto largest project, involving vertical mills for
raw material and coal grinding and a vertical mill for cement grinding.
Also included are a kiln, preheater and Cross-Bar cooler, with FLSmidth
responsible for supervision and commissioning. Plant commissioning is
expected in 2008. The contract
confirms the booming state of the Indian cement market. Mon Sep 11 21:52:10 2006
Degussa divests DMT business Germany. Degussa AG, is selling Oxxynova GmbH
& Co KG, Marl, to a subsidiary of the ARQUES Group, Starnberg for
€22m, subject to appoval by the German antitrust authorities. Oxxynova
manufactures and markets liquid and solid dimethyl-terephthalate (DMT)
with production sites at Steyerberg and Lülsdorf in Germany and
headquarters in Marl, Germany. This
is the largest acquisition by ARQUES, the Starnberg-based equity
investment company. DMT, a preliminary product in polyester production, is
utilised in the production of textile and technical fibres, films, lacquer
and adhesive raw materials, as well as plastic films. Oxxynova supplies mainly large blue chip
customers and has a total annual production capacity of approximately
480,000t. The enterprise developed the innovative ‘Vendor Managed
Inventory (VMI)9 programme together with its logistics partners, enabling
the supplier to automatically view customers consumption data by means of
sensors and then arrange for replenishment of DMT stock using data
transfer via the internet-based VMI system. Mon Sep 11 21:48:31 2006
|
| Alistair Adams of
ASE | New agent for Matcon UK. Matcon has appointed Adams Solids Engineering
(ASE) as exclusive agent for the South of England and South Wales. ASE’s owner, Alistair Adams, has over 33
years experience in the industry with an extensive knowledge of solids
handling and processing as a result of positions held in sales,
engineering and technical support. In
addition to Matcon products, ASE are also able to support a range of other
process applications. Wed
Sep 06 19:35:11 2006
Calling all young engineers UK. The IMechE Bulk Materials Handling Committee
is seeking applications for its Young Engineers Award. This is intended to
raise the profile of bulk materials handling technology and reward
instances of research, development or design which enhance the
technology. A sum of £250 will be
awarded to the author of the best paper presented in 2006. So if you are
an engineer, scientist, student, researcher or an academic staff member
under the age of 30 at the time of publication, you may be eligible for
the award. The Committee stipulate that the work must be linked to the
UK. If you would like to apply or
make a nomination, please submit your application with a letter of support
from your manager/supervisor to the address below by Friday, 29 June 2007.
Entries will be judged by a panel of experts with the result announced by
October 2007. • For more
information please contact Ms Dunni Akinola, Institution of Mechanical
Engineers 1 Birdcage Walk, London, SW1H 9JJ Tel: 020 7973 1243 Email:
d_akinola@imeche.org.uk Tue Sep 05 10:58:00
2006
Purchase of acetate business Celanese Corporation has signed an agreement to
purchase the business of Acetate Products Limited (APL), the cellulose
acetate flake, tow and film activities of Corsadi BV, subject to
regulatory approvals and other conditions. With around 750 employees and sales
revenue of about $230m in 2005, APL operates two manufacturing facilities
in the UK producing acetate flake, tow and film, used in a range of
applications including tobacco, textiles and packaging. Tue Sep 05 10:54:20 2006
|
| Prof Alan Reed using equipment developed during
the QPM project | Project nominated for engineering
award UK. Engineers from the University of
Greenwich at Medway's Wolfson Centre, based at Chatham Maritime, have been
short-listed for the Innovation and Catalysis and Colloid Science category
of the Institution of Chemical Engineers' 2006 Awards. The work has
involved techniques to preserve particle quality in manufacturing
processes. Teams from the
universities of Greenwich and Surrey have been working on a major project
linked to quality in particulate-based manufacturing, such as sugar or
soap powder production. A variety of diagnostic and predictive successes
have been achieved, such as avoiding caking in large scale sugar exports
worldwide and preventing segregation in ingredients used in pharmaceutical
powders and nutritional drinks. For
the award, the centre is competing against major international
pharmaceutical companies and results will be announced at a gala dinner on
the 5 October in London. Prof Alan
Reed, Director of the Wolfson Centre expressed delight that the university
had been short-listed, an acknowledgement that engineers at the Wolfson
Centre, along with colleagues at the University of Surrey, had the
expertise and capability to solve major industrial problems, contributing
to the overall success of UK businesses. Wolfson is a leading light in the powder
and bulk field, providing research, consultancy and educational services
to industry in technologies associated with storage, handling and physical
processing of powders and granular solid materials. http://www.bulksolids.com/ Mon Sep 04 08:45:10 2006
Major production line for Egypt Egypt. FLSmidth has landed a contract worth about
€43m from Egyptian-based Sinai Cement Company to supply machines for a new
4,200 t per day cement production line. The project includes a raw mill, kiln
with preheater, Cross-Bar cooler, cement mill, electrostatic precipitators
and automation equipment. Installation and technical assistance for the
scheme is also included as well as two complete packing lines from
Ventomatic. The new production line,
an expansion of an existing cement plant built by FLSmidth on the Sinai
Peninsula between 1998 and 2001, is scheduled to come on stream in May
2008. Experience gained using Lean project management will be applied and
the project start-up phase has already been shortened. The project
processing phase is also likely to benefit from these principles. Jurgen Huno Rasmussen, Group CEO, said
that Lean principles are expected to shorten the turnaround time of cement
projects, to the benefit of both client and supplier. Mon Sep 04 09:26:04 2006
Diesel
smashes record JCB’s Dieselmax has become the
world’s fastest diesel recently establishing a new record of 350.092mph
(563.418kph) on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the US. The brainchild of Sir Anthony Bamford,
the company’s chairman, the project was initiated to showcase the extreme
performance of the JCB444 diesel engine which normally powers the
company's backhoe loaders and Loadall telescopic handlers. The car was
driven by Andy Green, a jet fighter pilot with a career flying Phantoms
and Tornados. Feted by his jubilant
crew, Green said: “I am so pleased that we have got the car to 350mph
which was always our ultimate goal and that was with a slow start to the
second run. There is so much more to come as the car is pulling like a
train and we still haven’t used sixth gear! This is another great result
for a wonderful team and a testament to British engineering.” The important job of real time
monitoring and control of the suspension system for the record breaking
run was undertaken by transducers from Variohm-Eurosensor, whose products
are widely used in the powder and bulk industries.
A JCB that does the overtaking When JCB decided to attempt the World Land Speed
record for a diesel powered vehicle they naturally needed innovative and
creative solutions for virtually every area of the vehicle's design from
the power plant to the suspension. The belief is that by utilising two of
their JCB 444 diesel engines to deliver a massive 1500 BHP to power the
Dieselmax over a measured mile, the vehicle can reach a speed never before
attained by a diesel where power is actually transmitted through the
roadwheels. Dieselmax has
required new thinking in terms of the four-wheel drive system, steering
and suspension. The JCB team chose ELP position transducers for real time
monitoring and control of the suspension system from Variohm-Eurosensor -
a company whose product range includes load cells of the kind used in the
powder and bulk industries. Two miles on the Bonneville salt flats
are hard on a vehicle travelling at 300 mph especially in terms of the
shock and vibration experienced by all parts of the suspension system.
Variohm ELP transducers are conductive plastic units which offer a stable
and reliable analogue output under the most arduous conditions. They are
frequently used in F1 racecars and GP motorcycles. Email: sales@variohm.com
First half joy for Lafarge Global. Lafarge has reported very strong
earnings growth during the first half of 2006 with growth in both sales
and operating income. Cement
sales were up 22 per cent with price increases in most markets exceeding
the strong rise in energy and transport costs overall. Sales of aggregates
and concrete were up 27 per cent. with gypsum seeing sales up by 14 per
cent. On the technical side there has
seen the successful start-up of a new cement plant in Mexico (Tula) and a
grinding plant in Vietnam with construction of new capacity to respond to
market growth and consolidate the Group’s positions especially in fast
growing markets such as cement and gypsum. 04/08/2006 12:54:19
Series of free one-day seminars UK. Malvern Instruments will host a series
of free, one-day seminars in September and October this year. Each will
focus on a different area of materials characterisation and will be held
at the company's headquarters in Malvern, UK On 19 September there is a seminar covering
in-process particle size measurement, examining the impact of
high-quality, real-time information for informed decision making and
improved operational efficiency. Other topics include: basic principles of
rheology; particle size analysis using laser diffraction techniques;
analytical image analysis, relevant to those interested in particle shape
or NIR chemical imaging; analysis of sprays and aerosols; and protein
characterisation using light scattering, including a session from MicroCal
on microcalorimetry. http://www.malvern.com/seminars
Cement grinding plant for Vietnam Vietnam. Lafarge has inaugurated its first cement
grinding plant in southern Vietnam on the Long Tau river, south-east of Ho
Chi Minh City. The company first moved into Ho Chi Minh City region in
2001 with ready mix concrete operations. Construction and commissioning of the
500,000-t grinding facility, which includes a private port, was achieved
in less than eighteen months, representing a total investment of $30m and
the first project of Lafarge Xi Mang, a joint venture in which Lafarge
owns a 70 per cent interest alongside a Vietnamese building materials
company. The strong pace of
expansion, especially in Ho Chi Minh City region, is indicative of the
buoyant Vietnamese cement market which is expected to reach 30mt in 2006
with annual growth averaging close to 15 per cent over the past decade.
Vietnam is currently faced with having to import over 4mt of clinker per
year. Lafarge is also expanding its gypsum activities in the country and
has recently constructed a wallboard factory. Wed Jul 26 15:09:25 2006
BULKEX to reflect success Australia. 2006 is predicted to be a good year
for the Australian bulk materials handling industry. Mining on all scales
is expanding, demand for raw materials from China continuing for the
foreseeable future, agricultural produce experiencing record exports and
growth in infrastructure investment with considerable Government support
for ports, roads, rail and inter-modal terminals. Associated with this is
increased R & D into new technologies for streamlining and improving
operations. BULKEX 2006, which takes
place on 25 – 27 September 2006 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre will
therefore be the focus for all these activities, providing a forum for the
exchange of competitive technologies and the latest techniques, and a
place to meet and do business at. There is also an accompanying conference
which runs for the first two days of the event. International experts taking part in the
conference include: Peter Arnold, Centre for Bulk Solids and Particulate
Technologies, University of Wollongong; Peter Wypych, Centre for Bulk
Solids and Particulate Technologies, University of Wollongong; Mark Jones,
Centre for Bulk Solids and Particulate Technologies, The University of
Newcastle; Balan Velan, Scorpio Engineering Pvt Ltd, India; Thomas
Schaefer, Ammermann Partners Pty Ltd; David Morrison, Sinclair Knight
Merz; James M Durack, Connell Hatch; and Nicholas Davies, Lester Franks
Survey and Geographic. The event will
provide ample opportunity to find out about: leading industry case
studies; troubleshoot technical issues at in-depth workshops; and visit
two leading bulk handling sites in Melbourne. Four workshops take place
within the conference organised by internationally renowned experts. To register Email: registration@informa.com.au Potential exhibitors Email
deborah.bocock@informa.com.au http://www.bulkex.com Mon Jul 24 20:32:21 2006
International trade seminar UK. An international trade seminar for the UK
solids handling sector is to be held in Wakefield, UK on the 19 September
2006. Organised by the International Solids Handling Advisory Board
(ISHAB) in conjunction with UK Trade and Industry (UKTI), the event
follows a roadmap survey of the industry completed in 2005 by ISHAB,
supported by the UKTI, to help develop export activities. A number of specialist speakers from
both UKTI and industry will focus on key territories and the seminar will
be relevant to both new and experienced exporters who wish to expand their
international activities. ISHAB
Chairman Allan Wilkie claims that the seminar will provide a cost
effective route for companies that require relevant information on
developing export markets. • Contact Trevor Owen, Oakley Associates Email:
Trevor@oakleyassociates.co.uk Wed Jul 19 23:03:34
2006
Imaging technology company acquired USA. Particle and rheological characterisation
system specialist Malvern Instruments Ltd has acquired Spectral Dimensions
Inc in the US, a privately held company producing near infrared (NIR)
chemical imaging instrumentation and software. Spectral will cease trading and be
integrated into Malvern's US subsidiary, Malvern Instruments Inc. The
chemical imaging development and applications teams will continue to
operate from the former Spectral Dimensions facility in Maryland.
Financial arrangements are as yet undisclosed. "Spectral Dimensions leads the field in
chemical imaging technology", commented Paul Walker, MD of Malvern
Instruments. "The company has a strong team with a wealth of scientific
and technical expertise, and has developed a suite of chemical imaging
solutions. Its established customer base is primarily in the
pharmaceutical industry. Here its systems are making a significant
contribution to improving formulation and manufacturing processes,
supporting manufacturers in achieving the goals set out as part of the
FDA's PAT initiative." The
pharmaceutical industry is a key market for Malvern and the addition of
chemical imaging technology provides further value, particularly in the
challenging areas of blending and tabletting, providing synergy with
Malvern’s existing particle characterisation systems. Spectral Dimensions'
founder and President, Dr E Neil Lewis, is an acknowledged expert in
spectroscopy and imaging techniques. Fri Jul 14 10:50:48 2006
Micronised powder facility for Asia PRC. Solvay has announced that it is to build a
new world-class polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) micronised powder
production unit in China. Pending authorisation from the relevant
authorities, production will be initiated in the second half of 2007. Marketed under the brand name Polymist®,
the powders are used in complex applications, such as cosmetics, high
gloss inks, high performance lubricants and heat-resistant materials.
Rapid development of a local customer base and the creation of local
production facilities by Solvay’s global clients are said to be driving
demand in Asia and particularly in China. Other recent initiatives in Asia
include: acquisition of the ultra performance polymers activities of
Gharda Chemicals in Panoli, India; creation of a high performance
materials R&D and marketing platform in Shanghai, China; setting up of
a joint venture for the development, production and marketing of high
purity hydrogen peroxide in Suzhou, China; and commissioning of a new
production facility for fluorinated chemical specialties in Onsan, South
Korea. The new facility will be
located in the Jiangsu High-Tech Fluorochemical Industrial Park in
Changshu some 100 kilometers west of Shanghai. “... geographical expansion
into high growth markets such as China and India is an essential part of
our strategy to grow the Specialty Polymers business.” said Vincenzo
Morici, General Manager, Strategic Business Unit Specialty Polymers. Tue Jul 04 11:36:02 2006
Stronger
presence in market UK. Vortex, US manufacturer
of bulk dry material handling valves, has recruited Jon Naylor to head its
emerging UK business. As European MD, Naylor will develop the UK operation
as a launch pad for Europe and the Middle East. Previously, he was UK general manager of
a US-based hydraulic tool manufacturer, overseeing a dramatic rise in
profitability and turnover. "The company doesn't expect to storm the
marketplace. It has a long term plan that will be implemented patiently”,
he said. His view is that whilst dry
bulk solids handling valves are often well constructed they are
significantly over-engineered. Vortex valves, supplied to the dry bulk
solids handling industry for around 30 years, are claimed to be more cost
effective in comparison. He expressed confidence that the relatively small
number of OEMs and processors who have heard of Vortex, or already have
them in service, will grow strongly.
Centred in Salina, Kansas, Vortex valves are known to handle over 500
different materials. Currently the company is moving to a purpose built
state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and office complex and introducing
leading-edge production technology. Fri Jun 30 12:15:27 2006
Simulation package for mineral processors DEM Solutions Ltd, leading developer of DEM (Discrete
Element Method) software solutions, has announced that two world leading
mineral processing research groups – Mineral Processing Research Unit
(MPRU) at University of Cape Town and Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research
Centre (JKMRC) at University of Queensland – are to benefit from the
latest version of EDEM 1.1, its discrete element software. The DEM product is used to simulate
particulate handling, processing and manufacturing operations in a diverse
range of industries including pharmaceutical, chemical, mineral and
materials processing as well as mining, oil and gas production,
geo-mechanics and agriculture.
Malcolm Powell of the MPRU, University of Cape Town, emphasised the fact
that crushing and grinding mineral rock is energy intensive and, with
rising energy costs, the mineral processing industry has to constantly
improve production efficiency. EDEM with its advanced simulation
capability has the ability to analyse and subsequently improve grinding
techniques utilised in ball mills and other comminution devices. MPRU and JKMRC are major centres of
research in the mining and mineral processing sector and it is expected
that the incorporation of EDEM into their ongoing R&D activities will
help accelerate wider adoption of EDEM across the sector. Fri Jun 30 12:19:04 2006
Event to highlight export opportunities UK. An international trade seminar for the solids
handling sector in the UK is to be held on the 19 September 2006 at the
Cedar Court Hotel, Wakefield, UK. Of interest to companies in the solids
handling sector that wish to expand their international trade activities,
the event is organised by the International Solids Handling Advisory Board
(ISHAB) in conjunction with UK Trade and Industry (UKTI). The event follows a roadmap survey of
the industry completed in 2005 by ISHAB with UKTI support to help develop
export activities. Specialist speakers from both UKTI and industry sources
will focus on a number of key territories relevant to both new and
experienced exporters. ISHAB Chairman
Allan Wilkie describes the seminar as a cost effective route for those
wishing to secure relevant information on developing export markets. UKTI
support for the event is also significant as it highlights the importance
of the solids handling industry to the UK economy. Further activities are
also planned in the future. • Details from Dr Harold Wright, MHEA Tel/Fax: 01642
570045 Email: hw@mhea.co.uk Thu Jun 29 11:16:10
2006
Unity over environmental challenge UK. The Chemical Industries Association’s (CIA)
recent environmental conference 2006 ‘Managing the Environmental
Challenge’ represented a coming together of top Government officials,
regulators and industry experts to provide a full understanding of the
drive towards better regulation and sustainable development. Currently, there are many challenges
associated with new and revised European legislation that cover water,
waste, Integrated Pollution Protection and Control (IPPC) and Environment
liability. The conference therefore provided a platform for CIA member
companies to exchange views with the Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on the proposal for a revision of the Waste
framework Directive. There was
agreement on the urgent need for proportionate regulation, with the CIA
welcoming a revision of the waste framework directive. This involves
amendments to the proposal to clarify the definition of waste at European
level. A key point made by Steve
Elliott, CIA Chief Executive, stressed the need for pragmatic
interpretation of European Legislation on waste and demanded that
Environmental law be risk-based and ‘outcome focused’. There were
presentations by specialists from: AstraZeneca; BASF plc; CIA ; DEFRA;
Environment Agency; Innospec; and WSP Environmental. Wed Jun 14 20:26:04 2006
Large order in Vietnam Vietnam. FLSmidth has signed a €57 m contract
with Vietnam National Cement Trading Co for a 3,300 t per day cement
clinker production line at Hoang Thach cement plant. It includes the supply of all machinery
and auxiliary equipment, with several FLSmidth companies and divisions
participating as subcontractors. The project includes crushers, raw mill,
raw meal silo; complete pyro system with preheater, three support kiln and
Cross-Bar cooler, electrostatic precipitators and a complete quality and
process control system. Building design, supervision and commissioning are
also included in the contract. The
production line is expected to be operational by December 2008 and will be
the third line to be supplied by FLSmidth for this plant. Originally
supplied by the company in the late 1970s, the cement plant was expanded
in 1993 by adding another production line. A marked increase in cement consumption
is expected in Vietnam which is currently experiencing a boom in
construction, due to rapidly growing urbanisation and development of the
infrastructure. Thu Jun 08
13:59:40 2006
Contract services extended France. Malvern Instruments has extended its
contract testing services for particle characterisation in France
following an agreement with Laboratoire de Génie Chimique (LGC) in
Toulouse. The arrangement covers services related to both wet and dry
particle size analysis with testing carried out by LGC scientists and
technicians. Enquiries about contract services and projects will continue
to be handled in the first instance by Malvern application specialists. LGC is an academic research department
linked to the French national research organisation CNRS and two local
Universities (Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse and Université
Paul Sabatier). More than 230 researchers and students conduct projects
covering most aspects of chemical engineering, including particle and
interfacial engineering. Jane Bishop,
Malvern's commercial director, said that in addition to bringing extensive
experience and expertise in particle characterisation, LGC's university
connections would help to ensure that comprehensive testing services
appropriate to the needs of both commercial and academic organisations
were offered. The agreement will also help LGC to develop its research in
process engineering. http://lgc.inp-toulouse.fr http://www.malvern.co.uk/LabEng/support/paid_analysis.htm Mon Jun 05 09:51:10 2006
Achema points east Germany. ACHEMA 2006, the international event for
chemical engineering, environmental protection and biotechnology, recently
held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, attracted more international
exhibitors and visitors this year. There were 3,880 exhibitors from 50
countries compared to 3,819 exhibitors from 48 countries at the last show
in 2003. Around 180,000 professionals from 98 countries attended. However, there was a slight decline in
visitor numbers (-4.4 per cent), not surprising for a show of this size
against a background of changing global factors especially in relation to
China and the Far East. A visitor survey by the organisers revealed that
for the first time more than 30 per cent of visitors came from outside
Germany, an 8 per cent increase on the 2003 figure, with large delegations
from Japan, India, China and the Middle East. According to Gerhard Kreysa, Dechema CEO
and organiser of the show, ACHEMA has moved to a new level and solidified
its reputation as the leading worldwide show for the process industries.
The Asian region showed the strongest growth in exhibitor numbers (China
+185 per cent, South Korea +143 per cent and India +61 per cent).
Representatives from China, India, Pakistan and Brazil have already
indicated that they will have a stronger presence at the next event and
there is a high level of interest in AchemAsia to be held from 14 – 18
May, 2007 in Beijing. Established in
China in 1989, AchemAsia is now considered to be the leading event in the
Far East for suppliers to the process industry. Given that the Asian
market and China in particular are very lucrative growth markets, Dechema
say that exhibitors welcome the opportunity to have a presence in regions
where the process industry is growing. An indication that in an age of
globalisation, suppliers know more than ever that they have to go where
the markets are. Wed May
31 20:29:23 2006
ATEX seminar UK. ATEX
remains a very topical legislative subject especially for industries where
there is an explosion risk. Introduced for manufacturers of equipment in
July 2003, it will become effective for users and plant operators from
July 2006. Those with any lingering
doubts about the subject might be interested in the imminent IMechE
(Institution of Mechanical Engineers) seminar entitled Existing plant - meeting the ATEX deadline which
takes place at the Institution’s headquarters in London on the 30 May
2006. The main aim will be to inform
end users of the requirements of new ATEX 137 legislation and clarify the
interpretation relating to the use of existing equipment in potentially
explosive atmospheres. Presentations will focus on outlining the
Directive, looking at material characteristics, zoning, prevention and
protection measures, mitigating the effects of dust explosions, and a
number of case studies will be outlined. The event will benefit end users in the
food, pharmaceutical, chemical, power, and oil and gas industries that
need to gain an understanding of ATEX 137 and the implications for their
particular organisation. Also covered will be the cost benefits of correct
zoning and the route to compliance. • For further information/registration visit:
www.imeche.org.uk/events/ATEX or contact: Taz Khatun Tel: 020 7973 1306
Fax: 020 7222 9881 Email: t_khatun@imeche.org.uk Fri May 19 10:50:14 2006
Extended
range of sieve standards Building on the
continuing success of its glass microsphere sieve calibration standards,
Whitehouse Scientific has extended the range and resolution of the series.
This new development is important not only in precision particle size
analysis, but also for accurate separation processes. The aperture size of every sieve
manufactured from 20 to 3350 microns can now be certified to NIST
traceability, extending the range's capabilities from the 30 'primary'
sieves that originally could be calibrated to include a further 30
intermediate sizes. It is therefore possible, for example, to accurately
distinguish between a 100 and a 106 micron sieve. The sieve calibration standards are
available in single shot bottles, minimising the possibility of operator
sampling errors, and can be used for sieve diameters from 40 - 450 mm. http://www.whitehousescientific.com • Whitehouse Scientific has
been producing precision glass microspheres for calibration for 20 years
and is regarded as the highest ranking European certification laboratory
for primary methods of particle size analysis. Over one million bottles
have been filled using a novel 100-stage spinning riffler system, making
the company the world's leading manufacturer of single-shot glass
microsphere standards. Sun May 14 12:45:46
2006
State-of-the-art training facilities UK. A £220,000 grant from regional development
agency One North East has allowed pressure-management specialist Elfab to
open state-of-the-art training and conference facilities. The grant has
contributed to significant investment in new capital equipment to support
manufacturing and updating of the company’s North Shields premises. The facilities will help promote
training within Elfab’s workforce and provide bespoke product training for
customers as part of a technical consultancy service - an approach that
has proved successful with customers such as GSK, Ulverston and BP CATS
Teesside. Sales are said to have
increased significantly year-on-year, growth that is in part attributed to
the bespoke induction courses and rigorous training methods introduced by
the company. Elfab’s MD, Simon Keenan said: that completion of the
facilities uniquely positioned the company to offer customers an extensive
range of training programmes. Tue Apr 25 21:53:41 2006
Queen's Award for Malvern UK. Malvern Instruments is to receive the Queen's
Awards for Enterprise on the occasion of Her Majesty The Queen's 80th
birthday. Reflecting the company's increased export earnings, up by 76 per
cent over the past six years, the award is in the category of
International Trade. This is fourth
honour of its kind for the company, a leading supplier of analytical
solutions for particle characterisation and rheological applications, and
trading since 1971. Awards already received include The Queen's Award for
Technology in 1977, The Queen's Award for Export in 1981 and The Queens
Award for Export and Technology in 1988. Praising the efforts of Malvern's teams
throughout the world, MD Paul Walker explained that the company was in a
highly competitive global marketplace and served a wide range of
industries. “Maintaining a leading position requires us to stay ahead, not
only in terms of technology, but also in the way we interact with and
support our customers in their activities." The company’s products are based on
advanced technologies combined with robust mechanical designs and
comprehensive software, providing systems for material characterisation
(particle size distribution, particle shape, zeta potential, molecular
weight) and bulk material properties. From its UK headquarters, Malvern
has established a network of subsidiary organisations, local offices and
distributors worldwide to provide world class applications and technical
support to all its customers. • Picture shows Paul
Walker, MD, Malvern Instruments pictured with the industry leading
Mastersizer 2000 particle size analyzer http://www.malvern.co.uk Fri Apr 21 11:08:57 2006
Cautious welcome to draft plant UK. The Chemical Industries Association has given
a cautious welcome to the Government’s allocation plan for Phase 2 of the
EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) but has highlighted concerns over cost
impacts. The plan’s proposals, to
allocate emissions allowances according to projected need, have been
received favourably by the CIA. However, additional carbon emissions
reductions from the electricity supply industry (ESI) are required and it
is proposed to auction some of their allowances rather than freely
allocate them. So the view is that, while manufacturing escapes direct EU
ETS cost increases, it is likely that higher indirect costs will result in
the electricity market. It is
expected that tougher targets on the ESI will encourage more switching
from coal to gas as the primary energy source, aggravating acute problems
already prevalent in the UK gas market. Recent supply problems which
triggered record high spot market prices meant that many energy intensive
manufacturers were forced to curtail production. Added to this are higher
forward wholesale prices for the next three winters which are well above
those available to competitors in continental Europe and elsewhere. The chemical sector has already pledged
significant gains in energy efficiency under its sector Climate Change
Agreement (CCA). The CIA has favoured the importance of better regulation
in the EU ETS Phase 2 NAP consultation, looking to the Government to
address overlap and conflict with schemes such as the CCAs and related
Climate Change Levy, the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
regulations (IPPC), and the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD) which
also impose controls on site emissions. Where the CIA differs is in the
Government’s long-term objective to move away from free allocation of EU
ETS allowances under a harmonised EU framework. The view is that the EU
chemicals sector would be disadvantaged if required to bear the full cost
of carbon unless this was imposed on a global basis. Auctioning allowances
would add further uncertainty to direct cost increases. Tue Apr 18 17:12:29 2006
Innovations in pharmaceutical processing
seminar Switzerland. Malvern Instruments is
co-sponsoring a one-day seminar to be held at K-Tron (Switzerland) Ltd,
Niederlenz, Switzerland, on 25 April 2006. The course will highlight
process technology developments in the pharmaceutical industry, and how
they can improve the performance of key unit operations. Six leading pharmaceutical industry
suppliers are also sponsoring the event, including K-Tron process group,
Hosokawa Alpine, Howorth Pharma, Fitzpatrick and Leistritz. Attendance is
free of charge and includes free refreshments and lunch, and a detailed
course manual in English or German. There will also be tabletop exhibits
from sponsoring companies. • You will have to be quick as places are limited and
registration closes on 11 April 2006. Visit www.ktron.com/seminar or call
Sabrina Buffone on +41 62 885 7171. Wed Apr 05
11:25:56 2006
Slag cement grinding plant for Brazil Brazil. FLSmidth has signed a contract for the
first major cement project in Brazil after several years of low market
activity. The order covers design and supply of equipment for a slag
cement grinding plant. This is the
first time that the company has supplied equipment and technology to
CSN-Cimentos SA, newcomer to the Brazilian cement industry and a
subsidiary of the steel works Companhia Siderurgica National, which may
provide the slag for producing the cement. The 2.2 mt per year facility will be
built in the Rio de Janeiro state and is expected to come on stream in the
second half of 2007. Included in the contract are two OK 39-4 vertical
mills, the largest of their kind ever designed by the company, each with a
capacity of 171 tph. FLSmidth subsidiaries and divisions are also
contributing know-how and equipment to the project. FLSmidth has a traditionally strong
position in the Brazilian market which is showing signs of positive
development after a period of little investment in new production
capacity. The order is also said to mark the market acceptance of the
cost-efficient OK vertical mill grinding technology. Contract value has
not yet been disclosed. Thu Mar 30 11:08:24 2006
Trade with Iraq under spotlight Iraq. The Public Prosecutor for Serious Economic
Crime has decided to raise charges against FLSmidth A/S as well as against
other Danish companies. According to the UN report, the case concerns five
deliveries of spare parts to the Iraqi cement industry worth around DKK
14.5m, and an alleged payment of commission amounting to DKK 580,000, or
nearly 4 per cent of the total contract value. FLSmidth is among many international
companies that traded with the Iraqi regime under the UN Oil-for-Food
programme before the 2003 invasion. The UN inquiry confirmed the suspicion
that most of the international companies that had traded with the Iraqi
regime under this programme had paid commission to the Iraqi regime in
violation of the prevailing trade restrictions. The UN has since referred
the matter to the respective national authorities for further
investigation. This led to the
charges against FLSmidth A/S. An internal investigation by the company
showed no signs of illicit commission to carry out business and a recent
review is said to have confirmed that there was no violation of the
prevailing trade restrictions. The company has therefore maintained its
refusal of both the grounds for raising the charges and any justification
of conviction for having violated the trade restrictions in force at the
time in question. Thu Mar
30 11:13:06 2006
Expanded series of web seminars Global. Malvern Instruments is presenting an
expanded series of global web seminars for customers and non-customers to
learn about different aspects of particle characterisation and rheology.
Now in its sixth year, the free programme has presentations in a number of
different languages and participants only require internet access and a
telephone to deliver the audio.
Recognising the power and potential of web-based communications, Malvern,
leading supplier of analytical solutions for particle characterisation and
rheological applications, is now able to deliver a whole range of customer
support and educational materials. VP
Marketing, Randy Byrne, said that the first seminar in 2000 attracted an
audience of just 20 and the company now regularly expect in the region of
50 -100 participants to log on from across the globe. http://www.malvernevents.com Fri Mar 24 10:37:59 2006
Distribution agreement for conveying
components UK. 4B Braime has signed an
agreement giving it exclusive distribution rights for MINET conveyor belt
fasteners in the UK and Ireland. MINET- MLT products bring 50 years
experience in the field of lacing systems, vulcanising presses and special
endless belts. The company's strategy
is that, with the UK market for belt fasteners mainly dominated by Flexco,
customers will now be presented with a real choice. MINET Lacing
Technology claim to be the world’s second largest supplier of belt
fasteners, offering an extensive range of fasteners for heavy duty as well
as medium and light duty applications in areas such as mining, agriculture
and food processing. Mon
Mar 20 10:28:39 2006
REACHReady launched UK. Chemical industry companies needing to meet
the requirements of REACH can now take advantage of a new service offered
by the CIA (Chemical Industries Association). REACH (Registration,
Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) is regarded as the number one
legislative issue for the European chemical industry and expected to come
into force next year. REACHReady is a
new CIA enterprise that provides a number of tools to help customers
identify whether their products fall within the scope of the legislation,
how much it might cost to ensure compliance and also which service
providers are most appropriate to complete whatever actions are required
by the new legislation. In addition, there will a helpdesk and regular
updates on the progress of the legislation. CIA Chief Executive Steve Elliott said
that the new service would enable companies not only to respond positively
to the legislation but also gain a competitive edge over those who are
slower off the mark. • Customers can sign up at www.reachready.co.uk Fri Mar 17 13:34:08 2006
Powder evolution event UK. Following the news that PowdermatriX has
received three years further support as part of the Materials Knowledge
Transfer Network (KTN), over a hundred delegates recently attended the
PowdermatriX Evolution conference.
Since its launch in 2003, PowdermatriX has built up a network of over 200
organisations, for particulate engineering, focusing particularly on the
advanced ceramic, powder metal, hard metal and magnetics industries. This
has involved a £5m research and development portfolio involving four
flagship EPSRC research projects, CASE studentships, SPARK award projects
and DTI technology fund projects which were all showcased at the recent
event. The recent announcement of further funding from the DTI takes this
figure to almost £7.5m. At the event,
parallel conference sessions covered powder blending, transport and
compaction, magnetics, advanced ceramics, modelling, nanomaterials and
powder metals. There were also table top displays by research
associates. Andrew Heaton,
Loughborough University, won best display award for demonstrating his work
on pressureless microwave sintering of boron carbide and the best
associate presentation went to Matthew Kite, Aberdeen University for
modelling clay pipe extrusion. Avid
listeners of BBC Radio 4’s Material World programme will be familiar with
presenter Quentin Cooper who was guest speaker at a dinner for research
associates. Speaking about the relationship between science and the media,
he provided food for thought, particularly about the aspects that make
science newsworthy and suitable for broadcast. PowdermatriX director John Liddle
explained that this was the fourth PowdermatriX conference where delegates
could enjoy a unique opportunity to network with potential customers,
suppliers, researchers and competitors. Poster sessions and exhibits
demonstrated the impact that PowdermatriX supported projects were having
on industry, he said. “The really good news is that the positive
initiatives made by PowdermatriX are set to continue as it joins the
Materials Knowledge Transfer Network", he added. •
KTNs form a key part of the DTI's Technology
Programme and build on the successful Faraday model, which has been
central in encouraging industry and academia to work together to bring new
products and processes to the market by extending the application of
technology in a wider range of businesses. •
Picture shows Bob Blake, PowdermatriX Technology
Translator (left) with 2 delegates at the meeting. http://www.powdermatrix.org
Cement plant for Egypt Egypt. FLSmidth has signed a contract worth
around € 60m with Arabian Cement Company (ACC) for the supply of
engineering and equipment for a 6,000 t per day cement clinker production
line. The plant, to be built near the city of Suez, is expected to be
operational in the spring of 2008.
All machines and auxiliary equipment will be supplied, including the civil
design, and many FLSmidth divisions and subsidiary companies will
participate as subcontractors. The project includes an ATOX raw mill with
MAAG gear unit, complete kiln with five-stage pre-heater, Cross-Bar
cooler, crusher, raw material stores, silos, electrostatic precipitators,
and complete process control system.
Arabian Cement Company, is a Spanish-Egyptian joint venture company set up
to produce cement clinker for export, primarily to Cementos La Union, the
Spanish partner's clinker grinding plants in Spain. Sun Mar 12 15:23:57 2006
Young engineer award UK.
The IMechE Bulk Materials Handling Committee is seeking applications
for its inaugural Award for Young Engineers. Created to raise the profile
of Bulk Materials Handling Technology and to reward instances of research,
development or design which enhance the technology, the award of £250 will
be presented to the author of the best paper presented in 2005. If anyone wishes to apply for the award,
or if there is someone you wish to nominate, please submit your
application with a letter of support from your manager/supervisor by 30
June 2006. Entries will be put to a panel of judges with the result
announced by 27 October 2006. • For
more information log onto: http://www.imeche.org.uk/process/committees/bulk_handling_award.asp • For prize posters please visit: http://www.imeche.org.uk/process/pdf/bulk_poster.pdf • Further information
contact: Taz Khatunon, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1 Birdcage
Walk, London, SW1H 9JJ Tel: 0207 973 1306 Email: t_khatun@imeche.org.uk
ATEX - the deadline approaches UK. Existing Plant -
Meeting the ATEX deadline is a seminar organised by the IMechE which
takes place at its London headquarters on 30 May 2006. Targeted at both
users of equipment and plant operators, the seminar will be centred around
the forthcoming ATEX 137 legislation which comes into force in July
2006. Following the implementation of
ATEX 100a in July 2003 - a piece of legislation applicable to
manufacturers of equipment designed to operate in potentially explosive
environments - ATEX 137 is aimed at users of equipment, plant operators
and indeed any plant operator handling or processing potentially explosive
dusts or vapours. The requirements
are for a zoning or classifying assessment to be made of all areas of the
process plant to determine the relevant area classification. It means that
all existing equipment operating in such areas will have to be assessed to
confirm suitability for use in defined potentially explosive zones and all
new equipment purchased will need to comply. The IMechE seminar will therefore
outline the directive, provide information on material characteristics,
area classification, prevention of the hazardous area, protection of
equipment and the legal requirement and enforcement of the legislation.
The aim is for delegates to gain
knowledge and understanding of the Directive’s implications, obtain
clarification of the interpretation of the legislation, recognise the cost
benefits of correct zoning and the avoidance of 'over zoning', and gain an
understanding of the routes to compliance. The event will be relevant to engineers
in all process sectors, including food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, power
and oil and gas as well as engineers involved in operating and maintaining
process plants. http://www.imeche.org.uk/events/ Thu Mar 02 11:30:32 2006
Australian bulk exhibition Australia. BULKEX 2006, the bulk materials
handling exhibition, takes place on the 25 - 27 September 2006 in
Melbourne, Australia. Considered to be the largest exhibition of its kind
in the Asia Pacific Region, its predecessor, BULKEX 2004, provided over
100 exhibitors with the opportunity to showcase products and services to
more than 3000 visitors. BULKEX 2006 promises to be even bigger and
better. A two-day conference runnning
in parallel with the event will address key issues and examine leading
technologies within the bulk handling industry through case studies,
complemented by presentations from leading technical experts. The event is expected to be of interest
to those operating in: mining and quarrying; metals; foundries, smelting
and refining; agriculture - grains, sugars, dairy; food and stockfeed
production; chemicals, resins and fertilisers; forestry, woodchips, pulp
and paper; ports, terminals, storage and loading facilities; building
products, cements and bricks; and pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and household
products. • For more information please visit http://www.bulkex.com or Email Katy Henson:
katy.henson@informa.com.au Wed Mar 01 11:26:24 2006
Contract for world's largest cement plant USA. Holcim has awarded a $247m contract to
FLSmidth for a new plant at Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. Located on the
Mississippi River, this greenfield plant will feature the largest single
clinker production line anywhere in the world with a capacity of 12,000 t
of clinker per day or more than 4 mt of clinker per year. Holcim (US) Inc, subsidiary of Holcim
Ltd. of Switzerland - one of the leading global cement producers -
underwent a six-year process of reviews and permits involving eight
federal and state regulatory agencies. Using the most advanced equipment
and technology available, emission limits will be among the lowest of any
cement plant in the US and the world.
FLSmidth will supply all major machines and auxiliary equipment as well as
civil design, project management, and commissioning. The centrepiece of
the plant is a single pyro process system with a 6.6 m diameter and 93 m
long kiln and the latest generation Cross-Bar cooler rated at 12,000 t per
day. A 5-stage preheater with low NOx and CO calciner will meet strict
environmental and efficiency considerations and there will be four
vertical roller mills for cement grinding. FLSmidth companies and divisions
involved in the project include Pfister, MVT, FLSmidth Airtech, FLSmidth
Automation and FFE Minerals. The contract covers the process, technology
and equipment, but no civil works.
Worldwide execution of the contract will draw on 600 engineering and
business professionals available at the US project centre, located in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, supplemented by project centres located in both
Denmark and India. Christian Jepsen, CEO of FLSmidth Inc said that the
contract confirmed the company’s expectations of continuing growth in the
North American market. Wed
Feb 22 10:52:23 2006
New concrete roof tile plants USA. Boral Ltd and Lafarge has announced that
MonierLifetile, its joint venture concrete roof tile business, is
investing $69 m to build new roof tile plants in Las Vegas, Nevada and in
Lake Wales, Florida. The new Las
Vegas facility will complement MonierLifetile’s existing production
facility there at Henderson, NV, producing a variety of roof tile
profiles, in addition to trim tile, with the capacity to produce 75 per
cent more roof tiles annually on a high-speed line. The plant will free up
capacity in the company’s Rialto plants in Southern California and
Phoenix, Arizona. The new Florida
plant will be built on MonierLifetile’s existing Lake Wales site, with the
capacity to produce 40 per cent more roof tiles annually on a high-speed
line. Additional capacity in Florida and Nevada follows unprecedented
demand, with both markets characterised by high growth and an increasing
preference for concrete roof tiles.
MonierLifetile has 13 active manufacturing plants in the US. Boral and
Lafarge also jointly operate Lafarge Boral Gypsum Asia plasterboard
business. Wed Feb 22
13:57:30 2006
Degussa acquires superabsorbent business Global. Degussa is acquiring the superabsorbent
business of The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, USA. This involves the
acquisition of Dow’s superabsorbent facility in Rheinmuenster/Baden-Baden,
Germany and a toll manufacturing arrangement with Dow’s superabsorbent
facility in Midland. The two
companies have also entered into a long term agreement for Dow to supply
glacial acrylic acid - a critical raw material - to Degussa with
opportunities for future growth. The transaction is subject to regulatory
approvals. Superabsorbents have experienced significant growth, with
development in Eastern Europe and Latin America said to be particularly
promising. Under the agreement,
Degussa will gain Dow’s existing worldwide superabsorbent business. This
combined with debottlenecking at Degussa facilities in Garyville and
Greensboro, USA as well as investments at the new Rheinmuenster facility,
will result in a considerable expansion of global manufacturing
capacity. The conclusion of the
long-term glacial acrylic acid agreement also secures upstream integration
for new capacities in Europe and NAFTA for Degussa, increasingly important
in the light of fluctuations in the availability of raw material. • Superabsorbents come in the
form of large particles, about the size of table salt, enclosed in the
interior of the product, with the ability to absorb 100 times its weight
in water and widely used in products such as nappies
Plant recovers from Hurricane Katrina USA. Manufacturing operations have resumed at
DuPont’s titanium dioxide manufacturing plant near DeLisle, Mississippi
less than five months after suffering a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina.
Virtually every electrical and electronic system at the plant had to be
replaced or rebuilt. Major structural
damage to the site is said to have been prevented by DuPont’s stringent
engineering standards applied to the original construction. Immense
quantities of debris had to be removed and infrastructure such as railroad
tracks had to be rebuilt. DuPont
Titanium Technologies, one of the world's largest manufacturers of TiO2,
serves customers globally in the coatings, paper and plastics industries.
The company recently announced plans to build a world-scale manufacturing
plant at Dongying, China, expected to commence operations in 2010. Plants are currently operated at
DeLisle, Miss; New Johnsonville, Tenn; Edge Moor, Del; Altamira, Mexico;
and Kuan Yin, Taiwan, as well as a finishing plant at Uberaba, Brazil. A
titanium ore surface mine is also operated near Starke, Fla. • Organisations that wish to
donate goods, services or supplies to the Mississippi Hurricane Recovery
Fund can log on to http://www.mississippi.gov
Award for pharma facilities Global. Six pharmaceutical manufacturing
facilities located in Belgium, Ireland, Japan, UK and US have been
selected for recognition in the second annual Facility of the Year Award
competition sponsored by ISPE, Interphex and Pharmaceutical Processing
magazine. Five of the companies –
AstraZeneca, Baxter BioPharma Solutions, Daiichi Asubio Pharma Co Ltd,
Janssen Pharmaceutica, and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals – have been named
finalists. The sixth company – Biolex Therapeutics – was selected for
special merit. The winner will be announced at the Interphex event in New
York in March 2006. The award, which
highlights innovation and advancement of pharmaceutical manufacturing
technology, will this year promote technological innovation across the
industry. Each of the submissions was reviewed by an international judging
panel representing the pharmaceutical design, construction and
manufacturing sectors. Among the
finalists, AstraZeneca’s facility in Macclesfield, UK was chosen for its
Large Scale Laboratory (LSL) Project, a highly successful venture between
AstraZeneca and its Alliance Partners to deliver a state-of-the-art
facility enabling Campaign 2 (C2) manufacture of drug substances. A key
aspect of the installation is that process streams are rapidly
configurable with novel, yet simple, containment options to suit the
compound processed, without compromising operability. Jacobs Eng Group Inc
provided project engineering and services for the project. Another finalist, Janssen Pharmaceutica,
was nominated for its facility in Geel, Belgium. The site has played a
crucial role within Johnson & Johnson in producing pharmaceutically
active ingredients for medicines. About two-thirds of worldwide chemical
production in the pharmaceutical sector of Johnson & Johnson is
supplied by Geel. The facility handles highly potent powders and is one of
four separate state-of-the-art production installations forming a high
containment production chain. Consistent with containment technology,
these installations are fully enclosed and substantially enhance quality
and safety. The facility combines state-of-the-art milling and
high-technology separation with the aid of glove boxes or isolators. www.interphex.com Thu Feb 02 21:12:18 2006
New German
agent Germany. Spiroflow Ltd has retained the
services of VauMAX Kunish & Häring GbR as German agent for their
ranges of dry bulk solids conveying and big bag handling equipment. Export manager Steve Miles said that,
whilst Germany was a tough market, he believed that the equipment offered
operational benefits and, with the expertise and enthusiasm of proprietors
Volker Kunish and Michael Häring, the company were optimistic about the
future. • Full details of
Spiroflow's conveying and big bag handling solutions can be obtained at:
http://www.spiroflow.com • VauMAX Kunish & Häring
GbR's web site is at: http://www.vaumax-gbr.de Mon Jan 30 22:40:11 2006
Sector still facing threats UK. Commenting on the British Chambers of
Commerce’s Q4 Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), the organisation’s Director
General, David Frost, said that any UK recovery in 2006 would be likely to
be weak and below trend. “Without supporting action by the Bank of England
and the Chancellor, there is danger of renewed relapse”, he said. The survey showed that, whilst
manufacturing recorded improvements in its Q4 net balances for home sales
and orders, employment, cashflow, and both confidence balances, declines
were recorded in balances for export sales and orders, employment
expectations, and investment in plant and machinery. The indications are that manufacturing
has persistently failed to sustain recovery and, in spite of the modest Q4
improvement, the sector faces acute threats. Mr Frost said that export and
investment balances remain disappointingly weak across both sectors and
falling balances for employment expectations signal risks for future jobs
creation. With UK growth remaining weak and inflationary pressures easing,
he urged an early interest rate cut. Tue Jan 24 22:09:17 2006
Reducing regulation UK. Comments on the recent publication of the
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill by David Frost, Director General of
the British Chambers of Commerce, indicate that it could be a major step
forward in reducing the burden of regulation on British business. Complicated and costly regulations are
considered to be one of the main barriers to business growth, especially
for smaller companies. “Businesses will welcome the new risk based
approach to regulatory inspections, the reduction in the number
inspections and in the number of regulatory agencies. However, it is
essential that the new structure does not create bureaucratic super
agencies but actually leads to less burdens being placed on employers”, he
said. • Figures show that
the cost of regulation compliance is still rapidly rising with an extra
£38.9 bn of regulatory costs added on business since 1998 Tue Jan 24 22:12:01 2006
First MHEA
fellow UK. Alan Jackson, Past President of the
MHEA, has honoured Rob Drohan, Chief Executive of ACE Conveyor Equipment,
as the first Fellow of the Materials Handling Engineers Association (Hon
FMHEA). www.mhea.co.uk •
Alan Jackson (left) with Rob Drohan Mon Jan 09 20:01:45 2006
Imminent REACH event UK. Following the European Parliament's decision
to press ahead with the implementation of REACH (Registration, Evaluation
and Authorisation of Chemicals), described by some as the most important
EU legislation on any issue for 20 years, the Chemical Industries
Association (CIA) is organising a one-day conference in London on 31
January 2006 to ensure that all industry stakeholders have an opportunity
to influence the future direction of this vital legislation. The event will provide the opportunity
to find out what companies responsibilities will be under REACH, and how
to prepare for the task ahead. Speakers from participating European
institutions, the UK Presidency of the EU, as well as the chemicals
industry will explain what organisations need to do, how industry should
respond and look at how REACH can enhance competitiveness. There will also be the opportunity to
register your own input. The conference will appeal to all levels of
industry, from chief executives through to regulatory specialists. • Contact Joanna Cox at
Caspian Publishing Tel: +44 (0) 20 7368 7123 Email:
ciaevents@caspianpublishing.co.uk Fri Jan 06
10:42:32 2006
2005 - year of survival UK. New research by Bibby Financial Services has
revealed that, for UK small business owners and managers, last year was
all about survival. It appears that one in 10 companies’ biggest
achievement in 2005 was simply to remain trading. Looking forward to next year, a quarter
of businesses said they would be happy to simply retain their status quo
and maintain sales levels in 2006. Increasing sales turnover was cited as
the biggest challenge for the year ahead. Pressure of Government red tape appears
to remain a major burden for entrepreneurs, with a third of UK business
owners and managers reporting it as their main barrier to growth during
2006. Bibby say that the Government should take some comfort in the fact
that this is a vast improvement on results from last year’s report which
found that nearly three quarters of entrepreneurs felt this to be the
biggest hurdle for UK small businesses. Following a year which saw many of
Britain’s larger companies snapped up in foreign takeovers, concerns were
centred around increased competition from overseas businesses and this was
recognised as a big challenge in 2006. High energy prices for manufacturing
industry and falling orders had contributed to a tough year, said David
Robertson, chief executive of Bibby Financial Services, with many small
firms bracing themselves for a demanding 2006. “...it isn’t all doom and
gloom as there are signs that many small businesses have laid down strong
foundations for the year ahead. Major contract wins were the biggest
achievement for 20 per cent of businesses last year, and one in five
owners and managers were making sound investments in their business”,
added Mr Robertson. Thu
Jan 05 17:37:36 2006
REACH agreement on track UK. The UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA)
has welcomed the UK Presidency's agreement on REACH (Registration,
Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals). Chaired by Lord Sainsbury, the
Competitiveness Council’s decision is the next major milestone in the
political process that will lead to new regulations during 2007. REACH, regarded as the major legislative
issue for the sustainable future of the European chemical industry, has as
its overall objectives the protection of human health and the environment,
development of a single new system of registration and evaluation of
substances, and the principle of risk based decision-making. Judith Hackitt, CIA Director General,
looked forward to the finalisation of details, particularly on
authorisation, as the detailed policy definition process continues in
2006. Achieving a workable REACH which industry can live with has been a
complex task, but the latest development now provides industry with a good
idea of what the legislation will finally look like. “We can now accelerate the process of
preparing industry to make sure it really works in practice. CIA is very
keen to use the wealth of knowledge it has built up over the last five
years to help all industries who will be affected by REACH to prepare for
implementation”, commented Hackitt. • The CIA has a membership of 150 companies, many of
which are international organisations, operating from over 200 sites in
the UK. Fri Dec 30 17:58:13 2005
Investment for market growth Global. Lafarge Group’s Cement business is to
significantly expand production capacity. During 2005, nearly 5 mt of
additional production capacity was constructed in China, Bangladesh,
Mexico, Morocco and Vietnam which will be fully operational in 2006. The
plan is now to invest €400m in the Group’s cement plants and grinding
stations, resulting in a 5mt rise in production capacity by 2008. Russia In addition to an ongoing modernisation programme,
€125m will be invested in extra production capacity at the Voskressensk
plant near Moscow, boosting it to 3 mt by 2009. This involves construction
of a dry production line to meet new market demand. The Moscow area has
already seen cement demand grow at an average rate of 10 per cent per
annum over the past five years. South Africa Production
capacity increase of 1mt at the Lichtenburg plant, with around €120m to be
invested to strengthen the company’s position in the northwest part of the
country by increasing capacity by 40 per cent to 3.5 mt, alongside current
efforts to modernise the plant. Zambia A new 750,000-t
plant to be built near Lusaka scheduled to be operational in 2008. This
will take Lafarge Zambia’s total production capacity to 1.2 mt, meeting
the needs of new copper mines and electrical power plants. The €85m
investment will also enable neighbouring countries to be supplied. United States Small investments to significantly increase capacity
at the Roberta plant in Alabama, increasing production capacity to 1.4 mt
by mid 2006. Other projects currently
under revue include the doubling of production capacity at the Tetouan
plant in Morocco, and a plant near Quito, Ecuador, as well as new lines in
the US. Lafarge is also investing in several grinding stations, including
slag grinding stations, to better serve local markets. This forms part of
a commitment to promote sustainable development where slag, a byproduct of
the steel industry, is used as a substitute material in cement. Spain €30m to acquire Cemento Esfera, a cement grinding
station in Tarragona with a 500,000-t capacity. South Korea Acquisition
of the 1mt Soosung grinding station for €20m, a new production site in
Gyeonbuk province, to serve Taegu, the country’s third largest city,
enabling the slag cement business to be developed. France €25m on a new slag grinding plant with an annual
capacity of 300,000 t, located at the Port of Bordeaux in Bassens. This is
scheduled to be operational in early 2007 and will strengthen facilities
in southwestern France. An application has also been filed to build a new
grinding station in Sete to optimise synergies with the Port La Nouvelle
cement plant. Chile €20m to be spent on a new grinding station in Puerto
Montt in the south of the country, with a 300,000-t production capacity
for cement with pozzolanic additives, entering service in 2007. Morocco A possible doubling of capacity at the Tangier
grinding station to 1 mt. Thu Dec 15 16:38:27 2005
Cement industry contract for SA South Africa. FLSmidth has won a contract for
cement plant machinery from Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC-Cement), part
owned by Barloworld in South Africa. Valued at approximately 200m DKK, the
contract is the second major order that the company has won in the country
this year. In addition to the supply
contract, the Group's other core business, FFE Minerals, has been awarded
the 90m DKK contract to install and supervise the project. The machinery
for the production line is an expansion of an existing production facility
supplied by FLSmidth in 1985. The new line’s capacity will be 3,300 t per
day, equating to 1 mt per year.
Equipment to be supplied includes a raw mill, kiln with preheater,
Cross-Bar cooler and coal mill together with bag filters and electrostatic
precipitators. Pfister weighfeeding equipment is also included in the
contract. The new plant is scheduled to come on stream in spring 2008. The orders highlight current growth in
the cement market and follow hot on the heels of a 180m DKK deal with
Natal Portland Cement Company last month (see
POWDEReporter Wed Nov 02 20:56:14 2005). Tue Dec 13 23:24:19 2005
Large order for UAE UAE. FLSmidth has signed a DKK 1.4bn contract
with Emirates Cement Company (EMCC) to supply a 3mt per annum capacity
cement plant in the Fujairah province of the United Arab Emirates. The
plant, expected to come on stream by the end of 2007, will be built in
cooperation with EMCC's owner, Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), an
Egyptian-based international building contractor that FLSmidth has already
worked with on similar projects in Algeria and Libya. All machines and auxiliary equipment for
the 7,500 t per day cement clinker plant will be supplied by FLSmidth,
with several of its companies and divisions participating in the project
as subcontractors. Scope of supply includes a complete support kiln with
preheater and Cross-Bar cooler, two cement mills, raw material stores,
silos, electrostatic precipitators and a complete process control system.
Pfister dosing equipment and two Ventomatic packing lines are also
included and the contract covers civil design and training of plant
staff. FLSmidth will also supply its
largest ever raw grinding unit, an FRM 64 vertical mill with a capacity of
6000 kw, some 20 per cent more than the largest vertical mills it has
supplied and able to grind 540 t of raw materials per hour. For the raw
mill, the company’s subsidiary MAAG Gear is providing a 6000 kw vertical
mill gear unit and for the cement mills two 6,300 kw lateral gear drives,
among the most advanced in the world. Fri Dec 09 10:05:08 2005
$1bn TiO2 investment for China PRC. Discussions between DuPont and the city of
Dongying (see POWDEReporter 1 March 2005) have progressed with the signing
of a project agreement between the two parties, a key step towards
construction of a worldclass titanium dioxide plant, representing a total
investment of $1 bn in the city’s economic development zone. The plant will be wholly owned by DuPont
and will be its largest single investment project outside the US. Planned
completion date is 2010, with an initial annual capacity of 200,000 tons
of TiO2 and employment for around 350 workers. Thomas G Powell, president of DuPont
Greater China said that this, together with other recently announced
investments in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Changshu, put the company well
ahead of their previously announced plan to double investment in China by
2010. Once it receives final approvals, the plant will bring to Dongying
the world’s most technologically advanced, environmentally sound
manufacturing process for TiO2.
DuPont Titanium Technologies is considered to be one of the world’s
largest manufacturers of titanium dioxide, serving customers globally in
the coatings, paper and plastics industries, with plants in the US,
Mexico, Brazil and Taiwan, all of which utilise the chloride manufacturing
process. Wed Nov 30
16:16:25 2005
CIA says change needed UK. In a speech at the Chemical Industries
Association’s recent AGM, director general Judith Hackitt stressed the
need to embrace sustainable development to ensure the industry’s survival.
She said that it offered “... a tremendous opportunity for the industry to
move out of its long-standing defensive mode and truly regain a place in
society that we can be proud of.“ The
huge challenges facing industry were highlighted when she said, “The
public is beginning to get it – hurricanes and wild weather have a way of
grabbing attention. How many times must we learn the hard way, the harsh
consequences of failing to meet our stakeholders’ needs and expectations
in a timely manner? We’ve done it on environmental health and safety, and
on products – are we destined to do it on sustainable development as
well?” She referred to the major, new
independent studies to identify how industry in the UK, and in Europe, can
collectively improve its representation and advocacy on the key,
cross-cutting issues such as public health or education. Due to be
completed in December, Hackitt described the UK study as a great chance to
“make a further step change improvement in our representation”. Wed Nov 30 16:16:14 2005
Simulate particle behaviour UK. DEM Solutions, global leader in particle
mechanics simulation, has launched EDEM, claimed to be the world’s first
complete particle mechanics simulation platform. Targeted at customers who
need to simulate and analyse particulate behaviour during processing,
manufacturing and handling operations, EDEM enables industries ranging
from pharmaceuticals to mineral handling to design, develop and test
products, processes and equipment more quickly and accurately than was
previously possible, dramatically reducing development costs and time to
market. John Favier, founder and CEO
of the company, says that EDEM obtains information about the fundamental
behaviour of particles that is either impossible or impractical to obtain
using physical measurement. He says that the software represents the
missing link in Computer Aided Engineering (CAE). “Techniques such as Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) have been well served by
a variety of high quality simulation tools for many years. Until the
launch of EDEM, no such tool existed for particle mechanics simulation”.
It also becomes more powerful when used in conjunction with other CAE
tools. “We have already successfully
coupled EDEM with a CFD tool to allow the simulation of particle-fluid
systems. This unique capability allows customers to tackle simulations
that would not previously have been possible, including dense phase
pneumatic transport of particles, fluidised beds, slurry handling and
separation processes.” The system has
already been deployed commercially in a wide range of industries including
mining and mineral processing, chemical processing, pharmaceutical
manufacture and agriculture. Andrew Hobbs, research engineer at Astec Inc,
commented that, “EDEM has set the benchmark for commercial particle
mechanics simulation tools. We can import a CAD model of our equipment
quickly, fill it with virtual particles and model a wide range of granular
flow conditions. This capability is simply not possible with other CAE
tools.” DEM is already already
working on extending the capabilities of EDEM and CFD coupling will be
launched soon with a version optimised for deployment on parallel
architectures available in 2006. Wed Nov 30 16:15:59 2005
Real-time
particle monitoring at Merck Merck has
successfully tackled the notoriously difficult issue of fluidised bed
monitoring and control using an in-line Parsum probe from Malvern
Instruments. Recent on-site trials by the company confirmed that the
probe, installed in a fluidised bed granulator, can reliably generate
particle size data, allowing the evolutionary step of monitoring
pharmaceutical granulate in real time. Merck is expected to use the process
insight and knowledge gained from the project to develop more effective
control strategies for batch granulators and improve process efficiency.
Pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to more effectively monitor and
control processes and improve efficiency is said to be driving the uptake
of on-line analysis within the sector. In this particular instance, the Parsum
IPP 50-SE was selected for the demanding in situ application because of
its prior use by Merck to monitor product size in various gravity chutes.
Malvern say that the trials show that the probe has the ability to operate
effectively in a turbulent flow regime, with high fine particle loadings
and under damp conditions. Particle size parameters, including x(10),
x(50) and x(90), which all impact directly on product performance, were
produced throughout both spraying and drying phases. The probe can perform in-line particle
size measurement in the 50 - 4000 micron size range, where particles are
travelling at 0.01 to 50 m per sec. Robust mechanical design together with
associated software are designed to ensure trouble-free use and
integration with existing control platforms. www.malvern.co.uk
Cement plant for USA USA. FLSmidth has received a $52m contract from
the USA to build a cement plant with a capacity of 2,900 t per day for an
as yet unnamed American cement producer. The new plant will be based on
state-of-the-art environmental technology to comply with the stringent
emission standards of the Environmental Protection Agency and CDEPA in the
country. FLSmidth's American project
centre in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania will process the project which includes
a complete raw material handling department with vertical mill, silos and
blending systems, complete pyroprocessing system with a five-stage
preheater and kiln, multi-movable cross-bar cooler, and vertical cement
grinding mill. The contract also includes engineering services, filters
and flue gas cleaning. Environmental
improvements and optimised resource consumption are now one of the most
important competition parameters in a client’s choice of supplier says
FLSmidth. In recent years, the company has supplied some of the world's
technology leading cement facilities in terms of reduced flue gas
emissions and energy consumption. Fri Nov 25 10:30:14 2005
GEA acquires STERIS Germany. GEA has acquired STERIS GmbH, a global
provider of freeze-drying technology for the pharmaceutical industry. It
will become a member of Niro Pharma Systems (NPS) and the ‘P’ Division.
Based near Cologne in Germany, the company, to be known as GEA Lyophil
GmbH, will supply specialist freeze-drying technology for the
pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets. One area of expertise is a vapourised hydrogen
peroxide process which provides dry, low temperature sterilisation of
freeze-drying equipment which rapidly eliminates pathogenic organisms
including bacteria, fungi and viruses by breaking them down and used
successfully for more than a decade by pharmaceutical and research
industries. The acquisition is
expected to complement other members of NPS, a group that provides
equipment for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry including powder
manufacture and processing, handling and containment, tableting and
R&D facilities. Fri
Nov 25 10:25:47 2005
Investment in Vietnam Vietnam. Lafarge Boral Gypsum in Asia (LBGA), the
50/50 joint plasterboard venture between Lafarge and Boral, one of
Australia's largest building and construction materials suppliers, has
announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Lafarge Boral Gypsum Vietnam
(LBGV), has started work on a plasterboard plant in the Ho Chi Minh City
area. The plant is thought to be one of the first of its kind to be built
and operated in the country.
Production capacity is expected to be 10 m sq m per annum initially with
flexibility for future expansion. Total investment is around $13 m with
the plant expected to be operational in 2006. LBGA has established a leadership
position in the Vietnamese plasterboard market over the last four years,
importing plasterboard products and systems during a period of rapid
market expansion. Lafarge first moved into Vietnam in 2001 and is
currently building a cement grinding plant on the Long Tau river near Ho
Chi Minh City which will be operational next year. Fri Nov 25 10:01:14 2005
Position strengthened in China PRC. Lafarge Shui On Cement, the joint venture
between Lafarge and SOCAM (see POWDEReporter
Online Sep 01 12:14:54 2005), has acquired 100 per cent of the shares
of Shuangma Investment Group in Sichuan Province for around $38m. Taking
into account the debt of the company and the budget allocated to improve
existing facilities, this represents a total investment of around $160m.
Shuangma Cement Co Ltd is one of the main companies controlled by Shuangma
Investment Group. The latest
acquisition is designed to strengthen the joint venture’s position in
Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, already served by the Dujiangyan Lafarge
cement plant whose production capacity is set to double to 2.8mt in 2006.
The move also provides two complementary positions in Sichuan: a cement
plant in the north of the province near Mianyang and two plants in the
south near Yibin. Lafarge Shui On
Cement already has a production capacity of 2.3mt in Sichuan and, by the
end of 2005, total production capacity in the province is expected to be
5.6mt rising to 7mt on completion of a second line at Dujiangyan. The
transaction will take the joint venture’s cement production capacity in
the country to 21mt, making it one of the big three cement producers in
China. Tue Nov 15 10:21:10
2005
SPARK shows the way forward UK. A SPARK award given to Filtronic Comtek has
helped strengthen its production processes. The main product in the
company's portfolio of customised RF, microwave and millimeter wave
components and subsystems is its ceramic range, which must have a specific
electronic property, temperature coefficient of resonant frequency or TCf,
with a value close to zero. The
ceramic is manufactured by mixing four powders, introducing potential
batch variations in TCf which can lead to lengthy product lead times.
Through the SPARK project, the company has been able to call on the
expertise of the CERAM centre to analyse the zeta potential of powder
suspensions and optimise dispersion conditions for powders and mixes in
the process. By using a Zeta probe to
assess dispersion levels, CERAM was able to suggest a new process route
which involved the separate mixing of two well dispersed materials and
subsequent addition of the mixture to a suspension of the two other
components. Production tests have shown that the approach has the
potential to significantly improve powder processing and overall product
reproducibility. www.powdermatrix.org
Powtech registers another hit Germany. The Powtech/TechnoPharm exhibition
organisers, NürnbergMesse have reported “A high degree of satisfaction
among exhibitors and visitors” for the recent events held in Nuremberg in
Germany. Independently audited figures show that there were 946 exhibitors
(2004: 872) and 13,259 visitors (2004: 13,357). Claudia Schreglmann,
senior project consultant for NürnbergMesse, said that the positive nature
of the exhibition reflected a definite upturn, with over 50 per cent of
the exhibitors tending to feel that the present economic climate was
improving. Barbara Schmid-Schwarzer
of Hosokawa Alpine AG noted an encouraging rise in the number of visitors
compared to Powtech 2004. “The largest share of our international visitors
came from Eastern Europe and Austria, followed by Italy, Spain and Turkey
– but we also had visitors from the Middle East and Asia”. Ms Schreglmann
said that Marketing initiatives by the organisers in Eastern Europe meant
that 17 per cent of international visitors came from the East European
states. Gernot Ingenerf, director of
Heinen Trocknungstechnologie GmbH, noted a growing willingness to invest,
with enquiries largely concerning projects currently at the planning
phase. Walter Sonntag of AZO GmbH & Co KG said that visitors came from
all the important target groups of food, chemicals, plastics and
pharmaceuticals, with two thirds of visitors interested in machinery and
individual systems and the remainder looking at large complete plants. One key new area of interest to visitors
was nanotechnology, rapidly moving from the research phase into everyday
business and now an integral part of the range of products available from
many exhibitors - from milling to nanoscale particle manufacture, special
mixing and dispersing technologies to nanoparticle analysis, some at the
prototype stage and others ready for series production. There was also more visitor interest in
machinery and plant for producing and processing nanoparticles. “We have
noticed twice as much demand as at the last Powtech”, said Dr. Stefan
Mende, from the processing technology division of Netzsch Feinmahltechnik.
Sören Scheid, product manager Nanomix at Ekato Unimix said that the share
of visitors interested in nano could not be estimated, but demand had
definitely increased. TechnoPharm
2005, now widely regarded as one of the leading European exhibitions for
life science process technology attracted visitors mainly from
pharmaceuticals (60 per cent), chemicals (11 per cent) and a number of
specialised industrial sectors, especially cosmetics (5 per cent) and from
service companies (9 per cent).
During the course of the events, three important congresses took place in
the form of the 1st European Congress on Life Science Process Technology,
Bulk Days and the ESMG Symposium (International Symposium of the European
Safety Management Group). The next Powtech/TechnoPharm is scheduled to
take place in Nuremberg, Germany on 27 - 29 March 2007.
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