ABB has won orders worth $440 million from the State Grid Corporation of China and other partners to provide new ultrahigh-voltage technology for the world's longest power transmission link. The power superhighway stretching 2000 kilometres will have a capacity of 6400 MW. The link from the Xiangjiaba hydropower plant to Shanghai is scheduled for completion in 2011.The ultrahigh-voltage direct current (UHVDC) link comprises two substations and a power transmission system using breakthrough technology to transmit electricity at ultrahigh voltage (800 kilovolts), which will minimise the amount of power lost in transmission. Increasing the voltage level of electrical transmission creates considerable advantages for the environment, including lower electricity losses and the use of less land compared to traditional overhead lines.
Beckhoff has been active in the Chinese market for a decade: after being represented by a distributor from 1997 to 2001, the first representative office was opened in Beijing in 2001. Because of rapid business development, an office in Shanghai followed in 2003 and in Guangzhou in 2004 to be even more accessible for customers in East and South China. The company headquarters were subsequently relocated from Beijing to the financial metropolis of Shanghai. With a 2005 change in Chinese law that allowed foreign investors to found Chinese sales companies with 100% foreign shareholding, Beckhoff decided to convert the representative office into a self-contained sales organisation. The former Beckhoff Representative Office in Shanghai has now been legally established as an autonomous subsidiary company and is trading as a self-contained organisation.
Emerson Process Management has appointed Jim Nyquist president of Global Sales. Nyquist will direct sales operations for all company divisions, which includes systems, software, instruments, valves and services. Nyquist has had a 30-year career with Emerson that includes world area roles in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Most recently he was president of Emerson Process Management Europe (2004-2007). Nyquist holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University.
General Monitors has announced a partnership with Elpro Technologies to offer wireless technology and communications for its advanced gas and flame detector product lines, which provide critical protection to people, equipment, and plants engaged in hazardous industries worldwide. ELPRO, a subsidiary of the MTL Instruments Group, is a global leader in radio telemetry. The company produces a wide range of industrial wireless products for process and manufacturing applications and remains in the forefront of wireless development. Using Elpro’s wireless devices and ancillary components, General Monitors now provides secure and reliable wireless communication for its gas and flame detector product lines.
Honeywell has been awarded a contract to provide Billerud, a leading Swedish manufacturer of packaging paper, with a Da Vinci quality control system and a range of actuators as part of a project to rebuild the company’s paper machine at its plant in Karlsborg, Sweden. The project will automate quality control and build in more consistent and precise measurement capabilities to the paper machines. These improvements will benefit Billerud by increasing production speed and yield, which is expected to generate increased productivity. The solution also will improve the quality of the resulting sack and kraft paper that is used in packaging.
Metso Automation will supply a control system to Talvivaara Mining Company, which is constructing Europe’s largest nickel mine at Talvivaara in the Sotkamo region of Finland. Metso’s delivery comprises metsoDNA CR automation and information system. The deliveries will take place in four phases, starting from January 2008. The Talvivaara production plant will include metals recovery lines, side processes, crushing and conveying operations, as well as pumping units. The monitoring and controls of all these processes will be centralised in one control room. With 3500 employees, Metso Automation operates worldwide through sales and customer support units in 35 countries across Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. In 2006, Metso Automation’s net sales were EUR 613 million.
Metso Automation will deliver comprehensive automation and safety solutions for Neste Oil’s second biodiesel plant at its Porvoo refinery in Finland, scheduled to come online in 2009. The metsoDNA automation system for the new 170 000 t/a plant includes control room stations and equipment, redundant process stations, integrated HIMA safety systems as well as field equipment maintenance stations. This, Metso’s first biodiesel automation delivery, follows the successful startup of an extensive metsoDNA system for diesel production at the Porvoo refinery in summer 2007. The new system delivery continues cooperation started in Porvoo with the automation of the recently commissioned sulphur-free diesel production line. The new biodiesel plant automation will incorporate many of the joint developed metsoDNA features in operator interface, diagnostics and system interfaces from that project started in 2004.
Omron Scientific Technologies has introduced its new guide to fast, non-contact detection and measurement scanners. The guide details Omron STI’s family of measuring light curtains, part detection scanners, area detection sensors and vehicle detection scanners. A product selection tool helps users determine the optimum measuring scanner for their application, including part ejection counting, selection, part presence detection, vehicle detection and separation, or measuring and profiling. Each featured product includes a SpeedSPEC code that can be entered on a website. This code takes users directly to the information they need with a single click, including data sheets, ordering information, manuals and CAD drawings.
Wonderware has released Equipment Operations Module version 2.1, an MES module which is designed to help manufacturers and other industrial operations significantly improve the consistency and effectiveness of plant operations. The latest version includes enhanced features for lowering the maintenance and administration costs of overall operations management. Support for database clustering using Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition, as well as improved capabilities for data archiving and restoring mechanisms, add significant value for customers in recording complete as built records of production events. In addition, the new MES module provides for consistent execution of plant floor activities with central management of formula parameters, including the down-loading of automatic parameters to PLCs.
Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that its Australian subsidiary has received a contract for a control systems replacement project at the Northern Power Station, which is owned by Flinders Power. This Adelaide-based power utility provides over 40% of South Australia’s electricity supply. The contract is estimated to be worth approximately A$26 million. Yokogawa will provide Flinders Power with a distributed control system, an integrated device management tool, differential pressure transmitters and safety instrumentation system. They will also support all engineering, installation, construction, and test operations. TechComm Simulation, a wholly-owned Yokogawa subsidiary, will contribute to the project by providing Flinders Power with a plant simulator for test operations and operator training. This latest success will contribute to Yokogawa’s reputation as a provider of control systems to Australia’s power generation sector.
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