Solvay Green River is developing a 20-year vision for the future of its process control system assets. Kevin Kelley learned the value of control system lifecycle management the hard way. Following three losses of control system power in 2012, the process control foreman at Solvay Chemical’s Green River soda ash production facility in southwestern Wyoming […]
Chemical
Dow Chemical to cut about 2,500 jobs globally
DuPont’s global alarm management leader, Nick Sands, walks Stan and Greg through the elements of ANSI/ISA-18.2-2016, “Management of Alarm Systems for the Process Industry.” By Greg McMillan and Stan Weiner Stan: I remember the alarm panels in the good old days of analog controllers. You had to be selective as to the type and number […]
National survey shows actual, planned automation investment is high among U.S. manufacturers A new report from the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI; Arlington, VA) foundation indicates that despite the economic slowdown in the industrial sector over the past year, the incidence of actual and planned automation investment is very high in American manufacturing. […]
German chemical giant BASF SE announced it has chosen Freeport, Texas, to build its largest single-plant investment to date. BASF, which was already tentatively planning to build a world-scale methane-to-propylene complex along the Gulf Coast, opted to go with its Freeport site as the location. BASF and Norway-based Yara International ASA are already planning to […]
Significant improvements can be demonstrated in updating automation in either independent machine controls or an entire facility. More and more manufacturers are upgrading control systems primarily to fight the battle of equipment obsolescence, rather than taking the opportunity to invest in upgrades, in order to gain more productive years out of major capital assets. There […]
Control Systems Engineer with twenty-five (25+) years in engineering, programming, design, construction, commissioning and start-up in the Oil/Gas production, refining, power and petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and other manufacturing industries. Experience includes: Project and construction management, Process Instrumentation, DCS, PLC, ESD and SCADA; Compressor control and anti-surge systems, GE Multilin motor protection, Variable Frequency Drive – […]
Currently available for an interim role as a control systems specialist utilizing his current and up to date experience with Siemens PCS7 applications and programming. Recently handled a project including Charts, SFC and CFC through existing system migration as well as utilizing P&IDs and I/O Lists. Also familiar with WinCC graphics, interlock, alarm and functional […]
Project justification is critical to driving corporate competitiveness Clearly, any new automation project requires economic justification. Although this often involves hard “dollars and cents” quantification of cost savings from increased production, reduced raw material costs, or increased uptime, it is also about “soft” benefits, such as reducing risks and improving agility. All contribute to making […]
Distributed Control Systems (DCSs) Are Gaining New Capabilities, Such as Integrating with Safety Systems, to Match the Unique Needs of Their Process Applications You can’t just waltz into a refinery’s process control system with mainstream, IT-based computers and expect to be successful. Big process applications are unique environments—even from one to another—so they need the […]