Dave Harrold, Senior Editor

Inside Process Flint Ink Steps Its Way to Success

Inside Process Flint Ink Steps Its Way to Success By adopting a pay-as-you-go automation philosophy, Flint Ink’s New Albany production center is about to become an integrated, paperless operation. Dave Harrold, CONTROL ENGINEERING Committed to increasing productivity, lowering costs, and reducing product variability at its New Albany, Indiana facility, Flint Ink began an automation journey that, like most journeys, included a number of unexpected bumps, twists, turns, and thrills along the way. Though the journey isn’t complete, all the participants are positive the hardest parts are behind them and the rewards have already made the trip worth the effort. Ink is not just ink Most ink is used in high-speed printing of newspapers and magazines, but just looking at it, ink doesn’t seem that complex.Formulas of inks differ widely to suit the variety of printing presses, methods of drying, varia-tions in print substrates, and end-user considerations. Because press type, drying methods, and paper stock offer few adjustable parameters, Flint Ink employs more than 500 PhDs, chemists, physicists, chemical engineers, ink formulators, and technical service representatives to work with customers to create just the right ink formulation for an application. From a control viewpoint, ink manufacturing isn’t nearly as complex as other batch processes, such as biotechnology. Yes, there are many discrete valves and mass flowmeters; some temperature, level, and speed controls; and a definite need for coordinated unit transfers, but the basic process is relatively simple.

Pressure sensor market sees bright spots

Demand for pressure transmitters and transducers is expected to grow faster in the U.S. life sciences and automotive markets than in any other market segment consuming pressure transmitters and transducers, according to Venture Development Corp. (VDC). "More than $40 billion is spent annually on biotech and pharmaceutical industry research.

Controller does one thing and one thing only!

Despite the tendency to cram every bit of control and automation logic into a programmable logic controller (PLC) or distributed control system (DCS), there are times when a "built-for-purpose" device makes sense. One of those times is when precise, repeatable transfers of valuable products must be made between vessels.

Users expect DAQ to also include analysis and control

First-generation data acquisition (DAQ) simply meant acquiring data, often using chart recorders and data loggers.One of the earliest industrial uses of personal computers (PCs) was to replace panel-boards of circular and strip chart recorders with PC-based DAQ hardware and software. However, most early DAQ software only provided the "back office" functionality of acquiring and archiving ...

Siemens E&A intergrating APACS+, PCS7

Starting with two relatively new platforms after acquiring Moore Process, senior management and engineers at Siemens Energy & Automation have been seeking to integrate the APACS+ and PCS7 control system technologies. APACS+ was introduced in 1992, and PCS7 debuted in 1997.

WBF honors Thomas Fisher

Phoenix, Ariz. - World Batch Forum (WBF) recently awarded Thomas G. Fisher its distinguished Dr. Guido Carlo-Stella Award.

MTL unveils surge protector, DIN rail mounting kit

Hampton, N.H. - MTL recently introduced its UL-approved MA15 Series surge protector with RFI filtering and its DRK700 DIN rail mounting kit for MTL700 Series zener barriers.

SpeedVue uses laser technology to measures RPM

Knoxville, Tenn. - Computational Systems (CSI), a unit of Emerson Process Management (Austin, Tex.), recently introduced its SpeedVue Model 430 laser speed sensor.

PCB connectors feature IDC technology

Irving, Tex. - Entrelec recently introduced a new series of printed circuit board (PCB) connectors using insulation displacement contact (IDC) technology.

Emerson Process awarded contract to deliver instrumentation and control solutions for Esso Angola project

Austin, Tex. - Emerson Process Management was recently awarded a contract from Esso Exploration Angola Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation (Irving, Tex.), to develop and install the control, instrumentation and safety systems needed by Esso Angola for the Kizomba A project offshore Angola Africa.

Honeywell enhances gas analyzer

Freeport, Ill.-Honeywell's sensing and control business recently introduced an enhanced version of its 7866 digital thermal conductivity gas analyzer.

ExperTune’s TLA software reveals relationships for optimal control

Hubertus, Wis.-ExperTune recently released a software enhancement to its process analysis and control loop tuning application for conducting Time Line Analysis (TLA).

Eurotherm adds Profibus-DP to power products

Leesburg, Va.-Eurotherm/Barber-Coleman, a unit of Invensys Process Systems, recently added the Eurotherm Monitoring and Acquisition (EMA) volt and current meter with Profibus-DP communications to its line of single phase, two-leg three phase, and three-leg three phase SCR power controllers and solid state relay interfaces.

GE Industrial Systems buys Spirent plc’s Sensing Solutions

Plainville, Conn - GE Industrial Systems, a division of the General Electric Co., recently finalized its acquisition of the Sensing Solutions group of Spirent plc (London, U.K.).

Moore Industries receives IEC 61508 safety certification

North Hills, Calif. - Moore Industries recently received IEC 61508 safety certification to design and manufacturer process instrumentation hardware for safety related applications in high risk industries.

SyTech’s XLReporter accepted by Rockwell Encompass

Walpole, Mass. - Rockwell Automation recently announced it has accepted SyTech's XLReporter into the Encompass program.

Careful installation critical to trouble-free performance

In an industrial environment, wire and cable have a lot in common with tubing—each is exposed to every industrial "nasty" anyone can think of, and each is installed and forgotten until a connector fails.When a tubing connector fails it's seldom an instantaneous, catastrophic failure. Usually the connector experiences a small leak that becomes progressively worse over time.

Troubleshooting: A required skill for success

Time-measured exercises show that students can gain 80% average improvement in troubleshooting efficiency after a two-day course, according to Gary Cliett, president, IEC Simulations (Port Arthur, Tex.)

3M using Six Sigma, e-Productivity in cohesive strategy

3M is looking at the Six Sigma process and "e-Productivity" along with other current business initiatives-such as supply-chain management, lean manufacturing, acquisitions, and customer satisfaction-with a desire to pull them together into a cohesive strategy.

Exclusive: ABB enhances Micro-DCI process control station

Warminster, Pa . - ABB recently introduced a triad of related Micro-DCI process control station products. The principal product in this release is the 'B' version of the 53MC5000 controller, and the latest in a long-line of microprocessor based controllers from ABB that began in 1979 with the introduction of Chameleon.

Dow, ABB agree on process expertise exchange

Dow Chemical signed a 10-year agreement on May 31 with ABB (Zurich, Switzerland) covering products, services, and an innovative two-way knowledge transfer. ABB and Dow report their agreement is different from similar supplier agreements because—besides Dow agreeing to use ABB products and services—Dow has committed to transfer its process expertise to ABB.

Avoid tubing failures

A walk across any manufacturing shop floor or around any process plant will reveal hundreds or even thousands of feet of metallic and plastic tubing transporting gases and liquids to and from sample stations, valve actuators, pump seals, and hundreds of seemingly ho-hum installations. But when any of that tubing starts leaking suddenly the tubing and its associated connectors attract attentio...

Intellution shares plans for 2001

I n the 80's the 'I' in Intellution equated to innovation in the advancement of HMI/SCADA (human machine interface/supervisor control and data acquisition) technology. After attending a two-day open-kimono at Intellution's new Foxborough, Mass. office, it appears innovation has returned to Intellution. During the January 25-26 press event, Intellution (a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson) shared, and in several cases demonstrated, major product enhancements scheduled for release throughout 2001 and also unveiled an innovative product that produces source code in Java, C++, or C, called iLogic. To ensure attendee's understood why Intellution believes their product introduction and enhancement plans are properly designed and positioned to meet growing enterprise demands, Intellution's ceo and co-founder Steve Rubin explained the design philosophy for all Intellution products. 'Back in the 80's, Intellution chose a platform based design philosophy as opposed to a suite-based philosophy.

Transitioning from a control room to an operations center

During a recent visit to Honeywell Industrial Control (IC), Control Engineering got a peek at the firm's new "Honeywell Operations Center of the Future." Unlike product demonstration centers at manufacturers' home offices, Honeywell's operations center is more like visiting a well-designed control room at a manufacturer's site.

How to read P&IDs

Instrumentation detail varies with the degree of design complexity. For example, simplified or conceptual designs, often called process flow diagrams, provide less detail than fully developed piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs). Being able to understand instrumentation symbols appearing on diagrams means understanding ANSI/ISA's S5.1-1984 (R 1992) Instrumentation symbols and identification standard.

Campaign management orchestrates batch resources

Frequently a void exists between enterprise scheduling systems and the control and automation systems on the plant floor. Filling that void allows timely sharing of order status information with customers and vendors. In batch processes, filling the void is referred to as "campaign management."Fisher-Rosemount Systems' (Austin, Tex.

Data historian built for batch processes

When the term "data historian" is mentioned, most users visualize x-y plots of process variables scrolling across a screen. If the process is batch, it takes patience and perseverance to map process variables to batch events, such as when a phase started or ended, an operator responded to a system prompt, or an alarm occurred and cleared.

All UPSs are not created equal

For first-time uninterruptible power supply (UPS) buyers, the choices can be intimidating, but there are essentially three UPS topologies, each appropriate for different applications: on-line, off-line, and line-active UPSs. On-line UPSs use batteries to deliver power to an attached device. Batteries continually charge during normal source power. Since a battery stores dc power, an inverter in the UPS converts dc to ac.

Comparing enclosure standards

As a way of standardizing enclosure performance, organizations like NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association), UL (Underwriters Laboratories), CSA (Canadian Standards Association), IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), VDE (Institute of German Electronics Engineers), and TÜV Rheinland of North America use rating systems to identify an enclosure's ability to resi...