Control System World

The International Society of Automation (ISA) announces today that attendee registration for ISA Automation Week 2013—the premier annual event for automation and control professionals worldwide—opens Tuesday, 2 April, 2013.

Leading automation and control experts, authors, innovators and thought leaders across the globe will come together at the event to demonstrate how to fully leverage the power and potential of automation solutions. Attendees will learn that decisions in one organizational area can have significant, sometimes adverse, effects in others, and that the key is addressing core operational needs—safety, people, business and technology—in a more proactive, farsighted and integrated manner.

ISA Automation Week will be conducted 5-7 November 2013 in energetic and exciting Nashville, Tennessee…also known as Music City USA! To register, and gain complete conference information and updates, visit www.isaautomationweek.org. If you register by 20 August 2013, you’ll save $150 off the full-price registration fee.

Data Translation, Inc., an industry leader in data acquisition, today announced the release of the DT9839 low-cost USB-powered module for sound and vibration measurements.

The DT9839 features a four-channel, 16-bit Delta-Sigma analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with a nominal input range of ±2.5 V, and sampling rates up to 52.7 kHz per channel. Applications that require accelerometer, vibration, noise, or sonar measurements often use IEPE sensors. IEPE conditioning is built-in to the analog circuitry of the DT9839, providing an excitation current source and AC or DC coupling.

Click to learn more about the DT9839 by visiting: http://www.datatranslation.com/products/dataacquisition/usb/DT9839/.

The technology company The Linde Group has been awarded a contract to build a natural gas terminal in the town of Emden in northern Germany. The deal is worth around EUR 260 million. The contract was awarded by Norwegian state-owned company Gassco AS on behalf of Gassled joint venture.

'Norway is one of Germany's most important energy suppliers. The new natural gas terminal is a key milestone in securing future supplies of Norwegian gas to Germany,' explains Prof. Dr Aldo Belloni, Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. 'We have a wealth of experience in handling natural gas. This project enables us to further promote the use of this environmentally sound fossil fuel.'

The new natural gas terminal will replace the 1977 Norsea Gas Terminal, which is currently being operated by Gassco. The terminal will distribute natural gas from Norwegian-owned gas fields in the North Sea to Germany. The contract covers engineering, procurement and construction for the new terminal. The project is based on the front-end engineering design (FEED) provided by Gassco. The initial work will be carried out by Linde Engineering at the Group's site in Dresden. Construction will get underway in Emden in the autumn of 2013. The facility will be pre-assembled in modules to the greatest possible extent and put together at the construction site. The new natural gas terminal is set to go on stream at the end of 2015.

Daelim will make inroads into Pakistan’s Lower Spat Gah waterpower generation market together with Korea Midland Power. Daelim Vice Chairman Kim Yun signed an MOU for hydropower plant construction and operation at the head office of Korea Midland Power in Daechi-dong, Seoul on Tuesday, March 5.

As the first public private partnership propelled by Pakistan’s government, the project seeks to construct and operate a 500MW hydropower plant. Total project cost is USD 1 billion; currently, Pakistan’s government holds a 26% stake in the project, Korea Midland Power, 34%, Daelim, 14%, Lotte Engineering & Construction, 6%, and POSCO Engineering, 2%.

Of the total project cost, the construction amount is projected to be USD 750 million; Daelim’s construction stake is 63% (USD 470 million). The project is slated to commence construction in January 2016 and will be completed in December 2021.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. and the government of the Indian state of Rajasthan have signed a memorandum of understanding envisioning a refinery and petrochemical complex at Barmer, near oil fields producing and under development by Cairn India Ltd.  The project, for which no capacity was announced, would be developed by state-owned HPCL, Rajasthan State Refinery Ltd., and other equity partners.

The Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas estimated the project cost at $6.85 billion and construction time at 4 years.  It said the complex would use crude oil produced locally and from elsewhere. The complex would represent Rajasthan’s first refinery and India’s first petrochemical plant designed to process indigenous crude oil.

Cairn India, in partnership with state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp., is producing about 175,000 b/d of waxy crude oil from a block near Barmer—150,000 b/d from Mangala field and 20,000-25,000 b/d from Bhagyam field. It expects to bring Aishwariya field online soon. It continues to explore in the area

Brooks Instrument, a world-leading provider of advanced flow, pressure, vacuum and level solutions, has expanded its GF 40/80 Series portfolio of thermal mass flow controllers. Broader capabilities, including increased flow rates up to 50 slpm and a “normally open” valve for non-hazardous gas applications, are ideal upgrades for users of Aera (Hitachi), Celerity, Tylan, Mykrolis, Millipore and Unit mass flow controllers, as well as other competitive devices.

The GF 40/80 Series leads the market in long-term zero stability at less than 0.5% per year. This specification means the device will return more reliable accuracy data for a longer period of time, giving users greater confidence in the numbers reported. The GF 40/80 Series is also available with Brooks’ patented MultiFlo™, a powerful technology that enables users to re-program the gas and/or range in minutes without the trouble and cost of removing the mass flow controller from service. Brooks has expanded the flow rates for the GF 40/80 Series from 30 slpm to 50 slpm, making these devices an excellent choice for applications that require a higher flow rate with the flexibility of a MultiFlo-capable mass flow controller.

Newly expanded RS485 communication protocols increase the flexibility and application range of the GF 40/80 Series. These versions of the RS485 protocols are ideal for users of Aera (Hitachi), Celerity, Tylan, Mykrolis, Millipore and Unit mass flow controllers, which are now part of the Brooks product line following its acquisition of Celerity Instrumentation in 2009. These end users can now upgrade to a device that offers better accuracy and repeatability while keeping the same communication protocols.

For more information about Brooks’ GF 40/80 Series, visit http://www.brooksinstrument.com/flowmeter-flowcontroller-products/thermal-mass-flow-meters-a-flow-controllers/multiflo-capable-flow-controllers-a-flow-meters.html

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced that its sales subsidiary Mitsubishi Electric Turkey A.Ş. has acquired its local industrial automation sales and distribution partner GENEL TEKNİK SİSTEMLER SANAYİ ve TİCARET ANONİM ŞİRKETİ (GTS). The acquisition will allow Mitsubishi Electric to accelerate its industrial automation systems business in Turkey for strengthened local sales and solutions, aiming at industrial automation sales of JPY 3 billion in Turkey by the fiscal year ending March 2016.

As a result of the acquisition, GTS, a local partner for some 20 years and currently functioning with a workforce of 42, will merge with Mitsubishi Electric Turkey and begin operating under the new structure in May.

Turkey's industrial automation market is expected to grow by more than 10% annually due to increasing demand in the automotive, food and beverage industries. GTS has built strong relationships in these industries by providing technical support and solutions to industrial automation equipment manufacturers. Mitsubishi Electric will leverage these relationships and GTS's expertise to strengthen its solution business and penetrate more deeply into this fast-growing market under a growing commitment to provide quality products and services to customers in Turkey and other markets of Central Asia.

Advantech’s Industrial Automation Group (IAG) are pleased to announce the launch of two new panel pc’s – PPC-6150/6170. These 15” and 17” models now come with faster processors, RAID control and multiple expansion slots for increased functionality.

The PPC-6170 (17”) and the PPC-6150 (15”) color TFT LCD displays come with the new 35W Intel 3rd Generation Core I processor. The speed ofthis chip is increased by 20% over the previous generation and supports 3D visual computing to improve the capabilities of the panel computer for software operation and multi-tasking.

With the addition of an additional hard drive both models now support RAID 0 and 1 providing realtime backup of critical data. In the event of voltage spikes between the PPC and industrial devices the RS-232, 422 and 485 ports are isolated against such energy surges.