Control System World

Technip and its consortium partner China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) have been awarded a front end engineering design (FEED) contract by China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited (CNOOC Ltd.) for two tension leg platforms (TLPs) for the Liuhua  joint development project located in the South China Sea.

As key technical partner to COOEC, Technip will carry out the FEED work of China’s first two TLPs. The contract covers the design and engineering of the topsides (including two drilling rigs), hulls, mooring and riser systems. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. Technip's operating center in Houston, Texas, USA, will execute the FEED contract.

Deanna Goodwin, President of Technip in North America, stated: “We are very proud to have earned the confidence of our client CNOOC Ltd. and partner COOEC. We are looking forward to developing a strong long-lasting collaboration with both of them on this exciting key project.”

The Thermatel® Model TA2 thermal mass flow transmitter, based on thermal dispersion technology, provides reliable mass measurement for air and gas flow applications. The powerful, yet easy-to-use, electronics are contained in a compact explosion-proof enclosure. The TA2 is available with both insertion probes, as well as flow body design for smaller pipe sizes. The TA2 offers excellent performance at an exceptional value.  The TA2 offers the user the ability to verify calibration in the field, reducing the need for periodic recalibration.

Operating Principle:

THERMATEL Model TA2 mass flow transmitter measures mass flow by detecting heat dissipation from a heated surface. The sensor contains two mass balanced elements with precision matched RTDs. The reference sensor measures the process temperature (up to +400° F [+200° C]); the second RTD measures the temperature of the heated sensor. The power to the heater is varied to maintain a constant temperature difference above the reference temperature.

There is an inherent non-linear relationship between power and mass flow. The microprocessor in the TA2 compares the power against the calibration curve and converts the power requirements to the mass flow rate. Temperature is also measured to provide temperature compensation of the mass flow over the operating range of the instrument.

Applications:

Combustion Air

Compressed Air

Natural Gas

Aeration Air

Digester/Biogas

Vent Lines/Flare Headers

Hydrogen Lines

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exida, a global supplier of functional safety products, services and certifications has released LOPAxTM, a Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) software that supports process safety management activities.

LOPAx features different worksheets for various risk receptors and can easily account for different levels of Enabling Conditions (EC), Independent Protection Layers (IPL) and Conditional Modifiers (CM) effectiveness as they apply to different initiating events for the same hazard.

“LOPAx uses a worksheet approach with the ability to simultaneously address multiple initiating events for the same hazard scenario,” says Iwan van Beurden, exida’s director of product development.

“When LOPAx is used in combination with the Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) tool PHAx™, there is a seamless exchange of data between the HAZOP and LOPA worksheets. This drastically improves the efficiency and accuracy of safety practitioner activities, ensures completeness of shared critical information and provides certainty of complete data transition. The combination of PHAx and LOPAx enables the safety practitioner to meet the standards’ requirements for traceability and auditability. “

“The innovative integration aspects of the proven Process Hazard Analysis software and the new Layer of Protection Analysis software are keys for efficient Safety Lifecycle Management,” says Joe Scalia, ARC Advisory Group. “Hooray for users to only have to enter their data once!”

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Manufacturers in both the process and discrete manufacturing industries should consider condition monitoring (CM) for critical assets to improve the effectiveness of their maintenance resources. Typical benefits include improved uptime, asset longevity, cost control, yield/quality and safety. A study by a major petroleum company showed that, compared to calendar-based preventive maintenance, predictive reduces maintenance costs by 50 percent. This paper discusses the advantages of packaged predictive maintenance (PdM) applications to leverage existing process and smart device data. White Paper by Schneider Electric / ARC

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order from PT Fajar Surya Wisesa Tbk (Fajar Paper), a leading packaging paper manufacturer in Indonesia. The contract was booked end of 2014. ABB will provide the automation system for paper machine 3 (PM3), one of the current five paper machines at Fajar Paper responsible for a combined production of around 1.2 million tons of packaging paper per year, including Coated Duplex Board, Kraft Liner Board and Corrugated Medium Paper.

“We are very happy to use ABB equipment on our paper machines and we appreciate how ABB always takes a long term view of their relationship with Fajar, seeing it as something that is more important than one single order,” said Wimba Wibawa, Engineering Director in PT Fajar Surya Wisesa TBk.

The scope of delivery comprises distributed control system for stock preparation, chemical area and paper machine and quality control system for paper machine with two scanners. The existing third-party automation system in PM3 will be replaced with ABB’s Automation System 800xA, thus resolving the legacy issue faced by the automation system. With this project, Fajar Paper will be one step closer to its plan of having a site-wide fully integrated automation system.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Fajar Paper once again after the successful execution of the automation system in paper machine 5 and we look forward to a long-standing and valuable partnership,” said Ravi N., manager of ABB’s Process Automation division in Singapore. “ABB has extensive knowledge and experience in delivering such projects and will continue to build on this strong track record providing reliable and efficient technology for the paper industry.”

800xA is ABB’s flagship collaborative process automation platform comprising distributed control system, safety control system, quality control system and electrical control system.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has opened a new local service office near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The office will provide services and support for ABB’s automation and power portfolio including control systems (System 800xA, Symphony Plus, and heritage control systems), instrumentation, analytical products, low voltage drives, and power systems and products.

The new office will be staffed with engineering, support and training personnel and will offer scheduled in-center training, as well as customized training courses. It is scheduled to open in mid-April 2015. ABB will hold an open house for its customers on April 15, 2015, from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm. The address is 2492 South Cities Service Highway, Calcasieu Parish, Sulphur, Louisiana 70663.

The open house will feature a wide variety of ABB automation and power equipment including wireless communications, measurement and analytical products (instrumentation, level and process analytics), gas insulated switchgear, protection relays and other control and power products.

ABB has established local resources to serve its industry customers in the Gulf region, which is a major hub for energy, oil, gas, chemical and petrochemical industries in the United States, and has recently announced several new investments in the area.

“We are expanding our footprint in the Gulf region to better serve our customers here, with local service and support resources that work with our global experts,” said Kevin Kosisko, Americas Region Division Manager, Process Automation for ABB. “This office nicely complements our recent expansions in this area, including the Automation and Power Center in Houston and new level measurement factory currently under construction in Baton Rouge.”

Last month, ABB held a ground-breaking ceremony for its new 75,000-sq-ft level measurement factory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and announced that it is developing a new Automation and Power Center in Houston that will showcase ABB’s full offering to help utility, industry and infrastructure companies increase their productivity and energy efficiency while maintaining the highest level safety and reliability.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a global leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 140,000 people. The company has invested heavily in North America over the past five years, with acquisitions totaling nearly $10 billion. ABB employs around 30,000 people throughout the region.

The accurate measurement of liquid levels in power plant operations is key to efficient operation. Although water is a liquid that can be easily measured by numerous measurement technologies, detection in applications like feedwater heaters, for example, takes on a range of complexity that stresses even the most robust devices.

Feedwater heaters operate in various ranges depending upon the stage of the process. High-pressure heaters typically operate at 1030 psig @5500F (71 bar @2880C). Further, liquid level transmitters should operate ideally from ambient start-up to operating conditions at full capacity; a wide variation.

Torque tube and differential pressure transmitters have been the technologies of choice for many years, each technology having a set of strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies. Performance of both technologies are dependent on the Specific Gravity (SG) of the medium of they are measuring; both suffer inaccuracies when the SG of water varies over temperature.

Download Whitepaper by Magnetrol

The ST98 Flow Meter’s thermal mass flow sensor design provides direct mass flow measurement without the need for additional temperature or pressure sensors or density calculating devices, as well as the plant real estate and technician time needed to install these extra devices at their additional cost. Its insertion style configuration makes the ST98 meter simple to install in existing piping without cutting the pipe or welding, offering minimal interruption to plant operations. The flexible and dependable ST98 flow meter is suitable for service in plant natural gas and numerous other process gases, hydrocarbon mixed or dirty gases, biogases including methane, and plant compressed air and HVAC systems.

The ST98 is today operating in plants worldwide, including industries such as electronics, oil/gas, chemical, power generation, food/beverage, pharmaceutical, pulp/paper, steel, wastewater treatment and more. With an advanced thermal mass sensing element, the ST98 Flow Meter provides accurate flow measurement over a wide flow range. Accuracy is ±1% of reading, plus ±0. 5% of full scale. Exceptionally consistent, the ST98 meter offers repeatability to ±0.5% of reading. The insertion style ST98 meter flow range is from 0.75 to 600 SFPS [0.21 to 172 NPS] in air at standard conditions of 70 ° F [21.2 °C] and 14.7 psia [0°C and 1013,25 bar (a)], typical for most gases.

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