Control System World

On the occasion of the visit to the Middle East by Robert G. Card, President and CEO of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., the Company announced the opening of its regional head office for the Middle East and Africa located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Mr. Card also attended the launch celebration in Saudi Arabia for the new city of Wa’ad Al Shamal.

The opening of the office, an important milestone in SNC-Lavalin’s development, coincides with a contract the company recently signed with Ma'aden in Saudi Arabia. Estimated at USD $500 million, the contract includes the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up of a three-line 15,150-metric-tonne-per-day sulphuric acid plant.

“With estimated GDP growth of over 5.6% per year until 2018, and with major projects in the infrastructure, oil and gas, mining and power sectors, the Middle East region offers significant development opportunities for SNC-Lavalin,” said Mr. Card during his visit to the Abu Dhabi office. “This is a target region for the Group’s activities, and the opening of this regional head office is an indication of our intention to expand our activities and make important contributions in this region.”

The Middle East and Africa region contributes significantly to the business volume of the Company’s Mining & Metallurgy and Oil & Gas business units (18 percent and 25 percent respectively as of December 2012). As of December 2013, the Company had more than 3,000 employees across the Middle East and Africa.

“The opening of this regional head office will allow us to strengthen our client relationships, expand our commercial opportunities and have the best business platform to deliver projects according to clients’ expectations,” said Christian Jacqui, Executive Vice-President, Global Operations, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.

Under the leadership of Ziad Awad, Senior Vice-President and Regional Head for the Middle East and Africa, this office will work closely with existing offices across the region, specifically in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, South Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

SNC-Lavalin is already present in the Middle East through major projects. In Saudi Arabia, the general engineering services (GES+) contract between SNC-Lavalin and Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, is a recognition of the Company’s ability to create value in the Kingdom by supporting its world-class oil and gas projects and pairing its expertise with that of its Saudi partners.

Finally, SNC-Lavalin's High-Value Centres with world-class engineers in Egypt, India, UK and Canada, will continue to support its operations in the region.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it has developed a multi-protocol wireless adaptor that enables wired field instruments or analytical sensors to be used as ISA100 Wireless™* devices, and will release models in May and July that support communications based on the HART® and RS485 Modbus standards. To facilitate the introduction of field wireless systems in plants, Yokogawa plans to release additional models that will cover other standards.

Development Background:

Field wireless systems enable the field devices and the host-level monitoring, control, and other systems in a plant to communicate wirelessly with each other. They have numerous advantages such as allowing the placement of field instruments or analytical sensors in difficult to wire locations, eliminating the need for cables to connect devices, and costing less to install. In accordance with its Wireless Anywhere concept, Yokogawa is seeking to promote the plant-wide use of field wireless systems by developing ISA100 Wireless devices such as this multi-protocol wireless adaptor.

Product Features:

When the multi-protocol wireless adaptor is mounted on a wired field instrument or analytical sensor, the instrument or sensor is able to function as an ISA100 Wireless device. It may be used with any type of wired field instrument or analytical sensor commonly used in plants, including those used to monitor temperature, pressure, liquid level, or vibration, or to detect gas and is compatible with both Yokogawa devices and devices from other vendors. By giving customers a greater range of field instruments and analytical sensors to choose from, Yokogawa expects that this multi-protocol wireless adaptor will greatly facilitate the introduction of field wireless systems.

• Support of multiple standards
• Battery power source for field instruments and analytical sensors
• Environmental resistance

Detcon, an IST company, is pleased to announce that the Model X40 NEMA 4X alarm and control system has received cTUVus NRTL certification for non-hazardous locations. The rugged, power-efficient controller, designed to monitor gas detection sensors and a wide range of other field devices, can receive and supervise 4-20mA or RS-485 field device inputs. The controller can be customized and expanded to monitor up to 32 field devices using Detcon’s stackable din-rail mounted I/O modules. All I/O modules are individually addressable and operate on 11.5-30VDC. Detcon I/O modules offer digital and analog input capability, as well as alarm relay and analog outputs, and can be remotely installed to simplify field wiring.

The Model X40 is completely field programmable and offers advanced technology with intuitive, embedded intelligence and standard datalogging software that makes tracking and reviewing gas detection history simple and easy. Among the system’s unique features is a wireless option that can be used with Detcon’s CXT SmartWireless® gas detection product line which is cCSAus – Class I, Division 1 approved. The Model X40 NEMA 4X version was awarded the CE Mark approval earlier this year.

Product Webpage

Rockwell Automation announces the new Allen-Bradley Micro820 programmable logic controller (PLC), a new addition to the Allen-Bradley Micro800 PLC family. The 20-point Micro820 controller features embedded Ethernet and serial ports, and a microSD slot. Pulse-width modulation (PWM) output and recipe management makes it ideal for small machines, such as stretch wrappers and compressor control. Datalogging, analog and thermistor temperature inputs are essential for remote automation applications, including water-pump control and air-handling units.

“We will continue to develop the Micro800 platform to give small-machine builders the flexibility to customize designs according to their application needs,” said Melkote Srinivasan, senior business manager, Rockwell Automation. “The new Micro820 controller, LCD display, plug-in modules and Connected Components Workbench software Release 6.0 have the features and options that help them differentiate their offerings and be more competitive.”

Connected Components Workbench software simplifies the configuration, design and maintenance of the Micro820 controller. The latest version of the software adds support for additional machine devices, like the new Allen-Bradley Guardmaster 440C-CR30 configurable safety relay and Allen-Bradley Kinetix 3 component servo drive. This release also provides password protection for application code, and improved investment protection via a friendly controller upgrade tool and multiple project sessions to collaborate between them. For those new to building machines, the software is a free download and offers built-in tutorials, manuals and user assistance.

Micro800 remote 3.5-inch LCD display. An essential accessory to the Micro820 controller, the Micro800 LCD display supports up to eight lines of ASCII text with a four-color backlight, has a keypad with programmable function keys, and is rated IP65 for mounting through a cabinet door when used as a simple operator interface. The display shows customized application-diagnostics messages and text. Its system menu is available in several languages and allows machine builders to directly view and edit program variables, and set the controller’s Ethernet address. The embedded USB port serves as a programming port to the controller.

Micro800 DeviceNet scanner plug-in module. The new Micro800 DeviceNet scanner plug-in option for the Micro800 family of controllers supports up to 20 nodes of Allen-Bradley PowerFlex AC drives or Allen-Bradley CompactBlock LDX I/O. This reduces the costs of wiring and installation inside the cabinet for standalone machine applications, and outside the cabinet for conveyor applications with drives and I/O distributed over longer distances. Auto-scan and device-specific function blocks simplify programming and configuration, and make network diagnostics easier.

Micro800 motion high-speed counter plug-in module. The new Micro800 motion high-speed counter plug-in option allows machine builders to cost-effectively add high-speed counters to Micro800 controllers. Used with the Allen-Bradley Micro830 or Micro850 controller’s PTO axis, the plug-in provides position feedback from the servo drive for position verification or with an encoder for position and velocity monitoring. It supports both 5V differential line driver input up to 250 kHz and 24V DC input up to 100 kHz.

The Isaac Boro Energy Training College was inaugurated today in Grenoble, France, by Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to the Nigerian President on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty programme, and Daniel Filâtre, University Chancellor and President of the Grenoble Education Authority.

The Isaac Boro Energy Training College is a joint initiative between the Nigerian government and Schneider Electric Nigeria, drawing on the expertise of both Schneider Electric France and the French Education Ministry. Since it opened its doors, the school has welcomed 30 Nigerian students from the Niger Delta region to receive training in energy management. At the end of their studies, the students receive a skills certificate, signed by the head of vocational training from the Grenoble Education Authority and the President of Schneider Electric France. This training offers the opportunity to gain not only electrical certification, but also complementary qualifications, such as languages and IT.

"The lack of trained engineers in the electrical and energy fields is a major obstacle to the successful and sustainable development of a number of regions in emerging economies", says Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric. "Schneider Electric, with the support of France's Education Ministry, is proud to work alongside the Nigerian government in the Amnesty programme for skills development and access to employment, through this training initiative for the local population".

The College is located in the main University area in Grenoble, in a building purpose-built by Schneider Electric. It houses three laboratories for practical classes, equipped with banks of equipment and products to provide training on domestic and industrial electricity applications, including automation and medium voltage. The building also houses several conventional classrooms. Teaching staff have devised a specially tailored course, designed to meet specifications laid down by the Nigerian government, paying particular attention to practical exercises to ensure students are fully operational as soon as they complete their year's course. All training is delivered in English.

For Schneider Electric, this initiative falls under the umbrella of its BipBop energy access programme, which aims to address three key issues in emerging economies:

• Innovation – To build adequate dedicated offers to combat the of lack of equipment
• Business – To provide financial resources to support the creation of innovative companies in the electricity market
• People – To provide training in energy management to overcome the shortage of expertise

PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP, a joint venture of state-owned KazMunaiGas (KMG) and China National Petroleum Corp., has let a services-related contract to China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp. (CPECC) for a long-delayed project to upgrade the 5.25 million tonne/year Shymkent refinery in Kazakhstan.

Under the agreement, CPECC will provide the detailed engineering, procurement of equipment and materials, and implementation of construction and installation work for the modernization of the Shymkent facility according to KMG.

Implementation of the First Startup Complex includes construction of a naphtha isomerization unit with a capacity of 600,000 tpy, which will reduce environmental impacts by enhancing the high-octane gasoline production process to meet the latest requirements set by Kazakhstan law, KMG said.Construction of the naptha isomerization unit is planned for completion in 2015, with product delivery scheduled for 2016, according to KMG.

PetroKazakhstan previously let a contract for front-end engineering design of the modernization project at Shymkent in 2012 designed to expand the plant’s crude processing capacity to 6 million tpy from 5 million tpy.

The International Society of Automation (ISA) announces that the conference program for its 2014 Food and Pharmaceuticals Industries Division (FPID) Symposium will feature some of the world’s most accomplished experts in serialization and automation who will speak on the pressing issues affecting food and drug manufacturers and distributors.

Attendees of the 2014 ISA FPID Symposium, which will be held 5-6 March 2014 at ISA headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA, will learn—directly from these industry leaders—how to respond to emerging serialization requirements that are driving major changes in food and pharmaceuticals distribution and calling for highly coordinated strategies that incorporate automation, supply chain management, and information analysis and security.

“We are immensely pleased to have assembled such an outstanding lineup of speakers, experts and presentations at this valuable industry event,” reports Dennis Brandl, President of BR&L Consulting, Inc., co-chair of the 2014 FPID Symposium. “The challenges facing the food and pharmaceuticals industries are serious and they require a serious examination of the issues. Recent legislation and incidents of contamination and tampering have raised the importance of automation to reduce errors and implement enhanced serialization controls to improve tracking and tracing throughout distribution channels.

“This symposium,” Brandl says, “will provide the essential insights and recommendations—relating to technology, systems, production, logistics, process control, validation, traceability, data access and analysis, cybersecurity and other critical areas—that food and pharmaceuticals manufacturers and distributors need to improve patient safety and reduce operating risks.”

In addition to benefiting from the stellar conference sessions, 2014 FPID Symposium attendees will tour a local plant to examine specific automation processes in practice.

To register and gain more detailed information visit ISA Symposium.

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