Automation & Control
Focus on Analyzers
Analyze H2S content in liquids with this benchtop device Analytical Systems International Keco The Model 205L (photo) is a benchtop analyzer used to quantify hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in liquids, including crude oil, fuel oil, naphtha, water, marine diesel, gasoline and…
Solids Handling: Using Flowsheet Simulation to Improve Process Design
Using flowsheet simulation to model processes involving granular solids — either those that are entirely separate from fluid processes or those that are combined with them — has many advantages for improving the process design. These include avoiding unplanned downtime,…
High-end Android smartphone for hazardous areas
Bartec Pixavi Impact X is the first intrinsically safe smartphone with the same usability, performance and functionality as high-end consumer devices. The product is ready to use right out of the box, just like a regular smartphone. In addition to…
Comsol releases Multiphysics 5.0 with new Application Builder
Comsol, Inc. (Burlington, Mass.; www.comsol.com) says it redefines the engineering simulation market with the release of COMSOL Multiphysics software version 5.0, featuring extensive product updates, three new add-on products, and the new and revolutionary Application Builder. With the Application Builder,…
High-strength steel checkup
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP; Saarbrücken, Germany; www.izfp.fraunhofer.de) have developed the so-called Magnus hybrid — an inspection system that combines micromagnetic and ultrasound techniques to characterize materials. The micromagnetic method helps determine hardness, tensile strength and…
Focus on Simulation and Modeling Software
Track energy consumption with this new software This month, this company is releasing Energy Performance Analytics (EP-Analytics; photo), a software tool that uses energy performance indicators (EnPI) to track how energy is being consumed in a plant, identifies gaps between…
Design of Experiments (DoE): Optimizing Products and Processes Efficiently
Experiments are done to quantify cause-and-effect relationships between adjustable parameters (inputs, factors, x) and the results (outputs, responses, y). They help to answer questions like: How do the ingredients and proportions of a mixture (inputs) influence its properties (outputs)? How…
Portable meters for flowrate, pressure and temperature
Alicat Scientific This company’s new, rechargeable, portable gas-mass flowmeters (photo) feature reading accuracy of ±0.8% with 18 h of continuous operations available on a single charge. These meters feature rapid multi-parameter measurements capable of producing live readouts of mass and…
Use this temperature transmitter in areas with space limitations
The M12TX temperature transmitter (photo) features a sensor with a built-in programmable transmitter, molded connector, 4–20-mA output and a –50 to 500°C temperature range. The probe is ideal for areas where traditional head connections are too large to fit. The…
STAR-CCM+ v9.06 breaks new ground with sophisticated modeling applications
CD-adapco (London, U.K.; www.cd-adapco.com), the largest privately held CFD (computational fluid dynamics) focused provider of computer-aided-engineering software, has released STAR-CCM+ v9.06. The new release allows engineers to get simulations closer to the final product by accounting for factors that are…