Process sensors and actuators provide a wealth of information about their status. The Namur recommendation NE 107 that proposes standardized, easily understandable status indicators was issued by the International User Association for Automation in Process Industries (Namur; Leverkusen, Germany; www.namur.de),…
With the advent of smart or intelligent field devices, a wealth of digital information has become available. However, what does the host system do with these data? The field device transmits a bucket of bits to the host system. How…
The new version of this company’s on-line water analyzer UV500 is dedicated to process monitoring in the chemical industry. This analyzer is based on a 2,048-pixel, high-resolution spectrograph (0.29 nm) that covers both ultraviolet (UV) and visible (VIS) wavelengths. A…
Last month, Krohne Messtechnik GmbH (Duisburg, Germany; www.krohne.com) launched SmartSens, the first family of two-wire, loop-powered analytical sensors with integrated transmitter technology. Prior to this, analytical sensors have required an external proprietary transmitter onsite to deliver the sensor signals to…
Fundamentals of Automatic Process Control. By Utpal Chaudhuri and Uttam Chaudhuri. CRC Press Inc., Taylor & Francis Group. 6000 Broken Sound Parkway, #300, Boca Raton, FL 33487. Web: crcpress.com. 2012. 303 pages. $139.95. Reviewed by Douglas White, Emerson Process Management,…
Inline viscosity measurements can give continuous, realtime readings of a fluid’s viscosity during processing and consequently, can provide a means to automate the viscosity control of process fluids. While it is difficult to control all factors in the process that…
Intergraph (Huntsville, Ala.; www.intergraoph.com) announces the launch of SmartPlant Cloud, the company’s Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, a dynamic cloud-computing environment to support the entire SmartPlant Enterprise portfolio. SmartPlant Cloud removes the need for customer hardware and infrastructure and…
A newly launched gas chromatography (GC) device from Analytical Pixels Technology (APIX; Grenoble, France; www.apixtechnology.com), called GCAP, uses a nanoscale silicon-beam resonator to detect mass. A piezoelectric cross-beam initiates the vibration of the nanoscale silicon resonator, and the resonance frequency…
Detection of extremely small quantities of dangerous or hazardous substances is important in many areas, including national security, safety of public utilities and radiation prevention. Several analytical methods have been developed using structural, functional and electronic properties of nanomaterials. In…
Anton Paar USA The MCR 702 rheometer features this company’s modular TwinDrive technology, and is said to be the only instrument capable of handling all rheological applications. The device has two synchronous EC (electrically commutated) motor units — one is…