Latest News
Lonza divests two sites in France and Scotland
Lonza AG (Basel, Switzerland) has completed the sale of its sites in Ploermel, France and Edinburgh, Scotland to Next Pharma. Gordon Bates, President and Head of Small Molecules, Lonza said: “The strategic divestment of our Ploermel and Edinburgh sites will…
Engineering catalysts with ALD
Atomic-layer deposition (ALD), a surface engineering technique that applies layers of coatings in a conformal way at single-atom thicknesses, is being investigated for its potential to improve the selectivity and durability of industrial catalysts under a U.S. Dept. of Energy…
Piezoelectric wood
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa; Dübendorf; www.empa.ch) and ETH Zurich (both Switzerland; www.ethz.ch) have made wood compressible and turned it into a piezoelectric generator. The research, reported last month in the journal Science…
Integrating intelligent technologies for smarter rice mills
Bühler AG (Uzwil, Switzerland; www.buhlergroup.com) is making a major step towards digitally connected rice mills of the future. The first rollout for integrated rice mills is entering the final stages, with the initial setup using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine…
Plant Watch: Business News for April 2021
Plant Watch Thermo Fisher Scientific plans $600-million bioprocessing expansion March 12, 2021 — Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, Mass.; www.thermofisher.com) plans to invest more than $600 million in capital investments to expand its bioprocessing production capabilities through 2022. These investments…
Cybersecurity: Continuous Vigilance Required
As digitalization becomes more common and remote operations become necessary, guarding against cybersecurity breaches grows even more critical The hacking of a Florida water plant, which made headlines in February, was a poignant reminder of the dangers posed by breaches…
Continuously monitoring for corrosion and erosion
This company has introduced a complete corrosion and erosion monitoring portfolio with digital capabilities and full integration with the Plantweb digital ecosystem through the new Rosemount 4390 series of corrosion and erosion wireless transmitters and Plantweb Insight Non-Intrusive Corrosion application.…
Gear units for grain and bulk solids handling
MaxxDrive industrial gear units provide high output torque from 132,000 to 2,200,000 lb-in. The gear units are suitable for use in heavy-duty applications, such as bucket elevators, agitators, conveyor belt drives, mixers, mills, drums or crushers. MaxxDrive is available as…
Robust separation seal for a safe compressor shutdown
The CobaSeal (photo) is a robust separation seal with a unique coaxial operating principle. Design studies confirm the CobaSeal maintains its mechanical integrity up to 70 bars and minimizes process gas flow to the bearing cavity when retained properly. The…
A smart temperature transmitter with Bluetooth
The iTEMP TMT142B (photo) is a smart temperature transmitter with Bluetooth connectivity that delivers accurate and reliable measurements, wireless communication via Bluetooth and user-friendly operation — all packaged in a robust single-chamber field housing. The transmitter features a secure, integrated…