A new kind of live event for the process industry

On March 11 and 12 an entirely new kind of event will take place at Manchester Central. The eagerly awaited Process Engineering Live, created to fill a critical information gap for the process industries, brings together the best elements of a traditional trade show with live demonstrations and specially commissioned conference sessions.

Visitors to Process Engineering Live will be able to see for themselves how cutting-edge technology can combine with modern business practices and a focus on appropriate skills to transform the potential of their business.

Process Engineering Live event director Neil Simpson says that the response from the industry has been overwhelmingly positive, as companies look to gain a competitive advantage in a demanding global market.

“There is no doubt that this is the event that the process engineering industry has been crying out for. In the current economic climate it is more important than ever that engineers have the opportunity to meet their peers and suppliers to share knowledge. It is only by exploiting to the full the best available technology, working practices and skills training that the UK process industry can make the most of its strengths and stay competitive in a global economy,” he said.

The technology on show at Process Engineering Live covers every aspect of the industry, from essential physical components such as drives, controls, pumps, fluid and solid handling, valves and sensors through to automation and integration solutions, safety systems, design and CFD software. Also highlighted will be the latest developments in plant management technology, including the key areas of plant maintenance and energy efficiency. Live demonstrations and targeted conference sessions will allow visitors to see for themselves how this technology can benefit their business.

To get your free ticket to Process Engineering Live and book your conference places visit www.processengineeringlive.co.uk now.

Get to grips with today’s burning issues
The Process Engineering Live conference programme puts the spotlight on today’s burning issues, including dedicated half-day sessions on asset management and maintenance, energy and environment, lean manufacturing and – a key focus for the show – people and skills.

The skills gap will also be addressed in a separate skills seminar theatre hosted by the National Skills Academy for the Process Industries and Cogent.

The full conference programme is:

11 March morning – Process Improvement

10.20 – Keynote introduction
10.30 to 11.00 – Plant improvement forum – Amy Elliot Peace, Chemicals Northwest
11.00 to 11.30 – Process improvement in the chemicals sector
11.30 to 12.00 – Better, Quicker, Cheaper – Sarah Grindrod, PICME
12.00 to 12.30 – Shop floor to business-level communications – Duncan Fletcher, Copa Data UK

Q & A session

11 March afternoon – Asset Management

13.20 – Keynote introduction
13.30 to 14.00 – Managing assets, gaining the business benefits – Alan Laird, TWPL
14.00 to 14.30 – Asset performance management – Dirk Frame, TA Cook
14.30 to 15.00 – New technology and asset management – Tony Alexander, Honeywell Process Solutions
15.00 to 15.30 – Asset life cycle management – Noel Grinsted, MCP

Q & A session

12 March morning – Energy and Environment

10.20 – Keynote introduction
10.30 to 11.00 – Energy performance efficiency – Steve Williamson, SJW Associates
11.00 to 11.30 – Meeting MCERTS requirements – Paul Wiggins, Environment Agency
11.30 to 12.00 – How to introduce an energy efficiency programme – Andy Clegg, Industrial Systems and Controls
12.00 to 12.30 – Maintaining the competitive edge – Nicholas A Lindop, Pentagon Chemicals

Q & A session

12 March afternoon – People and Skills

13.20 – Keynote introduction
13.30 to 14.00 – Going for gold – Steve Westhead, Solutia UK
14.00 to 14.30 – Combining business and training goals – John Holland, United Biscuits
14.30 to 15.00 – Uptake of the Cogent Gold Standard – John Holton, 3VSIGMA
15.00 to 15.30 – Economic impact of skills – Dr Brian Murphy, Cogent
Q & A session

Key industry bodies give their support
The timely mix of new technology and best practice thinking on show at Process Engineering Live has attracted support from key bodies across the industry. These include the main trade associations for the sector, the British Pump Manufacturers Association and the British Valve and Actuators Association, as well as the National Skills Academy for the Process Industries, Cogent, and Profibus.

Are you MCERTain about your emissions?
Do you know you company’s obligations under emissions legislation? If you are in any doubt about what this means to you, or the best way to stay compliant, then a special conference session at Process Engineering Live may help.

Paul Wiggins of the Environment Agency will be explaining the current situation regarding the Agency’s MCERTS (Monitoring Certification Scheme) for certification of continuous and portable water monitoring equipment used in process industries.

Businesses that make emissions to air, land and water are regulated by the Environment Agency under strict European and UK laws, to protect the environment and human health. And if this applies to your business you need permission from the Environment Agency to operate.

This permission normally comes in the form of a permit to operate, which requires that all emissions are monitored. Businesses either monitor their emissions all the time, known as continuous monitoring, or at times defined in their permit, known as spot tests or periodic monitoring. In both cases they must meet the Environment Agency’s requirements.

MCERTS provides the framework for businesses to meet the Environment Agency’s requirements. If the monitoring equipment used by you complies with MCERTS, then the Agency can have increased confidence in your monitoring of emissions to the environment.

Paul Wiggins says “MCERTS started some years ago with equipment used to monitor chimney stacks. Virtually all equipment now used for this monitoring meets MCERTS requirements. MCERTS has now been extended to monitoring discharges to the aquatic environment. Some manufacturers have already had their monitoring equipment certified under MCERTS. The list of equipment with MCERTS certification can be found via www.mcerts.net. Increasing numbers of manufacturers are now getting their monitoring equipment certified under MCERTS – so extending the choice for process industries.”

Cogent urges employers to access skills funding
£50m of Government money is available to employers in the process sector for skills training, and Cogent will be explaining to visitors how they can access this funding. The money is part of a three-year deal and was available from 1 January this year.

Cogent’s research shows that not enough people are coming into the industry via apprenticeships and vocational routes to meet the demand for replacements in core roles across the sector. Using this £50m, Cogent will focus the support and funding available through Train to Gain to tackle skills priorities, including meeting challenging targets for training new entrants and qualifying existing workers.

One-stop-shop for process valves
Process valve manufacturer and supplier ARI-Armaturen (stand 303), offers a one-stop-shop for cost-effective, high-performance solutions for all plant operations.

The company says that with a record number of customers benefiting from its isolation, safety, control and steam trapping products, Process Engineering Live provides an ideal platform to introduce the latest developments to existing and prospective customers.

As well as showcasing process control solutions, ARI will also be introducing its new product and applications training programme. Scheduled to take place throughout 2009, these customer workshops will be led by specialists from ARI’s German parent company.

“We offer customers a one-stop-shop valve solution – from providing advice and guidance to after-sales support,” said Tony Harrison, operations manager at ARI-Armaturen. “Our comprehensive programme of customer courses allows us to provide training on specific applications at our new dedicated seminar facility.”

Throughout the exhibition there will be a fully qualified team from ARI at the stand, guiding customers towards the most efficient solution for their plant.

Stop MESsing about
Does your company need a Manufacturing Execution System (MES)? That’s the question Duncan Fletcher of COPA-DATA will be asking in his conference session on 11 March. Many production facilities use an MES as the link between process automation and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. But what used to be an integral part of many industrial systems now becomes a questionably unnecessary cost factor; at least for those who are using SAP(R) applications and controlling their production with COPA DATA’s zenon SCADA application.

A SAP-certified bidirectional interface now connects SCADA with ERP, so zenon and SAP ERP work in unison to take over the tasks that used to be performed by separate MES products or by manually transferring data. The HMI/SCADA system interacts with SAP ERP via a bidirectional interface. This means it sends messages about any type of event to the ERP level and also receives control commands from there. Companies can now directly link their process level with the ERP level, thus making a closed information loop producing a complete overview of their business – from order management, recipes and production to shipment – as it happens.

Profibus lines up to support PE Live
With 20 million devices installed around the world, Profibus International is the world’s most important fieldbus and a driving force in the UK and global process sectors. Profibus will play an active role in Process Engineering Live, contributing to the educational seminar programme and encouraging its 77 UK members to get involved.

Celebrating its silver anniversary at PE Live
Econosto UK (stand 428) has now been supplying valves to industries across the UK for a quarter of a century. Right from its inception in 1984 as Ball Valves UK Ltd, the company’s strategy of maintaining high stock levels combined with continual improvements in product range and service, marked it out as a leader in the market.

This service was further enhanced in 1998 when the company was acquired by the Dutch Econosto Group. This added an array of complementary products and cost-effective own-brand ranges to the existing portfolio of quality, globally recognized brands.

From just supplying valves and associated technical advice the company was able to start providing full solutions with the new range of available products.

More recently, the company has been acquired by the ERIKS Group as part of a strategy to strengthen its valve division, particularly in the UK. This development has again opened up wider opportunities and new markets for Econosto UK, working alongside sister company ERIKS UK.

Stable and accurate low-flow measurement for trouble-free use
Furness Controls (Stand 528) bases its unique design of differential pressure transmitter on a capacitance transducer. This makes the very low pressure and flow measurement extremely stable and accurate for long-term, trouble-free use.

Key products for Furness Controls are low differential pressure transmitters with measurement capabilities from 0.01 Pascals to 20,000 Pascals in both positive and negative ranges to suit most low-pressure applications. These range from dirty environments such as power generation, steel and brick manufacturing, to ultra-clean conditions in the medical, pharmaceutical and nuclear sectors.


Hydraulic motors offer multiple advantages
Hagglunds (Stand 300) continues to expand its range of hydraulic motors and will exhibit a working unit with a plexi-glass case to show its interior mechanism. These hydraulic motors can remove the need for gearboxes on process equipment such as mixers, rolling mills, extruders, digesters and kilns in industries that include chemical manufacture, pulp and paper production, rubber and plastics.

With no need for a gearbox, layouts can be more compact and mounting is easier, while the motors are highly reliable and can be customised to suit most applications requiring high torque at low variable speeds.

With 25 years in the sector, Hagglunds has strong experience of application areas such as mixers and agitators, rolling mills and extruders, dewatering presses and drum drives for digesters, composting, trommels, kilns and autoclaves.

Hagglunds’ range of hydraulic motors includes a wide variety of standard power units and controls which are housed in weatherproof and sound-insulated cabinets. These are easy to maintain using the front opening doors and can be customised to suit special conditions. Control systems cover all start/stop logic, drive control and heath monitoring with a simple operator interface and feature ready-programmed routines such as shredder and power control. All units are fully tested prior to installation and are easy to install and commission.

Safety and control on show
Hima-Sella Ltd (Stand 429) is showing the operational and economic benefits of its HIMax safety system. HIMax is based on technology that utilises testing and diagnostics to achieve safety integrity level 3 (SIL 3). It also has scalable, fault-tolerant architecture, which eliminates false trips and allows unlimited changes, modifications, expansions, upgrades and regulatory proof testing to be carried out, without taking the plant off-line.

Also highlighted will be Hima-Sella’s panel building capability, which allows it to design and deliver anything from basic wall-mounted units to room-sized panels.

It will also be introducing its tank overfill protection solution (TOPS), which has been developed in-house as a direct response to the recommendations from the MIIB following Buncefield. TOPS is a flexible, cost-effective and reliable SIL-rated system, which is compatible with a wide range of detectors and communicates with all leading DCS manufacturers.


Happy 10th birthday for Eclipse 705
It is now 10 years since Magnetrol (Stand 2090 launched the Eclipse Model 705, the first 2-wire guided wave radar –GWR) level transmitter that measured liquid level, independent of liquid characteristics. With no need for calibration, a broad application coverage, ease of configuration and enhanced reliability, the 705 was quickly accepted in the traditionally conservative oil and gas industries.

The principle of operation is based on time-of-flight measurement of high-frequency pulses sent down a fixed transmission line reflecting off the liquid surface. The initial product involved one amplifier with two probe types (coaxial and twin rod). The product offering now includes one universal amplifier with a complete series of application-oriented GWR probes.

Through continuous innovation, the Eclipse Model 705 transmitter has always stayed one step ahead of the market. With an installed base of more than 50,000 units, mainly in the oil and gas industries, Eclipse runs the operational functions as well as the ESD functions of entire facilities.


No job too hot to handle
No job is too hot to handle when it comes to process control solutions for industry, science or sport, says Southern Temperature Sensors Ltd (Stand 518), which will showcase a range of sensors, gauges, instruments, data loggers and installations accessories. This includes a new range of needle valves and valve manifolds.

Southern’s team of qualified engineers uses the most suitable equipment from a vast range of manufacturers to provide the ideal sensor, gauge, instrument, data logger or accessory combination in a short space of time and with minimal client effort.

In addition, it is fast becoming a specialist in supplying bespoke solutions across all its product lines – from one-off temperature sensors built to the customer’s specification, to turned parts in aerospace materials.


Buy into the Gold Standard – and be £1.3 billion better off
Every company’s ambition is to expand its market share, to increase productivity, and be highly profitable. But what happens when the workforce isn’t properly equipped with the skills to achieve these corporate goals?

Cogent research shows that for the UK Manufacturing Process Industries (chemicals, pharmaceuticals and polymers) around £1.3bn of added value would be created by matching the USA’s productivity levels as a consequence of improving skills. The Cogent Gold Standard aims to set the benchmark for the skills that are needed to achieve this. The Gold Standard takes key job roles in the Process Industries and defines a framework of training and qualifications to achieve ‘world class’ performance.

It isn’t just new graduates and apprentices that need to be trained. Research shows that 70% of the workforce that will be in place in 2020 is already employed. So, to train these people effectively, Cogent is helping to create ‘bite-sized’ modular courses that don’t keep participants away from where they are needed in the workforce for extended periods.

Conference presentations in the People and Skills sessions from John Holland and Dr Brian Murphy will look at the background and wider economic implications of the skills gap and how the Gold Standard works in practice.

Protecting what matters most
Explosions or overpressures in processes can be disastrous and can lead to loss of life, damage to the environment and facilities, loss of revenue, fines and loss of your licence to operate. In extreme cases, there may possibly even be criminal charges against key personnel. Fike UK (Stand 419) is a leader in design, manufacture and supply of bursting/rupture discs and industrial explosion protection equipment. It understands the challenges that companies face every day in their plants and the complex legislative environment they operate in.

Fike’s capability encompasses custom-engineered discs and products, Kst evaluation and product explosivity testing as well as assistance in obtaining ATEX compliance. It can also provide active or passive explosion venting and isolation devices and explosion suppression systems. Flameless venting systems are available for when it is impossible for a process to vent externally. Fike also offers full periodic and emergency maintenance by Fike experts.

When and Where
Tuesday 10 March 10.00am - 16.30pm
Wednesday 11 March 10.00am – 16.30pm

Location
Central Hall 1, Manchester Central,
Manchester M2 3GX

Tel: + 44 (0) 161 834 2700

Exhibitors Include:
Alpha Lettering Systems
ARI-Armaturen (UK) Ltd
Asco Joucomatic Ltd
British Pump Manufacturing Association
British Valve Accuators Association
BRONKHORST UK LTD
Cogent SSC Ltd
Econosto UK Ltd
Endress & Hauser Ltd
FIKE UK LTD
Furness Controls Ltd
Hagglunds Drives Ltd
Hima-Sella Ltd
KINETROL LTD
KSB Ltd
Magnetrol International N.V.
Rotork Controls
Southern Temperature Sensors Ltd
The Engineer (Centaur)
The PROFIBUS Group

Register FREE or reserve your FREE place on the Conference Programme at www.processengineeringlive.co.uk