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Simplest valve actuators provide automation and production efficiency

By James Maslin National Sales and Marketing Manager for Air Springs Supply Pty Ltd. Rapid and reliable actuation of gate valves is becoming more and more critical to liquid and gas handling applications as industries face the twin demands of production automation and pressure to produce without production interruptions for maintenance. Gate valves, also known as sluice valves, are one of the most widely used types of valves in industrial applications, where they typically operate either fully open or fully closed, being used in pipelines as isolating valves rather than control or regulating valves. Their compact simplicity, low pressure loss, bidirectional versatility and ability to handle full flows where particles cannot cluster has led to widespread use in process engineering applications throughout industries such as food and beverage, agribusiness, manufacturing, mining and mineral processing, liquid-solid separation, filtration, materials handling, water and waste water and waste-to-energy projects. Typically gate valves are manually or (occasionally) hydraulically actuated, but where faster or remote actuation is required, they usually rely on conventional pneumatic actuation using a cylinder with rods and seals. However, an alternative means of actuation is available to process engineers charged with designing pipeline and reticulation systems that respond to the needs of automation and uninterrupted production demands. These flexible-wall, bellows-type Airstroke actuators – manufactured by Firestone and distributed throughout Australia by Air Springs Supply Pty Ltd – are tough, fabric reinforced rubber balloons of different shapes engineered to perform different tasks. The simple single, double and triple-convoluted airbags operate without seals, shafts or internal moving parts to provide ultra-reliable actuation alternatives for materials handling technology exposed to grime, debris and waste, which can disrupt the seals and shafts of convention pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders. Reliability engineered into their DNA Structurally they are identical to the enormously durable and reliable Firestone air […]

Low-height skidding system moves heavy loads in the tightest of spaces

Enerpac’s new Low-Height Skidding System is ideal for transformer maintenance. Global hydraulics and heavy lifting technology specialists Enerpac are introducing to Australasia a new Low-Height Skidding System – which stands at just 92mm with the track – for the accurate positioning of heavy loads in tight and awkward spaces. The LH-Series Low-Height Skidding System is a modular track system that can jack and slide heavy loads, such as transformers, generators, motors or drives, over a pre-constructed track. Skidding systems are ideally suited to tight spaces where cranes can’t access the load effectively. The new low-height system takes this one step further by using a rigid, durable design that can access even tighter spaces, while still providing high lifting capacities. Skidding systems are typically 200-600mm high, which is still an enormous advantage when cranes can’t access a lift site, but the Low-Height system, at just 92mm, opens possibilities in even tighter, more compact applications. The Low-Height Skidding System is comprised of a series of skid beams moved by hydraulic push-pull units, travelling over a pre-constructed track. A series of special PTFE-coated pads are placed on the skid tracks to reduce friction. The push-pull units are powered by a standard Enerpac Split Flow Pump to ensure each skid beam travels synchronously. When using two skidding units together, the maximum capacity is 3,560 kN of force, which can lift 400 tons, utilising 700 bar (10,000 PSI) hydraulic pressure. The Low-Height Skidding System has a push-pull stroke of 600 mm and is designed to easily change skidding direction, using Enerpac’s globally proven hydraulic pumps and cylinders. Customised solutions can be implemented for complex projects, such as utilising optional track support and connecting both power units together to provide synchronous travel of the load. Such a configuration would be used in applications like transformer outage […]

Compressed air expert lays foundation for further growth

BOGE managers look towards the future with optimism (from right to left: Wolf D. Meier-Scheuven, Michael Rommelmann, Gavin Monn, Ricarda Fleer and Thorsten Meier. Future investments, awards and new business models – the Bielefeld-based family-owned company BOGE can look back on a year full of high points. In 2017, the company was in step with its international customers once again with its advanced compressed air solutions. One highlight of the year was the opening of the smart factory at the head office in Bielefeld. Since September 2017, high speed turbo technology has been in series production there. The new “continuous improvement programme” was awarded a prize. This progressively enhances the compressors via ongoing further development in customer deployment. The mechanical engineering company is the first to bring this solution onto the market. Classic maintenance is therefore a thing of the past. BOGE has been synonymous with forward-looking compressed air solutions through intelligent engineering for 110 years. Its anniversary year saw the opening of the smart factory, and the company creating the preconditions to fulfil the high demands of individual customer compressed air solutions even better. In the digitalised factory, people, component and machine communicate with one another to produce the parts for the prizewinning BOGE HST high speed turbo compressor, specifically for the customer and to zero error quality. “Achieving this production line represented a major challenge for us”, says Wolf D. Meier-Scheuven, the managing partner. “Thanks to the advanced production technology we are now in a position to manufacture in many versions and with process reliability. This is innovative and demonstrates our response to the continuously increasing requirements of our customers.” In 2017, BOGE invested more than five per cent of its turnover in research and development; around twice as much as the average invested by companies in the […]

Innovation hub to fast-track Industry 4.0

An innovation hub to help Australian companies make the shift from traditional manufacturing to more advanced, value-added products has opened in Adelaide. The Tonsley Manufacturing Innovation hub in Adelaide is designed to accelerate the national adoption of ‘industry 4.0’ technology among hi-tech and manufacturing businesses, as well as foster research and development. The hub’s February 9 launch in the South Australian capital comes at a time when the nation’s economy is transitioning from a traditional manufacturing base to more digitalised, knowledge-based industries following the closure of Holden’s Adelaide plant late last year, which brought an end to automotive manufacturing in Australia. Professor John Spoehr, Director of the Australian Industrial Transformation Institute at Flinders University, said the adoption of new age digital technology was crucial due to the highly competitive environment of manufacturing internationally. “Without the automotive industries we need new sectors and new industries that will be at the forefront in the uptake of new technologies,” he said. Professor Spoehr said the hub would enable closer collaboration between educational organisations and businesses to better understand digital technology in new age manufacturing and its impact on the performance of companies and workers. The term ‘industry 4.0’ refers to the growing trend of automation and the use of the Internet of Things, Cloud computing and cyber-physical systems in advanced manufacturing. Situated on the ground floor of the Flinders University building at Tonsley, one of the key facilities at the Tonsley Manufacturing Innovation hub is the modular Future Factory. Made in Germany by technology giant Festo and funded by the South Australian Government, it showcases the latest automation, sensor, monitoring, robotic and cobotic technologies and is one of only a few Future Factories in the Southern Hemisphere. Professor Spoehr said the platform was modularised and could be reconfigured in a variety of ways. “It’s a great education […]

2018 Forecast: Advanced manufacturing remains bullish

Manufacturing in Australia has capped 14 consecutive months of expansion – led in part by the food and beverage industry, according to projections tracking this sector’s performance. The manufacturing sector continued its expansion throughout 2017, notes an index released by the Australian Industry Group (AI Group), Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index. November was marked by strong performance, while mirroring an uninterrupted growth phase that kicked off in October last year. This trajectory was influenced by strong sales, production and jobs growth, and an escalation of exports across emerging and traditional markets. Among the trends, the traditional manufacturing industry will thrive, together with a factory floor adoption of the newer, more advanced manufacturing technologies. The AI Group notes that manufacturers are in a “rebalancing act,” marked by pockets of growth in food, beverages, groceries, and specialist machinery. The other sectors incorporate pharma, building materials, industrial textiles and furniture. Advanced manufacturing is defined by an ability to blend the skills of a multidisciplinary team, leveraging internet and emerging technologies, and capturing customers’ needs to deliver innovative products and services. This roadmap is also highlighted at the 2nd Annual Industrial Internet 4.0 Summit being held 21-22 February in Sydney. With a line-up of 30+ speakers and industry partners, this dedicated forum highlights core trends, and reflects industry forecasts, among these: INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS (IIOT) AND AUTOMATION The future of manufacturing is influenced by the industrial internet of things (IIoT), robotics, automation, sensors, connected devices, big data, analytics, and mobile apps. Manufacturing is entering a phase of restructuring. This blueprint recalibrates cumbersome business processes, embraces automation, and adopts the more advanced techniques to improve productivity. On the automotive front, local manufacturers compete with low-cost imports. This sees a trend in moving production overseas, especially to Asia, while managing the overheads and reducing pressures on the bottom […]

Farmers and services industry winners under revised Trans-PacificPartnership trade deal

Giovanni Di Lieto, Lecturer, Bachelor of International Business, Monash Business School, Monash University. The revived trade agreement, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), has finally made it across the line. It’s a considerable win for Australian farmers and service providers, in a trading area worth about A$90 billion. The 11 remaining countries from the initial Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement finally agreed to go ahead with the deal without the US, at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The deal reduces the scope for controversial investor-state dispute settlements, where foreign investors can bypass national courts and sue governments for compensation for harming their investments. It introduces stronger safeguards to protect the governments’ right to regulate in the public interest and prevent unwarranted claims. Despite earlier union fears of the impact for Australian workers, the CPTPP does not regulate the movement of workers. It only has minor changes to domestic labour rights and practices. The new agreement is more of an umbrella framework for separate yet coordinated bilateral deals. In fact, Australia’s Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said: The agreement will deliver 18 new free trade agreements between the CPTPP parties. For Australia that means new trade agreements with Canada and Mexico and greater market access to Japan, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. It means a speedier process for reducing import barriers on key Australian products, such as beef, lamb, seafood, cheese, wine and cotton wool. It also promises less competition for Australian services exports, encouraging other governments to look to use Australian services and reducing the regulations of state-owned enterprises. Australia now also has new bilateral trade deals with Canada and Mexico as part and parcel of the new agreement. This could be worth a lot to the Australian economy if it were to fill commercial gaps created by potential trade […]

Hugely durable Wearply outstanding for materials handling and electrical tasks

Wearply from Cut To Size Plastics is used for applications ranging from insulated rail joints, above, through to vibratory conveyor leaf springs used in processing and loading equipment as well as electrical motor, generator and transformer components. A hugely durable reinforced plastic composite that weighs less than aluminium but has up to 10 times the specific strength of 1020 steel is being offered by Cut To Size Plastics for demanding rail, ports, mineral processing, materials handling facilities, infrastructure construction and associated electrical and industrial applications. Wearply reinforced plastic composite is ideal for maintenance, engineering and fabrication tasks which aim to optimise design and performance of infrastructure and machinery components and leaf spring assemblies in which performance and reliability is vital. Wearply can withstand millions of stress cycles at 1400 bar (20,000 psi) without fatigue failure. Wearply derives its enormous strength, performance and durability from epoxy resins reinforced with continuously aligned, non-woven filaments. This allows plies to be laid so reinforcement is oriented to give greater strength and stiffness in the direction, or directions, in which it is most needed. Parallel filaments resist the stress abrasion that can shorten the fatigue life in conventional reinforced plastics. “This advanced engineering material is winning the attention of machinery designers globally for its superior performance in a huge range of applications, from rail, materials handling facilities and associated electrical plant through to vibratory machinery in minerals and primary production processing and loading applications. “The same qualities that make it suitable for advanced aerospace and medical applications – such as helicopter blades and MRI equipment – mean it can be employed with confidence in rail, materials handling, marine and ship loading and high-precision tasks where reliability is vital,” says Mr Flood, who has national and international experience in the application of light but outstandingly durable […]

New frontiers for South Australian space industry

The International Astronautical Congress hit Adelaide in 2017, bringing more than 4500 space experts to town and the focus of the world on South Australia. Jim Plouffe The Hubble Space Telescope being serviced as the Space Shuttle crosses South Australia in December 1993. Picture courtesy NASA.Although the IAC was the culmination of a decade of work by many people in Australia’s space industry, it can also be seen as the launching pad for a revitalised space industry based in South Australia. The Australian government used the congress to announce that Australia would finally have a national Space Agency (pending yet another review due in March 2018) while Elon Musk used the congress to tell the world he was putting all his resources toward developing his BFR to not only travel to Mars but also to reduce earth travel times to under an hour and establish a lunar base. Michael Davis, the Chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia, said organising the congress made South Australia a leader in space industries and the South Australian government’s space plan would help the state influence the new National Space Agency. “The South Australian government backed our bid [for the congress] right from the beginning, going back eight years,” he said. Heads of space agencies, from left, NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) Head Igor Komarov, European Space Agency Director General Jan Woerner, China National Space Administration (CNSA) Secretary General Tian Yulong and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) President Naoki Okumura at the International Astronautical Congress in South Australia. “When we won the bid, they saw the opportunity. They didn’t wait till the congress took place, they formulated and implemented a strategy that has led directly to the announcement of the South Australian Space Industry Centre and the $4 million in funding.” A week […]

Hugely durable Wearply outstanding for materials handling and electrical tasks

In the picture (below):Wearply from Cut To Size Plastics is used for applications ranging from insulated rail joints, above, through to vibratory conveyor leaf springs used in processing and loading equipment as well as electrical motor, generator and transformer components. A hugely durable reinforced plastic composite that weighs less than aluminium but has up to 10 times the specific strength of 1020 steel is being offered by Cut To Size Plastics for demanding rail, ports, mineral processing, materials handling facilities, infrastructure construction and associated electrical and industrial applications. Wearply reinforced plastic composite is ideal for maintenance, engineering and fabrication tasks which aim to optimise design and performance of infrastructure and machinery components and leaf spring assemblies in which performance and reliability is vital. Wearply can withstand millions of stress cycles at 1400 bar (20,000 psi) without fatigue failure, says Pat Flood, NSW Manager of Cut To Size Plastics. It derives its enormous strength, performance and durability from epoxy resins reinforced with continuously aligned, non-woven filaments. This allows plies to be laid so reinforcement is oriented to give greater strength and stiffness in the direction, or directions, in which it is most needed. Parallel filaments resist the stress abrasion that can shorten the fatigue life in conventional reinforced plastics. “This advanced engineering material is winning the attention of machinery designers globally for its superior performance in a huge range of applications, from rail, materials handling facilities and associated electrical plant through to vibratory machinery in minerals and primary production processing and loading applications. “The same qualities that make it suitable for advanced aerospace and medical applications – such as helicopter blades and MRI equipment – mean it can be employed with confidence in rail, materials handling, marine and ship loading and high-precision tasks where reliability is vital,” says Mr Flood, who has […]

Lapp launches in Australia

One of the world’s leading providers of branded cable and connector systems and integrated electrical and automation engineering solutions, Lapp, is establishing a fully-fledged subsidiary in Australia. Lapp Australia – headquartered at Eastern Creek, Sydney – will meet demand nationally for technologies used in future-focussed areas of industry, such as automation, robotics, energy management, data distribution and intelligent manufacturing, buildings, infrastructure and process engineering. Lapp Australia General Manager Simon Pullinger says the new facility – to open on February 1 – will bring new levels of service and choice to the Australian market, offering strong inventory of over 1,000 product lines onshore as well as direct access to more than 40,000 standard items from Lapp’s global ranges. Lapp Australia will work in close co-operation with its established key local Lapp distribution partner in Australia, Treotham Automation, which brings market-leading local expertise to its specialised markets. Lapp Australia will also extend its strong association with ECS New Zealand, a family-owned business, like Lapp, which has been a Lapp distributor for more than 30 years. ECS Investments is a 50 per cent shareholder in the new Lapp Australia business, with the other 50 per cent owned by Lapp Holding Asia. The existing online Lapp Express website, meanwhile, will continue to expand in both countries, complementing the new strengths delivered by Lapp Australia. Mr Pullinger says Lapp’s investment in a new full subsidiary in Australia is a strong vote of confidence in local industry as it increasingly moves into the global industrial automation market, which is forecast to grow to an annual worth of $US 350 billion ($A460 billion) by 2024. The new Eastern Creek facility provides a strong base for engineering, technical and product support staff, operating in a technology and distribution environment modelled on Lapp’s global facilities supplying more than 100 […]

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