Developments

Green energy orb environmentally outstanding

A spectacular orb-shaped green energy storage facility being installed at one of Australia’s largest beef processing plants is helping to demonstrate how industry can profit from environmental initiatives. The 6000m3 capacity flexible pvc-coated polyester fibre flexible storage tank collects biogas produced by the new Global Water Engineering COHRAL(TM) Covered High Rate Anaerobic Lagoon being installed by CST Wastewater Solutions at Oakey Beef Exports on Queensland’s Darling Downs. To be commissioned next year, the plant will extract green energy biogas (methane) from its waste water streams to replace millions of dollars worth of natural gas currently consumed at the abattoir. The 26m high flexible storage tank – one of the world’s largest of its type – features resilient flexible double membrane storage so that gas produced by the COHRAL plant can be safely stored separately from the gas generator. Use of the separate flexible tank for gas storage provides security against leakage, with gas securely contained in the tank instead of being more loosely contained under lagoon covers. The Sattler biogas storage design selected for Oakey Beef has been tested and proven over decades and now is an integral feature in the design of modern waste water treatment plants worldwide. They are engineered to be permanently gas-tight with high operational reliability and optimum safety. “The safe, durable and environmentally harmonious COHRAL(TM) technology deployed at Oakey Beef can be widely applied worldwide to food, beverage and agricultural and primary processing plants. Oakey Beef Processing and its owners Nippon Meat Packers have taken a far-sighted initiative that opens the way to cleaner, greener and more profitable industry performance,” says CST Wastewater Solutions Managing Director Mr Michael Bambridge, whose company represents the GWE COHRAL(TM technology in Australia and New Zealand. The COHRAL(TM plant (with alternative view of the flexible storage tank above) is expected […]

Maintenance for mine profitability

Mining operations and manufacturing facilities rely on the continued safe operation of vehicles and machinery to maintain profitability. Any equipment failure can be expensive in terms of lost production and cost of repairs. An estimate for the cost of lost production for a single dragline is $8000 per hour in Australia making any breakdown very costly when it might take weeks for a replacement part to be available. One way to minimise losses is to continually monitor plant and machinery using non-destructive testing (NDT) methods to ascertain component health, and monitor mechanisms for damage. Phased array ultrasound can enhance day to day inspection of surface mining equipment, thereby improving safety and keeping critical equipment operational. However, it is important that inspections are performed with minimal down time, so need to be planned and coordinated to ensure that critical parts are available when the maintenance is carried out. As part of the technical programme at the recent Australian Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (AINDT) Conference in Brisbane, Nicholas Bublitz, a Global Product Support Specialist with Olympus Scientific Solutions America (OSSA), reported on how the use of phased array ultrasonics could improve surface mine profitability. NDT is a group of techniques used to detect discontinuities in materials or components without causing damage or permanently altering the article being inspected. The AINDT Conference provided opportunities for NDT and maintenance professionals to meet and discuss the latest advances in NDT from around the world. Leading corporate members of the Institute, such as Olympus, displayed and demonstrated some of their innovative, precision analysis instrumentation and applications supporting NDT. “NDT methods like ultrasonics, eddy current and radiography—along with condition monitoring techniques such as oil and vibration analysis—play an important part in predictive maintenance programs and help reduce unexpected expenses,” Bublitz said. Outage and emergency repair costs can […]

AUSTECH 2015 – The world’s leading machine tool builders under one roof

Those who walk through the doors of Melbourne’s Convention and Exhibition Centre from 26 to 29 May 2015 will have a world of manufacturing opportunities open before their eyes. Of course it takes all areas of manufacturing to come together, including tooling, workholding, software and systems integration, to create a complete solution, but machine tools are one important piece of the manufacturing puzzle. This year, Australia’s premier advanced precision manufacturing and machine tool show will once again host all the world’s leading machine tool builders under one roof, showcasing the latest machine tool configurations and also stylings that are notably different and fresh. The slowly recovering but still very challenging conditions of the Australian market for machine tools and other equipment makes AUSTECH of keen interest to local suppliers. “Given the current conditions inside Australia’s metal manufacturing sector, it’s important that business owners and operators can examine the next investment steps in manufacturing technology they must take to rebuild their competitive position in the global arena,” Phil Hayes, Managing Director of Okuma Australia & NZ comments. “The machine tool field has been somewhat difficult for the past three years but that has not prevented us from making available the very latest, market-leading and innovative technology from Okuma.” Okuma will showcase three levels of new technology, including 5-axis machining, Phil Hayes explains. “New advanced technology machine models of 5-axis milling with turning and 10-axis turning with milling, amazing advances in the user-interface of Okuma’s own OSP controller technology and packaged, kit-style automation solutions. These are central to the technology investments Australian manufacturers must make to keep pace with overseas manufacturing trends that are well advanced.” Rebuilding a competitive position requires local manufacturers to do several things: Investing in new and highly-efficient equipment. Automating. Training and retraining. One of the recent major […]

How Life Cycle Engineering can make manufacturing more competitive

By Professor Sami Kara Director of Postgraduate Research Faculty of Engineering University of New South Wales Manufacturers in New Zealand and Australia are hearing a constant refrain: to remain competitive in the global manufacturing marketplace, companies must become more productive with fewer resources and must find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. As well as becoming more ‘lean’ there is increasing pressure to become more environmentally sound. The answer, according to our research at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, could be Life Cycle Engineering (LCE). LCE is an approach to product design and manufacture that takes into account the entire product life cycle from beginning to end. With increased resource scarcity there is an opportunity for manufacturers to minimise their environmental impact and improve return, by controlling the entire product life cycle. This is a dramatic departure from the traditional manufacturing approach, which generally concerns itself with the product’s life cycle only up until the end of its warranty period, which has resulted in a disposable society, where many products are simply sent to landfill. The world has limited resources to sustain production. Approximately 89 million barrels of oil and liquid fuels were consumed per day worldwide in 2011 . By 2030 China alone is expected to consume 17.5 million barrels per day . Limited copper resources will cause similar issues. With this increased pressure on resources, manufacturers will eventually have to find alternatives to using high levels of raw materials. If products were designed from the beginning to be dismantled at the end of their lifespan, it would make the recycling process much easier and more cost-effective, and significant resources would not be wasted. LCE would go some way to addressing this issue but to be truly viable it must […]

A Trade Agreement, but not a Free Trade Agreement

Today’s China – Australia Free Trade Agreement announced by Minister Robb includes gains for some Australian grains but not all. Australia’s premier grain industry has missed out on concessions under the China Australia Free Trade Agreement. After 10 years of negotiations, Australian wheat remains subject to an out-of-quota tariff of 65 per cent, and within-quota tariff of 1 per cent. Exports of Canola will also continue to be subject to a tariff of 9 per cent, and maize exports have also been excluded from concessions under the deal. “Wheat and canola continue, along with rice, sugar and maize, to be non-negotiable for China. However, in the case of wheat, the Chinese world wheat quota is currently 9.6 million tonnes, so well above their imports and not binding. The 1 per cent in-quota tariff, as long as it’s applied to all exporters of wheat to China, is not a significant distortion to trade and it’s that equivalence that we will be focusing on in the short-term.” Says Cheryl Kalisch Gordon, Manager Trade & Market Access, GrainGrowers. The Australian grains industry will however benefit from immediate removal of the 3 per cent tariff on barley and 2 per cent tariff on sorghum. Australian exports of these grains to China are growing on the back of an expanding Chinese alcoholic beverage sector and in 2013 exports were valued at $351 million and $91 million respectively. The value of tariff removal for these two commodities represents around $12 million per annum in 2013 trade terms with the benefit being shared between Chinese consumers and the Australian grains industry. With trade in these commodities expected to continue to grow over time, these annual benefits will also increase. Other positives for grains from the agreement include: • Immediate removal of the 2 per cent tariff on […]

OLYM-Release-AINDT 2014 Conference Preview_1

Olympus gives instrumental support to AINDT

Each year, the Australian Institute of Non-destructive Testing (AINDT) Conference provides the opportunity for maintenance and quality assurance professionals to learn more about NDT and related technologies from leading AINDT members including Olympus. The four day conference is being held this year at the Sofitel Brisbane Central from 23-26 November. NDT is any analysis technique used to evaluate the properties of materials or components without causing damage or permanently alter the article being inspected. Picture: The Olympus RollerFORM phased array wheel probe simplifies composite material inspection On its stand at the AINDT Conference, Olympus will be demonstrating a range of NDT, phased-array, remote visual inspection (RVI) and X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) portfolios to attendees. “We continue our commitment to the Institute and its ongoing initiatives promoting the benefits of NDT,” said Graham Maxwell, National Key Accounts & Technical Manager at Olympus. “We will be demonstrating our range to new customers and showing our continued support and commitment to existing customers.” Olympus staff will be on hand to discuss the latest NDT tools from the company. Richard Nowak, NDT Product Specialist, will be giving practical demonstrations of the Nortec N600 Eddy Current analyser and the RollerFORM phased array wheel probe. A special guest at this year’s conference will be Nicholas Bublitz, who is visiting Australia again from Olympus Scientific Solutions America. He will be presenting a technical paper entitled “Improving Surface Mine Profitability with Phased Array Ultrasonics.” Visitors to the Olympus stand will have the opportunity to meet with Bublitz to discuss a range of NDT solutions or troubleshoot advanced applications with a renowned international product specialist. Bublitz has been a Global Product Support Specialist with Olympus SSA since 2012. He is responsible for the global support and industry advancement of all NDT equipment produced by Olympus. Mr Bublitz’s primary focus […]

IC3D Steel 2.0 with improved management features

IC3D, a leading provider of hardware and software solutions for the Manufacturing, Architectural and Engineering industries, has introduced the latest version of its steel structural design and management software, IC3D Steel™ for SolidWorks®. IC3D Steel 2.0 introduces a raft of features centred on improving project flow and management, and simplifying organisational tasks like notating bolt lists and depicting virtual bolts in a design. IC3D Steel was first conceived as a dedicated steel design tool for SolidWorks. It built upon SolidWorks’ parametric modeller and its core Weldments Design function, to build a ‘structural workflow’ application that is perfect for building and detailing with steel. The aim is to make the design process quicker, simpler and error-free. Refined with additional functionality, the software that makes it easier for designers and design teams to manage their projects within a specified workflow, and gives them additional tools to simplify organisation within projects. In IC3D Steel 2.0, projects are organised individually, all relevant files are associated automatically, and files are stored logically for easy retrieval, backup or archiving. Important project meta-data such a customer’s details, project number and document-numbering scheme can be configured at project setup. IC3D Steel uses this data whenever it creates or updates a document in the project; meaning drawings can be consistently labelled for additional security. Other new features address the complexity inherent in steel fabrication projects. For example, with steel designs generating up to ten times as many bolts, nuts and washers as steel members, the usual performance of SolidWorks can become compromised as assemblies become very large. IC3D Steel 2.0 features ‘virtual bolts’ in each of its joint details to manage the problem, so work is unaffected no matter how many bolts are used in the design. A new ‘Bolt List’ report generates a complete list of these fasteners […]

First on-machine switch simplifies network design

Rockwell Automation has announced the launch of the Allen-Bradley ArmorStratix 5700, its first on-machine switch. Built with ruggedised IP67 protection, the Layer 2 managed industrial Ethernet switch can be mounted directly onto a machine or application, reducing the overall size and cost of a control cabinet, and shrinking the machine footprint. In many applications, cabinet space for system-level networks is limited or nonexistent. The ArmorStratix 5700 switch expands the Allen-Bradley On-Machine offering from Rockwell Automation – an industrially hardened portfolio of products that requires no cabinetry – and leverages pre-configured, quick-connect systems and simplified wiring layouts to reduce installation, troubleshooting and maintenance activities.” The ArmorStratix 5700 managed switch advances connected enterprise goals by delivering integration of machine-level data that, due to cost or location, would otherwise remain isolated from business-level systems. Using the Cisco IOS network infrastructure software, this switch manages the transfer of production data to enterprise-level databases and information systems for improved decision making. Senior analyst with ARC Advisory Group comments: “Machine-mounted Ethernet switches with M12 connectors and IP67 ratings are very popular among machine builders. The new ArmorStratix 5700 switch is a joint Rockwell Automation-Cisco developed product that includes these features along with Cisco IOS. This robust, machine-mounted switch is a new development that should go a long way toward resolving the information technology/operational technology struggles in manufacturing plants today.” This industrial switch simplifies the design and development of machine-level networks through configuration and monitoring tools. These tools help enable easy setup and diagnostics from within the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture system – bridging the gap between IT and the automation engineer. The ArmorStratix 5700 Layer 2 switch offers high availability, Quality of Service (QoS), and automated monitoring to help simplify network optimization and convergence. The switch comes standard with 8, 16 and 24 fixed-port configurations, and […]

Fluke Networks delivers world’s first cloud-connected cable certification tool

Now with LinkWare Live, the Versiv family of certification testers lets cable installers upload, analyse and manage copper and fibre test results—anytime, anywhere. Fluke Networks has unveiled LinkWare Live, the first cloud-based service that lets contractors, cable installers and project managers using the Versiv family of certification testers to upload, manage, and analyse certification test results from cabling projects—anytime, anywhere. LinkWare Live works with DSX-5000, OptiFibre Pro, and CertiFibre Pro certification testers to optimise project management and safeguard contractor profitability by providing real-time access to testing results, extending support to technicians in the field, and eliminating costly truck rolls simply for tester transport back to the office. LinkWare Live is a free service available to all Versiv customers. According to recent Fluke Networks surveys of more than 1,000 cable installers (who had collectively installed approximately 1 million links in the previous month), poor test results management creates a significant drag on productivity and profitability: * eighty-three per cent reported having one or more test results management issues in the month prior to the survey * the average time contractors spent dealing with test result issues in a single month was 15.2 hours—nearly two full workdays, not including the hours required to get the test results back to the office for analysing and reporting * half of the respondents said it would be beneficial to access project status information from any location. Project managers struggle with manual, error-prone results management processes Collecting certification test results is a significant challenge because they are stored in testers that frequently move from one job site to another. These job sites can be hundreds of kilometres away from one another, as well as from headquarters. Accidentally erased or failed memory cards can negate several days’ worth of work, leading to costly truck rolls, lowered profit […]

Reduce development risk

Offering both tools and services, Maplesoft Engineering Solutions help engineers validate and optimise product designs, produce extremely fast simulation code for hardware-in-the-loop and other types of simulations where execution speed is critical, and develop specialised analysis and design calculation tools. Maplesoft Engineering Solutions also support model development for model predictive control, an advanced technique used to represent the behaviour of complex systems. The Maplesoft Engineering Solutions team has expertise in a variety of engineering fields and extensive experience in model-based design. By leveraging the unique benefits of MapleSim and Maple, advanced engineering design tools from Maplesoft, they help engineers reduce development risk, create better products, and get to market faster. MapleSim and Maple are also available for engineers to use directly in their own development projects. MapleSim is an advanced system-level modelling and simulation tool that applies modern techniques to dramatically reduce model development time, provide greater insight into system behaviour, and produce fast, high-fidelity simulations. MapleSim is based on Maple, the technical computing software for engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. Maplesoft Engineering Solutions are used by customers in a variety of domains, such as electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, ground transportation, space systems, batteries, mining, and manufacturing. Past projects include a robotic arm for drilling in mines, a motion platform for driving simulators, a torsional vibration analysis tool for marine drivelines, batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles, and dialysis machines. While projects vary greatly, they frequently involve the following: High performance plant models for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) applications. Generating high-fidelity plant models from many system design tools typically results in code that is not fast enough for real-time, HIL execution, and engineers often perform a trade-off between model fidelity and performance.

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