New Products & Services
January 2024
The Monitoring Box FTMg Premium (photo) is a new digital service for compressed-air monitoring. In addition to continuous monitoring, the Cloud solution from this company’s Field Analytics Portfolio can identify consumption losses due to machine- or process-related inefficiencies and detect leaks at an early stage, reporting them with an alarm. Moreover, the digital service can compare sources of compressed-air consumption on the basis of their consumption and attendant costs and suggest optimization options. The benefits include reduced production costs, a smaller CO2 footprint and more-efficient service planning. With the Monitoring Box FTMg Premium, production planners, energy managers and maintenance engineers can ultimately reduce their company’s compressed-air costs by up to 30%, the company says. — SICK AG, Waldkirch im Breisgau, Germany
The newly developed vipro-Pump MR series (photo) offers plant operators a virtually maintenance-free dispenser that doses all conventional impregnating resins — even chemically aggressive ones. A patent application has been filed for the vipro-Pump MR and the associated process. The dosing system features an adapted seal and pump housing with material reservoir; a freely “teachable” fill level sensor for flexible adaptation to the production process; temperature monitoring; and more. The optimized dispenser is available in two sizes: vipro-Pump 40 MR and vipro-Pump 100 MR. These sizes cover the typical process speeds for applications such as impregnating motor stators. — ViscoTec Pumpen- u. Dosiertechnik GmbH, Töging a. Inn, Germany
This company has custom-engineered an integrated sifter and bag-break station that automatically removes foreign matter and captures nuisance dust. Set above a top-loading batch mixer, the powder-handling system features an AFC Dump Clean bag-break station (photo) that continuously draws any fine particles inside the unit before they can escape into the workplace and a vibratory sifter that separates and diverts any “tramp” material from the product stream. When discharged for mixing, the product is protected from contamination, and the mixer and other downstream equipment are protected from tramp metals, stray bulk-bag material and other unwelcome waste. — Automated Flexible Conveyor, Inc., Clifton, N.J.
The AM8300 servomotors expand this company’s portfolio to include a modular motor series with integrated water cooling (photo). Due to the efficient cooling, an extremely high power density is achieved, so that a rated power of up to 40 kW can be delivered in the smallest installation space, depending on the size. Compared to similar conventional convection-cooled motors, the standstill torque is three times higher, the company says. The servomotors offer maximum dynamics, because the torque increases with water cooling, but the rotor moment of inertia remains constant. These are particularly suitable for applications with higher speed and torque requirements. — Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG, Verl, Germany
Standard load cells enable mechanical dosing with an accuracy ranging from 0.2 to 1%. This means that you can accurately dose 10 kg down to 20–100 g or 1,000 kg down to 2–10 kg. However, for mixing small product volumes, these weight deviations are too large. Therefore, the Micro Dosing System (photo) has been developed for such precision applications. It can dose smaller volumes with precision down to 1 g, eliminating the need for premixes. The Micro Dosing System consists of an in-house-developed Feeder Valve, a specially constructed gain-in-weight (GIW) hopper with a digital load cell and an in-house-developed dosing controller. The product is dosed into the GIW hopper using the Feeder Valve. Based on the weight signal, the system continuously calculates the position of the Feeder Valve. The Feeder Valve is adjusted so that the product is dosed more finely, ensuring the batch is weighed accurately down to the gram scale before being discharged. — Dinnissen Process Technology BV, Sevenum, the Netherlands
This company is launching a pre-engineered high-rate thickening solution, The HRT-S (photo) is a pre-engineered, high-rate thickener that will allow significantly shorter delivery times. The HRT-S thickener is a part of the company’s Planet Positive offering, enabling savings in power consumption, reduction in embedded carbon and decreased maintenance costs. The HRT-S uses bench-scale and pilot testing to ensure process performance guarantees. With a defined set of features and selected options to choose from, the modular HRT-S enables accelerated project deliveries and shorter installation times, the company says. The HRT-S comes with Reactorwell technology, which is the new-generation feedwell with high solids retention and mixing efficiency that eliminates feed short-circuiting. It also offers low shear rate for ideal floccule growth, even discharge symmetry and excellent feed preparation. — Metso Corp., Espoo, Finland
OmniGrade (photo) is a residual-gas analysis (RGA) system that is designed to meet specific testing demands. OmniGrade configurations include two or three chambers: the spectrometer chamber in which the mass spectrometer is positioned, and a measurement chamber where the samples are placed during measurement. Options include a load lock chamber to minimize system background and an automated sample transport system. Cleanroom compatibility is possible. The mass spectrometer can be selected according to the application (PrismaPro or HiQuad). Thermal heating, either of the pure system or together with the sample (bake-out), will further optimize the measuring capability and improve sample cleanliness. — Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH, Asslar, Germany
The new ASCO Series 327C solenoid valve (photo) features a direct-acting, high-flow design that provides superior flow-to-power ratio compared to similar valves. The Series 327C design features a balanced poppet construction that permits high flows at minimum power levels, making it suitable for use in power plants, petroleum refineries and chemical-processing facilities. The valve features a unique, two-layer dynamic-seal technology that provides low friction and excellent stiction resistance, helping ensure reliable valve operation in environments with temperatures ranging from –60 to 90°C. In addition, the valve is SIL (safety integrity level)-3 capable, demonstrating a high level of performance integrity and a very low risk of failure over the valve’s projected lifecycle. — Emerson, St. Louis, Mo.
Whether in the engineering of large and distributed automation projects, in the diagnosis of faults or in regular testing, the specification, configuration and maintenance of safety devices in process plants requires effort and careful attention. If new functions are added to components of safety devices, time-consuming recertification was traditionally necessary. The next version of SILworX (photo) helps to reduce this effort through consistent digitalization and new functions in order to simplify these tasks. A distinction is made between core functions for programming safety controllers and Industry 4.0 functions. New functions that are not safety-related can be integrated using modular plug-ins via an interface that does not affect the core safety-rated SILworX functions. This modular structure makes it possible to digitalize automation processes quickly and flexibly. — HIMA Paul Hildebrandt GmbH, Brühl, Germany
The Feedos S bulk material feeder (photo) automatically meters and doses powders and other dry materials with the high accuracy and consistency needed to optimize continuous processes. Featuring a proprietary design, the Feedos S is engineered with optimized geometry that eliminates dead zones to promote smooth, uninterrupted flow of a wide range of free-flowing and non-flowing materials. Suitable for food, dairy, chemical, pharmaceutical and other manufacturers, the Feedos S ensures a non-stop flow of material to mixers, blenders, compounders, reactors and other continuous processing equipment at rates up to 500 L/h. Additional models achieve throughput rates up to 54,000 L/h. — Gericke USA, Inc., Somerset, N.J.
This company expanded its portfolio of VisuNet FLX series operator and monitoring workstations (photo) with a version for outdoor use and use in an extended temperature range from –20 to 50°C. The new aluminum housing not only ensures an optimal heat sink, but also offers exceptional resistance to more demanding outdoor conditions. The low weight ensures easy installation via a wide range of mounting options. The VisuNet FLX series has an optically bonded display to ensure perfect readability in direct sunlight. In addition, various shading elements can be selected as required. The integration of an optional RFID reader simplifies user authentication and contributes to security in industrial environments. The series is available as a complete human-machine interface (HMI) system with aluminum or stainless-steel housing, as a panel mounting or as a box PC, each with display sizes of 15.6, 19 or 21.5 in. — Pepperl+Fuchs SE, Mannheim, Germany