News

Renewable fuels are more common every year and rightly so as studies show they release up to 80% less carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than conventional petroleum-based fuel. After the introduction of new energy policies in Europe demanding the usage of more clean energy and lower carbon fuels, biofuels have become one of the most popular renewable energy sources, with biodiesel being perhaps the most common type.

Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil or animal fats, producing fuel from vegetable oil is not something new, in fact the original diesel engine invented by Rudolf Diesel in the 1980s in ran on vegetable oil. 

St Clare Engineering Ltd (Grab-O-Matic) manufacture the Grab-O-Matic range of drum handling fork truck attachments for use in ATEX areas.

St Clare have developed a Quick Attach/Release drum handler fork attachment for use in ATEX hazardous areas. 

The Grab-O-Matic QR-1- DLR-EX single drum handler or the QR-2-DLR-EX double drum handler that can be securely attached to the forks and released without the need for the truck driver to dismount from his cab.

The Teddy Bear Line a G scale garden railway in Bedfordshire is continuing to run a normal service during the CORVID-19 pandemic.

As part of ongoing engineering works, a dynamometer car has recently been commissioned which employs a BEKA BA338E rate totaliser to measure and display train speed and the distance travelled. Originally designed and certified for installation in a flammable atmosphere, the panel mounting BA338E consumes very little power and is therefore ideal for this application.

Insulation and temperature management in pipes for industrial processing and commercial properties is important all year round. Of course, as the nights draw in and temperatures plummet, facilities managers are often more mindful of the risks of frozen pipes.

Lagwell Insulation is a specialist in thermal insulation with many industrial, commercial and public sector customers located around the United Kingdom and Europe. It relies on Spelsberg thermostats to deliver performance and value for many of its frost protection systems.

This brand-new temperature and power controller brings a host of ‘world-firsts’ to the table, for design-in use as a digital controller fully adjustable within potentially explosive atmospheres.

Built for worldwide “Ex” use with ATEX/IECEx and UL/CSA standard certifications, its high current 25A design is the perfect match for LMK Thermosafe’s THERMOSAFE induction drum heater, but is also ideal for control of “Ex” rated industrial ovens and process plant trace heating projects.

From commercial skyscrapers to industrial manufacturing plants to data centers, critical facilities must maintain a safe and secure environment for optimal operation.

To meet this need, more building teams are deploying thermal cameras to enhance intrusion detection at the perimeter as well as to streamline elevated skin temperature screening at entry points. Today, facility directors are also increasingly using thermal cameras for building diagnostics to detect problems and proactively resolve issues for preventive maintenance.

Straightpoint (SP), a Crosby Group company, has launched the Subsea Link, a standard product for applications up to 2,000m (6,562 feet) beneath the water’s surface.

The product can be rigged with Crosby’s remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) shackles (tested to the same depths) and the company’s Trawlex shackle range, amongst others. The IP68 / NEMA 6P-rated Subsea Link also boasts components from SubConn, a specialist manufacturer of pluggable electrical connectors to the demanding underwater industry.

Södra Cell Värö is one of Sweden’s largest pulp mills with a production rate of 700,000 tons of pulp per year. The pulp mill is in operation 24/7 all year and unplanned downtime has major economic consequences.

For many years, SPM has supplied them with over thirty online vibration monitoring systems as well as two portable vibration measurement systems of the Leonova Diamond.

Following detection of a crack in a gear on the output shaft on a rotary kiln an online system was installed to monitor the bearing and gear condition of the gearboxes The rotary calciner is production-critical therefore a breakdown of the gearboxes on the kiln would lead to significant costs for secondary mechanical damages.

The two most common brightness measurements used in portable lighting are Lux and Lumens, but what does that mean? Lux’s definition is the amount of light cast on a surface, and the meaning of Lumens is the total output of visible light from a light source. They sound very similar, but there are some significant differences.

Lux is a measurement of how much light falls on a surface, while Lumens measures the total light emitted by a single source. The closer the light source is to the surface, the higher the Lux rating will be. Without knowing that distance, the Lux rating is meaningless. For example, a 10 lumen light on a surface area of 0.0001 m2 is 100,000 Lux. Sounds impressive but useless to a person working in a dark room.

New Class 2 instrument boasts patented MEMS microphone, lifetime warranty and measurement range up to 141dB Peak

Svantek UK has launched its SV 973 sound level meter for reliable and accurate measurement of noise in the workplace. The new Class 2 instrument features a patented MEMs microphone with lifetime warranty and measurement range up to 141dB Peak.

The SV 973 is a Class 2 sound level meter in accordance to IEC 61672-1:2013 with a wide frequency range up to 10 kHz. The meter’s measurement range from 25 to 128 dB enables it to be used for industrial and environmental noise monitoring applications.