Features

PACE Top 10 for 2012

As we wind down for the year, let's look over key events of the past 12 months. We've crunched the numbers and present PACE website's 10 most read stories of 2012. 

Siemens to sell water technologies business
Siemens has decided to reorganise its activities in the water business.Siemens has decided to reorganise its activities in the water business. The company will focus on automation and drive solutions for the control of water applications for municipalities and industry. The Business Unit known as Siemens Water Technologies, which offers solutions for municipal and industrial water purification and wastewater treatment, is to be sold along with the corresponding service activities.

The Mine of the Future is here
Continuing development by Rio Tinto of remote control of its iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara is delivering significant productivity benefits.Continuing development by Rio Tinto of remote control of its iron ore mining operations in the Pilbara is delivering significant productivity benefits. Previously, most of the mining operations were managed on site with logistical processes segmented across key areas such as plant, rail network and ports. Now, the various mining and logistical operations are increasingly managed from an operations centre located 1,500 km south of the Pilbara next to Perth airport.

KBR and JKC JV sign EPC contract for Ichthys LNG Project
KBR and JKC JV sign EPC contract for Ichthys LNG ProjectKBR's joint venture with JGC and Chiyoda (JKC JV) will provide EPC activities on the Ichthys LNG Project in Northern Australia. The JKC JV partners signed this EPC contract, valued at US$15 billion, with the Ichthys LNG Project owners, INPEX and Total Gas from the Ichthys Field in the Browse Basin, approximately 200 km offshore of WA, will undergo preliminary processing offshore to remove water and extract condensate. The gas will then be exported to onshore processing facilities in Darwin via an 889 km subsea pipeline.

How can you benefit from additive manufacturing?
How can you benefit from additive manufacturingOver the past 20 years additive manufacturing technology has migrated from use in rapid prototyping to a full-fledged manufacturing solution, which is referred to as additive manufacturing or direct digital manufacturing (DDM). Increasingly, Australian companies are applying it to manufacturing applications, and with each success, they prove that it is a viable alternative. For Sydney-based T R Savage & Son for instance, DDM offers an alternative to conventional metal-cutting manufacturing methods such as milling or turning, and the time savings are immense.

Joint venture to deliver desalinated water for coal seam gas
Joint venture to deliver desalinated water for coal seam gas.Associated Water will commence commissioning a dual-stage CIF plant, known as DeSALx, at the WAMBO Cattle Company operation, west of Dalby, Queensland. The plant will accept coal seam gas associated feed water with a TDS (total dissolved solids) of about 5,000 mg/L and produce water with a TDS of around 1,500 mg/L, a level suitable for a wide range of irrigation and livestock needs. The plant will showcase a 500m3/day semi-portable modular CIF plant and a 0.5MLD containerised mobile CIF plant operated together to perform the desalination process.

SAGE Automation's major $11m defence project nears completion
SAGE Automation's major $11m defence project nears completionA major investment to enter the defence sector is paying off for SAGE Automation, with the final stage of its $11 million project with Chemring Australia to build countermeasures nearing completion. Chemring Australia has a long term contract with the Australian Defence Force to supply aircraft mounted countermeasures and as part of that contract has established a state of the art manufacturing plant. SAGE Automation has been responsible for the development and installation of automated processes for the new facility in the regional Victorian town of Lara (near Geelong), where the countermeasures will be manufactured.

Process plant engineers found responsible for design defects and fined $5.7m
Process plant engineers found responsible for design defects and fined $5.7mOM Manganese has been successful in its court action against the process plant engineers who designed the Bootu Creek Manganese Mine. The WA Supreme Court has ruled that OMM was entitled to damages in a total amount of $5.7 million. OM Manganese (OMM) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of OM Holdings. OMM’s claim related to the process plant design defects, which OMM discovered upon commissioning of the Bootu Creek Manganese Mine during 2005 and 2006. OMM's claim was concerned with recovering the cost of the rectification works that it undertook to rectify those design defects during 2006 and 2007.

How to maximise energy efficiency of existing facilities
How to maximise energy efficiency of existing facilitiesUnderstand your process must be the starting point for anyone looking to reduce their energy consumption through good energy management and retrofitting of high efficiency equipment. This is equally important for the manufacturer looking to minimise electricity and fuel consumption through optimisation of their plant as it is for the commercial building owner who needs to replace an ageing air conditioning system while minimising disturbance to the tenants in the building. Development of a structured approach and acquisition of key background information is critical to optimal energy efficiency investment decisions.

Prodigy from James Cook University wins top engineering medal
Prodigy from James Cook University wins top engineering medalBuilding his first computer at age seven and graduating from an IT tertiary course by age 14 may have been an indication that James Cook University’s (JCU) Michael Peever would excel in a computing and engineering career. The fourth-year Electrical Engineering student (specialising in Computer Systems Engineering) has won JCU’s 2012 Engineers Australia Charles (CN) Barton Medal. The Barton Medal was awarded for Peever’s work on Machine Simulation using EMISA Collision Detection Architecture in the mining industry.

Will the plant of the future be controlled by the mind?
Festo’s work on CogniGame has practical applications for the factory of the future by addressing the question of how people and machines can interact more efficiently in the face of constantly changing technologies.A mind controlled game, a machine that writes original music, and a mechanical assistant that is based on the dexterity and flexibility of an elephant’s trunk are recent Festo bionic developments. Festo’s work on CogniGame has practical applications for the factory of the future by addressing the question of how people and machines can interact more efficiently in the face of constantly changing technologies. Even in the factory of tomorrow, not all work sequences will be fully automated. New operating concepts are needed to enable people to communicate more quickly, more directly and more easily with the technology: from joystick solutions through voice input to controlling partial sequences using thoughts.

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