Industrial Factory Automation

Tyco Electronics' AMP Netconnect business is supporting an independent study of UTP (unshielded twisted pair) and STP (shielded twisted pair) systems for 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T). The comparative study, which evaluated two U/UTP and one F/UTP and two S/FTP systems from five vendors, is said to offer proof that the ideal cabling infrastructure system to support 10GBASE-T and larger applications is shielded copper. 'With the growing demand for IP bandwidth and end-user driven broadband services for transmitting huge quantities of data or multimedia entertainment files, there is a need to guarantee the performance of high-speed communications technologies such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet,' said David Richens, UK senior systems application engineer for Tyco Electronics' AMP Netconnect business unit. 'The industry now has a detailed insight into these performance aspects, backed by detailed evaluation from an independent test house,' he added. The tests were condu...

The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) has launched a study of the strategies and approaches being used to support sustainability initiatives. The study, entitled 'Eco-efficiency in Manufacturing', is open to all manufacturers around the globe in all product sectors. It will culminate in a report to industry to be presented at the North America conference on 21 June in Detroit, Michigan. The study will explore the green and sustainability initiatives now under way in the manufacturing sector. It will report on the current state of manufacturing, including: the leadership and information technology systems that companies are using to drive high-performance, eco-efficient operations; identifying the change drivers and the barriers encountered for those companies making a green transformation; and qualifying and quantifying the initiatives under way and resources being applied to improve supply-chain, product-lifecycle and asset-management practices. All respon...

Georgia Institute of Technology is using the Nanosight LM-20 to help characterise dimensional changes of nanogels used to develop drug-delivery vehicles for macromolecular therapeutics. Prof Andrew Lyon's research group, from GIT's School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is working on the development and implementation of new, environmentally responsive (or 'smart') materials for photonic materials, bioanalysis and biomimetics. The group is designing hydrogel nanoparticles that undergo large changes in their chemical, mechanical, optical or electrical makeup in response to a chemical stimulus, biomolecular interaction, or electromagnetic field; such materials can be viewed as amplifiers or sensitisers of the environmental event. As a result of their environmental sensitivity, nanogels have potential in many applications. The principal user is PhD candidate Michael Smith, who said: 'The Nanosight has been an enabling tool for us in the characterisation of dilute nanog...

Optical Metrology Services (OMS) has completed a six-week pipe inspection study for BP Exploration (Angola) on the Block 31 PSVM deepwater development in Angola. The contract, worth more than GBP650,000 to OMS, required the UK-based specialist measurement technology company to carry out an initial sample survey of pipe ends, followed by the detailed laser-dimensional inspection and the sorting and marking of more than 12,000 pipe ends, including critical, fatigue-sensitive, flow-line sections. As well as helping the customer to better implement the pipe-end fit-up process and fatigue HiLo strengths, the study also ensured that the customer's pipe welding time and counter-bore crew costs were minimised. The OMS customer is French company Technip, main contractor for the design, procurement, fabrication and installation of the water and gas injection flow lines for the Block 31 URF 2 Programme workscope. OMS worked closely with Technip's local subsidiary in Angola, Angoflex a. T...

A new study finds that highway barriers erected along roadways to block sound and sight of traffic for the adjoining neighborhoods may also be reducing the amount of pollutants, such as soot from diesel exhaust reaching area residents. In this study conducted by NOAA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, researchers released harmless “tracers” – gases that act as a stand-in for vehicle-related toxic pollutants such as carbon monoxide and heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds such as benzene. The basis of the study involved studying the movement of these tracers through the air. The study is the first to systematically and comprehensively investigate the role of atmospheric stability in real world conditions on the movement of pollutants near highway barriers. According to Dennis Finn, the study’s lead author, “While the barriers block the noise and view of hundreds of vehicles” driving by, it was “found that that they also reduce high concentrations of pollutants from t...