ACI De-Duster Allows Safer Clean-Down Process

An Air Control Industries (ACI) Jetblack personnel de-duster has replaced a dangerous compressed air cleaning process at a Steetley Dolomite works. The Whitwell Works of Steetley Dolomite quarries and produces magnesium limestone products for the steel, refractory and agricultural industries. After the limestone is quarried, it is crushed, sized and processed to produce various products for applications such as steel furnace manufacture and repair, steel production, refractory products and agricultural soil improvement.

The processing of the limestone to produce these products results in the creation of a lot of dust around the plant, which gets deposited on the overalls of workers on site. To de-dust themselves, although advised frequently not to because of the very real danger that it poses, many of the staff would clean their overalls down with compressed air. Posters about the risks and verbal warnings from the safety leader for compressed air, John Collins, seemed to do little to deter them from the practice. That situation has now changed since Collins had a blower powered Jetblack personnel cleaning unit from Air Control Industries (ACI) of Chard installed on trial after an on-site demonstration.

The trial, which started in February, proved successful and because of the appreciation throughout the plant for its safety and ease of use, Collins has had second unit installed. 'Everyone is pleased with the ACI Jetblack,' said John Collins, Steetley Dolomite's senior electro technician. 'It cleans down effectively and is safe. It eliminates all the health hazard risks present when using compressed air. By providing the Jetblack as an alternative we have broken the bad practice of using compressed air for cleaning down,' he added.

The blower-powered Jetblack delivers high volumes of air at low pressure that can even be applied directly onto exposed skin. There are none of the risks of associated with compressed air, while still achieving effective personnel cleaning. In addition, the ACI Jetblack is quiet (78dBA) and cost effective to run, only using energy on demand with no drain on compressor power. The Jetblack is available as either a wall-mounted or portable unit. Operation is by a hand-held gun on a flexible hose.

ITT Field-Attachable PCCs Join Down-Hole Cables

ITT Interconnect is offering modified versions of its Field Attachable Power Connectors that can be used in place of splices for joining down-hole power cables for electric, submersible pumps. According to the company, BIW Power Cable Connectors (PCCs) can save significant rig time, increasing efficiency and lowering costs.

The field-attachable ITT PCCs can be used to join round and flat downhole cables up to AWG 1. Installation of the PCCs is similar to that of existing ITT BIW field attachable connectors. The use of PCCs in place of splicing can save up to three hours of rig time. The BIW Power Cable Connector has been engineered to perform reliably in harsh hydrocarbon environments, with robust internal components housed in heavy-duty steel for long run life.

Outer connector bodies have been designed with the smallest possible size profiles, yet retain their mechanical strength. Mid-joint protectors for 4.5, 3.5, 2.875 and 2.375in tubing sizes provide mechanical protection for installed Power Cable Connectors and are available separately. Connectors are rated at 5,000V AC for up to 140A, depending on cable size. Pressure and temperature rating is 5,000psig at 149C (300F).

Kycon Offers Tab-Down Option With Build-In LEDs

Kycon has increased its modular jack offering by including a tab-down option with built-in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The GSLX and GSLGX combine the functionality of Kycon's RJ45 modular jacks with the signal capabilities of independent LEDs mounted within the jack housing. The expanded series allows for greater design flexibility for a number of applications, such as telecommunications, networking systems (hubs, switches, routers and gateways), security systems and multimedia set-top-box applications.

The single- and multi-port RJ45 right-angle connectors with LEDs are offered as non-shielded or fully shielded, with various optional grounding tabs for panel grounding and EMI/RFI protection. The LEDs are located at the bottom of the connector and are offered in a variety of single-colour LED options to facilitate the inspection of system activity.

Essegi Kitting Systems Cut Change-Over Down-Time

Accelonix will sell Essegi Systems' kitting solutions in the UK, Spain and Portugal after being appointed distributor for the Italian manufacturer. Essegi's kitting systems provide an affordable method of reducing change-over down-time, which can be considerable for low-volume contract manufacturers in industrial and military sectors.

Feeding the system with a bill of materials generates an entire kit; the software can handle all the materials on the board, including mechanical and electronic components. While the system automates reels it can also handle other components, keep track of them and tell the user where to find them, providing accurate inventory control and the location of manually handled components.

Essegi's kitting solutions have an extremely small footprint, enhance production rates by increasing automation and provide complete component traceability. Systems are easily expanded; linking multiple units means that an unlimited number of reels and trays can be stored.

GE Fanuc Scales Down Proficy Process Systems

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms has released Proficy Process Systems in a 250 I/O size, single-computer offering targeted at smaller applications and OEMs. Proficy Process Systems is a fully-integrated process control system that can provide customers with improved quality and reliability, increased throughput, performance and efficiency and reduced total cost of ownership.

The foundation of Proficy Process Systems is a contemporary hardware and software infrastructure that offers the benefits of traditional DCS and PLC/HMI systems, without many of the historic limitations of those approaches. Proficy Systems is also packed with control features including a comprehensive set of function blocks for advanced regulatory control.

In addition, user-defined function blocks can be created for the freedom and flexibility to define control algorithms as necessary, which system integrators can lock to protect their intellectual property. Proficy Process Systems supports Foundation Fieldbus, Profibus DP and PA, Hart and Ethernet.

Recorder Tracks Down Power Problems

The Fluke VR1710 voltage quality recorder is designed for single-phase power quality troubleshooting and preventative maintenance applications. Designed as an easy to use solution for detecting and recording power quality problems, the VR1710 is a single-phase plug-in voltage quality recorder that can help maintenance and facilities personnel in utilities, industrial environments and large service organisations to maintain the power quality essential to business operations.

The Fluke VR1710 can help users pinpoint the root causes of voltage problems by recording data specified by a user-selected average period on voltage trends, dropouts and power quality parameters, including RMS average, transients, flicker and harmonics up to the 32nd.

It features continuous recording of all values with no gaps, making testing more efficient by enabling users to gather data on both voltage and events with a single instrument. The recorder plugs directly into any single-phase mains power socket and includes a USB connection and Fluke PowerLog software for quick instrument setup using a PC and quick data downloads.

PowerLog software also includes graphical tools for data presentation that show RMS voltage and harmonic trends, actual transients, summary information and statistics in accordance with EN50160.

It measures RMS average, minimum and maximum values and checks whether the socket outlet is providing voltage within tolerance. It checks whether distorting loads are affecting other equipment. High levels of harmonic voltage may cause overheating in neutral conductors. It quantifies the affects of switching loads on lighting systems and can capture intermittent, momentary events that may be affecting equipment. The full waveform is captured with date, timestamp and duration.