Contracts & Projects Tracker: Jan 2010

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Alfa Laval has received a SEK60m order for its Packinox heat exchangers from an Algerian refinery, for delivery in 2011. The plate heat exchangers will be used in the catalytic processing section in the production of mixed xylenes, which, among other applications, can be used for production of PET bottles. The Packinox design can handle temperatures from 80°C up to 530°C and is claimed to save refineries up to SEK20m a year in reduced energy costs by replacing multiple traditional shell and tube heat exchangers.

Chivas Regal has selected a VerderflexDura peristaltic hose pump for a water treatment application at its Glenlivet plant in Scotland. The DURA pumps are employed for lime dosing to rectify the pH of waster discharges. Lime is highly abrasive, creating continual wear problems for progressing cavity pumps. This leads to ongoing high stator replacement costs and frequent maintenance downtime. Read more

TLV has won a contract to provide regular steam trap surveys of all 13 BOCM Pauls animal feed processing sites throughout the UK. The company’s sites located on the west side of the country, where rich dairy grass is more common, are predominantly dedicated to ruminant feed; and those on the east side to pig and poultry feed. Most of the steam generated by the plants is used for direct steam injection, which sterilises the meal to eliminate salmonella and conditions it with moisture to help begin the cooking process before it is extruded and pelletised. Read more

Metso is to supply 4HamCogen SA, part of 4Energy Invest SA, with a biomass power plant for combined heat and power production (CHP) in the municipality of Ham in the Belgian province of Limburg. The new modular biomass power plant will utilize bubbling fluidised bed (BFB) technology and will use non-contaminated biomass as the main fuel. It will be delivered by the Metso-Wärtsilä joint venture MW Power. The plant automation system will be delivered by Metso’s Automation business line. The total value of Metso´s share of the investment is approximately Euro30m. Start-up of the plant is scheduled for Q2 in 2011. Read more

Burkerthas become a fully registered member on the Achilles Utilities Vendor Database (UVDB), which standardises the pre-qualification process for doing business with utilities  companies. Suppliers registered on the database can benefit from significant reductions in the time and effort associated with completing  pre-qualification documents – towards pre-qualifying for work with over 50 utility  companies and their partners.  Read more

The Ministry of Oil of the Republic of Iraq, Royal Dutch Shell plc and Petronas Carigali have signed a 20-year contract to provide technical assistance in the development of the Majnoon oilfield. Shell, as lead operator, will hold a 45% share, with partner Petronas holding 30%. The Iraqi state holds 25% of the participating interests in all licences. The consortium targets a production plateau of 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, up from a current level of approximately 45,000 barrels of oil per day. Majnoon, located in southern Iraq, is one of the world’s largest oil fields. The signing follows the contract award in December.

Spanish paper and packaging group SAICA is to invest £290 million to build a recycled paper mill in Trafford, near Manchester, creating up to 200 jobs. The project will bring SAICA’s investment in the UK to over £470m since 2007, when it acquired International Paper’s Packaging business in the UK and Ireland. Read more

Grundfos has provided an SQE constant pressure pack - borehole pump to help Newcastle University’s School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences in constructing a borehole array. The work is for project GEOMETRY (Groundwater Engineering, Operation, Monitoring, Evaluation and Testing Laborato(RY). Read more

AspenTech is implementing a real-time optimisation project to further improve operational performance LG Chem. The project follows LG Chem’s deployment of aspenONE Advanced Process Control, which resulted in $4m of annual operational savings, while also helping the chemical company achieve its operational excellence goals. In a single plant - the Daesan ethylene facility - the APC system delivered a 2% increase in ethylene and propylene production, and reduced total NCC energy consumption 1.5% while meeting plant constraints. LG Chem also reduced loss of ethylene and propylene, and more stabilised operations compared to previous issues of frequent flooding and product off-specifications.

Over 2,000 companies across North East England have now signed up to the official London 2012 online brokerage service CompeteFor in a bid to secure contracts for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The free service - launched in January 2008 - acts as an online ‘dating agency’ aimed at bringing together UK businesses and Games’ suppliers. Co-funded by One North East, CompeteFor provides access to business support services to ensure that companies across the country can access opportunities linked to hosting the London 2012 Games.

ABB is to provide electrical and automation equipment and related services for a new seamless-tube mill and pipe production plant in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The project is a JV between ArcelorMittal and the Saudi-based Bin Jarallah Group. ABB will deliver electrical infrastructure and equipment, including a 115 kilovolt gas-insulated switchgear substation, medium- and low-voltage switchgear, motors and variable-speed drives. The scope of supply also includes an automation system based on ABB’s 800xA for order management, production scheduling, storage management, production and quality reporting, and material tracking.

Future Capital Partners (FCP), a £6 billion alternative investment boutique, has formed a company called Future Fuels to raise £40m in investment funds to build a biorefinery in the North East of England. The facility would have capacity of produce 200 million litres of bioethanol and 175 kilotonnes of high protein animal feeds per annum. The construction partner for the project is Simon Carves Ltd, that recently completed the Ensus biorefinery, which recently came on stream at Wilton on Teesside. Read more

ABB has won a $48 million order from Chinese EPC company SEPCO III Electric Power Construction Corp. to deliver a substation for a new power plant in Saudi Arabia, by 2011. The gas-insulated switchgear substation will facilitate the transmission of electricity from the 1200MW Rabigh power plant, 150km north of Jeddah. It will supply power to Saudi Electricity Co. ABB will design, supply, install and commission the 380 kV substation, which includes the gas-insulated switchgear, a range of circuit breakers including the generator circuit breaker and the control, protection and telecoms equipment.

Lufkin Automation has chosen the Westermo MRD-310 3G router to equip its SAM Well Manager product for high-precision monitoring and control of rod-pumping oil wells. Used in a series of pilot projects, mainly for the European and Asian markets, the MRD-310 provide a very high level of connectivity, and support many mobile standards including GSM, GPRS, 3G UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA. Dedicated to harsh environments, MRD-310 is aimed to demonstrate significant cost savings in this application.

ABB has won an order worth $17 million for the electrification of a gas-based thermal power plant to be built near the Akshabulak oilfield in southern Kazakhstan, by 2011. Owned by Crystal Management Ltd, a private investment company, the project aims to reduce pollution by using natural gas burn-off to generate cleaner electricity. ABB will engineer and commission the electrical facilities, including a 110/6 kV substation and turnkey electrical Balance of Plant (eBoP) solution. Products to be supplied include power and distribution transformers, an 800xA power-plant control system, and a micro SCADA for real-time monitoring.

Honeywell Process Solutions has appointed 10 system integrators in Germany to sell and support its Experion LS process control system for SMEs in industries requiring loop, logic and batch automation, such as specialty chemicals, secondary pharma and food & beverage. The system integrators are: Actemium Controlmatic, Frankfurt; Ako-Tec, Euskirchen; cts, Burgkirchen; EMP, Leverkusen; Indurest (SPC), Wesseling; Kiel Engineering, Oberhausen; LeiKon, Herzogenrath; Rösberg Engineering, Karlsruhe; SpiraTec, Speyer; Stadler+Schaaf, Offenbach. Read more

Total has inaugurated Europe’s first end-to-end carbon capture, transportation and storage demonstration facility, in Lacq, southwestern France, the company announced 11 Jan. The Euro60m facility uses an oxycombustion carbon capture technology developed by Air Liquide. Pure oxygen is substituted for air in an industrial boiler to produce smaller amounts of flue gas that is 90% carbon. The carbon is piped 27km from the Lacq plant to the Rousse geological storage site, where it is injected into a depleted natural gas reservoir located 4,500 meters below ground. Read more

Foster Wheeler is to design, supply and erect a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) for REPSOL PETROLEO, to be integrated in a cogeneration plant being built at its Cartagena Refinery in Murcia, Spain. Commercial operation is scheduled for Q1 12. The HRSG will be coupled with a GE PG-6581 gas turbine and recover heat from the gas discharge stream, producing high pressure and medium pressure steam for use in refinery processes and electricity generation at the facility. The unit will be equipped with a bypass stack and diverter, as well as post-firing and fresh air capability, for continuous operation even after a combustion turbine trip. The boiler is the seventh HRSG awarded to FW by REPSOL.

Punj Lloyd Group is to execute partial balance of plant and civil work on a 2x350 MW thermal power project by Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd, in Orissa. The project, located near Sahajbahal village in Jharsuguda district of Orissa, is valued at Rs947 Crores. The scope of work for this project includes execution of partial Balance of Plant, mechanical, electrical and C&I work, along with civil & structural work. This order is to be executed over the next two years.

Babcock’s Nuclear Division has created detailed designs, manufactured and commissioned a new build facility capable of processing caustic, radioactive liquids from the PFR reactor, Dounreay. The contract with UKAEA Dounreay was worth £3.4m, according to Babcock International, which recently acquired UKAEA Ltd, the commercial arm of the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Read more

Uhdehas won an engineering and procurement contract for the construction of a hydrochloric acid electrolysis plant for Yantai Juli Isocyanate Co. Ltd., a Chinese manufacturer of polyurethane. The plant, with a production capacity of 100ktpa hydrochloric acid, will be constructed at Laiyang, Shandong Province, China, approximately 100 km north of Qingdao. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2011. Read more

Petrochina Jilin Petrochemical Co.has awarded a contract to Lummus Technology, a CB&I company, for the license and process design of a grassroots ethylbenzene and styrene monomer (EB/SM) plant in Jilin, China. It has a design capacity of 320ktpa of styrene monomer per annum and will utilise proprietary technologies provided by Lummus/UOP. The plant, expected to start up in 2011, is the second EB/SM plant awarded to Lummus Technology by Jilin.

Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil Corp., are jointly developing a world-scale petrochemical complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, due for start up Q4, 2015. The complex includes the world’s largest steam cracker and polyethylene (PE) plants, and one of the world’s largest ethylene glycol plants. It would include a 1600ktpa steam cracker, two 650ktpa gas phase PE plants, and a 700ktpa ethylene glycol plant. The project will employ ExxonMobil’s proprietary steam cracking and PE process, and feedstock from gas development projects in Qatar’s North Field.

INEOS Phenol and Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co.are planning a joint venture to build and operate a phenol/acetone manufacturing site at the Nanjing, China. The project is expected to be completed in 2013. The planned facility will have a capacity to produce 400 ktpa of phenol and 250ktpa of acetone, as well as 550ktpa of cumene capacity. More details

Novozymes has received an Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit of $28.4m from the Obama Administration for a new enzyme manufacturing facility in Blair, Nebraska. The facility will produce enzymes used to make advanced biofuels. Novozymes is investing $160-200m in the construction of the facility. The blending facility at the site became operational as of November 2009 and is currently shipping enzymes to customers globally. The facility is due to be fully operational in mid-2012. More details

Alcoahas formed a joint venture with Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden, to develop a fully integrated aluminum industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The JV plans to become the world’s lowest-cost supplier of primary aluminum, alumina and aluminum products. More details

A hydroelectric station is to be built at Selset Reservoir, 14km north west of Barnard Castle in the Tees Valley area under partnership agreement signed by Northumbrian Water and RWE npower renewables. It will generate up to 750 kilowatts of electricity - 4,000 megawatt hours a year - which will be fed into the national grid. It will add to Northumbrian Water’s hydro power plant at Kielder Water, Northern Europe’s largest man-made reservoir, which is also operated in partnership with RWE npower renewables. The larger Kielder scheme generates some 20,000 megawatt hours. Work on the £2.5m Selset hydroelectric project will begin early in 2010.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has received a contract from Storengy to provide EPCM services to upgrade an underground gas-storage facility in Cere-la-Ronde, France. Officials did not disclose the contract value. The renovation project is expected to increase storage capacity at the Cere-la-Ronde site up to 1,200 million cubic meters as well as reduce the facility’s impacts to the environment. Jacobs will design and install new gas compression, double the gas treatment facilities, and upgrade the control system and utilities. The project is scheduled to be implemented over the next two years.

Luton-based Autotech Controls Ltd has installed an automated handling system at Coca-Cola Hellenic’s bottling and distribution facility in Ploiesti. The Autotech system was commissioned by the project’s main contractor, Logistex, to provide the conveyor and crane control systems for the facility. The project includes a high-bay, clad-rack warehouse system – reaching up to a height of 27m – and the handling equipment includes 11 cranes, shuttle cars, elevators and 2km of conveyors, some of which have been installed at a height of 3.5 metres above the floor to maximise the use of available space.

KSB AG has recently received an order worth several million euros for two main cooling water pumps for a new power station in Rotterdam. The station currently under construction is a high-efficiency coal-fired or biomass-fired 800 MW unit with a 46 percent efficiency. The pumps to be supplied are vertical tubular casing pumps type SEZA 20-140 with open mixed flow impellers and a discharge nozzle diameter of 2,000 mm. Each pump is driven by a frequency-controlled high-voltage motor with a drive rating of just under 4,000 kW. KSB expects to deliver the pumps in October 2011.

Sasolhas awarded Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. a contract from Sasol to provide basic engineering services for the first commercial installation of Sasol’s proprietary tetramerization technology. The initial commercial unit is expected to have a combined capacity for 1-octene and 1-hexene of 100,000 tons per year. The location for the first unit has not been determined, however Sasol’s chemical complex, located near Lake Charles, La., is a leading candidate. The basic engineering phase is expected to be complete by the third quarter of 2010. Construction is intended to begin in 2011 with initial production slated for 2013.

Venezeulan company Polimerica has awared Technip a reimbursable contract to perform the front end engineering design (FEED) for a planned new ethylene plant. The plant, which will have a capacity of 1.3 million tonne/year, will be part of a new petrochemical complex to be built in Josè, Venezuela. The estimated overall investment for the complex will be around $3.2bn. Technip’s operating center in Rome, Italy, will execute this contract with the assistance of the Zoetermeer office in The Netherlands along with other Technip centers. The FEED activities are due to be completed by the Q2 11. Polimerica is owned 49% each by Pequiven and Braskem and 1% each by Coramer of Caracas and Sojitz of Tokyo.

At a recent press conference in The Hague, The Netherlands,Emerson Process Management officials presented a list of projects involving the company’s WirelessHART technology: Details

The huge potential of renewable energy projects in the CEE region is the focus of the 4th Renewable Energy Finance Forum - Central & Eastern Europe, 10-11 March, at the Marriott Prague. Access to capital remains a key challenge, with investors requiring greater assurances, says organisers Euromoney, whose conference will feature the views of investors, developers and suppliers on the business environment for renewable energy development in the region.

Southern Seawater Joint Venture (SSJV) has awarded Siemens a multi-million dollar contract to provide a 95-MGD (360-MLD) membrane treatment system for Water Corporation’s desalination plant in Binningup, south of Perth, Australia. When completed, the 40-MGD (151-MLD) plant will produce approximately 15% of Perth’s water supply. The existing Perth Seawater Desalination Plant currently provides 17% of Perth’s water supply, and when the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant is commissioned in 2011, a total of approximately 30% of Perth’s water will be supplied from climate-independent sources.

Technip, in association with JGC Corp. and Modec Inc., has been awarded by Petrobras a lump-sum FEED contract for a proposed floating liquefied natural gas unit (FLNG), as part of a design competition. This FLNG project is being conducted by the joint venture formed between Petrobras, BG, Repsol and Galp Energia for the challenging pre-salt reservoirs of the Santos basin offshore Brazil. This project would be the first FLNG unit in Brazil and is to be designed for a capacity of approximately 2.7 million tons per annum of LNG. Scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010, the FEED study is Technip’s second FLNG contract signed in 2009 - a contract with Shell was signed in July.

Sheffield Forgemasters has cast two complex pieces of a forging press for the heavy truck production market in China. The contract, worth more than Euro2m, means SFIL has produced two giant pieces of a 12,500t eccentric forging press for German client SMS MEER GmbH. The two companies have been collaborating on the project with SMS MEER designing the pieces and SFIL supporting in finding the best casting layout. The first and most complicated piece to be cast was the frame crown, with a finished weight of 256 tonnes. The second casting to be produced was the frame bed, with a finished weight of 172 tonnes. Both machined pieces are expected to be delivered in the latter part of 2010.

Clyde Process Solutions plc, a supplier of pneumatic conveying and air filtration solutions for process industries, has won a £1.7m contract with a global supplier of cereals, snacks and processed foods. CPS will supply this customer with an ingredient handling system at one of their largest production facilities located in the north central region of the US. CPS will utilise its pneumatic conveying technology to handle all the ingredients used in the manufacture of their new cereal product.

Colorplashas installed equipment from Filling Solutions Ltdat its Rochdale operation, which manufactures pigment dispersions and gelcoat products for the construction, automotive and marine industries. The system is designed to provide almost continuous filling of base resin from road tankers into IBC’s, means Colorplas can now get bulk purchase prices without having had to install a large bulk storage tank. PE article

Saftronics Ltd, a Leeds, UK manufacturer of process control systems, has won a £4.5m order from Severn Trent Water for its Minworth waste water treatment plant near Sutton Coldfield. The order follows an eventful year for the £11m turnover company, which has recently carried out a £75,000 investment at its Pearson Street factory in Hunslet. PE article

Korea Electric Power Research Institute has installed operator training and dynamic simulation technology from Invensys Operations Management to develop Taean-based IGCC power plant. The kit includes an operator training simulator (OTS) for operator training and process engineering design studies and HMI for graphic visualisation of processes. The IGCC plant will be used to prove the viability of clean-coal power plants worldwide. KEPRI process, mechanical and control engineers will use the dynamic simulators to understand new IGCC technology, make design decisions, prepare operating procedures and train plant operators.

Hertel has recently extended the work it does at Uskmouth Power Station and secured a new contract at Aberthaw Power Station. The maintenance contract for Uskmouth has been extended for a year and the company has also gained new work on the existing station and its new-build development, securing 26 jobs on site. Under the maintenance contract, Hertel will deliver asbestos removal and thermal insulation.  It will also provide these services as part of a shutdown project to overhaul the existing two-boiler power station. For the new development, Hertel will deliver thermal insulation, heat tracing and heat recovery systems, employing 45 workers on site. This work is to be completed in April 2010.  At Aberthaw, Hertel has secured a contract extension to provide ongoing maintenance and civil services. A team of 50 from the company has also been working on the unit 7 shutdown on site, providing access scaffolding, asbestos removal, thermal insulation, and mechanical and electrical works.

Edwards has won a £50,000 order to supply mechanical booster pumps to a European high temperature materials manufacturer.  The HV8000 boosters will replace steam ejectors on a chemical vapour infiltration (CVI) process used in matrix deposition, to lower manufacturing costs and avoid producing contaminated wastewater. Supported by an existing liquid ring vacuum pump, the HV8000 will operate at a high inlet pressure of 120mbar and 250mbar outlet.

John Crane has signed a dry gas seal repair services agreement with Brazilian energy company Petrobras that will be worth $5m over the next three years. The deal covers the repair of dry gas seals used on both upstream and gas transportation duties at various Petrobras facilities in Brazil, plus the supply of spares. The new agreement is expected to simplify the approval process which previously surrounded dry gas seals installed at various Petrobras offshore platforms and gas transportation facilities in Brazil.

Wilton-based Hertel Project Services has announced new customer wins totalling nearly £1 million, including contracts with Simon Projects, an independent bulk liquid and gas logistics supplier; Midlands-based design and engineering company, Exterran; Heerema, provider of engineering and construction services to the offshore sector; and chemical manufacturer, Fine Organics. More details

BThas signed a five-year network and security services outsourcing contract with South Africa energy and chemical companySasol, worth over £40 million. Under the agreement, BT will manage Sasol’s local area (LAN) and wide area networks (WAN) and provide internet connectivity. Managed security services, active directory, identity and access management (IAM) as well as systems centre management are also part of the deal. This contract is part of a Sasol move to a multi-sourcing model for services, as the company looks to cut costs and standardise technology platforms within its operations. PE article

KBRhas been awarded a contracted construction, maintenance and services agreement (CCMS) by DuPont. The award covers a three-year period. KBR will provide supplemental maintenance and small construction services to DuPont at 19 of its production facilities across the US northeast and Gulf Coast regions. Permanent presence work teams will be located at each facility to complete construction and maintenance projects as directed by DuPont.

CB&Ihas been awarded a contract in excess of $100m byUGI LNG, Inc. to engineer, procure and construct the expansion of the  Temple LNG peak shaving facility near Reading, Pennsylvania.  CB&I’s work scope includes the addition of a new 50,000 cubic meter  liquefied natural gas storage tank and related processing facilities  designed to provide 150 million cubic feet of natural gas per day during  peak demand periods. The Temple LNG expansion will connect directly into  the Texas Eastern pipeline to provide gas supplies for the Mid-Atlantic  and northeast markets.

KBR has won a contract by with Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltdto provide basic engineering and related services for its phenol technology in support of a detailed feasibility study for development of the companies’ joint Rabigh II project in Saudi Arabia. KBR will provide a basic engineering package and related services to facilitate the study to evaluate the viability of investment in the project, which includes an ethane cracker, a new aromatics complex and various petrochemical units including phenol and acetone.

Environmental engineering consultancy MWH has won a $4.5m contract to provide the European Commission with strategic advisory services for the implementation of the EU Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA). Through the GCCA, the EU aims to work with poor developing countries, mostly located in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands, to integrate climate change adaption and mitigation measures into regional and national development strategies. According to all predictions, these countries will be the hardest hit by the adverse effects of climate change while having at the same time the least capacity to react and adapt to these climate impacts.

Hellenic Petroleum SA has awarded ABB a $26m order to provide an integrated power and automation system for the upgrade of its Elefsina refinery, west of Athens. ABB will design, supply, install and commission the electrical and automation system to power the refinery. The turnkey electrical solution aims to strengthen the reliability and quality of power supply to the refinery, while improving energy efficiency and reducing overall electricity consumption and costs. The project is expected to be completed by 2010. More details

Esso Highlands Ltd has approved an EPC contract worth over $1bn with the CB&I Clough joint venture for the PNG LNG project’s gas conditioning plant, pending final project authorizations. Esso Highlands, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, is the operator of the PNG LNG Project. The contract scope includes the EPC work for the gas conditioning plant, nearby wellheads and associated piping and infrastructure, to be located in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The integrated development includes gas production and processing facilities, onshore and offshore pipelines and liquefaction facilities. More details

Two dredgers built at a Dutch shipyard will be equipped with specialised pumps by the KSB Group. The first ship ordered by a Belgian customer is a so-called trailing suction hopper dredger, which will be fitted with six pumps. Five pump sets are slurry pumps manufactured by KSB’s US subsidiary GIW. The two biggest units have a weight of 5,500 kilos each and are designed with three-vane impellers sized 835 mm in diameter. More details

AMEC’s Australian-based joint venture, Clough AMEC has been awarded a new contract by Woodside Energy Ltd to provide offshore maintenance services for their oil and gas assets located on the North West shelf off Western Australia. Under, the two-year contract which includes two one-year extension options. the JV will provide maintenance services for the supply of offshore core crew and routine/campaign maintenance works on Woodside Energy’s key offshore oil and gas production facilities. The contract has been developed around Clough AMEC’s ability to support Woodside Maintenance on a number of offshore assets, such as Cossack Pioneer FPSO, Northern Endeavour FPSO, Nganhurra FPSO and the Angel platform.

South East Water Ltd has awarded Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. a contract to provide program management, design, construction, and construction management services associated with its estimated £400m Asset Management Plan (AMP) 5 Capital Investment Programme (CIP) for 2010-2015. The contract includes the option to extend the provision of services through AMP6 to 2020. South East Water’s AMP5 CIP will invest in new and existing infrastructure associated with the supply of 565 million liters of drinking water each day to 2.1 million customers south east of England. The vlue of the contract was not disclosed.

Statoil ASA has awared Technip an engineering, procurement, construction and installation lump sum contract, worth over Euro23 million, for the Åsgard Gas Transfer Project. The Åsgard field is located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf at a water depth of 300 meters.The contract covers fabrication and installation of an approximately 4km-long rigid flowline in 2010 and the replacement of two flexible risers in 2011. The flowline fabrication will be executed by the Technip spoolbase in Orkanger while installation will be performed by the newly converted Apache II.

Samsung Engineering has commissioned Uhde GmbH to provide extensive licensing, engineering and supply services on a major contract for Ruwais Fertilizer Industries (FERTIL) of Abu Dhabi. The Korean engineering company is designing and constructing a $1.2bn turnkey ammonia and urea plant for FERTIL. The fertiliser complex, which has a production capacity of 2,000 tpd ammonia and 3,500 tpd urea is due for start up in 2013.Uhde’s proprietary ammonia process will be used in the ammonia plant, while the urea unit will employ a Stamicarbon synthesis process. The licence for the urea granulation will come from Uhde Fertilizer Technologies, which took over the rights to the fluidised-bed process from Yara Fertilizer Technology in 2005.

PolyMirae, a joint venture between Daelim and LyondellBasell Industries, has started the operation of LyondellBasell’sMetocenepolypropylene technology. The company has installed the metallocene catalyst-based PP technology to one of its Spheripol lines in Yeochun, Korea. The installation enables PolyMirae to apply Metocene PP technology to produce a range of homopolymers and random copolymers  with higher purity, improved physical properties like transparency and, better organoleptic properties.

Precia-Molen has recently installed a weighing system for Dengie Crops Ltd, a UK grower and producer of Alfalfa, which is used in the production of high quality animal feeds. In the production process horse feed is dried, baled, manually tested for moisture, weighed, automatically stacked and manually tagged. Precia-Molen supplied a set of R2 weighbeams and a touch screen terminal (with bespoke application software, Ethernet and TOR parallel I/O module) logs the weight of each bale against pre-entered source details and marks rejected bale records. Precia-Molen also installed SQL Interbase driver on the accounts and operations manager PC’s and configured a simple query for MS-Excel to provide production data.