« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »
New Blog Offers Insights on Engineering Supplies, Useful Ideas |
December 29, 2005 |
|
Posted by Don Dunnington at 04:45 PM | Comments (0) |
|
Rob Powell sent us a note that EngineerSupply has launched a new blog. The blog is a mix of personal perspectives and useful insights about some of the engineering tools and supplies you can find on their website.
The Value of Hard Work and On the Job Training
"Trained to work or work to train" is a nice little item on how the author (presumably Powell, though he goes unnamed on the blog) developed his work ethic. He tells two short stories about encounters in his early work experiences that still influence his work habits today.
Both incidents ("You Can Talk, Just Dont Stop Working" and "Never Let Me See Your Hands In Your Pockets") revolve around negative feedback from supervisors in his first days on a new job. I wonder if young people today (outside of military training) still have the opportunities learn the lasting lessons that come from a good chewing out.
Blueprints Explained
If you ever have occasion to need a blueprint (or you’re just curious about how they’re produced), don’t miss the lengthy tutorial on how to make a blueprint. According to the author (Powell?), "blueline prints are very impressive since they are blue and show off your work nicely." He writes that some shops don't like large format copiers that only output black and white, adding "I have seen many shops that have both machines, a blueline, and a large format copier and use either depending on the desired results."
Long Machine Life, Low Cost Per Copy
The diazo process that creates a blueprint is inherently simple. The copiers have few complicated parts, are inexpensive to maintain, and can easily function for 20 years with little down time. According to the story, diazo-coated papers and associated supplies are competitive with plain paper. The aqueous ammonia developer is also said to be low in cost and environmentally safe, and in most cases there are no per-copy charges with diazo copiers.
In Praise of Ammonia
The author waxes enthusiastically about the blueprint’s amoniai developer:
"It is a basic building-block substance, which is crucial to life on our planet. It is composed of only two elements - nitrogen and hydrogen. Ammonia is produced by all animals, including humans, as a natural product of the metabolic process. Each person generates about 550 grams per year. According to one source, 500 families release more ammonia each year than 20,000 diazo copying machines. Ammonia is a natural product that poses no long term health hazard when used properly and is no threat to the environment. Ammonia helps reduce acid rain; it is not one of the substances responsible for the greenhouse effect; it is not a known carcinogen; and, aqueous ammonia solution is not flammable. Ammonia is recycled by rain and soil in a process known as the "Nitrogen Cycle". Accumulation in surface water, soil, or in the atmosphere does not occur. This naturally regenerating cycle is vital to our ecology and life as we know it on this planet."
One Important Item Missing
The EngineerSupply blog doesn’t appear to have comments and trackbacks enabled. That may be a limitation of the Blogger platform they have used, or perhaps it simply reflects the increasing nuisance of blog spam. The lack of author identity seems odd because the posts actually have a lot of personality to them. As can be seen in the posts referenced above, the author naturally lets his personal perspective shine through; for many who are new to the art, this is the hardest part of blogging. To have that authentic blog feel, all EngineeringSupply blog needs to do is sign their articles.
Don Dunnington
Does Your Car Run On Alternate Fuels? |
December 20, 2005 |
|
Posted by Joe Lewis at 01:19 PM |
|
Ethanol? Ever heard of it? At this point in time most people have heard of Ethanol. Many gas pumps have fuel that actually contains at least 10% Ethanol. And this may be just the beginning.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Ethanol is an alcohol based fuel that can be used as an alternative to fossil-fuel (that's a term that could be discussed in and of itself: click here) gasoline. Ethanol is produced by fermenting and distilling crops such as corn that are starch based and have been converted into simple sugars. It is usually used to increase octane and increase the quality of emissions.
In many parts of the midwest Ethanol is blended with gasoline to make a low concentration Ethanol containing fuel called E-10. However, while this reduces gasoline consumption and improves emissions, E-10 is not considered an alternative fuel under the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The best alternative fuel made with Ethanol is called E-85, which is 85% Ethanol and 15% gasoline. In addition, there is an even higher blend of Ethanol-based fuel called E-95 (95% Ethanol). These both qualify as alternative fuels under EPAct.
While this is all good news and you can read further about all of this by clicking here, the bad news is that there aren't many vehicles that can run the E-85 and higher fuels while almost every vehicle I know of (including my Pontiac Grand Prix) can run E-10 very well. Here is a quick list of some of the vehicle models that can handle E-85, click here. Even if yours is listed you better investigate it further by consulting your owners manual and dealer before pumping it.
The point to this discussion is not necessarily from the emission standpoint for I am not a wacko environmentalist as Rush Limbaugh would call them. In fact, while I disagree with the term "fossil fuel" I love racing (especially drag racing) which can consume a large quantity of fuel. But then, the most exciting and fastest cars run top fuel. Guess what? It's not gasoline they're burning. In any case, my point is in regards to what a great opportunity Ethanol production is for the grain processing segment of the powder and bulk solids industries. And many of your companies, including mine, benefit. Take a look at this website for the industry trade publication called BioFuels and see how many news stories involve biofuels and Ethanol, click here!
Within the Ethanol production process their is both solids and liquid handling processes. Process equipment, components and systems are all required to make an Ethanol or BioFuels plant run. And we here in the U.S. are poised to consume more Ethanol in the next several years than we might imagine. And guess what? It's corn based for the most part. Living here in northern Illinois I can tell you that one thing we have a lot of here in the U.S. is corn crop. The use of E-85 and E95 fuels will help reduce our dependency as a nation of gasoline. How much? I don't know, but we need an increasing number of cars to be able to run the fuel and we need more distribution points around the country.
One company very involved in the Ethanol plant design and construction (and there are others but I am mentioning one for the sake of being breif) is ICM. ICM is "one of the premier design/engineering firms for Ethanol processing facilities in the world". ICM and their supply and contracting partners design and build Ethanol plants and the equipment and components contained therein. We're pleased to be associated with them as a supplier of level controls. For more insight into the dry handling part of the Ethanol production process I refer you to ICM's website section on this subject by clicking here
So, call your senators and congressmen and support the grain processing bulk solids industry by lobbying more funding for Ethanol production, the requirement of vehicles that can and do run with E-85 and E-95 fuels and an increase in the distribution apparatus required to deliver these fuels to the consumer like you and me.
Thoughts about this? Write and let me know. Thanks!
Merry Christmas,
Joe Lewis
Vice President - Marketing & Sales
Monitor Technologies LLC
jlewis@monitortech.com
www.monitortech.com
"White Papers" Are Great Tools For Assessing Vendor Expertise |
December 08, 2005 |
|
Posted by Joe Lewis at 03:32 PM | Comments (0) |
|
Q.What’s a “white paper”?
A.The term “white paper” is derived from the term “white book” (a government publication of position/policy on a topic). Winston Churchill wrote one of the most well known white papers in 1922. It stated Britain’s position regarding Palestine in the middle east.
www.palestinefacts.org/pf _mandate_whitepaper_1922.php
A white paper promotes a particular position or solution. White papers, though they have roots in politics, are a valuable tool to introduce technological innovations, products and solutions. They are a tool for process engineers to use in assessing a vendor’s expertise. White papers used in industry today are written to put forth a supplier's position and knowledge in a particular area of expertise, such as powder conveying, silo design or even level measurement and monitoring instrumentation.
A good industrial "white paper" will be somewhat generic in content and will not simply be a promotional story. It will generally offer valueto the process engineer by providing information and education. In will provide a recomendation or suggest a solution to a problem.
Monitor Technologies LLC is a leading supplier of level monitoring and flow detection solutions for powders and bulk solids. Our solutions serve a wide variety of industries; including plastics processing, concrete and aggregates, grain and feed processing, food processing and others.
In addition, we are the leading producer of “white papers” for use by customers in better understanding specific topics related to instrumentation and specific level measurement for powders and bulk solids. Our "white papers" are written as generic educational documents. They illustrate our position on the subject.
For example, the white paper “Technology Review – Continuous Level Measurement of Bulk Solids and Powders” highlights the challenges in measuring the level of powders and bulk solids and the pros and cons of the various technologies available today. It also discusses the challenges regarding “real world accuracy” in volume/weight terms and compares level measurement solutions to those provided by weighing systems.
In this white paper we conclude with a four-step guideline for use in selecting the correct solution for your specific application. You can download this and other white papers at www.monitortech.com/papers.shtml.
| Current white papers available: | |
| • | Hazardous Locations – A Primer |
| • | Technology Review – Continuous Level Measurement Of Powders And Bulk Solids |
| • | Researching The Internet |
| • | RMI/VMI Systems – A SecureCare™ Solution |
Say Goodbye to 'Hurricane' and 'Soder' and Hello to the K-Tron Process Group |
December 06, 2005 |
|
Posted by Don Dunnington at 08:39 AM | Comments (0) |
|
ave been working to update K-Tron’s web pages to reflect the organizational changes that have combined our feeder business and vacuum conveying business into a single unit now called the K-Tron Process Group. This change has had an impact on almost every web page, and that's a lot of updating for such a large website. 
At the core of K-Tron’s pneumatic conveying business is K-Tron PCS, which provides dilute and dense phase vacuum conveying solutions. Founded in Stockport, England in 1990, Pneumatic Conveying Systems (PCS) has built a reputation in the UK for its sanitary design and expertise in conveying hard to handle materials. Now that it has merged into the K-Ton process Group, PCS has an opportunity to be more widely known through K-Tron’s global distribution network.
What this Means to the Industry
