Energy and environmental technology group Opcon has won a major bioenergy contract for Saxlund’s fuel handling and biomass combustion technology in the UK. Order value amounts to close to 35 m SEK with commissioning in 2015.

The project which is a joint development between Saxlund in Sweden and the UK means that Saxlund will provide the fuel handling system, with push floor and conveyers, in addition to a biomass combustion boiler with an integrated high pressure steam boiler, all for a system utilising waste wood as a fuel.

“This is an important order for us at Saxlund and proof that our international strategy and the integration we are working for in the Bioenergy sector is starting to bear fruit. We see growth in this sector in the UK and in terms of renewable energy and sustainability, waste wood is an obvious route to take and is an area in which the biofuel sector needs to further develop”, says Stefan Wallerman, managing director of Saxlund Bioenergy AB and responsible for bioenergy within Opcon.

Saxlund is a market leader in the bulk solid handling and storage sector, with more than 60 years’ experience across numerous industry sectors, including recycling, biomass combustion and cement. Saxlund is part of Opcon’s Renewable Energy business and Waste to Value initiative. Within the bioenergy sector, Opcon offers a full range of services from the design of complete combined heat and power (CHP) plants to handling systems and biomass energy plants under the Saxlund brand.

The Opcon Group

Opcon is an energy and environmental technology Group that develops, produces and markets systems and products for eco-friendly, efficient and resource-effective use of energy.

Opcon has activities in Sweden, Germany and the UK. There are around 150 employees. The company’s shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. The Group comprises one business area:

Renewable Energy focuses on the following areas: compressor technology, electricity generation based on waste heat, bioenergy-powered heating and CHP plants, pellets plants, handling systems for biomass, sludge, recycling industry and natural gas, industrial cooling, flue gas condensation, treatment of flue gases and air systems for fuel cells.

Fine Tubes, a leading manufacturer and global distributor of precision tubes for critical applications, is delighted to announce that it has been selected to supply specialist tubing for the Chemical Propulsion System (CPS) of the highly anticipated Solar Orbiter project. Contracted by OHB Sweden, Fine Tubes will be manufacturing over 100m of titanium tubing Grade 2 AMS 4942 with an outer diameter of 3.17mm and an inner diameter of 2.66mm.

Solar Orbiter is a European Space Agency (ESA) project that will investigate how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, its extended atmosphere. The contract to build the satellite has been awarded to Astrium UK who will lead a team of suppliers, including OHB Sweden, and NASA will provide the launcher and contribute instruments to the scientific payload. The scientific mission will be co-ordinated with NASA's Solar Probe Plus to maximise the combined science return.

Due for launch in 2017, Solar Orbiter will fly to within 45 million kilometres of the Sun, closer than Mercury, and will image the solar poles for the first time, helping to explain how the Sun generates its magnetic field. The Orbiter will experience levels of sunlight thirteen times higher than satellites orbiting the Earth and will also need to endure powerful bursts of atomic particles from explosions in the solar atmosphere.

These high-energy bursts (Coronal Mass Ejections) can disrupt satellite communications and electrical power distribution systems as well as causing computers to crash. The data provided by Solar Orbiter will, it is hoped, enable scientists to better understand how these violent and disruptive phenomena are caused.

Paul Mallet, Aerospace Business Development Manager at Fine Tubes commented: “The challenging environment in which these tubes must operate necessitates traditional manufacturing processes be improved to meet the demanding technical requirements. At Fine Tubes we are proud of our flexibility in adapting to new specification requirements and of our role in enabling such exciting projects to take place.”

On its journey to the Sun, Solar Orbiter will use gravity assists from Venus and Earth in a series of complex manoeuvres that will depend on the craft’s Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) and the CPS for which Fine Tubes is supplying the tubing. The craft will be propelled into a 168 day-long orbit around the Sun along which it will reach its closest point to the star every five months. At its highest speed, it will be in an almost stationary orbit, allowing unprecedented observations to be made.

Steve Ashton, Product Assurance Manager at OHB-Sweden added:“OHB Sweden, a subsidiary of the European space and technology group OHB, has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Astrium as contractor for the Chemical Propulsion System (CPS) for the Solar Orbiter mission, planned to be launched in 2017. The satellite will perform close-up observations of the Sun, and during its 7 year mission, will experience levels of sunlight thirteen times higher than satellites orbiting the Earth.  Fine Tubes were selected as supplier for the high quality seamless titanium tubing required to fulfil the exacting requirements of high quality and cleanliness levels needed for the Chemical Propulsion System."

Solar Orbiter continues a long tradition of European Sun explorers, including Helios 1 and 2, Ulysses, and SOHO, all developed in partnership with NASA, as well as ESA's PROBA-2.

• Established 70 years ago, Fine Tubes is a leading metal tubing manufacturer with its headquarters and production facilities in Plymouth, UK and sales offices in Germany (Munich), France (Orleans) India (New Delhi) and the US (Houston) as well as several agents across the globe.
• The company manufactures both seamless and welded tubes, in a wide range of stainless steel, nickel, titanium and zirconium alloys, for critical applications in the oil and gas, nuclear and power, aerospace, chemicals and medical equipment industries.
• Fine Tubes currently employs around 380 permanent staff and exports its products to over 35 countries worldwide, including Russia, India, China and the US.
• Recent projects for which Fines Tubes has supplied specialist tubing include the Airbus A380 and A350 series, Sukhoi Superjet 100, Skylon, the world’s first reusable space plane, the Gemasolar power station and CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.

BASF and SINOPEC will build a new world-scale production plant for Neopentylglycol (NPG) at their state-of-the-art Verbund site, BASF-YPC Co., Ltd., a 50-50 joint venture in Nanjing, China. The plant, with a total annual capacity of about 40,000 metric tons is planned to go on stream at the end of 2015. The new NPG plant will benefit from backward integration into the Nanjing Verbund site, allowing high delivery reliability and maximizing efficient use of energy and resources.

NPG is a unique polyalcohol offering superior performance in many end-use applications such as coatings, textiles and construction due to its high chemical and thermal stability. It is mainly used as a building block in polyester resins for coatings, unsaturated polyester and alkyd resins, lubricants and plasticizers. As the global market leader, BASF has NPG production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Freeport, USA and Jilin, China.

“With this new plant, we are responding to our customers’ growing demand for high-quality neopentylglycol, especially in the Asia Pacific region, and at the same time strengthening our position as the global leading supplier of NPG,” said Sanjeev Gandhi, President, BASF Intermediates division. “We have 55 years of experience in manufacturing and supplying neopentylglycol to our customers across a broad range of industries.”

“With this project, SINOPEC and BASF are fully utilizing their strengths regarding resources, technology, talent and management. Furthermore with this investment we are building on the core competitiveness of both partners,” said Mr. Wang Jingyi, Chairman and General Manager of Sinopec YPC and Chairman of BASF-YPC.

About BASF-YPC

BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. is a 50-50 joint venture between BASF and Sinopec, founded in 2000, with a total investment of $4.5 billion. The integrated petrochemical site produces 3 million tons of high-quality chemicals and polymers for the Chinese market annually. The products serve the rapid-growing demand in multiple industries including agriculture, construction, electronics, pharmaceutical, automotive and chemical manufacturing.

BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. successfully started commercial production at the first phase of the integrated petrochemical site in 2005 and inaugurated the second phase creating an extended value chain and increasing the production of fine chemicals in January 2012. BASF-YPC will further expand its acrylic acid value chain with additional acrylic acid and butyl acrylate plants. Production is expected to commence in 2014. Together with the superabsorbent polymer plant, which was put on stream in December 2013, BASF-YPC will enhance its support to home care and hygiene industries as well as coatings, textiles, and construction industries. These plants are interconnected in order to use products, by-products and energy in the most efficient way, to save cost and minimize environmental impact. The site also has a gas-fired power plant and an international port on a tributary of the Yangtze River to ensure optimum energy supply and logistics. BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. posted sales of €2.84 billion in 2013 employed 1,993 people as of the end of that year.

About SINOPEC

Sinopec is one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies with upstream, midstream and downstream operations in China. Its principal operations include: the exploration and production, pipeline transportation and sales of petroleum and natural gas; the sales, storage and transportation of petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products; import and export, as well as import and export agency business of oil, natural gas, petroleum products, petrochemical and chemical products, and other commodities and technologies; and research, development and application of technologies and information.

Adhering to its corporate mission of enterprise development, contribution to the country, shareholder value creation, social responsibility and employee wellbeing, Sinopec implements strategies of resources, markets, integration, internationalisation, differentiation and green low-carbon development with a view to realize its vision of building a world first class energy and chemical company. More information on Sinopec is available on the Internet at http://www.sinopec.com/

About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of about €74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com

AkzoNobel and Solvay have joined forces with EY (Ernst & Young) to jointly develop a monitoring system that tracks and quantifies the use of renewable raw materials in paints, coatings and other applications.

The partnership builds on last year's agreement between AkzoNobel and Solvay, whereby the company progressively increases the use of Solvay's bio-based epichlorohydrin, or Epicerol, in its coatings products.

Rather than buying Epicerol directly from Solvay, AkzoNobel obtains epoxy resins from a number of intermediate producers. The company then uses these epoxy resins as ingredients in various coatings.

Under this new agreement, Solvay, AkzoNobel and EY will develop a "chain of custody methodology" to ensure that even in situations where no physical segregation of petro and bio-based materials is practiced, volumes may still be assigned and reported.

"This is a vital next step to measure and share with partners our progress in using Solvay's bio-based epichlorohydrin," explained Peter Nieuwenhuizen, AkzoNobel's Director of Innovation and Partnerships.

Added Jean-Luc Préat, Head of the Epicerol business in Solvay's Emerging Biochemicals Global Business Unit: "We welcome the expertise of EY to monitor progress in the implementation of this innovative partnership along the value chain."

Epicerol has a substantially lower carbon footprint than fossil-produced epichlorohydrin and is already used in AkzoNobel's coating products worldwide. By 2016, the company aims to source 20 percent of its total epichlorohydrin demand as bio-based material.

"This methodology will not just be useful for Epicerol, but can be applied more broadly in chemical value chains," said Franc van den Berg, EY partner for Cleantech and Sustainability. "This is an important enabler for establishing a stronger position for bio-based chemicals in the chemical business."

AkzoNobel is a leading global paints and coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals. We supply industries and consumers worldwide with innovative products and are passionate about developing sustainable answers for our customers. Our portfolio includes well-known brands such as Dulux, Sikkens, International and Eka. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we are consistently ranked as one of the leaders in the area of sustainability. With operations in more than 80 countries, our 50,000 people around the world are committed to delivering leading products and technologies to meet the growing demands of our fast-changing world.

PackPro 7.4 at Interpack 2014

At Interpack in Duesseldorf, Brigl & Bergmeister will present a PackPro upgrade: 7.4

PackPro 7.4 demonstrates the assets of the PackPro series and its manufacture in terms of carbon footprint.

GSCM – Green Supply Chain Management plays a major role at B&B. Applying the triple bottom line approach, the company can use the intersection of three levels (economic, environmental and social objectives) as the basis of its activities. This ensures that not only a positive impact on the environment and on society can be achieved, but above all long-term commercial profits and competitive advantages can be realised.

At B&B, sustainability initiatives and the corporate strategy are closely linked and also form part of the company's core business.

B&B firmly believes that those customers who are increasingly concerned with environmental issues, such as global warming, for instance, will also be the customers who will in future increasingly enquire after the origin of products. Apart from the consumers, there are other drivers of Green Supply Chain Management, for instance organisational, community, media and regulatory drivers. This will increase significantly in the future.

Implementing GSCM entails numerous benefits for FMCG products. However, many people still erroneously believe that environmentally sound action involves additional costs only. Yet is has been demonstrated that the benefits inherent in environmentally sound and sustainable packaging represent, in the medium to long term, a positive net effect on the financial performance and brand performance of companies.

The entire PackPro series presents itself as THE answer in terms of environmentally sustainable flexible packaging solutions. This product series by B&B provides competitive advantages for FMCG products, brand reputation in terms of proactive sustainability, and proven innovation when it comes to minimising risks.

B&B is the leading manufacturer of label papers and flexible packaging papers worldwide.

The Brigl & Bergmeister factory is located in Niklasdorf, Styria, right in the heart of Europe. The factory is supplied with 100% carbon-neutral energy by Enages, B&B's thermal waste recycling plant.

The Papirnica Vevče factory is situated in Slovenia in the greater Ljubljana area. Papirnica Vevče is a 100% subsidiary of B&B.

Brigl & Bergmeister and Papirnica Vevče are part of the ROXCEL Group with registered offices in Vienna.

Power management company Eaton has named Richard Jacobs president of the Hydraulics Business in Europe, Middle East and Africa. In this role, Jacobs will continue to report to Bill VanArsdale, president, Hydraulics Group. He succeeds Astrid Mozes who has been named chief technology officer for Eaton’s Hydraulics Group.

“Ensuring the successful execution of the growth strategy in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region is critical,” said VanArsdale. “Rick’s global leadership experience and the growth he has brought to multiple businesses makes him ideally suited to lead this team.”

Jacobs has been the vice president and general manager of Filtration since 2008. Prior to that role, he was Eaton’s vice president, Supply Chain Management. Previously, Jacobs held a variety of leadership roles at companies including Knorr Bremse, Honeywell and General Electric.

Jacobs will be located in Morges, Switzerland. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and industrial engineering and a master’s degree in industrial management from Clarkson University in New York.

Eaton is a power management company with 2013 sales of $22.0 billion. Eaton provides energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently, safely and sustainably. Eaton has approximately 101,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com 

Siemens has installed the BorWin2 offshore platform in the North Sea northwest of the island of Borkum. This marks Siemens' achievement of the second crucial milestone in the German grid connection projects under contract with the German-Dutch network operator TenneT. Siemens had already erected its first converter platform for the HelWin1 connection off Heligoland in the North Sea in August 2013. The BorWin2 transmission capacity of 800 megawatts (MW) is enough to meet the power demand of some 800,000 German households. On the platforms, the alternating current generated by the wind turbines is transformed into low-loss direct current for transmission to the mainland by using Siemens technology. The BorWin2 onshore converter station, likewise supplied to TenneT by Siemens, is located in Diele. There the electric power from the connected wind farms is converted back into the alternating current required to feed into the power grid.

HEAT-IT Oy from Rovaniemi, Finland has selected Outokumpu’s new high-chromium ferritic stainless steel Outokumpu 4622 as the material for their RESPETRA rescue chamber.

The RESPETRA rescue chamber is a stainless steel cabin used in underground mines. It provides shield and protection for miners for example in case of fire for as long as for four days. Outokumpu’s stainless steel is used for rescue chambers in mines in Kittilä and Kemi, Finland, as well as in underground construction sites in Oulu and Helsinki capital area.

“Outokumpu 4622 is a natural choice for a rescue chamber, because it is a perfect fit for the demanding environment in the mine. Stainless steel is practically maintenance free, which leads to low life cycle cost. In addition to good corrosion and heat resistance, weldability and deep-drawability 4622 has lower cost than stainless steel grades with nickel,” says Juha Kela from Outokumpu Tornio Research Centre.

Stainless steel surface doesn’t require any coating and therefore the air in the rescue chamber stays fresh. Outokumpu 4622 is technically very suitable for the rescue chamber due to its good combination of strength and toughness and can thus handle pressure relief well. The walls of the rescue chamber are curved to provide protection against pressure and gases.

“We have tested the rescue chamber in the mine near the blasting area and the chamber has performed well. We chose Outokumpu 4622 as it offers us the required technical properties with a lower cost. I am very pleased with the cooperation with Outokumpu,” says Pekka Kilpeläinen, CEO of HEAT-IT Oy.

New Outokumpu 4622 steel grade is a competitive alternative to traditional austenitic stainless steels. Outokumpu 4622 steel grade is a standard ferritic stainless steel by its technical properties. It can be used in a broad range of applications from home appliances, to exhaust systems, process equipment and cladding panels.

Outokumpu is a global leader in stainless steel. We create advanced materials that are efficient, long lasting and recyclable – thus building a world that lasts forever. Stainless steel, invented a century ago, is an ideal material to create lasting solutions in demanding applications from cutlery to bridges, energy and medical equipment: it is 100% recyclable, corrosion-resistant, maintenance-free, durable and hygienic. Outokumpu employs more than 12 000 professionals in more than 30 countries, with headquarters in Espoo, Finland and shares listed in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. www.outokumpu.com

The responsive, service-led approach of Buck & Hickman, the UK’s leading distributor of tools, maintenance and health & safety products, is continuing to add value for the UK facility of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial circuit protection products, with cost savings of around £12,000 per work station - more than four times those anticipated being delivered.

At its facility at Burton-on-the-Wold, near Loughborough in Leicestershire, Eaton Group’s Bussmann business manufactures a variety of state-of-the-art fuse links and bases, fuse holders, lightning and surge arresters, contactors and terminal blocks, which are supplied to a worldwide customer base. The focus is on bespoke products and short production runs, meaning the facility must be able to offer optimum flexibility.

For the past several years, Buck & Hickman has supplied an extensive portfolio of production and maintenance consumables, ranging from solvent cleaner and brushes to tweezers, pliers, drill bits and solder tips.

Previously, most of these items were stored in open bins or cupboards with little control over who was taking them or how many were being used. When stock ran low, items were being requisitioned individually, with requests having to go through several approval stages individually before the order could be placed.

The maintenance team at Bussmann consulted Buck & Hickman’s Area Sales Manager, Simon Tyreman, to see if a more efficient and less time-intensive solution could be developed. The recommendation from Buck & Hickman was a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) solution for many of the faster-moving items, which are now stored in cupboards to which there is controlled access. Each week a representative from Buck & Hickman visits the site to check stock levels in the cupboards, using a hand-held scanner to provide full detail on where items are running low. The required items are then delivered at the next visit.

This system is delivering a significant reduction in administration time spent on product ordering, as Richard Armitage, Plant Engineering & Facilities Manager at Bussmann, explained: “Previously all requests had to be reviewed by myself and a director before being sent to the purchasing team to place the order. Now, however, we know that Buck & Hickman will simply assess what is needed and supply it, consolidating all the items supplied during one month into a single invoice. This represents a substantial saving on internal time spent managing this type of consumable.

“We also anticipate an estimated 10 per cent saving on like-for-like acquisition costs in the first year of the VMI solution.”

The relationship does not begin and end with maintenance consumables.. Buck & Hickman’s technical team recently collaborated closely on a leak survey of Bussmann’s compressed air systems, identifying areas where more energy efficient alternative components could be used, delivering further savings on both components and resulting energy usage. A review of airline tools has also seen the introduction of new products, again increasing productivity and energy efficiency.

The most recent project has seen Buck & Hickman investigate, recommend and supply new specialist pedestal drill solutions from Guhring following a review of existing working process, which identified that the tasks of drilling through melamine and mazac could be undertaken with a single drill, rather than having to use two separate products, saving on set-up time. This is set to result in a cost saving of around £12,000 per work station.

Buck & Hickman is now also extending its areas of supply to Bussmann to include bearings, seals and a range of other components, in line with the company’s drive to consolidate its supplier base.

Richard Armitage added: “We targeted Buck & Hickman with a 5 per cent like-for-like cost reduction but this year the figure is actually nearer to 22 per cent - a clear demonstration of how the company’s team has invested time in understanding our business and our requirements and then tailored its offering accordingly.”

Simon Tyreman of Buck & Hickman concluded: “We aim to add value at every touch and our commitment to developing this relationship has helped deliver both cost savings and operational improvements for Bussmann. The VMI system is already ensuring greater control and availability of consumables and we see this delivering further cost savings in years to come.”

For more information on the products and services offered by Buck & Hickman, visit www.buckandhickmanuk.com.

With a pedigree spanning more than 180 years, Buck & Hickman is the UK’s leading distributor of tools, maintenance and health & safety products. It distributes for major names such as Bosch, Castrol, Deb, Dewalt, Dormer, Irwin Tools, Kimberly-Clark, Loctite, Murex, Nederman, North, Rocol, Sperian, Stanley and 3M, as well as its own acclaimed Roebuck brand.

Now part of Brammer UK, Buck & Hickman offers a range of more than 60,000 products available on a next day delivery basis through its nationwide branch network. 

AkzoNobel has inaugurated its new, highly efficient chlorine membrane electrolysis plant in the Rhein-Main area, Germany. The Frankfurt-based, state-of-the-art plant is the result of a major conversion and expansion project begun in 2011 and involving a €140 million investment by the company. Capacity has been increased by 50 percent whilst at the same time reducing the plant's overall ecological footprint by some 20 percent.

"This investment in our Specialty Chemicals business highlights the steps we are taking to strengthen our market positions and further improve our performance as a company," said AkzoNobel CEO Ton Büchner. "We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to improve our operational efficiency, drive our sustainability agenda and improve our service to customers." 

Added Werner Fuhrmann, the company's Executive Committee member responsible for Specialty Chemicals: "This plant produces building blocks for the manufacture of products we all use on a daily basis ranging from pharmaceuticals and tooth paste to door and window frames. By radically improving our efficiency and increasing our use of renewable energy, we can take significant steps in making these everyday essentials even more sustainable."

To mark the inauguration, a special event is being held today for employees, customers and other business partners. It will be attended by both Ton Büchner and Werner Fuhrmann, as well as Tarek Al-Wazir, Minister for Economy, Energy, Transport and Regional Development for the federal state of Hessen who stated: "The new chlorine production facility of AkzoNobel Industrial Chemicals is a good example that economy and ecology are compatible; and it is a strong signal for the strengthening of the chemical cluster Hessen."

The facility has been converted to the latest generation membrane technology. Radical efficiency improvements will reduce energy consumption by 30 percent per ton of product. Boosting chlorine production capacity up to 250 kilotons per year will also reinforce the company's leading positions in Europe's chlor-alkali markets.

Work at Frankfurt started in 2011, with commercial production from the new plant expected to come on stream in the next few weeks. The site is one of three chlorine plants operated by AkzoNobel in Germany, the other two being located in Bitterfeld and Ibbenbüren.

Products from the salt-chlorine chain, including chlorine, caustic lye, and derivatives including MCA and chloromethanes, are essential basic chemicals and are used in countless everyday products and processes, ranging from water disinfection to clothing, amongst other things in the manufacture of epoxies, polyurethanes, polycarbonates, PVC and titanium dioxide. They are also used in the manufacture of more than two thirds of all pharmaceuticals.

AkzoNobel is a leading global paints and coatings company and a major producer of specialty chemicals. We supply industries and consumers worldwide with innovative products and are passionate about developing sustainable answers for our customers. Our portfolio includes well-known brands such as Dulux, Sikkens, International and Eka. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we are consistently ranked as one of the leaders in the area of sustainability. With operations in more than 80 countries, our 50,000 people around the world are committed to delivering leading products and technologies to meet the growing demands of our fast-changing world.