Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Plant Operators News

22 Jul 2020

Rolls-Royce, MAN Partner on Fleet Management Platform

Andreas Schell (left), CEO of Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems, and Dr. Uwe Lauber (right), CEO of MAN Energy Solutions, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on mýa, the open asset-and-fleet-management-system. (Photo: MAN Energy Systems)

Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems, and Dr. Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN Energy Solutions, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on mýa, the open asset-and-fleet-management-system enabling the integration of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), asset owner and operator data across the marine, power and energy industries, among others.Lauber said, “I’m very happy that a major player such as Rolls-Royce has chosen to join the mýa organization and to support the platform’s development.

07 May 2020

Virus Lockdowns Pummel Global Gas Demand, Force LNG Output Cuts

Lockdowns to slow the coronavirus pandemic are pummelling gas demand in the world's biggest buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), pushing Asia's spot prices to record lows and forcing some suppliers to start cutting output. Economies worldwide have ground to a halt as virus containment measures have taken their toll, slashing gas demand for power generation, heating, cooking, vehicles and chemical manufacture. The world's biggest LNG markets - Japan, China, South Korea, and India - are all seeing a drop in demand. Asia's spot LNG prices dropped to $1.85 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) last week, the lowest ever, as cargoes have flooded the market. "At prices in the $2/mmBtu range ... some producers are getting close to not recovering cash costs of their operations.

11 Feb 2020

MAN's New Digital Platform Aims to Link OEM Data

© Siarhei / Adobe Stock

Engines manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions has launched a new digital platform designed to enable the integration and exchange of original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) data to promote industry collaboration in realizing the benefits of digital technology.The new platform, mýa, provides asset owners with a single, secure interface to data from multiple equipment manufacturers across the marine, power, and energy industries, among others.“Given the unique transformational challenges most industries are facing today…

29 Oct 2019

AMETEK Land Launches New Emissions Monitoring Systems

Photo: AMETEK Land

AMETEK Land, a provider of combustion efficiency and environmental pollutant emissions monitoring instrumentation, has launched two new continuous emission monitoring systems (PM-CEMS) to provide accurate and reliable measurement of particulate matter from industrial combustion processes in stacks and ducts.The AMETEK Land 4650-PM is an extremely stable and accurate low-range particulate matter measurement system designed for CEMS applications where condensed water is not present in the flue gas.

06 Feb 2019

HHLA Support Energy Transition

German logistics and transportation company Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) and its partners began research and development work on the publicly funded FRESH  project at its Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA).FRESH stands for flexibility management and control reserve provision of heavy goods vehicles in the harbour, said the firm which operates three container terminals at the Port of Hamburg: Altenwerder, Burchardkai and Tollerort, as well as cargo handling and transport services by rail, road and sea.The goal is to integrate the battery capacities of the automated guided container transport vehicles (AGVs) that are in use…

09 Feb 2018

Tech File: New Cylinder Pressure Sensor Helps Optimize Large Engines

(Photo: Kistler)

The shipping sector is constantly striving to optimize the efficiency of large engines. This endeavor calls for new approaches and innovative products. Each percentage point of efficiency gained here has an immense impact on fuel consumption and emissions. Kistler responds to the trend toward higher cylinder pressures in engines (up to 300 bar) with its rugged, accurate and durable measurement systems. The efficiency of large engines such as those used on commercial vessels can be increased with the help of cylinder pressure sensors that precisely monitor the combustion process.

22 May 2017

DNV GL Rolls Out Forecasting Platform

DNV GL has announced its launch of Forecaster NOW, the industry’s first forecast on-demand web portal with e-commerce enabled transactions. Forecaster NOW is part of a suite of DNV GL subscription-based short-term forecasting services which also includes: Forecaster Live, Forecaster Plus and Forecaster Solutions. “Power grids and markets will continue their rapid transformation to a low carbon system,” said Craig Collier, head of forecasting for the Americas at DNV GL. Forecaster NOW provides users with on-demand forecasts of select power markets with hourly resolution to seven days. Easily accessible on the web, Forecaster NOW aims to provide energy traders, plant operators and other stakeholders with immediate estimates of future wind and solar plant energy production.

28 Jun 2016

Wärtsilä, Zamakona Yards Join forces in Canary Island

Wärtsilä is enhancing its service offering by participating in a new maintenance hub in the Canary Islands. The facility, operated by one of Spain's biggest shipbuilding and ship repair groups, Zamakona Yards, will provide Wärtsilä's high quality service expertise to satisfy the growing needs of marine and power plant operators. Wärtsilä will offer maintenance and repair services at a new maintenance hub for marine and power plant operators with special focus on the offshore market in cooperation with CCB Zamakona Offshore S.L. and Zamakona Shipyard, subsidiaries of Zamakona Yards, in Las Palmas, Canary Islands. The new custom-built service centre at the crossroads of the Atlantic…

26 Aug 2015

Five Minutes with Roy S. Strand, COO, Goltens Worldwide

Roy S. Strand

As Goltens celebrates 75 years serving the maritime industry, Roy Strand discusses the iconic company’s historic market strengths and its big push into the Ballast Water Treatment sector. Your company is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. For readers who may not be familiar with the details of the company, can you provide a brief on its founding? The company was founded by Sigurd Golten in 1940. Golten was born in Western Norway and sailed as a merchant engineer from the age of 14. While sailing, he saw first-hand the importance of top-quality machine shops and repair providers.

21 Oct 2014

Weak Oil Threatens US Export of LNG

Plunging global oil prices may turn hopes for cheap liquefied natural gas supplies from the United States into a costly disappointment for Asian buyers who have already invested billions of dollars in long-term contracts. The 26 percent price slide since June to $85 a barrel exposes cracks in the assumption by utilities and industrial companies from Japan to India that cheap U.S. LNG would muscle into high-value Asian energy markets from 2016. Oil prices form the backbone of LNG trade to Asia, because exporters outside the United States typically tie 25-year supply deals to crude oil prices. If prices continue to fall, these suppliers from Qatar to Australia will regain their edge over upstart U.S. producers. "From the buyer's view, $80 oil makes oil-linked supplies less expensive ...

01 Sep 2014

Statoil Says Normal Operations at In Amenas Gas Plant Resuming

Normal operations are resuming at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria 18 months after a raid by Islamist militants killed forty employees, one of the plant's operators, Statoil, said on Monday. "The corporate executive committee has decided that ordinary rotation is to be resumed at the plant as all defined security measures have been implemented," Statoil said in a statement. The plant is operated by BP, Statoil and Algeria's Sonatrach. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)

01 Sep 2014

Cavernous Swiss Power Plant Undermined by Renewable Energy

Deep in a Swiss mountain, workers have blasted out a cathedral-sized hole for a power plant that will help keep Europe's lights on, but the profit outlook for the 1.9 billion Swiss franc ($2.1 billion) project has darkened since its construction began in 2008. The Nant de Drance plant, and others like it, is being undermined by cheap renewable solar and wind energy, which up-ends its business model of pumping water uphill at night when power prices are low and releasing it to make electricity when prices peak in the daytime - a process known as pumped storage. These pumped storage plants are designed to balance Europe's power supply grids as they can switch on and off at the flick of a switch, unlike nuclear or coal-fired power plants.

18 May 2014

State Won't Pay For Nuclear Decommissioning - Germany

Germany's economy minister has joined Angela Merkel in rejecting talk that utilities might hand over responsibility for decommissioning Germany's nuclear power plants to a new public entity, as the projected costs of decommissioning rise. "It should not be tax payers who pay for the clean-up of atomic waste but rather those who made money for decades through running nuclear power stations,"Sigmar Gabriel told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday. Two sources told Reuters last weekend that utilities were in talks with the government about setting up a "bad bank" for nuclear plants, in response to Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to close them all by 2022 after the Fukushima disaster.

14 May 2014

SEEMP: Potential Win-win for Commercial Vessels

SEEMP can make a fleet more competitive in a difficult business environment while reducing its impact on the environment. In January 2013, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) put into force new regulations intended to improve the energy efficiency of ships over 400 gross tonnes (gt) on international voyages, including a requirement to keep on board a ship-specific Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP). This initiative is intended to reduce ship greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by encouraging ship operators to reduce energy consumption. Since that time, there has been much discussion within the shipping industry about the potential domestic enforcement of the SEEMP. Recently, the U.S.

01 May 2014

National Grid contract for Wood Group GTS

Wood Group GTS has secured a $3.2 million contract from National Grid to provide gas turbine icon™ governor control system upgrades to nine Rolls-Royce Avon gas turbines, including an additional governor to act as a rotational spare. The upgrades will be fitted to gas turbines operating at compressor stations located in Cambridge, Diss, Chelmsford and Huntingdon in the United Kingdom. The icon governor control system regulates fuel flow into the gas turbine, providing stable operation across the turbine performance range from no load to full load conditions. This upgrade will address equipment obsolescence, enabling the continued operation of all four compressor stations and providing increased flexibility to ensure the essential flow of natural gas across the UK network.

13 Jan 2014

Yara Acquires SCR Systems Provider H+H

The Head of Yara’s Industrial Segment, Yves Bonte: Photo credit Yara

Yara International ASA said it has strengthened its position in emissions control for ships, industrial plants and heavy-duty vehicles with its acquisition of H+H Umwelt-und-Industrietechnik GmbH, which produces Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems for secondary NOx (nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide) reduction in marine and stationary land engines. Increasingly stringent environmental regulations, including in the U.S. and Europe are imposing tougher NOx reduction standards on cruise ship…

02 Oct 2013

IK Investment Partners to Acquire DNV Petroleum Services

Henrik O. Madsen, President and CEO DNV GL Group

Funds managed by IK Investment Partners (IK) have entered into an agreement with the Norwegian foundation Det Norske Veritas (DNV), to acquire its subsidiary DNV Petroleum Services (DNVPS), a global company in fuel management services. Financial details for the transaction were not disclosed. Founded by the Norwegian foundation DNV in 1981, DNVPS is a leading global provider of fuel management services for the maritime and power sectors with customers including ship owners, managers and charterers as well as power plant operators.

02 Oct 2013

DNV Sells Its Bunker Fuel Services Subsidiary

DNV GL Group CEO Henrik O. Madsen

Funds managed by IK Investment Partners (IK) have entered into an agreement with the Norwegian foundation Det Norske Veritas (DNV), to acquire its subsidiary DNV Petroleum Services (DNVPS), a global leader in fuel management services. Financial details for the transaction were not disclosed. Founded by the Norwegian foundation DNV in 1981, DNVPS is a leading global provider of fuel management services for the maritime and power sectors with customers including ship owners, managers and charterers as well as power plant operators.

18 Mar 2013

DNV KEMA’s Open Multiphase Flow Lab

Photo: DNV KEMA

Energy consulting, testing and certification company DNV KEMA will open a new Multiphase Flow Laboratory (MPFL) in Groningen, the Netherlands. The facility will allow equipment manufactures and oil and gas companies to test, validate and calibrate multiphase technologies – e.g. separators and flow meters – for the production of oil and gas and the measurement and trading of gas. As the MPFL is operating in a unique true-to-life environment, the facility will help increasing the accuracy of future multiphase flow meters, as well as the efficiency of future multiphase separators.

08 Sep 2010

German Nuclear Power Extension Threatens Offshore Wind Funding

According to a September 6 report from Bloomberg, the German government’s plan to extend the phase-out of nuclear power risks hampering investment in offshore wind turbines. Utilities including E.ON AG and RWE AG may cut their investment in the industry to compensate for a tax of $3.9b a year they will be charged, said an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The levy on nuclear-plant operators is meant to support renewable energy. (Source: Bloomberg)

06 Jul 2006

QinetiQ Launches ARKs for Hazardous Environments

QinetiQ recently launched a range of Appliqué Robotic Kits (ARKs) designed to convert the current in-service military JCB 4CXM or CAT320B families of vehicles into fully integrated remote controlled units for use in various hazardous environments in less that 12 hours, giving users control of the vehicle from as far as 1 km away. In addition, the ARKs are designed to allow existing vehicles to change between full remote or manual mode, thus reducing potential dangers to the operators but still enabling it to be fully used for tasks for which it was designed. The product is ideal for plant operators and drivers often placed in real danger when working in hazardous environments or involved with activities that deal with military operations…

06 Jul 2006

QinetiQ Launches ARKs for Hazardous Environments

QinetiQ recently launched a range of Appliqué Robotic Kits (ARKs) designed to convert the current in-service military JCB 4CXM or CAT320B families of vehicles into fully integrated remote controlled units for use in various hazardous environments in less that 12 hours, giving users control of the vehicle from as far as 1 km away. In addition, the ARKs are designed to allow existing vehicles to change between full remote or manual mode, thus reducing potential dangers to the operators but still enabling it to be fully used for tasks for which it was designed. The product is ideal for plant operators and drivers often placed in real danger when working in hazardous environments or involved with activities that deal with military operations…