Latest News

The industrial door has come a long way since the introduction of the high-speed door concept in the mid-1980s writes Chris Dobson. 

The oldest British manufacturer of the high-speed is Hart Doors Systems (Hart Doors) of Newcastle upon Tyne. Its chairman, Doug Hart, says he had been looking at his own factory where access was via hand operated roller shutters. “Every time access was required it took several minutes to open/close the shutters during which time the outside world blew in. This was bad for heating costs and especially bad for the working environment,” says Doug Hart, chairman, Hart Doors. 

When leading UK carpet manufacturer Adam Carpets decided to replace their existing boiler plant, they approached boiler manufacturers for costings on two new 2,700kg/hr boilers. 

However, high prices and long delivery lead times prompted Adam Carpets’ Director, Chris Adam, to contact boiler specialist KING’S BOILERS enquiring if they had similar boilers in stock. Being the UK’s leading supplier of refurbished boiler plant, Kings were pleased to say they had three matching Cochran Thermax boilers complete with dual fuel burners and PM5 controls.

Novosound, a leading ultrasonic company based in Scotland, has overcome competition from some of the biggest organisations in the world to win its first international honour at the 2021 Materials Performance Corrosion Innovation of the Year Awards.

Organised by the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP), Novosound received the award in the Testing category for its revolutionary Belenus ultrasound sensor, which provides corrosion monitoring across a variety of structures and environments in a range of industries. 

To mark the start of the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) Love Your Lungs’ Week 2021 (21st – 27th June 2021), the British Compressed Air Society is launching its new breathing air regulations training course at - and reminding all operators of the vital importance of ensuring a clean and healthy supply of air for employees using breathing apparatus.

The BHF estimates that as many as one in 30 people could be affected by lung disease, with the year’s campaign aiming to raise awareness of external contributing factors, such as rising air pollution levels, as well as promoting healthy lifestyle choices.

Hi-line Industries, an established and reputable UK manufacturer of high-quality compressed air purification equipment, has released the 2021 version of its energy-efficient Tundra refrigeration dryers.

Most notable among the enhancements is a switch of refrigerant to R513a in models up to and including Tundra 115 (115 cfm, 195 m3/hr capacity). A HFC/HFO blend, R513a refrigerant has no ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential) and a much reduced CO2 impact in comparison with the previous R134a refrigerant. As a result, customers can rest assured that Hi-line is continuing its commitment to sustainability in manufacturing by minimising its carbon footprint.

With manufacturing and service industries under pressure to reduce carbon emissions, as part of the government’s ‘Net Zero’ roadmap, leading industrial compressor brand, ALUP, has launched an upgraded range of oil-injected air compressors, which have a significantly lower environmental footprint.

ALUP’s innovative Sonetto models feature a revamped air end element, which facilitates a market-leading increase of 15% in Free Air Delivery (FAD) output and a reduction in energy consumption on selected models of up to 12%. 

At the same time, its development of a full range of options allows the compressor to operate on a low duty cycle typically seen on piston machines, where the demand for air is intermittent. The combination of an anti-condensation oil heater, tropical thermostat and a larger 500-litre air receiver thereby allows the unit to operate on very low duty cycles and also avoids the issue of condensation forming within the oil. 

Pumps are often designed to operate at a single point known as the Best Efficiency Point (BEP). As components begin to wear, a pumps performance begins to decline, with operation away from this point leading to issues such as accelerated bearing or seal wear, vibration, excess temperature rise or cavitation.

Quite often declining performance can start gradually, before quickly accelerating until failure if performance issues are not addressed in a timely fashion.

Pump maintenance is needed to restore performance, reliability and ensure process performance is restored to original design criteria.

The automotive giant has revolutionised the fabrication of jigs, tools and fixtures across its Barcelona manufacturing line, reducing costs by 95% and lead times from one week to just one day.

Having successfully integrated 3D printing into its production process in its Barcelona factory, automotive giant Nissan now has the proven capability to expand its use of the technology in the UK. 

The car manufacturer has been using 3D FFF (fused filament fabrication) technology from BCN3D – a world leading developer and manufacturer of integrated 3D desktop solutions – to create tools, jigs and fixtures for its manufacturing line in Spain and the time and cost savings have been so impressive that it could soon roll it out to more manufacturing sites. 

CMT expands the CMA advanced mobile valve family

The power management company Eaton has announced the launch of the CMT mobile valve section, a streamlined new section option for the CMA advanced mobile valve. With the capability to control two bidirectional services from one section – an industry first – the CMT valve section increases design flexibility and reduces CMA valve bank size, weight and overall system cost.

Following an intricate diving operation, ESD (the joint venture involving Galliford Try, MWH Treatment and Black & Veatch) has completed the successful upgrade of its mixing operation at Scottish Water’s Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in St Andrews, Fife.

In 6m-deep zero-visibility wastewater, three divers (and a dive manager) ensured that there was no interruption to the crucial aeration process in the oxidation ditches, which since 2002 has been served by three very low rpm Landia mixers.