With mounting globalization, diminishing information asymmetry, disruptive business models, accelerating innovation and relentless competition, industrial organizations are having to adapt at a pace unrecognizable to previous generations. 

Process plant personnel need perspective and insights into the key assets — boilers, heaters, burners, chillers, ovens, heat exchangers, furnaces, pumps and valves, etc. — used in their facilities. 

TraceNet Genesis system provides instant access to heat-trace circuit information, including circuit performance history, fault analysis and circuit drawings. Using this information, maintenance personnel can predict failures or quickly restore operations.

The importance of cold storage for certain chemical products, particularly organic peroxides, hit the headlines in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. When a plant outside Houston was flooded and lost power, it also lost its cold storage for the organic peroxide products produced at the site. As they warmed up, the surrounding area was evacuated in anticipation of the resulting explosions and toxic releases.

When heat must be dissipated from a process fluid — either liquid or gas — it is usually transferred to another fluid — either liquid or gas — using a heat exchanger. The two most common types of heat exchangers are liquid-to-liquid and liquid-to-air. 

Via a touchscreen user interface, TraceNet Genesis gives instant access to heat-trace circuit information, including circuit performance history, fault analysis and circuit drawings. 

Wireless technologies that serve as the backbone of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are gaining wider use in the global food manufacturing industry. The goal of IIoT technologies is to automate the collection of data across operations and improve processes within a processing plant. An enterprise that uses more advanced analysis of its data will see operational improvements and cost savings.

As in the classic “chicken or the egg” causality dilemma, I often wonder whether I simply notice delicious irony, or if I create the situations that give rise to my bemused delight.

The service sector is on the cusp of change. New technologies and key trends may affect — and improve — how your facility receives process plant maintenance and other services. Three technologies show promise to optimize service delivery via the use of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies.

In my cub reporter days, I worked part-time at a service station and auto parts store. My job primarily consisted of accepting payment from those purchasing gas and selling the sundries one might pick up at a neighborhood quick-stop shop.