Product News

Jega Jegatheeson (left) with Tony Herewini, general manager, T P Engineering.   A New Zealand invention, designed to make wind power more efficient and cheaper, has been singled out by a renowned wind technology expert as one of the world’s leading new innovations. The invention, Gyroscopic Variable Transmission (GVT), is the brainchild of New Zealander Mr Jega Jegatheeson. It has been featured in a new book, ‘Innovation in Wind Turbine Design’, by Glasgow-based wind expert Peter Jamieson, as being on the leading edge of wind power technology. Mr Jegatheeson, previously an engineer with the former Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, has been working for over 15 years to solve the problems faced by the wind power industry of gearboxes breaking as a result of the massive wind gust forces they are subjected to. “It’s widely recognised in the industry that the gearboxes cannot stand up to the incessant forces over time and many fail within as little as five to seven years. The costs of repairs and also the downtime are very significant and alternatives such as direct drive create other expensive problems,” says Mr Jegatheeson. “Unlike traditional wind turbine gearboxes around the world, GVT technology doesn’t rely on gears and expensive electronics. It instead uses gyroscopic reaction forces to transfer the power from the blades to the generator with less stress on the turbine. This will significantly reduce costs – possibly as much as 50% compared to existing systems.” Another feature of GVT is that it can handle more turbulent air. This means that wind turbines equipped with the GVT technology could be built on the edges of existing wind farms in places previously thought unsuitable. The result would mean significant increases in energy generated from an existing wind farm using the same infrastructure. “Developing our technology in New […]

  Scientists have developed a revolutionary ultrasonic attachment for taps that massively enhances the ability of water to clean. Currently, industry uses excessive water, power and additives for cleaning. For example, it can take up to 100 tonnes of water to produce one tonne of clean wool after shearing. Many industrial processes also generate large quantities of contaminated run-off. The water from hosing down an abattoir represents a real health risk and cannot be allowed to enter the water supply. Purifying run-off is costly – each cubic metre of water used for cleaning in the nuclear industry can cost about 10,000 pounds to treat. Professor Tim Leighton and Dr Peter Birkin of the University of Southampton have developed a device that works with cold water, minimal additives and consumes as much electrical power as a light bulb. Its application will be wide – licences have already been sold to a number of industries to look at cleaning in food preparation, hospitals, manufacturing and the home. The technology consumes less water and power than the established competitor technologies. Talking about the need for such a technology, Professor Leighton said: “Society runs on its ability to clean. Ineffective cleaning leads to food poisoning, failure of manufactured products such as precision watches and microchips, and poor construction – from shipbuilding to space shuttles – since dirty surfaces do not bond. “The impact in healthcare is huge – hospital-acquired infections, from instruments that are not properly cleaned, cost the National Health Service one billion pounds per year. There’s a very obvious need for technologies that improve our ability to clean while saving on our most important resources, water and energy.” In recognition of their invention, Professor Leighton and Dr Birkin were awarded the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation in 2011. Using the […]

  HONG KONG: Avnet Design Services, part of Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia (http://www.em.avnetasia.com/), a business region of Avnet, Inc. http://avnet.com/)(NYSE: AVT (http://ir.avnet.com/ )), has announced a low-cost Ethernet Powerlink Industrial Networking Kit that delivers a total development platform for industrial networking applications. Co-developed with Xilinx and Texas Instruments with supporting technology from Austria;s B&R Automation, the Spartan-6 FPGA-based kit delivers a complete implementation of the Powerlink protocol (Controlled Node), development tools and other design resources to help developers of industrial networking applications build their systems quickly at the lowest cost. Ethernet Powerlink is an industrial networking protocol standard that was first developed in 2001 by B&R Automation, an Austrian company. Today, the standard has been open-sourced and is managed by the Ethernet Powerlink Standardisation Group (EPSG), an independent association. At the end of 2011, Powerlink was approved as a Chinese nationally recommended standard, GB/T 27960-2011. “Avnet Design Services is delighted to have had the support of the market leaders in their respective segments in the execution of this program,” said Andy Wong, vice president, Asia for Avnet Design Services and Segment Marketing. “This offering underlines our technical strengths in the industrial automation market. The optimised Powerlink protocol meets critical system timing and performance requirements. We believe it will prove easy for engineers to adopt and the advantages of an FPGA-based solution will be clear to them from day one, helping them expedite the development of applications.” Xilinx’s Spartan-6 FPGA has the processing performance and networking capabilities to handle the Powerlink protocol requirements easily while still having resources available to execute user-specific applications. For example, a motor control algorithm could be included within the same FPGA. The level of processing power offers greater integration options and higher performance within a single device. “The Ethernet Powerlink Industrial Networking Kit gives developers a […]

  In today’s fast-moving business environment, the ability to change automated assembly and production systems quickly and efficiently, at lowest cost and risk across multiple global locations, is vital. Now, innovative computer experts have created a software tool with the potential to save a wide variety of manufacturers many millions every year. Academics at Loughborough University, England have developed a virtual-reality engineering environment that offers manufacturers a faster and more focused tool for the creation of their automation systems – from electronic goods assembly to the food and packaging industries. The Business Driven Automation (BDA) system has been made in the automotive sector in partnership with the Ford Motor Company, ThyssenKrupp System Engineering and Schneider Electric. BDA provides a virtual reality (VR) engineering environment for manufacturing companies to enable them to validate and change automated assembly and production systems quickly and efficiently, at minimal cost/risk across multiple global locations. The approach is highly generic and applicable to almost all industrial automation sectors. Today’s automation systems are difficult and complex to service, reconfigure and integrate. Moving away from these traditional, slower practices, the new software engineering tool enables rapid configuration and modification of factory automation systems. At Loughborough’s Innovative Manufacturing & Construction Research Centre (IMCRC), the project’s principal investigator Professor Rob Harrison said: “We have developed innovative software to give a quick, accurate, virtual 3D prototype view of assembly machine behaviour before they are physically built. We aim to make these tools much easier and faster, and we want to see them used throughout the machine lifecycle, not just at initial design and build.” Virtual design tools help Ford engineers to improve the design aesthetics, engineering and ergonomics of its cars and trucks. Speaking for Ford’s manufacturing engineering department, Les Lee, said: “Collaboration offers opportunities for reduced costs, faster time-to-market, improved […]

SINGAPORE: Hypertherm, a U.S. based manufacturer of advanced metal cutting systems, is now selling consumables for Kaliburn Spirit plasma cutting systems that last at least twice as long as the OEM consumables. Testing shows the life expectancy of the consumables increases by two to three times when cutting at 275 amps and below, and increases more than 50 percent when cutting at 400 amps. In addition to lasting longer, the consumables deliver better and more consistent cut quality, resulting in the need for less secondary work. The life and performance improvements are the result of advanced Hypertherm technology. SilverLine electrodes contain a solid silver front so they wear more slowly; CoolFlow nozzles have an angled o-ring, deep cooling contours and thicker walls to extend the working life; and the swirl ring is made with lava instead of ceramic, making it more robust and economical. “These new Centricut consumables for Kaliburn reduce the overall cost of operation and deliver exceptional cut quality and process reliability,” said Martin Geheran, product marketing manager for Hypertherm’s Centricut brand. “At the same time, they maintain the fast cutting speeds that are especially important in today’s economic environment.” The Centricut brand consumables are available for all Kaliburn Spirit and ProLine systems. Like all Hypertherm products, they are precision manufactured to tight tolerances so customers get consistent, reliable performance from their cutting system. Hypertherm’s Centricut brand engineers and manufactures advanced plasma and laser cutting consumables. Its product line includes consumables that deliver increased value to people who own most any non-Hypertherm cutting system including systems by ESAB, Kjellberg, and Trumpf. All Centricut brand products are engineered and manufactured to exacting standards and incorporate the latest technological advances that help to reduce operating costs, while delivering increased cut speed and quality. Centricut products include free technical support and […]