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U.S. Lagging Behind in Control and Instrumentation Purchases

05/07/2004

In the past, the U.S. led all countries in the purchase of process equipment and instrumentation. Purchases in large states, such as California, were often larger than in all but a few countries. No more, says the McIlvaine Company in its World Industrial Analysis and Forecast.

The U.S. will remain the world leader in equipment purchases for pharmaceutical, chemical and semiconductor manufacturing, says McIlvaine, but the U.S. is no longer the leading purchaser of equipment and instrumentation in new steel, cement, power, wastewater, and drinking water plants.

In power, the U.S. remains the largest purchaser because of replacement parts, but China is now the leader in purchases for new power plants. The same is true for wastewater treatment and municipal drinking-water plants.

In power plants, China is buying the most sophisticated super-critical boilers with the latest environmental equipment. By contrast, McIlvaine says, most boilers in the U.S. are sub-critical and do not have the latest environmental controls.

The study is available from www.McIlvainecompany.com for $2,700 per year.

Honeywell Process Solutions, Phoenix, Ariz., will supply an Advanced Process Control (APC) system valued at $1.1 million to TNK-BP, for its Ryazan refinery in Russia. The APC system will be installed on crude unit AVT-4 at the refinery to help increase the output of light oil products. Honeywell will provide on-site engineering, modeling, and testing of the model.

Invensys, Foxboro, Mass., will supply its Avantis Enterprise Asset Management software to Green Bay Packaging, Morriton, Ark. GBP manufactures paperboard packaging, building and lumber products, and folding cartons.

MTL-Relcom, Hampton, N.H., will supply Foundation fieldbus power conditioners and wiring hubs to the Nanhai petrochemical complex in China. The FF installation will have more than 30,000 device connections on 3,000 segments. Nanhai is a joint project of Shell and the China National Offshore Oil Corp.

NRX Global, Toronto, completed the installation of asset management software at the ChevronTexaco refinery in Pascagoula, Miss. The project involved 9,000 pieces of rotating equipment and associated parts.

Advanced Automation Associates, Exton, Pa., will supply real-time performance management and automation systems to General Mills  in its Eastern Region. AAA has previously delivered 50 automation projects to GM.

Prime Measurement Products, City of Industry Calif., purchased the Moore Products transmitter products from MycroSensor Technologies, Phoenix, Ariz., who acquired the products in 2001.

Bonney Forge, Mt Union, Pa., purchased the RP&C forged steel valve division of Conbraco Industries, Matthews, N.C. RP&C will move to BF's HQ in PA PDQ.

Schneider Electric, Chicago, Ill., will purchase the Kavilco sensor products business from Solectron, Milpitas, Calif., for $195 million in cash. Kavilco, Moorpark, Calif., makes pressure, force, and position sensors, and had sales of $156 million in 2003.

Modern Engineering, Detroit, acquired Efficient Engineering, Troy, Mich, and PDInteractive, Rochester Hills, Mich. EE is a tool design and services company while PDI is a software developer.

Flowserve, Dallas, acquired the remaining shares of Thompsons, Kelly & Lewis, Castlemaine, Australia, for $11.3 million in cash. TKL makes centrifugal pumps and steel castings. TKL had been owned by Invensys, London, who held 75% of the shares through a subsidiary.

Northwest Analytical, Portand, Ore., and ASECO Integrated Systems, Oakland, Ontario, Canada, will jointly market a quality information system. It will combine NWA's SPC software with ASECO's database and integration tools.

Compressor Controls, Des Moines, Iowa, named Byron Daniel LLC, Pearland, Texas, as its distributor for the Gulf States region.

Keithley Instruments, Cleveland, Ohio, will work with the Albany NanoTech Center at the University of Albany, Albany, N.Y. to help develop nanotechnology and optoelectronics. KI give ANTC a Model 4200-SCS instrument for making measurements on nanodevices. ANTC is a research facility and pilot manufacturing center.

National Instruments, Austin, Texas, will work with Panasonic Computer Solutions, Secaucus, N.J., to deliver portable data acquisition systems. NI sells LabView software and PCS builds rugged notebook computers.

MSA Instrument Div, Pittsburgh, Pa., has received TUV approval for its Suprema fire and gas warning system. It also meets NFPA 72 and fulfills SIL 3 requirements in accordance with IEC 61508.