CIA 2009 - issue 3

• Day 1 & 2:

2,249 Visitors

(28% overseas)

3 • THURSDAY • DECEMBER 3, 2009 • SUNTEC SINGAPORE

WHAT’S NEWS

p2 Learn about the relevance of two important organisations with strange-sounding names, CHWMEG and GLEMP

p3 Green buildings should be given a high priority. We hear from an expert why countries and companies should be doing more

p5 For your

convenience, we reproduce the full Conference schedule for the “Industrial Bus

organised by

published by

Moving Forward with Wireless

By Geoff Andrew

T

he Industrial Bus & Wireless Technology Conference is in town today and Friday to provide a much-awaited opportunity for industry professionals to discuss, debate and deliberate about the hot topics of the day.

We talked with Jonas Berge, one of the key players in this field to seek his views on developments and trends.

Berge is the Moderator for one of the Panel Discussions later today and is also director, plantweb consulting at Emerson Process Management in Singapore.

He sees the last year’s developments in wireless field networks as being particularly significant because monitoring is made much easier in situations where wiring was difficult for logistical or safety reasons. And agreement of international standards

Jonas Berge

for such developments will help to ensure worldwide consistency.

The pharmaceutical and power industries are beginning to benefit; and the oil and gas sector can also gain from use of wireless to meet shorter range needs on oil platforms.

Vietnamese Visitors welcomed

& Wireless Technology

Berge also considers device integration as a step forward enabling both wired and wireless intelligent devices to be configured in ways to make monitoring easier, industry-wide.

He feels that the implementation of EDDL (Electronic Devices Description Language) offers a high intrinsic value. As most readers will be aware, EDDL enables maintenance efficiencies through the use of handheld field communicators and device management software as part of an asset management suite.

Finally, Berge believes that delegates at the Industrial Bus & Wireless Technology Conference “will come away from Singapore with much greater clarity of where the industry is moving and armed with guidance on which direction to follow in the months to come”.

VIEWPOINT

It’s a good show. It has “ variety and a mixture of

products. We had pretty good traffic.

”

– David Kiska, Quantachrome

The show is very good. Traffic “ is good. Quality is good.”

– Jonathan Tan, Ashtead Technology

HOTSHOT

Conference” which begins today

p7 We have even more really cool stuff for you to check out at the exhibition this week

OUTLOOK

p6 In today’s

“Outlook” feature, we examine the future of energy efficiency and conservation in Asia – and, as a bonus, we also look at the world of biofuels

T

he largest international delegation to CIA2009 must surely be the 47 representatives from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Led by Dr.-Ing. Nguyen Huu Thien, former general director, Directorate for Standards and Quality, Ministry of Science and Technology, the group have had a very busy three-day schedule in Singapore before flying back later today.

Dr. Thien, who is President of VINALAB, has been joined on the trip by both Government and private sector professionals, particularly from the laboratory sector.

Thirty-four group members yesterday visited ICES, the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, at Jurong Island. One of the

largest and newest Research Centres in Singapore, it was of particular interest because of its bio-medical laboratory facilities.

The research institute’s aim is to address major global issues in the chemical, pharmaceutical and process engineering industries.

But Dr. Thien explained that the highlight of the visit was the opportunity to meet with a wide range of exhibitors at CIA2009. He had also led a group of 27 compatriots to CIA2007 and feels that it is valuable to benefit from the experience of other nations and companies in developing laboratories in Vietnam. His delegation has also been sourcing laboratory equipment from manufacturers during this visit.

Friends from FLIR party hard at their infraredenabled booth. So the next time you pass through immigration and see the infrared cameras, don’t be shy. Smile, dance - even bring out the balloons. You might be monitored for H1N1, but you don’t have to act like it. Find out more about infrared technology at booths including FLIR’s (4H3-04) and sInfraRed’s (4H210). Don’t forget to wave to the cameras, or do the moonwalk.

SPOTLIGHT

2

• THURSDAY • DECEMBER 3, 2009 • SUNTEC SINGAPORE

The acronyms you need to know at CIA2009

A well-designed landfill

By Matt Young

F

or those of you attending today’s CHWMEG Seminar, you may also want to ask Jeff Sacre – the association’s administrator – about its slightly more pronounceable sister organisation, GLEMP. For starters, CHWMEG is a non-profit group dedicated to responsible waste stewardship.

CHWMEG performs audits of recycling, treatment and disposal facilities on behalf of member companies. Companies need to ensure that companies contracted to dispose of their waste are adhering to environmentally sound practices. If not, multinational companies and even small and medium-sized enterprises caught with waste where it should not be could be subject to negative media headlines or worse, major lawsuits.

CHWMEG now has more than 215 member companies, including the likes of Dow Jones and ExxonMobil.

But GLEMP, which is beginning to serve an equally important auditing need, is still in its infancy, according to Sacre. GLEMP stands for Global Laboratory Evaluation

& Management Program; he explained its importance.

“If I have a manufacturing operation and I have sludge that comes out, I need to characterise it as hazardous or not hazardous,” Sacre said. “That analytical number is huge because the cost of disposal for a non-hazardous agent is significantly less compared to a hazardous one.”

Oftentimes, companies will contract the testing of such material out to a laboratory, but what if the laboratory does not meet international standards? The quality of the testing result could be compromised, throwing the characterisation of the sludge into question, which has broad implications for cost to the environment.

GLEMP, therefore, performs audits of such laboratories on behalf of its member companies.

So, between CHWMEG and GLEMP, members can have confidence that your waste is what you say it is, and that it is being recycled, treated and disposed of the way you expect.

When so much attention today is on environmental sustainability, it’s good to

know your ducks are in a row in terms of waste facts and figures, and that you’re not unwittingly creating ugly sludge-coated ducklings anywhere worldwide.

GLEMP was incorporated three years ago, but it still has relatively few members compared to its big brother CHWMEG. “The timing to form that organisation has been quite a challenge,” Sacre said, citing problems in the economy as one factor.

Nonetheless, GLEMP, which was created out of the “support and encouragement” of CHWMEG, according to Sacre, may indeed come into its own if the successful history of CHWMEG is any indication.

CHWMEG now has a database of about 9,000 recycling, treatment and

disposal facilities around the world and, over the last dozen years, has provided 2,000 reviews of more than 900 unique facilities.

“We have been able to document over US$30 million in cost savings to our members,” Sacre said.

The key to the importance of CHWMEG, and its subsequent success, is in providing audits of waste treatment facilities at a fraction of the cost of performing such a check with internal corporate staff.

Whilst a typical U.S. audit would cost a member company only US$800, and an international audit would cost US$1,500, a company would have to spend much more in terms of employee time and travelling expenses for a similar check.

“You might not look at everything in the report, but

everything you are looking for is in there,” Sacre suggested.

Remember, waste isn’t just sludge anymore. It covers everything from special catalysts whose useful life has been exhausted to old fax machines and cell phones.

“We do audit electronics processing facilities,” added Sacre. “We don’t want a load of computers in China showing up marked ‘Property of XYZ Company’ and not being responsible for managing it.”

That’s not because such old gadgets are some sort of chemical threat – which they are probably not – but because they might be resold with the original company brand name still in place. If it is sold as Lenovo, but with a Commodore engine inside, that would not reflect well on the largest seller of PCs in China.

PARTYPIC

A bird’s eye view of the Opening Night Cocktail Reception shows event attendance is strong.

EDUCATION

• THURSDAY • DECEMBER 3, 2009 • SUNTEC SINGAPORE

How green can we be ? “

Though cities cover less than 1% of the earth’s surface, they are disproportionately responsible for causing climate change and consume about 75% of the world’s energy

”

– Andreas Schierenbeck

By Shantini Harriet

W

e face higher CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere today than we ever have for the past 350,000 years. This is an indication of how much the climatic and demographic changes combined with urbanisation and globalisation have affected our world. And our overall world population is still growing…

According to Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of Business Unit Building Automation, Siemens Building Technologies Switzerland, “there are 280 million people living in megacities and it is expected that by 2030, 60% of the world’s population will be living in cities.” As more and more people migrate to the cities, people living in rural areas are becoming a minority.

He went on to stress that, “though cities cover less than 1% of the earth’s surface, they are disproportionately responsible for causing climate change and consume about 75% of the world’s energy whilst being responsible for up to the same percentage of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions and account for 60% of the world’s water use.”

However, it should be noted that different types

of cities face different types of challenges. Developed cities with moderate transition growths can have better sustainability with infrastructure renewal while megacities which have reckless growth have more

pollution and congestion.

Future cities on the other hand can be planned from the ground up though resources, particularly energy and water, are limited.

Since cities comprise buildings, it is buildings which produce the greatest amounts of CO2 emissions as 40% of the life cycle cost of a building is consumed by energy. With innovative technology and intelligent usage, smart buildings can save between 20-40% energy.

As with everything else, smart buildings need to be maintained and monitored to ensure value for companies’ investment. If we monitor

Building in Shanghai (Siemens Real Estate press picture )

and use this information to apply controls and adjust accordingly, we will use less than we need. Efficient hardware and software are the brains of smart buildings.

Buildings should generate as much energy as they consume.

It is estimated that 67% of CO2 emissions are generated by buildings as opposed to those emitted by industry and transport combined.

Schierenbeck added that “the battle against climate change will be won or lost in our cities! Siemens Building Automation has completed more than 1,500 energy efficiency projects worldwide over the past ten years and helped customers achieve over US$2 billion in energy savings. That is an equivalent reduction of 1.5 Mt of CO2 or 7 billion kilometers driven.” The worldwide energy efficiency potential is estimated at 126 billion EUR with smart buildings.

Green buildings are up to 5% more expensive to build but are more efficient to operate. This is especially true for commercial buildings.

However, investors aren’t always interested in energyefficient buildings whilst architects focus mainly on aesthetics and less on energy

efficiency. It is also a fallacy to think that existing buildings cannot be modernised into smart buildings. The payback in doing this can still be seen after six or seven years and saves more money in the long run.

Current utility tariffs do not motivate energy conservation.

Nor do the many demand-based processes in the buildings.

Buildings equipped with intelligent meters and flexible utility rates will encourage a reduction in energy consumption.

Technical and economic benefits do not automatically lead to maximum utilisation and a rational approach. Though we have the technology, we need to balance it with legislation and incentives if Smart Buildings are to become the norm in cities around the world. Climate challenges need joint efforts from legislation to create market pull and for industry to create technology push.

The migration of the existing cities will pose a major challenge, but with today’s existing technology, to a large extent, innovative business models will enable fast implementation.

3

4

QUESTIONS

&ANSWERS

• THURSDAY • DECEMBER 3, 2009 • SUNTEC SINGAPORE

Moisture: Like Airborne H1N1

One dew guru makes the manufacturing world a better, drier place

by Matt Young

W

ater can be as damaging as a virus.

For the manufacturing industry, there is no equivalent of H1N1 or bird flu which comes close to the damage that water can cause.

These are the perspectives of Richard Berka, export manager for U.K.-based Moisture Control & Measurement Ltd, and we will reveal why in this Q&A with him. His logic is so convincing at times that it almost becomes a biting critique on all of us who aren’t testing, either for moisture or for anything else that warrants a reliable inquiry.

The great paradox of Berka’s perspective is that while it is niche – we’re talking about moisture monitoring after all – it also has an industrywide relevance. All of manufacturing must humble itself in the face of moisture, and according to our interview with Berka – test for it meticulously. Nothing less than profit or the environment is at stake.

Q: Water is like a virus? Expand on that.

A: If you think about it, most bacteria are spread around on the back of water vapour. Water vapour is such a small sticky molecule. You could consider it a virus itself because you can’t get rid of the stuff; it just moves around, and once attached, is difficult to remove. There will be more around to replace it.

It’s not going to go away. Water is an invasive molecule. All humans are made of it to the tune of 90%. The whole world is swimming in water molecules. There are at least 10,000 parts per million of water molecules in the air – in an office environment. At Jurong Island, the odds are stacked against the poor manufacturing guys even more – they are probably running at 20,000 parts per million a day. It doesn’t matter what you are making, there is a water molecule not far away.

Q: What’s the big deal? It’s just water.

A: Well, the trouble spots tend to be in high value-added goods.

Let’s take for instance the production of gas. If you have a pipeline running at very high pressure with gas inside, and that gas is wet or wetter than it should be, you will get formation of gas hydrates, which form a waxy plug inside the pipe. It could stop gas from moving. That is not good if you’re trying to produce 20% of the energy demand for a country. Not only that, but in terms of safety, it could fail catastrophically and cause a gas leak and explosion, with many people dying as a result. So it’s very important in the natural gas industry to

prevent corrosion or, in the case of something more moisturerelated, gas hydrates.

Q: What’s one of the worst water-related incidents your company has witnessed?

A: We have picked up major problems, especially in offshore petrochemical plants and gas processing because of the inefficiency of moisture measurement. There was one location in particular using glycol to dehydrate gases. Glycol is an alcohol which absorbs water. The problem was that they were over-drying their processes due to their analysers not reading accurately. By improving their moisture measurement accuracy surrounding this process, we were able to reduce glycol usage by 12 tons per hour. That reduced CO2 emissions by 268 tons per day – just one example of savings possible when improving accuracy. The moral is that we should work smarter and more accurately. And optimise and burn what needs to be burned, not wastefully burn. We will all sleep more easily at night. But the guys that sell poor measurement technology should still feel bad, although I’m sure they don’t.

Q: So what is it about your moisture measurement products that makes them so accurate?

A: We use silicon in our instruments. Silicon is more stable than aluminum oxide, which our competitors use. Talk about reliable – the last chemical compound standing is silica, or silicon dioxide. On the beach, everything else degrades and dissolves into the sea. Not silica. Another name for it is sand.

But basically, our technology is a fast-responding device, it presents stable answers when presented with a stable condition and it provides highly repeatable analysis. Moisture Control & Measurement welcomes anyone to come and see a practical demo for themselves.

Q: What are some other real-world industry applications of moisture control?

A: At an air separation unit, which separates air into its components, each component has to be tested for contaminants – one of which, water, is a contaminant. The purest of gases here go to the semiconductor industry, which must get cleaner to produce the next generation of processors. Even a molecule of water could cause a problem. Any manufacturing process that expends energy in drying or optimising the quality of a product needs moisture control.

CIA2009/EnviroAsia2009 ShowDaily Publisher/Editor-In-Chief Matt Young Managing Editor Geoff Andrew Reporters Majella Gomes Shantini Harriet Photographer Dwayne Foong Designer Winson Chua Sales & Marketing Matt Young Published by

Media MICE Pte Ltd 6001 Beach Road, #19-06, Golden Mile Tower, Singapore, 199589 Phone: +65 9102 5680 Fax: +65 6491 5015 E-mail: enquiry@mediamice.com This publication is published by Media MICE Pte Ltd who is solely responsible for its editorial content. The editorial content is not necessarily the opinion of the organizer, Singapore Exhibition Services.

All rights reserved.

Printed by Sun Rise Printing & Supplies Pte Ltd

Q: Why aren’t more businesses testing for moisture optimally?

A: People do make changes and eventually our technology gets pushed out. But you can’t displace a lot of old technology in the field without a lot of paperwork.

Editors’ note: Moisture Control & Measurement Ltd is one of the sponsors of the CIA2009/EnviroAsia2009 ShowDaily.

Check out booth 4N2-02.

Sir Stamford Raffles unfortunately was unable to contribute to this issue of ShowDaily – he passed away in 1826!

• THURSDAY • DECEMBER 3, 2009 • SUNTEC SINGAPORE

5

Industrial Bus and Wireless Technology Conference

Day 3 | Thursday, 3 December 2009 | Suntec Singapore | Level 3 Rooms 303, 305 Plenary Sessions 8:30am

Registration

9:30am

Welcome by Chairperson Charles Cheong, President, FDT Group Singapore

9:45am

Case Study Construction, maintenance and operations of remote communication systems for an Oil & Gas Industry • An integrated control system for Deep Water Sub Sea facilities and On-Shore Gas Processing plants • Key challenges in implementing an effective communication system

T.K. Ramaiah, Senior Manager (Inst.), Reliance Industries Ltd. (E&P), India

10:15am

Plant design to ensure field information integrity and cost-efficient instrumentation Mohamed Daoud, Manager (Projects Quality), Engineering & Major Projects, ADCO, UAE

10:45am

Morning Refreshments

Charles Cheong

T.K. Ramaiah

Mohamed Daoud

Track 1: Plant Operations & Maintenance Level 3, Meeting Room 303

Track 2: Control Systems & Design Level 3, Meeting Room 305

Technical and operator-driven reliability are key to enhancing the integrity of a plant’s assets and operations. How can maintenance programs and policies be managed in such a way that ensures efficient management of operational expenditure(OPEX) as well as overall reliability of a plant?

Capital expenditure(CAPEX) remains the topmost consideration for management in control systems and design. With the rise in popularity of digital architecture enabling better information transfer within plant operations and personnel, how can plant infrastructure be designed optimally to ensure field information integrity and cost-efficient instrumentation?

11:20am

11:20am

Opening by Session Chairperson Charles Cheong, President, FDT Group Singapore

11:30am

Trends in industrial networks: How Ethernet TCP/IP is building bridges • Find out what network types are emerging as industry standards • Evaluating the technologies emerging for universal “plug and play” compatibility Cyril Perducat, Senior VP, System Consistency and Innovation, Schneider Electric, Singapore

12:00pm

Case Study Wireless applications case studies for improving plant performance • Case studies - Using wireless applications to improve plant performance and manage costs • How to overcome old plant challenges with new innovative solution based on wireless Jonas Berge, Director, PlantWeb Consulting, Emerson Process Management, Singapore

Opening by Session Chairperson Anup Bhargava, Regional Manager, ITO Growth & Support, Global Project Operations, GE Infrastructure - Energy/Power & Water Asia Pacific, Singapore

11:30am Case Study Capitalising on wireless technology - Cost savings and improved surveillance • Overview of overall wireless technology development in oil & gas industry • Case study of various wireless technology projects implemented in Petronas Carigali Said bin Taib, Process Control Manager, Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, Malaysia

12:00pm

Achieving Reliability Centered Maintenance by using Fieldbus technology and asset optimisation • Fieldbus technology as a key component to access field diagnostics for the supervision of plant assets • Achieving Reliability Centered Maintenance by fully integrating Fieldbus Technology and Asset Optimisation Ingo Patzer, Senior Sales Specialist, ABB Singapore

12:30pm Lunch Break

12:30pm

Lunch Break

2:00pm

2:00pm

Case Study New Foundation Fieldbus topologies increase reliability and plant safety • Case studies on some of the world’s largest Fieldbus installations • Evolving requirements for increased reliability and reduced risks – what further improvements are needed • Introducing the latest generations of fieldbus technology Andreas Agostin, Industrial Network Sales Specialist Asia Pacific, MTL Instruments Pte Ltd, Singapore

Free Space Optics - A new horizon of wireless communications for plant wide information network connectivity • Understanding Free Space Optics (FSO) and its advantages as an alternative for network connectivity • Examining the pros & cons of FSO technology as wireless back-up for the process industry K K Siew, Managing Director, PAC Technologies, Singapore

2:30pm

ISA100.11a – The answer to your wireless needs • Examining the challenges in wireless deployment to also accommodate all wired protocols • Overview of the ISA100.11a technologies and its user benefits as an industrial wireless standard for process automation Toshi Hasegawa, Project Leader (Technology Marketing Dept. Marketing Division, Industrial Automation Business Headquarters), Yokogawa Electric Corp, Japan

3:00pm

Wireless for safety, reliability & efficiency • Overview of how wireless technology can improve plant safety and reduce productivity downtime • Ways to manage regulatory risks by remotely monitoring wastewater discharge or stack discharge points and other remote measurement points Bryan Sim, Account Manager, Field Solutions, Honeywell Pte Ltd, Singapore

3:30pm

Panel Discussion Wireless implementation challenges and considerations • Difficulties in implementation • Examining how to ensure timely & reliable transmission across different devices • Developing hybrid systems in which wireless stations are included into wired systems – what are the (potential) challenges?

2:30pm

3:00pm

3:30pm

Maximising operational efficiency: Data sharing across the enterprise with OPen Connectivity (OPC) based infrastructure • Integrating OPC standards based connectivity to allow for a new level of data exchange in multi-vendor environment • Maximising business agility by securely delivering key operational data to business units to increase efficiency • How to extend legacy control system life and facilitate control system migration best-practices Darek Kominek, Partner Programs Manager, MatrikonOPC, Canada Game changer - Visibility, enablement, and process innovation for a mobile workforce • Delivering information to field workers and collecting field data effectively as a key competitive imperative • Enabling mobility & equipping your mobile workers with the right tools to make fully informed decisions regarding the operation of the “perfect” plant Sachin Gupta, Principal Wireless Consultant, Enterprise Performance, APAC, Invensys Process Systems, Singapore Case Study Maps, mobile devices, and Real-Time data • Using a nation-wide project – Weather@SG to evaluate the platform considerations and mapping engines for real-time data collection • What are the security concerns and challenges to ensure reliable transmission of data for mobile devices Jonathan Chua, Founder & CEO, Duration Inc, USA

4:00pm

An infrastructure for mobile weather data management • Developing sensor grid technologies to facilitate sensor data processing, data management, and data request handling • Implementing embedded real-time weather data acquisition, mobile data management and dissemination for the National Weather Study Project • Exploring benefits of the infrastructure to handle other sensor data from heterogeneous data sources Dr Wang Wenqiang, Research Fellow, Intelligent Systems Center, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

4:15pm

End of Day 1

Moderator: Jonas Berge, Director, PlantWeb Consulting, Emerson Process Management, Singapore Panelists: - K K Siew, Managing Director, PAC Technologies, Singapore - Toshi Hasegawa, Project Leader (Technology Marketing Dept. Marketing Division, Industrial Automation Business Headquarters), Yokogawa Electric Corp, Japan - Bryan Sim, Account Manager, Field Solutions, Honeywell Pte Ltd, Singapore - Cyril Perducat, Senior VP, System Consistency and Innovation, Schneider Electric, Singapore - Tom Koenig, Product Manager, Wireless/Security Asia Pacific, Cisco - Himanshu Gaurav, Product Manager, ABB Singapore 4:15pm

End of Day 1

6

• THURSDAY • DECEMBER 3, 2009 • SUNTEC SINGAPORE

OUTLOOK

What does the future hold?

By Majella Gomes

D

elivering the Industry Address on energy efficiency and conservation in Asia, Dr Kimio Yoshida, spoke on the barriers preventing energy efficiency and conservation in Asian countries, and made suggestions on what should be prioritised when looking at EE & C. Increasingly difficult environment Yoshida, who is deputy director of the Environment & Energy Business Department of Japan’s Electric Power Development Co. Ltd (J-Power) told his audience “Oil prices are unstable and supply is uncertain, but demand is increasing. The main issue in most countries in Asia is how to mitigate peak demand. Before, this used to be only for short periods, but with growing industrialisation, this peak is increasing.”

As power producing facilities try to keep up with demand, the gap between pricing and actual cost of production grows. Governments there-

fore are increasingly having to subsidise costs, an expense they can ill afford, given the relatively low GDPs of many developing countries in Asia.

In Indonesia, for instance, the increase has been dramatic, with the government shelling out as much as US$7 billion annually to cover this shortfall.

Critical point “Studies have shown that switching from traditional coal-powered energy to thermal energy, for example, makes better economic sense,” Yoshida said. “But there is no denying that there is an energy crisis looming in the very near future. We really have no time to waste.”

Currently, there are insufficient market mechanisms to regulate production and use. The price of electricity is distorted; consumers are not paying the real price because of heavy government subsidies. There is a general lack of knowledge and information on EE & C, and practically no government support in the form of incentives for conservation of resources and more efficient use.

“Ultimately, it will be cheaper to use

energy-efficient products than to build more plants to supply the power to run them.”

– Dr. Kimio Yoshida

Some recommendations from Dr. Yoshida More awareness programmes should be put in place, in tandem with appropriate labelling of energy-efficient products and proper pricing.

“Cheap electrical items which are not energy-efficient are widely distributed in Asian countries, which leads to an increase in energy use.

Standards and labelling should be clear, with an indication of the annual energy consumption for each appliance,” he said.

“Retailers who promote energy conservation should also be incentivised through the awarding of “Good Retailer” titles.”

Underscoring the need to start EE & C now, he urged stakeholders to make energy management their top priority. “Our statistics indicate that if we start our EE & C mitigating efforts now, we will be able to stave off the crisis that can be expected to hit in the next decade. Ultimately, it will be cheaper to use energy-efficient products than to build more plants to supply the power to run them.”

Asian prospects for Biofuels

By Majella Gomes

O

utlining the pros of biofuels, Yash Mankame of Praj Industries, Thailand, pointed out that these are particularly efficient in reducing CO2 emissions, besides being a source of renewable energy because their production can be sustained.

His presentation, “Calibrating prospects for Biofuels in Asia” included some very encouraging examples of how biofuels can replace more traditional energy sources.

Quoting an example, he said that airlines JAL and Air New Zealand have already tested biofuels in their passenger aircraft with positive results.

“The demand for biofuels in Asia is growing... with biofuels, you have a hedge against energy price volatility.”

– Yash Mankame

Growing demand for a sustainable resource “The demand for biofuels in Asia is growing,” he said.

“There are many reasons for this. Biofuels have lower carbon emissions, and can reduce the user’s carbon

footprint. They also provide incentives for agricultural producers and create jobs in rural areas. Also, with biofuels, you have a hedge against energy price volatility.”

Ethanol use, particularly, is growing in Asia, partly because it can be derived from various types of feedstock.

Brazil, he said, was the largest producer of ethanol, but Asia and Africa are not far behind, with Thailand an Asian pioneer in the field of ethanol blending.

Government support In addition, the biofuel industries in India, the Philippines and Vietnam enjoy government support in the form of incentives like mandated ethanol use, and, in the case of India, a National Biofuel Policy that will see biofuel contributing up to 10% of the country’s fuel requirements.

Despite these efforts, various challenges still exist in relation to the production of biofuels. These include a general shortfall in the resources needed to produce them, such as a shortage of land for growing, adequate water supply, and the necessary technology to deal with the waste produced by the biofuel industry.

Divergent view In the general excitement stirred up by the possibilities of biofuel in Asia, there has been some dissent, namely that the resources used to produce biofuel could be better utilised to produce food more cheaply for Asia’s billions. Biofuel producers are therefore turning their attention to producing feedstocks which are only good for turning into biofuel, so that food production is not affected by the growing Asian appetite for renewable energy.

• THURSDAY • DECEMBER 3, 2009 • SUNTEC SINGAPORE

Rescue me!

Emercom of Russia is an agency for the support and co-ordination of Russian participation in international humanitarian operations, under the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergencies of the Russian Federation. In support of these lifesaving activities, it also develops aviation and fire fighting technologies and equipment. One such device prevents boats from capsizing even under the most adverse conditions – an imperative requirement when performing sea rescues in heavy seas and bad weather. Emercom has also developed robotic fire-fighting equipment that goes one step further and performs post-accident cleanup. This will decrease the possibility of injury to fire-fighting or rescue personnel, and exposure to chemical or radiation pollution. (Booth 4B1-01)

Stop! Don’t drink that glass of water

Has it gone through stringent analysis with Tintometer’s MaxiDirect Photometer? A modern, mobile photometer for rapid, reliable water testing, this analysis device can be used for waste water, drinking water, industrial research water, by both government and private laboratories. It also uses an infrared interface for test data transfer and has the capacity to send data wirelessly via the Internet to plot graphs and analysis. Capable of storing up to 1000 data sets, the MaxiDirect Photometer is acid- and solvent- resistant with a touch-sensitive keypad. Battery powered for continuous operation of 3,500 tests, this Dual Beam Technology device was designed for convenience and practicality… and for drinkable water. (Booth 4E1-02)

What’s Cooking at Memmert?

Memmert’s stainless steel UFE ovens combine excellent design with functional details. Its carefully designed ventilation concept allows fan-driven enforced air circulation for better temperature distribution within the chamber. Keeping temperatures balanced is not a problem as UFE ovens can be accurately adjusted and controlled to precise measuring points.

Doors are tightly sealed and the hot internal face of the door is thermally decoupled by seals against the outside.

The UFE oven comes with a standard RS232 serial computer interface and Celsius operating software for remote programming and reading of the log memory. (Booth 4E1-01)

Taking temperatures with Fl(a)ir

Flir Systems are in the business of taking temperatures and keeping buildings healthy, using the same infrared technology that is helping health authorities identify people suffering from H1N1. Most buildings are prone to heat, humidity and air leaks. Mould and moisture collect only too easily in condensation-prone areas, and could result in health problems for occupants. Flir’s infrared cameras can scan rooms in minutes to determine these problem areas. This allows users to control energy efficiency, locate and evaluate water or moisture damage, and detect heating, ventilation and airconditioning problems before they get out of hand and cause extensive damage or require expensive maintenance.

(Booth 4H3-04)

COOLSTUFF So that you will never run out of steam…

Because steam is required for the vast majority of processes across all industries, conserving steam means conserving the fuel required to generate it, which optimises the use of dwindling resources. Forbes Marshall’s boilers do exactly that, says Country Manager Harshad Bhat. “Our energyconserving boilers and steam traps are constructed to minimise leaks, thereby preventing loss of steam.

Most industries still depend on traditional means of power generation and distribution, and it is expensive to switch to alternative energies. If we use what we have efficiently and without waste, we can use it for a longer time.” (Booth 4K2-05)

Diamonds of the first water

What do diamonds and water have in common?

Innovum. The company makes water filters from lab-grown diamonds. Whilst most consumers may find installing a diamond filter a little extravagant, consider the advantages : ultrapure water for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and medical application; disinfected, unchlorinated drinking water; and bacteria-free water to swim in. The Innovum Innocell treats and disinfects water without chemicals. It reduces water-borne impurities as well as algae and limestone build-up, and prevents algae growth.

In a nutshell, the system provides safe, clean water whilst requiring minimum maintenance, and minimum maintenance means lower cost. Its industrial applications include water filtration for fish and poultry farms as well as treatment of waste water.

(Booth 4C3-01)

Count your bacteria before they hatch

Johnson Scientific’s schuett-Biotec.de Auto Colony Quant lets you do just that within seconds. The automated colony counter system takes a life image using a video camera and then evaluates the data at the push of a button. Changing from evaluating agar plates to nutrient filter disks is as fast as a mouse click. It is capable of analysing 400 Petri dishes per hour according to different colours, sizes and shapes. The original image and the evaluated image are stored digitally for future reference. In conformity with good laboratory practices (GLP), the software is structured at administrative, controller and operator levels for better protection of data.

(Booth 4M2-01)

Glossary of Exhibitors featured in COOLSTUFF in issues 1 & 2 2mag AG AGRU Kunststofftechnik Ashtead Technology Aquaconsult CE-Test & Measurement Charankattu Coir IKA Flexim M-U-T Austrocleaner OTTO Waste Systems RUBBLE MASTER ENVIRO S.O.L.I.D. International Asia Sommer Mess-Systemtechnik Weidmuller

Booth 4F3-01 Booth 4C3-01 Booth 4G2-03 Booth 4C3-01 Booth 4H3-06 Booth 4E3-01 Booth 4F2-06 Booth 4H3-01 Booth 4C3-01 Booth 4D2-01 Booth 4C3-01 Booth 4C3-01 Booth 4C3-01 Booth 4E2-01

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• THURSDAY • DECEMBER 3, 2009 • SUNTEC SINGAPORE

SNAPSHOTS Happy CIA Day! Sincerely,...

The people of

KOTRA, Sou

th Korea

Johnny

Jorg Kilgus,

Lee, IA

-Comm

unity,

Malay

sia

ustria

Recordum, A

Elijah Tay, FineTek, Singapore

The p

The ladies of Johns

apore

hut, Sing

MI-Lab eople of S

on Scientific, Sing

The people of Sun

apore

apore

& Lufft Asia, Sing

Sim Wan Hoon, OTTO Waste Systems, Singapore