IFT Signs Marketing and Distribution Agreement with Major European Chemical and Fuel Additives Distribution Company
International Fuel Technology announced that it signed a marketing and distribution agreement with Caldic UK, a UK based chemical and fuel additives company. Caldic UK is a division of Rotterdam (Netherlands) based Caldic, a major European chemical and fuel additives distribution company with 25 sales offices in eight countries and annual revenues of approximately US$750 million.
Caldic UK has purchased DiesoLIFTTM 10 and introduced the product to their clients, including major bus and supermarket companies.
DiesoLIFTTM 10 has clearly demonstrated the ability to increase fuel economy and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions," said Roger Collis, Caldic UK's Managing Director. "In addition, independent laboratory testing has shown that IFT's DiesoLIFTTM BD-3 is a top performing fuel additive technology for addressing oxidation stability and deposit control in bio-diesel fuel blends. Both products are currently in use with some of our largest commercial accounts."
Gary Kirk, IFT's Director of Sales and Marketing said: "The continued success of our DiesoLIFTTM product line has generated a lot of interest from major chemical and fuel additive distribution companies. The Caldic UK agreement is another significant step forward for our primary commercial strategy of partnering with large, well-known industry distribution companies with established marketing channels and end user clients."
Sustainable Proven Financial Benefits of using DiesoLIFT
DiesoLIFT is a performance enhancer recommended at a 1:600 dosage in diesel fuels (0.17% in volumes) in order to improve diesel fuel properties.
The benefits gained from the treatment of rail diesel fuel with DiesoLIFT can be summarized as follows:
Fuel Economy
Proven economy of 3% minimum
Potential economy in service from 7% to 10% on (as demonstrated in numerous rail trials)
Engine tests carried out at the world's most renowned technical centers (MI Technology - Motive Power - SWRI - etc)
Significant Reduction of Pollutant Emissions
The treatment of diesel fuels with DiesoLIFT has a direct impact on the reduction of noxious emissions such as HC (Hydrocarbons), CO (carbon monoxide), particulates and exhaust smokes
Greenhouse gases such as CO2 (carbon dioxide) and NOx (Nitrogen oxides) are also indirectly reduced after treatment of diesel fuels with DiesoLIFT due to the resulting reduction of fuel consumption
Lubricity Improvement and Friction Reduction
Tests carried out at oil industry certified independent laboratories have clearly demonstrated a significant lubricity improvement up to 50% in diesel fuels after treatment with DiesoLIFT
Engine Reliability and Durability
No engine damage or mechanical failure has ever been linked to the use of DiesoLIFT
Diesel fuel characteristics remain within standard specifications after treatment with DiesoLIFT
To comfort potential users, IFT has contracted a worldwide insurance policy for up to seven million dollars coverage against any risk of mechanical damages or failures proven to be directly linked to the use of DiesoLIFT
Schenck Process Group Honoured with the Oliver Wyman Best Growth Award for Mechanical Engineering Companies
Schenck Process is the best example of the successes a good strategy process can deliver. In recognition of the successful definition and ongoing realisation of its growth strategy, the Schenck Process Group are delighted to announce that management consults Oliver Wyman and the Produktion business journal have conferred their 2007 Strategy Award for Mechanical Engineering Companies in the category of 'Best Growth Strategy' on the Schenck Process Group.
Citing ability to achieve targeted financial results, in presenting the award Oliver Wyman acknowledges Schenck Process' transition from a component supplier to a leading provider of complete solutions. "The focus lies on the production of key components and on solutions with a clear differentiation and high customer benefit," says Thomas Kautzsch, Partner at Oliver Wyman in Munich. Additionally, selective acquisitions as well as the exemplary growth of its service business further convinced the awarding jury.
The defined growth strategy, which Schenck Process has pursued since its 2005 MBO from Duuml;rr (owners of Carl Schenck AG) has greatly contributed to the award winning development of the company. Operating across the globe via a network of 25 legal entities, in order to achieve a focussed approach across various industries, the company has structured its business into five core International Business Segments (IBS) namely IBS Heavy, IBS Light, IBS Mining, IBS Power and IBS Transport Automation, each focusing on different user markets e.g. cement, steel, food, pharmaceuticals, coal, base metals, power and transport automation processes for road, rail and port.
Serving all of these industries and many more via a customer-orientated business model, Schenck Process develops, manufactures and markets a full range of solutions, products and turnkey systems on the basis of combining process engineering expertise, reliable components and field-proven technology.
Special praise was also given to the exemplary expansion of Schenck Process' services with respect to process optimisation for customers and carefully planned inorganic growth. Specific acquisitions e.g. the Stock, Redler and Fairfield companies and the 'in-motion-scale' business of Pfister Waagen Bilanciai, have increased the operating result at Schenck Process by 340% since 2003 and resulted in a 120% increase in the workforce; in Fiscal Year 2007, Schenck Process employed approximately 2,000 staff worldwide.
Stewart D Murdoch, Schenck Process' Director of Business Development & Marketing comments, "we strongly believe in having a customer-orientated business model and we place this at the centre of all of our activities. Building on this model, the objective of our strategy is to have a balanced and profitable growth based on clearly defined organic and inorganic actions with the overarching objectives being the leverage of our global footprint to maximise our pre and after sales support and further expansion of our market position internationally."
With more than 2,900 professionals in over 40 cities around the globe, Oliver Wyman is one of the leading management consulting firms and is part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies. The "Strategy Award for Mechanical Engineering Companies" was started in 2005 with the aim of encouraging development of strategic goals in the industry and publicly recognising their implementation. More than 100 German, Austrian and Swiss mechanical engineering companies participated in the contest that was conducted in co-operation with the business journal Produktion and under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
ESMexpress, System-On-Module Standard for Harsh Environments
With the ESMexpress standard MEN Mikro Elektronik bridges a gap in the market for system-on-modules for harsh environmental conditions and safety-critical requirements in industrial embedded applications. Unlike the COM Express standard which is administered by the PICMG, ESMexpress is currently prepared to be standardized according to ANSI by the VITA. The official designation is ANSI-VITA 59, RSE Rugged System-On-Module Express.
FIELDS OF APPLICATION
System-On-Modules (SOM) or Computer-On-Modules (COM) are complete computers on a plug-on module. By configuring the I/O on an individual carrier board the functionality can be tailored to the application, thus saving costs and time-to-market.
The ESMexpress standard has been developed for applications requiring highly robust electronics which ensure safe and reliable operation even in harsh environmental conditions. This applies in particular to railway and avionics applications, partially to industrial automation and medical engineering as well as mobile applications in general.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
Therefore, during the development of ESMexpress, the main focus was on the fanless cooling concept that is prepared for a power dissipation of up to 35 Watts and support of both conduction and convection cooling. To achieve this, the populated PCB is mounted into a frame and completely enclosed in an aluminum housing. The high pressure caused by the screw joints between the housing and the PCB supports the thermal connection of the components.
If the power dissipation of the respective ESMexpress module necessitates additional cooling measures, the housing is either connected to an external heat dissipation system (conduction) or combined with a heat sink for heat dissipation (convection). At the same time the housing ensures optimum EMC protection for the electronic parts.
Another important point is the resistance against shock and vibration. For this, the module is fixed onto the carrier board using eight screws, a connector is used which is specified for MIL and railway applications and supports differential signals with up to 8 GHz. The mechanically robust connector has a stacking height of 5 mm with a minimum tolerance of +/-0,3 mm, is equipped with fixedly assigned contacts for power supply and is specified for an operating temperature of -55°C to +125°C.
The electrical signals are distributed on two 120-pin connectors and are only defined for the modern serial buses. For PCI Express there are four single lane ports (4x1) and one port which can be configured as 1x16, 1x8, 2x4 oder 2x1.
In addition there are three one-Gigabit Ethernet (also as 10-Gigabit), eight USB, three SATA, SDVO, LVDS, HD Audio, several utility signals and the single 12V power supply. The pin assignment is fixed without allowing options in order to guarantee the interchangability of the ESMexpress modules.
Regarding the processor architecture ESMexpress is completely open, as long as the maximum power dissipation of 35W is not exceeded. Of course, all Intel platforms can be used, like the new UMPC family starting with the Intel Atom or the Intel Core architecture with the mobile chipsets, e.g. Core 2 Duo with 965GME. Just as well suited are PowerPC-CPUs, e.g. the MPC8548 from the PowerQUICC-III family by Freescale.
COMMERCIAL ASPECTS
In order to achieve an attractive price for the ESMexpress modules, mechanical components like the frame or the heat sink have been standardized as much as possible and will be available on the market as standard products. Independent of the functionality of the module and the field of application, the module can also be used without a housing.
Cost savings regarding the electronic parts can be achieved via the fully-automated production of the 100% SMD modules. Depending on the module function one of the two 120-pin connectors can be omitted. In addition, the occasionally required connection of additional individual I/O via IP cores in an FPGA has also been moved to the carrier board to save costs.
Being an ANSI standard, ESMexpress offers even more advantages, e.g. cost reduction because of shorter development times or easy exchangeability of discontinued components in critical applications with a required long-time availability of 15 years and more.
Finally, ESMexpress is compatible with COM Express, regardless of the different concept. Via an adapter board which complies with the COM.0 Basic Form Factor Type 2 and adapts the mechanics and the pinout, ESMexpress modules can be used on COM Express carrier boards. Vice versa it is possible to prepare carrier boards for both COM Express and ESMexpress modules.
ESMexpress Module XM1 with Intel Atom System-On-Module Standard for Extreme Environmental Conditions
MEN Mikro Elektronik presents the first ESMexpress modules, which comply with the new, proposed ANSI-VITA 59 standard (in preparation). The XM1 is the first Intel-based member of this System-on-module family for harsh environments and safety-critical applications in the embedded market. With the new Intel Atom and high-performance graphics, the XM1 is ideally suited for visualization applications for the railway, avionics, medical engineering and industrial automation markets.
XM1 - THE PERFECT VISUALIZATION PLATFORM FOR INTEL ATOM
Two variants of the recently presented Intel Atom - Z530 with 1.6 GHz or Z510 with 1.1 GHz - form the heart of the XM1, the first Intel-based ESMexpress module. Thanks to the 45nm technology the processor from Intel's new UMPC family perfectly complements the advantages of the XM1.
Low power dissipation, extended temperature range, space-saving design and seven years minimum availability combined with a favorable price/performance ratio open up new application possibilities which until now could not be realized with Intel products of the Pentium M class.
The XM1 is equipped with a soldered DDR2 SDRAM with up to 1 GB memory space and supports other memory types like USB Flash on the carrier board.
All interfaces provided by the Intel System Controller Hub are used by the XM1 and can be led to different carrier boards. These are PCI Express, Gigabit Ethernet with Wake-On-LAN-functionality, eight USBs with host and client support, SATA, LVDS, SDVO and HD audio. Legacy I/O interfaces like COM and PATA can be used alternatively on a standard carrier board.
A real-time clock and a board management controller with watchdog complete the functionality of the ESMexpress module.
For testing of all functions of the XM1 and for developing the application the XC1 universal carrier board in ATX format can be used. The XM1 can also be plugged onto COM Express carrier boards (basic form factor type 2) via the adapter board AE12.
ROBUST MECHANICS FOR HARSH ENVIRONMENTS
Having a total power dissipation of seven Watts maximum, the XM1 is specified for an operating temperature of -40°C to +85°C with conduction or convection cooling. Like all ESMexpress modules it is installed in a closed housing which also guarantees 100% EMC protection. To ensure shock and vibration resistance MIL- and railway-compliant connectors are used and all components are soldered. In addition the board is coated against humidity and dust.
Secom Trains CCTV Cameras to Guard Unstaffed Stations
Electronic security solutions from Secom plc are part of a £250,000 project to improve facilities and safety at unstaffed railway stations on a key Midland route. Digital CCTV installations and associated improvements have deterred acts of vandalism - helping to boost public confidence in rail travel and increasing passenger numbers by 20%.
Working with the North Staffordshire Community Rail Partnership (NSCRP) and the train operating company, Secom installed digital CCTV recording systems at Longport and Longton stations on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent. Both stations are served by a regular service on the strategic Crewe-Stoke-Derby line.
The Secom solution includes pole mounted camera arrays at Longton, and cameras fixed to the buildings at Longport. Less obtrusive anti-vandal dome cameras are fitted to the Grade II listed station building on Longport's southbound platform. Both systems have 30-day recording equipment, and provision for offsite monitoring if required.
Secom National Accounts Executive Ian Barthorpe says train companies have a major challenge to ensure that station facilities and waiting passengers are properly protected at all times. "The NSCRP project provides much more than a deterrent to vandalism and assault - our CCTV installations help to create a safe environment at these stations. This in turn stimulates rail travel and ultimately encourages regional economic growth," he says.
Faye Lambert, NSCRP Project Officer, says seven of the 11 stations on the Crewe-Stoke-Derby line are either unstaffed or have limited ticket office hours. "We wanted to make them more welcoming, to encourage people to use the line," she says. "Feedback from national and local passenger surveys was that the priorities should be safer stations, better waiting facilities and improved information for passengers.
"North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone funding has enabled us to install CCTV at Longton and Longport, as well as erecting vandal-proof waiting shelters, and installing improved platform lighting, noticeboards and a customer information system. We worked closely with Secom, which was a preferred supplier to Central Trains - the train operator when we started the project. The franchise has since been taken over by East Midland Trains, a Stagecoach company."
Faye Lambert says the stations look much better with the modernised facilities. "Since the improvements were installed, passenger numbers have risen by about 20% and we have had no significant incidents of crime or vandalism at either station. As a result of this success we are planning a similar project at Blythe Bridge, which is also unstaffed."
The NSCRP links local authorities, businesses and voluntary groups with the aim of promoting and improving the Crewe-Stoke-Derby line for local people and visitors. The line links tourist attractions, business centres and airports, and has connections to mainline services between London, Birmingham and the North.
Secom plc installs innovative tailored security solutions for commercial, public sector and domestic customers throughout the UK. Its ongoing quality service includes 24-hour monitoring of intruder and fire alarms, and video surveillance systems. Secom plc is the UK arm of a major global electronic security group, established in the 1960s. The group operates in 12 countries and its 38,000 employees serve more than a million customers.
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