KBR has announced today that it has been awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract by INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA (INEOS) for one of the largest grassroots high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plants to be built in the Americas. The facility would produce 470 kilotons per annum of bimodal HDPE using Innovene™ S process technology.

KBR’s work on this facility will support efforts that take advantage of the projected resurgence of U.S. ethylene production capacity resulting from abundant shale energy resources in North America.  The facility is expected to be located in the U.S. Gulf coast area.

KBR’s scope of work includes the FEED for the inside and outside battery limit facilities, development of an appropriation grade cost estimate, and order of long lead equipment for the project. Services will be provided out of KBR’s Houston world headquarters and Monterrey, Mexico High Value Engineering Center. Full sanction for the project is anticipated in the first half of 2014. Steady state of operation for this facility is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2015.

“This is an important and strategic win for KBR and will allow us the opportunity to demonstrate our unparalleled expertise in the downstream market,” said David Zelinski, President, KBR Downstream. “KBR is pleased to continue our successful partnership with INEOS and support their commitment to the HDPE market.”

Technip has been awarded by the Hyundai-Wison consortium(1) a significant(2) contract to supply its proprietary technology as well as engineering and procurement services for two hydrogen reformers in Venezuela. These 135-million standard cubic feet per day (151-thousand normal cubic meters per hour) reformers are part of the Deep Conversion project being executed by the consortium for Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), to upgrade the Puerto La Cruz refinery.

The contract covers the complete engineering, fabrication, modularization, procurement as well as pre-commissioning and start-up assistance. This project will utilize Technip's high-efficiency top-fired steam reformers, to produce high-purity hydrogen and export steam, and the latest nitrogen oxide reduction technology to ensure minimum emissions.

Technip’s operating center in Claremont, California will execute the contract, which is scheduled for completion in the second semester of 2014.

Twelve new companies have joined the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork program, including new OEM Partner companies, Solution Partner companies, and Encompass third-party product referencing companies. The products and services provided by these leading organizations enhance Rockwell Automation solutions and provide global manufacturers access to a world-class network. This helps customers simplify their supply chain, innovate their project design, and collaborate in multiple facets to receive the best value for their automation investment.

Four new OEM Partner companies have demonstrated a commitment to offering high-quality, innovative machinery and equipment that uses Rockwell Automation solutions. By delivering flexible and efficient equipment, OEM Partner companies help manufacturers increase business agility, optimize productivity and achieve sustainability objectives.

In the Latin American region, six organizations have been recognized as Solution Partner companies. Reputable and established companies, Solution Partner companies offer demonstrated knowledge in design, implementation, project management and maintenance of industrial control systems.

Additionally, two organizations became Encompass third-party product referencing companies – one in the Americas region, and one in the Asia Pacific region. Encompass Partner companies provide functionality that complements, enhances and extends Rockwell Automation solutions in order to help manufacturers harness the knowledge and flexibility needed to respond to rapid change and shifting demand. These companies offer connectivity solutions and critical components that not only help enrich the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture system, but also simplify the product-selection process – making it easier for customers to find the technologies best-suited to address their unique application challenges.

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Invensys has acquired the SmartGlance™ mobile reporting product of Sarla Analytics, LLC, a privately held company headquartered in Barrington, R.I.

Founded in 2010, Sarla Analytics is part of The Sarla Group of software companies. Sarla Analytics’ mission is to leverage the power of enterprise mobility to increase productivity, reduce costs and streamline operations. SmartGlance, the industrial mobile reporting business app, delivers secure, on-demand access to rich, graphical reports from any operations data source via mobile devices, allowing industrial personnel to make smarter, faster decisions from anywhere, at any time and on any device.

“Acquiring this technology accelerates our delivery of solutions that leverage the power of mobile devices and managed systems via cloud and SaaS models,” said Rob McGreevy, vice president of platform and applications software Solutions at Invensys. “It strengthens our current leadership position in mobile industrial data reporting and reinforces our commitment to deliver access to information, analytics and KPI’s to a user’s device of choice.”

SmartGlance provides connectors for accessing data from different manufacturing sources, including both Invensys and non-Invensys systems. This offers Invensys customers real-time access to important business data alerts and notifications. It also allows them to view that information in a native mobile application optimized for any mobile device, such as smart phones and tablets. SmartGlance supports quick and more accurate decisions, enabling the ability to take action, share data and collaborate with colleagues. Additionally, it permits the ability to push data from virtually any data source, including popular process historians and any SQL database. All this, with a very fast and simple implementation, small install footprint and no additional hardware required.

“Many of our customers are already using SmartGlance to securely view or push their real-time and historical plant-wide data to mobile devices,” McGreevy said. “With access to the right information at the right time, our ‘mobile’ or remote user base is able to assign resources and resolve issues quickly. Our customers span more than 750 registered devices used across several industries, including food and beverage, dairy, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, life sciences, mining, utilities and alternative energy markets, such as wind and solar power.”