News

Endress+Hauser announced the Deltatop differential pressure (DP) flowmeter for measuring gas, liquid, and steam in ½-inch to 24-inch pipes. The company said that Deltatop is a complete flow monitoring solution, including an averaging pitot tube, and offers customers the most accurate and reliable DP flow technology in the industry. The flowmeter features precision-machined orifice plate […]

Degree Controls has introduced AccuSense F333 air velocity sensors, a series of low-cost airflow sensors designed for field systems. The AccuSense F333 provides air velocity measurements within the range of 0.2 m/s to 10 m/s (40–2,000 fpm) while maintaining a ±10% accuracy across a temperature range of 15C to 60C with a 2% or better […]

Cap-and-trade programs are featured in at least two U.S. legislative proposals to reduce carbon emissions, usually by around 80% by 2050 using a 2005 baseline. The benefits that accrue from the immense investment required to reach these goals are nebulous and don’t occur until decades after the investment. Based on my back-of-the-envelope analysis, the cost-benefit ratio of these proposals does not pass a cursory cost-benefit analysis.

Safety is the imperative for any construction project, and Duke Energy’s 630-MW Edwardsport integrated gasification combined-cycle station in Knox Country, Ind., is no exception.

Re: “Natural Gas Piping: It’s Time for Better Risk Control,” by John Puskar, PE (May 2010) Mr. Puskar’s recommendations to address the hazards associated with purging and blowing natural gas from large industrial piping systems are a significant contribution to the dialogue that is taking place on this important subject. Mr. Puskar correctly identifies two […]

President Obama’s meeting with 23 senators of both parties at the White House on Tuesday appears not to have moved either side on comprehensive energy and climate legislation. But from various reports, a new bill being drafted by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), which seeks to limit a cap-and-trade program to just the utility sector, seems to gaining traction in Washington.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) last week introduced legislation to promote the domestic production of rare earth elements—metals and their compounds that are used in high-temperature superconducting technologies, windmills, and battery technologies. China currently controls a majority of that market.

A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that examines the future of natural gas through 2050 from the perspectives of technology, economics, and politics concludes that natural gas will play a leading role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the next few decade if older, inefficient coal plants are replaced with modern combined-cycle gas generation.

China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPC) plans to start commercial operation of a nuclear reactor at the Ling Ao II nuclear power plant this October. The reactor will be the 12th to supply power to China. A second unit is set to begin operation in 2011.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced final disapproval of the flexible permit program that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had submitted for inclusion in its clean-air implementation plan, saying that the program “does not meet several national Clean Air Act requirements.” The move is the latest in an escalating dispute between the federal agency and the state over air pollution rules.