review Europoort 2010

Industrieel Management Magazine KringenKringen

Maintenance lays strong foundation for sustainability • Rotterdam Climate Initiative and Maasvlakte 2 put Rotterdam on global map as sustainable city • A single language for process intensifi cation • New hydrogen

plant will replace old one • The next big challenge for engineers: Sustainability • Port CEO Smits advocates special rules for large-scale infrastructure projects • CO2 from Europoort area + greenhouses = energy

savings • Well-balanced basis for sustainability • Jobs go unfi lled in revitalized chemical sector

www.europoortkringen.nl

It is with great pleasure and a sense of pride that I present to you, a selection of

articles published in Europoort Kringen over the past year.

Since the birth of the Europoort industrial area, our magazine has been

a keen observer of regional industrial and economic development, including the infrastructural, business, scientific

and environmental sides of it. This year, much of our coverage has been focused

on sustainability – a subject that will only gain in importance in the coming years.

For this year overview, we have picked out a number of articles by different

authors homing in on particular aspects of sustainability.

Among its entire readership, Europoort Kringen has a large number of non-Dutch

readers, whose Dutch is good enough to understand the articles. But with this

English-language overview of this year, we hope to further expand our foreign readership. Welcome to the Europoort

area, and welcome to our magazine!

Ad van GaalenEditor in Chief

ISSN: 1568 - 881X

PublisherUitgeverij Lakerveld bvHarrie JabroerP.O. Box 33050, 3005 EB Rotterdam Telephone +31 (0) 174 315 000 Telefax +31 (0) 174 315 001E-mail [email protected]

Editorial Team Ad van Gaalen (editor-in-chief )Astrid Hardenbol (copy-editor) Antoon Oosting (editor)Constant Gras (editor)Jiri Hartog (editor)Paul Waayers (editor)Co van Liere (columnist)Kees Marges (columnist)

E-mail [email protected]

Translation: Frans Andersson

SubscriptionsE-mail [email protected]

Production management Barry Stok, telephone +31 (0)174 315 000

Advertisement Uitgeverij Lakerveld bvRemco Rooij, telephone +31 (0)174 315 007Mobile +31 (0)6 53 22 08 22

Design Vincent BergmanUitgeverij Lakerveld bvManagement magazine Europoort Kringen is a platform for discussion and opinion.The responsibility for supplied communication lies with the sender.No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without permission from the author.

Mission StatementEuropoort Kringen is a management magazine for business, knowledge institutes, universities and governments. The magazine informs about current developments in intersec-tion of new technology, innovative projects and regulation and translates that into practice. Europoort Kringen is a platform for discussion and opinion. Our motto ‘Changes in one, have implications for others’ symbolisez our integrated approach to issues in (petro) chemical, transport and infrastructure, environment, health and safety and maintenance.

KringenKringen

Cover photo: Eppo Notenboom

PrefaceAd van Gaalen

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CONTENTSREVIEW 2010

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Preface

Maintenance lays strong foundation for sustainabilityStructural optimization of asset performance

New Piracy Prevention Technology Installed on Treasure

Column Co van Liere Shit

Rotterdam Climate Initiative and Maasvlakte 2 put Rotterdam on global map as sustainable city

A new era in (superheated) steam below 20 MW

A single language for process intensifi cationBreakthrough technology demands teamwork

New hydrogen plant will replace old one

Column Kees Marges The fascinating chaos in Copenhagen

The next big challenge for engineersSustainability

Port CEO Smits advocates special rules for large-scale infrastructure projects

Thermal imaging cameras for predictive maintenance inspections

CO2 from Europoort area + greenhouses = energy savings

Quality accompanied by a fl exible mindset

Well-balanced basis for sustainabilityTetrahedron Model turns spotlight on four Ps

Jobs go unfi lled in revitalized chemical sector

Thinking in project oriented solutions

Europoort Kringen • Review 2010Europoort Kringen • Review 2010 3

Europoort Kringen • Review 20104

review 2010

By Constant Gras

Making industrial production sustainable is a tall order for companies, which also need to remain strong in the face of fierce international competition. It is not that possibilities for economically viable energy efficiency and CO2 reduction are lacking. The problem is that these are complex and often require a way of thinking about the

company’s operations that is no longer exclusively concerned with production. To move in the right direction, companies would do well to focus on technical maintenance, which kills two birds with one stone: maximum availability and reliability of equipment and plants at minimum costs, achieved by energy efficiency, capacity improvement, plus life-span extension for equipment and machines. In short, technical maintenance focuses

on the same activities as sustainable industrial production.

Maintenance lays strong foundation

for sustainabilityStructural optimization of asset performance

To husband energy and raw materials. That is the challenge facing industry, particularly the energy-intensive companies, over the coming decades.

After all, effective 2013, emitting greenhouse gases is going to cost real money. More stringent rules and legislation are looming, and sustainability is becoming an important societal requirement for companies, articulated in the term license to operate.

innovation and maintenanceTo a large extent, this challenge will need to be met on the back of technical innovation. Many large-scale production facilities are now about 50 years old and have thus reached the end of their technical and economic life span. In those cases, companies can make a lot of progress in sustainability and other areas by building new more efficient installations (for instance, using process intensification and chain integration) that use less energy and raw materials and thus cut operating costs. But that still does not constitute sustainable industrial production,

which implies compliance with legal, economic and societal requirements over the entire life span of their equipment and plants and actually all of their assets; and which continually aims for optimum use of energy and raw materials.

“Proper, effective and efficient maintenance already goes a very long way toward achieving those goals”, says Auke Hofstra, independent consultant in the areas of maintenance and production improvement. “Well-maintained installations waste less energy and produce less waste in operation. At the same time, when we repair and replace components such as control systems and electric motors or replace lubricants, the focus is also on energy efficiency and reduced energy consumption. If you also count modifications as part of maintenance, then you are well justified in saying that you operate sustainably.” Many maintenance methods and techniques start from an integrated approach, whereby the costs of maintaining and improving the availability and reliability of the installation


© Danny Cornellissen


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must be weighed against the production yield achieved over the entire life span of the installation. According to Hofstra, these methods and techniques are used very little in actual practice – because of their complexity; too little time on the part companies to study the matter; as well as confusion about what really works amid so many choices.

Taking stockBut the message is clear: Technical maintenance offers industrial companies, especially the energy-intensive ones, the opportunity to make their production processes sustainable on a permanent and systematic basis. After all, the proper maintenance of equipment and plants aims for maximizing production yield both quantitatively and qualitatively, as well as for minimizing costs. In the process industry, cost-cutting involves, to a large extent, saving on energy and raw materials by reducing waste and improving efficiency. “If you strive for minimal consumption of energy and raw materials, you automatically decrease costs and CO

2 emissions”, emphasizes Hofstra. “So it’s interesting for companies to choose smart technology and processes that produce

good-quality products in large volumes, while consuming relatively little energy and raw materials. But this is still happening too little because it often involves innovations considered too risky to invest in. Companies would rather opt for proven technology. The 1970s and 80s saw much more technical innovation. These days, cost-cutting efforts focus especially on reducing the amount of labor required.”

In other words, the pivotal role of technical maintenance in both trimming down costs and making industrial production sustainable has not yet been generally recognized by industry. Hofstra says: “It is well known that the maintenance department can often clearly see which equipment needs to be purchased from the perspective of reliability, but then it is not bought because there’s not enough money in the project budget. So they only look at the costs side, while it ought to be a cost-benefit analysis. Innovative maintenance -just like all other company operations and functions- ought to be a business case within companies and should subsequently be made part of the early-design phase of new construction projects.”

vision for the futureFor some years now, the maintenance sector is keenly aware of the crucial role it could play to promote sustainability. In 2005, the Dutch Association for Efficient Maintenance (Dutch abbreviation: NVDO)

held a congress entitled Sustainable Maintenance through Innovation. And the Dutch government is eyeing economic opportunities for Dutch industry. “The Industry Letter 2008 [whitepaper on industry] by Economic Affairs Minister Maria van der Hoeven points to maintenance as an important sustainable solution for the ever scarcer land area and raw materials available for industrial production and the increasingly stringent legal requirements placed on industrial operations”, explains Marcel Morsing, Managing Director of the MaxGrip maintenance-consultancy company and a board member of the NVDO. “The NVDO shares this view and has begun an awareness campaign in cooperation with other industrial branches. With over €8 billion being spent on maintenance in the Netherlands; sustainable maintenance of buildings, equipment, plants and other means of production is of growing importance for the economy and society. Globalization and increased competition are forcing Dutch companies to innovate in many areas, including sustainability. The maintenance sector feels a sense of responsibility for mitigating the effects of industry on the environment and society. These developments form the basis for our organization’s recently conceived vision for the future, entitled Asset Management is Sustainable and published in the form of a brochure, available from the NVDO.”

Efficient and sustainable maintenance


Morsing acknowledges that, in the area of sustainability, the maintenance sector is facing a new challenge as a partner of industry. He says: “This has already become a main topic of conversation within the Outsourcing & Supplying Vendor Maintenance [SUTO] section of the NVDO. SUTO is concerned with one important aspect of maintenance, namely the contracting out of maintenance and the provision of maintenance by vendors. It is the network organization for asset owners and maintenance-service suppliers, such as maintenance contractors, for both industry and infrastructure. This network promotes knowledge development and disseminates information with respect to outsourcing maintenance and delivering vendor maintenance. At present, for example, much work is being done on subjects such as sustainability, safety, training and human resources. SUTO sets up working groups that delve into such a subject and then present their findings to the members. For instance, SUTO has been using the Corus’ safety-improvement indicator in recent months, and the Head of Health and Safety for Shell EPE recently presented the findings of an important study into a safety incident. In doing so, the NVDO is playing its part within the context of socially responsible entrepreneurship and sustainability toward asset owners and maintenance service providers alike.”

efficient and sustainableIndustry consumes energy, raw materials and uses utility services, and that will never change, says Morsing. He adds: “But in close cooperation with other parts of industry, we have taken up the challenge of supplying these services as environmentally friendly as possible and of minimizing energy and raw materials consumption and waste production, without affecting profitability. For example, various asset owners are using Life Cycle Management, in which even the design of the asset -in this case, an industrial installation- already takes all these aspects into account in all phases of its life span, including the construction, management, maintenance and demolition of the installation. Thanks to this comprehensive approach, the life span of not only installations, but also of buildings and infrastructure is extended, and upgrades or new construction can be put off. That will bring down overall CO

2 emissions.”

The NVDO offers its members an extensive platform for exchanging knowledge and experiences, so that they can help companies optimize their operations with the aid of well-thought-through and well-organized maintenance. “Over the past 40 years, we have worked for our members and our sector in the areas of regulation; the exchange and dissemination of expertise; plus the professionalization of maintenance”, says Morsing. “Looking toward the future, we want to make a big step forward. More than ever before, we are keen to develop, encourage and promote a vision and policy for sustainable and socially responsible maintenance. The primary focus will no longer be on efficiency alone, but on a combination of efficiency and sustainability. The conception and distribution of our vision on sustainable asset management is an excellent example of this. We’re convinced that working on sustainable solutions should be a top priority. It is of decisive importance for the future success of industry and the maintenance sector.”

CO2-related costsAs a consultant and Managing Director of MaxGrip, Morsing is increasingly asked whether sustainability and the impact of the installations on sustainability can be incorporated into the TCO analysis (Total Cost of Ownership) or the FMECA (Failure Mode, Effects & Criticality Analysis) – analyses that can lay the groundwork for the maintenance concept. “In most case, the subject of rules and legislation is part of this type of analysis”, he says. “By doing so, we have an overview of many of the possible environmental effects and can come up with the appropriate maintenance measures to comply with legal requirements as best we can. The CO

2-related costs are already factored into the TCO analysis by the automobile industry and the construction sector. I think it’s only a matter of time, before the environmental and CO2-related costs become an essential part of the TCO analyses in industry. As a trade group, the NVDO is well placed to put this on the agenda in 2010 and to find out whether there are existing initiatives going in this direction.”


review 2010

The new Dutch invention, the P-Trap, which claims to stop pirate skiffs dead in the water, is being piloted on the Dockwise vessel Treasure. The non-lethal defense product was installed on the semi-submersible in september 2010 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Dockwise, the global market leader in the transport of extremely large and heavy cargoes, is the first company to purchase the new anti-piracy technology, as part of an innovative pilot project to test the technology on a vessel at sea. “We’re committed to keeping our crews, our vessels, and our cargoes safe”, said Marco Schut, Dockwise Vice President of Operations. “We welcome the opportunity to provide additional tools and resources to our crews to reduce the risk of piracy attacks at sea. Dockwise operates the largest fleet of specialized vessels in the world: A versatile fleet of nineteen semi-submersible vessels of different concepts and designs. Dockwise provides specialty services in Heavy Marine Transport, Offshore Engineering, Transport & Installation, Logistical Management, Offshore Equipment, and Yacht Transport. Pirate activity off the Somali coast has become a major threat to international shipping in recent years and is increasingly making headlines today. According to a recent UN report, 139 piracy-related incidents have occurred off the coast of Somalia within the last seven months. Thirty ships were

New Piracy Prevention Technology Installed on Treasure

hijacked, and seventeen ships and 450 seafarers are being held ransom. Westmark Managing Director Mr. Lodewijk Westerbeek van Eerten, creator of the P-Trap, says his product can make a substantial difference in combating piracy and armed robbery at sea. “The P-Trap stops pirates from taking control of a ship by making sure they can’t get close enough to board. If they do come too close, the P-Trap functions to stall their engines and leave them stranded, until perhaps the authorities can arrive.”The P-Trap prototype was tested in February by the Netherlands Coast Guard, The Royal Dutch Navy and the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution. Four simulated pirate attacks at varying speeds put the product to the test with promising results - in all cases the ‘pirates’ were unable to come within five meters of the ship. Westmark BV, founded in 1990, specializes in innovative safety and security products for the oil and gas and maritime industries.


ColumnCo van Liere

ShiTOil prices are going up, while stock prices are recovering. And the Dutch business news channel RTL 7 is rolling out the conventional economic wisdoms again. The crisis seems to be over, and the mood is optimistic. But I myself have mixed feelings. To put it mildly, I am happy that my pension is secure again – at least for now. But we seem to have learnt very little from this banking crisis. We missed the opportunity to radically change direction towards a more sustainable society. Investments and innovations in quality of life have failed to materialize; instead, we stick to business as usual. In the United States, banking bonuses are now higher than ever before.

On December 16, the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez gave an animated speech at the Copenhagen Climate Summit. I am no admirer of that man, but fools and children often tell the truth. He linked capitalism to global warming, saying, “The rich countries of the North have saved the bankers and the large banks. I have forgotten the figure, but it’s astronomical. I have heard various people say that if our climate were a bank, they would already have saved it. I believe that, too. If our climate were a large bank, the rich countries would have taken action a long time ago.”

Chávez’ message was enthusiastically received by the audience in the hall, which speaks volumes. But trying to save the climate is megalomania, a familiar theme in history and something Chávez is no stranger to. What we need to do is to restructure our current society into one based on sound economic activities; to build more efficient infrastructures; as well as to strive for sustainability in all areas of life. That would reduce our voracious consumption of fossil fuels and would allow the climate and environment to recuperate from their burnout.

Edgar Most, previously a leading banker in the GDR and currently in the unified Germany, says, “Global economic growth has now become a must to pay for our debts. Between 1970 and 2006, the world’s debt burden rose 35-fold, while profits from the real economy increased only 13-fold. So sooner or later, we will have to write off two thirds of the capital.” Oops, there goes the cyber money, as does my own money, for which I have worked hard my whole life. It is an unpleasant prospect.

If we fail to sort out the capitalist system and the debt burden, we will be in deep shit. Our system will then degenerate into a cesspool in which the fermentation process will do its job and create one bubble after the other. A breeding ground for irresponsible entrepreneurs who generate stinking hot air, just like bacteria produce evil-smelling gases. But just like anaerobic bacteria in nature can turn shit into clean sustainable biogas, we can make a virtue of necessity and search for mechanisms and solutions that promote a better and cleaner world.

For example, the Netherlands is home to some 70 million chickens and broilers. Chicken meat is tender and lean. In fact, a chicken is little more than two pounds of lukewarm water. Most of the chicken feed simply passes through the animal which is, in essence, a grain pelletizer. Its true value for a sustainable society therefore does not lie so much in its meat or eggs, but in its droppings. Chicken farms are often criticized because of excess manure, stench and greenhouse gas emissions, but wrongly so. After all, chicken manure is pre-treated, but not yet fully processed biomass.

In the Netherlands, 70 million metric tons of collectable animal manure is available annually for fermentation and gasification – which could cover over 20 percent of the nation’s power production. Moreover, manure contains valuable minerals, and it is possible to separate the excess water using membranes and to use it as process water, flush water and even drinking water. For a sustainable society, manure offers great potential, provided that we optimize the ‘from-field-to-fart chain’ and create welfare and space for animals living on power farms.

Thus far, most of the capital has gone to activities with the highest return on investment and the biggest carbon footprint. This leads to undesirable pyramids and bubbles; plus fails to encourage investment in sustainable technology or the introduction of sustainable infrastructural concepts. We are still waiting for sound and innovative bankers & economists embracing and actually implementing the green economy as their ‘core business.’ Now that the survival of our planet is at stake, they should receive our full support in implementing new sustainable strategies and technologies. Or is Chávez right after all?

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In 1976, Co van Liere obtained a doctorate at the Delft University of Technology. As Chief Technical Officer for KEMA, he managed R&D activities for the Dutch utility industry. In 2002, the received the DOW Energy Award for his work in the area of sustainable energy.

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review 2010


During his visit, Clinton played the role of environmental evangelist with verve, warning that the world cannot afford to stand idly by.

“The world must take rapid action to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. A failure to do so would result in dramatic climate change.” Saint Boniface -one of the first visiting missionaries spreading the gospel to the Dutch- was slain by the locals in 754. But no such gory fate befell environmental apostle Bill Clinton, whose message was very well received by the citizens of Rotterdam. In 2007, an ambitious project got off the ground: the Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI), which is a metropolitan climate program placing on Rotterdam the most stringent climate demands in the whole of the European Union. Using 1990 as its baseline, the RCI aims to cut the emission of greenhouse gases in Rotterdam and its surrounding area by 50 percent in the year 2025 and strives to turn Rotterdam into a fully climate-proof city. The rest of Europe has set itself a much more modest goal: a reduction of greenhouse gases by 20 percent.Furthermore, Rotterdam set up the Knowledge for Climate program (including climate-proof water management), which offers economic opportunities for Rotterdam. Also, in September 2008, work began on the Maasvlakte 2 port-expansion project, where no effort will be spared to make it sustainable. All in all, Rotterdam can now rightly claim to be climate-resilient or, at the very least, to be making a giant leap in that direction. And as if all of that were not enough, Rotterdam is also playing a major role in climate-proof

Rotterdam Climate Initiative and Maasvlakte 2 put Rotterdam on global map as sustainable cityBy Laurent Chevalier

Who could have imagined one year ago that, in 2010, Rotterdam would play host to the start of the Tour de France -often described as the world’s third-largest sports event- by playing its sustainability card and receiving a leg-up from Bill Clinton? But it is very much reality now and not a fancy fairytale. The Tour de France will kick off in Rotterdam this summer. While Rotterdam owes a big thank-you to the then-still-President Bill Clinton, who paid a visit in 2006, most of the credit ought to go to the locals -the City of Rotterdam, the Port of Rotterdam, the Greater Rotterdam Environmental Protection Agency, plus the Rotterdam business community- as represented by Deltalinqs.


review 2010

water management – thanks to knowledge development, innovation and sustainable-area development. All of this has marked out Rotterdam in the Netherlands and worldwide, as a leading climate and water-knowledge city. And the first practical benefit is that Rotterdam has managed to bring in the prestigious Tour de France, with all the good publicity that this will undoubtely bring.

world expoAs befits a strongly pro-business city, Rotterdam seeks to cash in on its evermore green image. A case in point is its participation in the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, where Rotterdam is presenting itself as Rotterdam Water City. The construction and refurbishment of the Rotterdam Pavilion, which is part of the exhibition site, began in mid-January 2010. The RCI expects some 1.5 million people to visit the Rotterdam exhibit and see for themselves that this internationally oriented city and Europe’s biggest port is at the forefront of climate-resilient water management and is going all out to make itself safe, despite the changing climate. Or to quote Communication Manager Nicolien Wirschell of Rotterdam Climate Proof, which is part of the RCI: “For Rotterdam, climate change offers opportunities. By using innovative solutions, we are making the city both more attractive and economically stronger. The World Expo in our twin city Shanghai is an ideal opportunity to showcase what we can do to the rest


of the world.” The Rotterdam Pavilion is part of the Urban Best-Practice Area, where 50 major cities are showing how they are tackling urban climate and water problems. Hoping to drum up business, Rotterdam will showcase in China what it is doing in the areas of climate-proof water management and sustainability in general. Communication manager Wirschell says: “At our pavilion, the focus will therefore be on the subjects of water, climate, water management and water defenses and innovation in those areas. Parts of the exhibition are: a complete dyke, a water square, green roofs and even an artificial cloud symbolizing the fickle Dutch climate. Viewers will be getting an impression of the solutions conceived by Rotterdam, thanks to multimedia presentations, experiments and scale models.” The pavilion has been designed by the Willem de Kooning Academy, which is part of Rotterdam University. On May 1, 2010, the Rotterdam Water City pavilion will open its door the public. The official start of the World Expo is on May 18.

Sustainable Maasvlakte 2Rotterdam is also taking great pride in the creation of Maasvlakte 2 – a manmade peninsula off the Dutch coast. This €3-billion land-reclamation project will increase Rotterdam’s port and industrial area by 20 percent or 2,000 hectares. Work on Maasvlakte 2 began in September 2008 and should be complete by 2030. But thanks to its phased construction, Rotterdam World Gateway and APM Terminals expect to start using the first sections of their

terminals as early as 2013 en 2014. Thanks to its ultra-deep-sea port facility, Rotterdam will then be the only port in Northwestern Europe capable of handling the world’s largest containers ships. Equally important, it will provide time-saving at-sea access in the most literal sense of the word. Finally, Maasvlakte 2 is meant to become a picture of environmental probity. As early as in 2008, a former member of the Port of Rotterdam’s management team, Pieter Struijs, promised that the creation of Maasvlakte 2 would not harm the environment. This port official pointed out that -in allocating plots of land at Maasvlakte 2 to companies- sustainability requirements would weigh very heavily. The Port of Rotterdam took the same tough environmental stance when putting the construction of Maasvlakte 2 out for tender. In doing so, it secured excellent bids, which, the Port of Rotterdam says, meet stringent quality and environmental demands. The port authority states that all phases of the project take full account of nature, the environment and sustainability. To that end, the Port of Rotterdam is working closely together with various environmental organizations. Partly within this context, Rotterdam is creating 750 hectares of new nature area in the Greater Rotterdam Area. At the end of 2009, the close cooperation with environmental organizations resulted in the Council of State (highest administrative court) upholding the decision by the Province of South Holland to approve the City of Rotterdam’s zoning plan for Maasvlakte 2. Earlier, the construction permits had passed the final legal hurdle. That the opposition in the home stretch of the permit process had been reduced to only three appellants, could be attributed to the broadly based consensus built up around the construction and use of Maasvlakte 2, said the Port of Rotterdam. The upshot was that, in January 2010, the first ship carrying huge natural stones dropped its load onto the seabed off the Rotterdam coast – to help build the 3.5-kilometer-long sea defenses enclosing the manmade peninsula serving as the Maasvlakte 2 port and industrial site. Over the next two years, a ship will arrive every two weeks to dump a further 90,000 metric tons of stone. All told, 5 million tons of new stone will be shipped in – on top of 2 million ton of stone coming from a no-longer-needed section of the sea defenses protecting Maasvlakte 1. On March 30, 2010, the Port of Rotterdam, will hold a conference entitled Maasvlakte 2: The Facts (www.mv2defeiten.nl). Among the many influential speakers is former Dutch Prime Minister and local resident Ruud Lubbers, who chairs the RCI.

Rotterdam Water City pavilion at Shanghai’s World Expo will be open to public in May


review 2010

Recently Clayton Steam Systems has innovated their range of steam generator solutions by extending the maximum output to 20 MW or 30 ton/hr at max 200 barg and developing a new once through superheated steam concept without the need for a desuperheater.Super heated steam is mainly used in large chemical plants to facilitate energy efficient steam transport over enormous pipe distances and in the utility industry where water droplets will destroy the blades of the steam turbines.

Today’s new generation of Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plants nearly reach efficiencies of 60 per cent. A tremendous increase compared to the 40 per cent from decades ago. Another trend is that power stations are starting up and shutting down on a daily basis.

During the shut down super heated steam is required to the gland steam bearings of the main power steam turbine and to keep the vacuum in the condenser. Normally a fire tube boiler is installed as an auxiliary boiler, producing steam during the shut down. These boilers are kept hot standby during operation of the main plant since restarting of them takes several hours. Daily starting up and shutting down can lead to material fatigue, another reason to keep them hot all year.

For France’s largest power plant since 2009 Emile Huchet, 2 x 430 MW, near

Metz, Clayton designed, installed and commissioned two auxiliary boilers. Each with a capacity of 10 MW and with a starting time of just 10 minutes. The water content of this small water pipe boiler or steam generator is roughly only 7% of that of a cylindrical fire tube boiler. The spirally wounded stress-free pipe construction of the Clayton design is made for an uncountable amount of reliable starts and stops.

For a new 919 MW CCGT project in Turkey in 2009 for a consortium of A-TEC and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Clayton delivered a 10 MW auxiliary boilers with integrated superheater. A similar 2 MW unit was delivered in 2010 for Centrica Energy’s Barry Power Station near Cardiff in the UK, without the need for a desuperheater in the steam line to the turbine glands. Characteristic for both units is that the steam capacity can be fully modulated between 25 and 100 per cent load and that the superheat temperature exactly can be controlled between a range of 200 and 385°C. The final steam temperature us adjustable according to the operational mode of the power plant. Adjustment is by simple touch input in the control panel or remote signal.

The customers for these jobs choose for Clayton for various reasons: - fast startup from cold standby; online

within 10 to 15 minutes- low energy consumption during operation - single burner; Low N- extreme small dimensions for huge steam

output- skid mounted package – factory tested- extreme operator safety (steam explosion

not possible)- proven reliability - low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Clayton of Belgium NV, established in 1962 and part of Clayton Industries from 1930, is the head quarters for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Clayton designs, manufactures and services fired and exhaust gas recuperation (superheated) steam generator systems from 100 kg/hr up till 100 MW and 200 barg. World wide Clayton employs 600 people.

A new era in (superheated) steam below 20 MW


review 2010

By Constant Gras

Improving the Dutch process industry’s energy efficiency by 50 percent in 2030 relative to 2005 will require the adoption of fundamentally new production processes and installations. In recent years process intensification has been

attracting a great deal of attention from chemical companies, knowledge institutes and government circles. “Over the past few years, the chemical industry has

certainly shown a growing interest in process intensification”, says Professor Andrzej Stankiewicz of Delft University of Technology. “Of course, a lot of

fundamental research remains to be done. Even so, I am surprised that Dutch industry has failed to introduce new process methods and equipment that

elsewhere are considered proven technology.” For innovative breakthroughs to take place in process efficiency, the concept of process intensification will need to

be clarified, according to Stankiewicz. He also points to the need for a common language to be developed, so that multidisciplinary collaboration in this field can

get off the ground.

A single language

for process intensification

Breakthrough technology demands teamwork

To reduce their power consumption and environmental impact, major energy-intensive Dutch process industry companies (energy

consumption exceeding 0.5 petajoules per year), together with government, have been working on improving their energy efficiency since 1990. The 2001 results showed that the first Multi-Year Agreements (MJA1) -which provided for an average 20 percent reduction in energy consumption- had been easily complied with; the companies concerned had achieved a decrease of 25 percent. Throughout, the focus had been on improving the efficiency of existing production processes. New Multi-Year Agreements were reached for the 2001-2012 period (MJA2), with as their primary objective an improvement of energy efficiency outside the production process, e.g. through chain collaboration. As early as 1999, the government and energy-intensive industries made their agreement more stringent by adding the Energy-Efficiency Benchmarking Covenant, through which these companies


© Photo by Eric Bakker


review 2010

have committed themselves to rank among the industry’s world top energy savers by 2012. Now that the relatively simple improvements of existing processes and reductions in energy consumption have mostly been achieved, a more structured approach is needed to substantially enhance the energy efficiency of chemical process installations.

Fundamental visionProcess Intensification (PI) is the buzz-word that gets mentioned when a completely new, substantially more energy-efficient process installation needs to be developed. It is a fairly new discipline, which started to develop some 25 years ago. Initially, PI was aimed exclusively at the reduction in size (by a factor 2 to 3) or miniaturization of process installations, or the simplification of plant configurations, the main objective being to reduce capital cost.“Since then the field has widened, although there is still no clear-cut definition”, says Stankiewicz, who is one of the few people in the world to hold an academic chair dedicated to process intensification. “When people hear about process intensification, they often think in terms of chemical process research. Actually, our domain is not chemical processes, but chemical engineering. Our task is to devise methods and models – the building blocks for equipment and plants in which entirely new chemical production processes can take place.”

According to Stankiewicz, process intensification requires a totally different outlook on production processes. “A fundamentally different perspective on how best to achieve the underlying generic principles – from molecules all the way to reactors and complete plants. To that end, we have defined four approaches in terms of four chemical process domains, i.e. spatial, thermodynamic, functional, and temporal.”

effectiveness“One of the basic principles of chemical production processes is to maximize the effectiveness of reaction control at a molecular level”, Stankiewicz adds. “However, all the collisions of molecules in a conventional reactor vessel aren’t equally effective as far as the desired reaction is concerned. The question arising from the process intensification then becomes which new engineering methods and techniques can be used to optimize the effectiveness of molecular activities.”

“The reaction between chemicals is often speeded up by using a stirred-tank reactor with a heated shroud. This is not selective and produces temperature gradients in the medium that result in failed, unnecessary and unwanted collisions”, Stankiewicz explains. “Our research includes a reactor in which we can control the movements of the molecules more selectively.” He compares the problem with the game of snooker, in which players hit the cue ball with just the right kind of energy to maximize the effectiveness of the collisions with the other balls to put each one in exactly the right spot. It is a scientific challenge that will require a lot of additional fundamental research.

Stankiewicz says: “Another basic principle is to make sure all the molecules have the same history, so they all experience exactly the same process conditions. This produces uniform products with a minimum of waste. In a cylindrical reactor with evenly distributed heating, e.g. using microwaves, chemical reactions already progress much more effectively than in a stirred-tank reactor with shroud heating.” Stankiewicz’s group is currently looking into the possibilities of using this innovation to produce hydrogen from bio-ethanol. The same principles apply to chemical separation of molecules as to reactions between molecules.

Leaps forwardThe current interest in such a new fundamental vision on production processes, including chemical ones, is of course connected with the growing political and social insight that the energy-intensive industries, too, should make the necessary effort to make their production processes and products more sustainable, perhaps even more so than others. Incremental improvements to existing processes and equipment alone will not bring the desired results. The third installment of Multi-Year Agreements on Energy Efficiency (MJA3) aims for an average total improvement of two percent per year over the 2008-2020 period. The working hypothesis is that energy efficiency will improve by 50 percent in 2030, relative to 2005. As part of the agreement, the parties involved drew up energy efficiency plans (EEPs) in 2009.

Back in 2006, in his inaugural speech as Professor of Process Intensification at TU Delft, Stankiewicz expressed the view that the time had come for quantum leaps in the improvement of energy efficiency in process installations. He said: “Society’s need for sustainable development demands that we, the chemical engineers, come up with a new paradigm for our discipline.” Today’s process installations still lean heavily on technological principles developed in the 16th century. Through the ages, they have become bigger, more advanced and more efficient, but even so the average efficiency of converting our increasingly scarce fossil resources into chemical products is only 25 percent, says Stankiewicz.

roadmapIn 2006, the Coordinating Group for the Chemical Industry (Regiegroep Chemie) -the government’s chemical industry

Process intensification forces companies to take a fresh look at

production processes


contact platform- named process intensification, together with separation technology, as the most promising discipline for innovation in the chemical industry. Stankiewicz heads the Intensified Reaction and Separation Systems Section of the Processes & Energy Department at TU Delft’s faculty of Mechanical, Maritime & Materials Engineering. April 2006 saw the creation of the Dutch Separation Technology Institute (DSTI), a national knowledge and research centre in which commercial parties, universities, technology institutes and government bodies convene to research innovative technology. The institute focuses on the energy consumption of chemical separation processes. The separation of solids, liquids and gases in the petrochemical industry accounts for some 42 percent of the industry’s total energy consumption.

The close ties with separation technology illustrate the multidisciplinary nature of process intensification, which, according to Stankiewicz, is typical of the discipline. Ever since the European Roadmap for Process Intensification was presented in March 2008, process intensification has been touted as the ideal technology or the best method to finally achieve genuine process improvements and to adopt fundamentally new processes in the oil-producing and petrochemical industries. The roadmap, an initiative of the Chain Efficiency Energy Transition Platform, aims to reduce energy consumption by approximately 20 percent by 2050 through the use of process intensification. “It might seem a rather tentative aim, but the simple reality is that companies tend to apply innovations to existing installations, which reduces the energy efficiency potential of any new equipment included in the configuration”, says Stankiewicz. “In a number of segments of the process industry, the reduction will exceed 20 percent, with some parts of installations possibly achieving reductions of up to 85 percent.”

Project proposalsAccording to Stankiewicz the industry’s interest in process intensification research as well as concrete applications (pilots and demonstrations) has increased considerably in recent years. Funding under the Seventh Framework Program for Research and Technological Development (FP-7, 2007 – 2013) provided a major stimulus, but the establishment of the Action Group PI (AGPI), which presented the Action Plan Process Intensification (APPI) in mid-2008, has also contributed. The purpose of the Action Plan is to accelerate the implementation of process intensification in the Netherlands. It describes 11 program routes – themes that require fundamental research, applied research, as well as pilot and demonstration projects. In 2009, 8 consortia of industrial parties and knowledge institutes submitted project proposals. The proposals going through to the first plan phase will soon be announced. They will receive funding to the tune of €14 million, half of which is coming from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, with industry and knowledge institutes footing the other half of the bill. The overall implementation of the action plan is being handled by the DSTI.

ObstaclesProcess intensification in the Netherlands would appear to be finally taking off, but even so a number of obstacles still remain, according to Stankiewicz. Actually making the investment in innovative process equipment has always been a difficult decision for companies due to the accelerated depreciation of existing equipment and the risk of extended cost-recovery times. “On the other hand, you have to wonder how much more money you want to put into mature technology”, Stankiewicz says. According to him the Dutch process industry tends to err on the side of caution, when it comes to the introduction of innovative technologies. Stankiewicz comments: “This might be caused by a lack of knowledge about process intensification. I was amazed to meet people from a Dutch company that had apparently never heard of High Gravity Rotating Packed Bed technology, which has already been successfully applied a dozen times in China. And the Dividing Wall Column -an innovative distillation column that has been used more than 50 times at BASF in Germany- has yet to see adoption by the Dutch industry. These are some of the reasons why, last year, we decided to set up the European Process Intensification Center (EUROPIC) with industrial and academic partners in the Netherlands, Germany and France.”

On the other hand, he sees that end users and knowledge and research institutes find it increasingly easy to establish contact with each other, while the parties that commercialize process intensification technology are often absent from the collaborative mix. “Most of them are located abroad, so that’s where we go to find them. We should be looking farther afield at any rate. We are still looking too much in our back yard to find possible applications.”

The Process Intensification Roadmap describes over 70 existing and promising new technologies. “Much of the technology in this discipline is still in its embryonic stage, though”, Stankiewicz emphasizes. “Continued development will require improved collaboration between various disciplines and parties. It all hinges on culture, the human factor. We need people who are passionately involved in their profession, believe in innovation and know how to convince others of its importance. The sad truth is that many industrial R&D departments are no longer involved in technology development. All their research goes into production development. Companies are no longer investing in a future that lies 40 years ahead. This kind of short-term thinking and the lack of commitment also affect collaborative efforts between public and private parties, as they leave too little room for fundamental research. We will have to find a common language that helps us get together and understand one another.” Getting the various process technology programs together under one roof, namely in the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT), is a good start.


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The decision to build a hydrogen plant near the ExxonMobil refinery was taken early last year, smack in the middle of the economic crisis,

which was affecting the entire world. The company’s Business Manager for Rotterdam and Antwerp, Pim Meyboom, partly attributes the realization of this type of ambitious project to the long-term thinking prevalent in oil refining activities. “At refineries, people tend to think at least five years ahead”, he explains. “After all, they work on complex installations whose modifications require a few years’ of preparations.” Meyboom adds that the investment of almost €200 billion reflects favorably on the competitiveness of the Greater Rotterdam Area. “This plant can go head to head with the best and biggest production facilities of its kind across the globe. Its construction in Rotterdam-Botlek helps advertize the attractive investment climate in this region.”

DesulfurizationIt does seem to be bit ironic that refineries need evermore hydrogen for the production of cleaner, low-sulfur fossil fuels: hydrogen is used for cleaning up old-style fuels, among other things. After all, hydrogen is being touted as one of the fuels of tomorrow by its own right. Meyboom accepts the irony of the situation, but does not see any contradiction in it. He says: “A massive move toward hydrogen as a car fuel won’t happen in one go, but in

phases.” Refineries use hydrogen to desulfurize crude oil. Until recently, the hydrogen produced during the cracking process was sufficient for the purpose of removing sulfur. “Because of more stringent environmental requirements placed on fuels, refineries need greater volumes of hydrogen, which are largely coming from external suppliers”, explains Meyboom. “In some instances, the refineries decide to build their own hydrogen plants. The drawback to that approach, argues Meyboom, is that the hydrogen plant is seen as an utility. “By contrast, Air Products regards the production of hydrogen as its core business. We have built up years of experience in this area and have become highly reliable and efficient producers. Moreover, our plants achieve economies of scale by serving a number of customers.”

Powerful technologiesIf a particular plant has only a limited demand for hydrogen, Air Products supplies the gas by pipeline or tank truck. If a plant, often a refinery, needs 2 metric tons of hydrogen a day or greater volumes, the company goes for the on-site concept and builds a plant at the company site. As much as possible, the hydrogen facility is integrated into the refinery. Meyboom says: “Together with the customer, we examine how this can best be done. Sometimes, we take in steam condensate from the customer. Or that could be waste gases or cooling water. In this way, we interweave our operations. The oft-heard criticism of industry that it

New hydrogen plant will replace old oneBy Jiri Hartog

Next year, Air Products will bring a new cutting-edge hydrogen plant into service at the site of ExxonMobil in Rotterdam-Botlek. When this production facility, called HYCO 4, comes on stream, the older Air Products hydrogen plant at Pernis will cease production. The new installation will be over 15 percent more energy-efficient than the existing one. The difference lies in the highly advanced technology used, plus in the recycling of residual gases from the ExxonMobil oil refinery.


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The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility ranks Air Products among the 100 Best Corporate Citizens. This

ranking, based on freely available information, indicates which organizations have made most progress in Socially

Responsible Entrepreneurship (SRE). Air Products is one of the firms on the Russell 1000 Index of Largest Companies

that scored over 360 points – the minimum required to make it into the 100 Best Corporate Citizens. Points are given in

seven categories, namely Environment, Climate Change, Human Rights, Philanthropy, Employee Relations, Financial Performance and Governance. The ranking is audited by the

research company IW Financial.

Air Products’ Pim Meyboom says: “Together with the customer, we examine how we can best integrate the operations of our two companies.”


is not doing enough to save on energy and raw materials and is insufficiently cooperating with others definitely does not apply to us! For decades, we have gone as far as we possibly can in this respect.” Three methods of hydrogen production are available: auto-thermal reforming (ATR); partial oxidation (POX); plus steam methane reforming (SMR). The first two techniques require large amounts of oxygen. At high temperatures, the molecules are pulled apart. “These are very powerful technologies meant for complex flows or long molecules”, explains Meyboom. But it is SMR, which is used most often in the Air Products plants, for it is the most reliable and efficient technique, unless the plant being supported features complex flows. In the SMR method, steam and natural gas are mixed at a very high temperature to create a chemical reaction producing a mixture of H

2, CO and CO2.”

300 tonsThe new plant at the ExxonMobil site is called HYCO 4. HY stands for HYdrogen, while CO refers to Carbon monOxide. The 4 indicates that it is Air Products’ 4th plant in the Netherlands. Thanks its improved design, heat loss at the new plant will be reduced. “Heat escapes from the plant through two main flows: flue gases and cooling water”, says Meyboom. “But we manage to keep heat losses to a minimum.” As indicated before, Air Products strives for integrating its operations with those of its customers. Meyboom calls that “very close cooperation.” He adds: “ExxonMobil produces refinery refuel gas in abundance. This is a residual gas that resembles natural gas. Refineries burn the gas in conventional boilers to produce steam. However, we can use this residual gas to produce various products and use less energy doing so than would be required in other production processes.” HYCO 4 is owned by Air Products, which has concluded a supply contract with ExxonMobil. The plant will have a capacity of 300 metric tons of hydrogen a day.

CO2 captureThe Air Products hydrogen plant at Pernis, named HYCO 3, has run for more than 30 years. During that time, hydrogen plants have become much more efficient. When HYCO 4 starts production, HYCO 3 will close down for good not long thereafter. Meyboom explains why this is so: “By pulling the plug on the fairly old plant and replacing it by HYCO 4, we will reduce energy consumption by 15 percent. That’s serious money, given that the old plant uses 40,000 cubic meters of natural gas an hour! As an added bonus, we will cut our CO2 and NOx emissions, plus our heat consumption.” Follow-up steps are possible on top of this first step in CO2 reduction. The main flows in Air Products plants are steam and syngas (short for synthesis gas, which is a mixture of CO, CO2 and H2). The syngas is turned into pure hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Meyboom explains that is relatively simple to capture the large volumes of CO2 contained in the syngas flow. This can be done using the MEA/eMDEA technology – a method that has been ‘battle-tested’. This hydrogen plant will be able to capture in excess of 500,000 metric tons of CO2. “That could be stored in depleted natural-gas fields or piped to the greenhouse growers in the Westland area. But in this respect, we depend on decisions made by the

Dutch government and the EU. The most important thing is that we have an economically viable solution instead of one underpinned by subsidies. A third step toward reduced CO2 emissions is to ensure that burnt fuel does not escape as CO2 through the chimney stack.”

Growing demandHYCO 4 is scheduled to come on stream in mid-2011. “This tight deadline is fairly unique”, says Meyboom. “But we’re going to pull this off. After all, Air Products has vast experience in building this type of plant, and we always use the same design. Consequently, our operational reliability is over 99 percent, which is of pivotal importance to refineries. Worldwide, Air Products owns and operates about 700 hydrogen and air-separation plants and has sold some 2,000. We always seek to learn from the building of the most recent plant, so that the next project goes even more quickly. One way of doing so is to move complete modules to the location.” He attaches great importance to the construction of the HYCO 4 and the collaboration with ExxonMobil. He adds: “Refineries keep investing in cleaner fuels, which has created a permanently growing demand for hydrogen. That is a highly remarkable development – particularly in the European market, in which growth can’t exactly be taken for granted.”

“ExxonMobil produces refi nery refuel gas in abundance....We can use this residual gas to produce various products and use less energy doing so than would be required in other production processes.”

ColumnThe fascinating chaos

in Copenhagen

Kees Marges

The Copenhagen Climate Summit was both entertaining and captivating to watch. But also revealing and sometimes disconcerting. A distraught-looking minister nervously running back and forth and complaining that she had not received her papers. The know-it-all parliamentarians. The angry and shivering crowds of environmental activists and NGO officials left out in the cold, while they and they alone were able to save the world and were indispensable. Clever-looking journalists who regarded the conference on climate change as a 100-meter dash and would like nothing more than being the first to interview the winner on camera. And finally, the carefully built-up climax: Prime Ministers and actual Presidents who descended from the sky as if they were saints coming to save the world from polluted air and poisoned water and prevent looming disasters flowing from rising temperatures. It all made for wonderful TV images, which will long feature in end-of-year news overviews; meetings of environmental organizations and family parties, at which proof can be shown of ‘actually having been in Copenhagen in 2009.’Politicians who had expected to see an excellent binding treaty demonstrate that they lack a full understanding of existing power structures. For years, Americans have run roughshod over others and are only concerned with their own interests. That even goes for Obama, who also has a critical Congress breathing down his neck. China was keen to show that, after an absence of some 150 years, it had once again become a global power. The United States and China sought to use other countries for their own purposes -particularly the emerging world powers Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa- but were not very successful and will be even less so in the future. Completely logically yet still remarkably, the developing countries, as a powerful bloc, kept pointing out that we, the rich countries, had been responsible for the pollution over the past 200 years, since the Industrial Revolution. For all these years, we had been able to develop ourselves and amass riches, without paying for the cleanup of air, water and soil. This had not only been at the expense of large parts of the population in the industrialized world, but also people in

the Third World. There we dumped much of our trash. And there, in the still green and fertile parts of Africa, global warming is hitting hardest and causing havoc. Millions of people in Africa, Asia and Latin America are seeing their health being affected and are thus paying for our prosperity. Since my expectations as a layperson and an interested global citizen were modest to begin with, I rather like the results achieved at the Copenhagen summit. Well, it did make for amusing TV drama with starring roles for world-famous actors and a few noteworthy bit parts for some of our Dutch political actors. Just picture a scene with Obama, Wen, Singh, Lula and Zuma in a small hot sweaty room, and all of that being televised. And contrary to what environmental activists would have us believe, there is still everything to play for. A new opportunity will arise next year, for the Kyoto Treaty will not expire until 2012. Is it not so that progress in important negotiations always comes at the last minute? Copenhagen has shown in which areas work still needs to be done before a treaty can be concluded in Mexico City and the Earth can be saved after all. What a beautiful and particularly stimulating backdrop for such an agreement: one of the world’s most polluted cities in the backyard of the United States, which will then become a treaty member!Copenhagen also highlighted that the major problems facing this and coming generations can only be tackled at an international level. For example, organized crime ignores borders and is evermore rearing its ugly head. It seems to be inevitable that we will have a UN Climate and Environmental Council with the authority to enforce solutions to global warming and environmental pollution. Of course, this body will need to reflect the new balance of power in the world. And it would not go amiss, if its meetings took place in a setting with campaign groups and NGOs, like what we saw in Copenhagen. The fascinating chaos in Copenhagen did put pressure on the politicians. That was the charming thing about the Climate Summit and should not be lost in the future.

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Kees Marges is a former Secretary of the Dock Workers Section of the Dutch FNV Transport Union; Secretary of the Dock Workers Section of the International Transport Workers’ Federation; a labor relations consultant; a board member of the Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce; as well as a member of various supervisory boards



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“On Monday 26 May 2008, the Dutch turned out in mass to say farewell to singer André Hazes for a second time. A

capacity crowd in the Amsterdam Arena stadium sang along and applauded him during the commemorative event. Millions more followed the proceedings on TV. Four years earlier, the death of the popular singer had been front-page news. It is characteristic of an era in which entertainment strikes a chord with the public, and artists have become folk heroes. We could not imagine anything like that happening to technology and engineers. However, that was not always the case. On 26 January 1929, engineer Cornelis Lely was buried amid great public interest. Large articles were published in the newspapers. Down to earth and unpretentious, he was a both a visionary and a man of action who created massive public works. Lely was a hero. Rarely was a city named for a person [Lelystad], but Lely was thus honored. The homage to Lely also bestowed prestige on the whole engineering profession and modern-day technology. But technology and engineers have meanwhile lost much of their luster. While they are still needed to underpin a modern economy, they have lost their ability to really move us. Technological projects, such as the Betuwe Line (dedicated cargo railroad line connecting Rotterdam with Germany) and the North-South Line (extension of

Prof.dr.ir. Harry Lintsen is an honorary member of the KIVI NIRIA, the Netherlands’s largest engineering association. Lintsen is well known in the Netherlands for his research into the significance and impact of technology and engineers. His doctoral research in 1980 at the Eindhoven University of Technology centered on engineers active in the Netherlands in the 19th century. He went on to devote a large part of his life to two large series of books: between 1988 and 1994, he was Editor in Chief of Technology in the Netherlands; and from 1993 to 2004, he headed the editorial team producing Technology in the Netherlands in the 20th Century. In 2005, these two series of books were condensed and popularized into a single book for a wide audience entitled Made in Holland.

Photos by Bart van Overbeeke Fotografi e

Technology was once the generator of prosperity. But in the eyes of much of the public, technology has now degenerated into the driving force behind pollution and conspicuous consumerism. Fortunately, a new dawn is breaking for technology, which has received a golden opportunity to redeem itself, namely in the area of sustainability. Prof. Dr. Ir. Harry Lintsen, Professor of History of Technology at the Eindhoven University of Technology, devoted his valedictory lecture to this subject, parts of which can be found below in their entirety.

The next big challenge for engineers

Sustainability


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The Golden Delta AreaSlowly but surely, that promise became true. In the Netherlands, things began to pick up from 1850. When Lely passed away, our country was still right in the middle of that process, which unfolded in fits and starts. The Great Depression led to poverty on a massive scale. And the ensuing Second World War, in which technology played a crucial role, was a low point in the history of mankind. The message that technological progress automatically led to a better society was simplistic and flawed. But during the Postwar Reconstruction Period, belief in the power of technological advancement was stronger than ever before. The Netherlands came out of

the Amsterdam metro system) are controversial and are creating a lot of commotion. Technological organizations -such as the Public Works Department of the Ministry of Transport- no longer command tremendous respect for their expertise. Universities of technology have lost their once-strong hold over talented young people.

The promise of a better futureLely symbolized the Great Transition, which was changing the face of the Netherlands. He became famous as the originator behind the Zuider Sea Works – which closed off the Zuider Sea inlet and turned much of it into land for agriculture and other purposes. But his contribution to the development of the new Netherlands went much further. He developed the blueprint for modern waterways, waterworks and other infrastructure. He also helped to found the Dutch State Mines; to develop social legislation; and to draw up a new road map for the agricultural sector. Since 1850, the Netherlands had committed itself to a process of industrialization and modernization. Technology played a decisive role in this process. Lely -as an engineer, manager and statesman- personified the importance of technology and the long-existing promise of a better future held out to the public by modern technology.

As early as the 17th century, scientists envisaged a better future for humanity. What awaited the human race was a world without scarcity and poverty, which had long seemed to be part and parcel of human existence. A new phase was about to begin with prosperity and well-being for all and with the good life no longer being confined to the happy few. Technology -based on the scientific revolution created by Newton, Huygens and other scientists- was going to turn that dream into reality. Successive generations of scientists and engineers used this promise of a better future for all as their raison d’être. This goal of a brighter future received pride of place amidst the objectives of scientific societies, engineering associations and knowledge institutes such as universities of technology. Technology was our savior and had to become part of the central values embraced by a modern society.

It is important to know that human wellbeing,

social relationships and self-fulfillment all have an important technical

dimension


the war as a deeply impoverished country. Its industrial base had been partly destroyed and partly dismantled. Inland-waterway transport was severely disrupted. Ports, canal locks, dams, canals, rivers, bridges, etc. had been heavily damaged. A sizeable area of arable land had been rendered useless – partly through flooding at the hands of the warring parties. The Netherlands was now not only a poor country, but also a vulnerable one. Eight years after the war, the 1953 North Sea Flood inundated large parts of the southwestern Netherlands. The disaster killed 1,835 people; drowned thousands of heads of cattle; as well as damaged or destroyed 50,000 houses or buildings. The economic damage was enormous. The postwar decades

very much centered on the physical reconstruction, redesign and further development of the Netherlands. Little wonder people embraced technology with gusto. Industrialization became the engine for the national economy. Modern production techniques breathed new life into well-established manufacturing sectors such as textiles and leather. The Dutch also laid the foundation for an expanding petrochemical complex around the major sea ports by building oil refineries there. The metal industry was among the fastest-growing economic sectors. The Dutch State Mines in Limburg were rapidly transforming into modern chemical plants. In addition, agriculture, the services sector and particularly the utilities


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industry modernized themselves. Massive projects such as Schiphol Airport and the Rijnmond port and industrial area came off the ground. To better protect the Netherlands from sea flooding, the country’s most prestigious project ever, the Delta Works, began taking shape. It should be noted that not all attention was focused on industry and technology. During this period, world trade really took off, and the Netherlands made clever use of this development, including the creation of a huge logistics sector. Of crucial importance was not only the country’s modernization of its industrial production capacity, but also its wage and price policy. For a long time after Word War II, the Netherlands was a low-wage country and thus gained strong international competitive strength. The restraint shown on the wage front flowed from a centrally directed pay policy, plus a strong consensus reached by the social partners. The result of all of this was much better than expected: 1) unparalleled economic growth, which even prompted talk of an economic miracle; 2) robust flood defenses protecting the country against the North Sea; 3) a modern welfare state providing every citizen with fundamental social protection; plus 4) unmatched prosperity, which would allow Dutch people to turn into avid consumers after many years of extreme frugality. In short, the Netherlands had become a Golden Delta Area – a reference to its low-lying river-crossed landscape on the edge of the North Sea.

The Golden Age of Science & TechnologyMany Dutch people showed tremendous faith in a central role for science and technology. Investments in education, research and developments rose from about 3 percent of GDP in 1950 to over 8 percent in 1975. Belt-tightening remained the order of the day into the 1950s to free up money for these investments in a rosier future. The modern knowledge infrastructure thus reached its full potential. 1950 saw the creation of a new knowledge organization – the precursor to the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). By the same token, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) was able to expand by up to 35 percent a year. Equally noteworthy, a company like DSM received a tremendous boost from the development of its Central Laboratory, set up in 1940. The laboratory employed 421 staff in 1950. The workforce had grown to about 750 by 1960, and topped out at almost 1,600 in 1967. Ample budgets were reserved for R&D at the other (partly or wholly) Dutch multinationals – Philips, Shell, Unilever and Akzo. [...] Scientists and engineers were living in a scientific and technical paradise, where the sky was the limit, and they wanted for nothing. Scientists and engineers also received strong recognition for their work.

Technology and happinessBetween 1945 and 1970, the Netherlands had evolved into a prosperous society with a modern knowledge infrastructure. By that was not an objective by itself. The ultimate goal of economic and technological development is to contribute to human wellbeing and happiness. To what extent has this been achieved? An interesting relationship turns out to exist between the level of

prosperity and technical prowess and the wellbeing of its population. In this case, welfare is defined as the extent in which a citizen -in his own judgement- can lead a meaningful life, finds self-fulfillment and is happy. So one the goals is self-realization. Worldwide research shows that greater prosperity and an increased level of technology strengthen the sense of wellbeing among the population.But this only works up to a certain level. Go any higher, and the link between how prosperous and technically advanced a country is and its level of contentment no longer exists. The findings of the ‘happiness research’ appear to clearly show that an impoverished country benefits from economic growth and technological development – in terms of both individual and population-wide contentment. We are talking about meeting basic needs: food and drink; housing and clothing; health and safety. So if people can satisfy their rudimentary requirements, they will be a happier bunch. But when a particular level of prosperity has been reached, and people’s basic needs have been met, wealth and technology cease to determine the level of contentment reached by countries, as research shows. In that case, other factors


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such as culture and social cohesion make all the difference [...] Around 1850, wellbeing and happiness among the Dutch population were at the levels now seen in poor countries such as Tanzania and India. But when prosperity increased after 1850, people also became more satisfied with their lives. During the Great Depression and the Second World War, prosperity and wellbeing stagnated. Following 1945, the country made great progress. At some point in the 1960s, scarcity became a thing of the past, and the Dutch attained a maximum sense of wellbeing. After 1970, prosperity and technology continued to develop, but without having an impact on the sense of happiness among the Dutch. If this reconstruction -backed up by strong evidence- is correct, then that raises a fundamental question: Have economic growth and technological development still been relevant after 1970? Confining ourselves to technology, we can clearly see that scientists and engineers are now facing what seems to be a legitimacy deficit. Indeed, have science and technology still been contributing to human wellbeing after 1970?

The issue of legitimacyAn age-old pledge made by scientists and engineers has now been fulfilled – that is in the Netherlands and other parts of the Developed World. What we are seeing is a watershed moment in human history that throws up the question: what next? Can we come up with a new challenge that will inspire the community of scientists and engineers? With a historic task of the same caliber as the poverty eradication? Western countries are dealing with many socioeconomic issues, including the multicultural society, public safety, the individualization and fragmentation of society, as well as global income disparity. But it is somewhat doubtful that technology can play the same central role here, as it earlier did in poverty reduction. In dealing with the multicultural society, for example aren’t we primarily looking at social and political questions?

Another challenge is the need to maintain a certain level of prosperity. [...] Of course, that requires the necessary amount of ‘maintenance work’, if you will, and fairly robust international competitive strength. To that end, investments in technology and a high-tech economy remain an absolute necessity. But we need to keep a sense of proportion about it. Do we really need to strive for evermore prosperity and technology? Are these huge investments in R&D still justified? But it is good to realize that we live in a technology-oriented culture and that our wellbeing, social relationships and self-fulfillment have an important technical dimension, which bestows legitimacy on technology. For example, this is now happening in the form of ubiquitous computing - the all-pervasive computer interaction and hardware seen in living rooms, offices and other environments to the benefit of humanity. Experiments surrounding this subject are taking place in smart labs, experience labs or living labs. However, it is questionable whether this theme will prove to be as inspirational as the creation of the Golden Delta Area. Healthcare is another important issue giving legitimacy to engineers and technology. Health and fitness are

central to people’s life. Life expectancy will continue to improve, but the public is mostly concerned with quality of life – a subject that will loom ever larger in a rapidly graying population. The solution that scientists and engineers can deliver is medical technology. But medical technology will also provoke a lively debate in the coming decades. The reasons for this are the rising costs of hi-tech equipment and techniques, such as tissue engineering; as well as ethical questions surrounding euthanasia, genetic manipulation and other controversial subjects. But I feel that, if there is one theme that has the same appeal as once exercised by poverty eradication, it is sustainability. The issue of sustainability will take on unprecedented importance in a world where a growing part of the global population is demanding a certain level of prosperity. This will become one of the foremost challenges for scientist and engineers. The Netherlands in particular will need to be part of that effort, for the current Golden Delta Area is still based on the heavy consumption of finite energy sources and raw materials and is having a massive and possibly irreversible impact on our ecosystem. In recent decades, this problem has become evermore acute and is referred to by various names, such as nature conservation, environmental problems, energy crisis, the scarcity of raw materials, climate change and decreasing biodiversity. It is my contention that technology can draw most of its legitimacy from sustainability and, to a much lesser degree, from healthcare, wellbeing, prosperity and a hi-tech society. That said, sustainability remains a poor cousin to other priorities, and public interest waxes and wanes. Dogged determination is therefore required in getting the message out about the overriding importance of sustainability. Otherwise, sustainability will lose out to other issues in the public and political arenas.”

Sustainability will take center stage in our future world and inspire scientists and engineers to greater heights


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By Laurent Chevalier

The Netherlands would save a lot of time and hundreds of millions of euros, if it adopted special rules and procedures for major infrastructure projects. So said Hans

Smits, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam. “It would be an act of courage, if the government took this bull by the horns.” Smits pushed for this step at the end of March 2010 at a

port authority-organized conference on the progress made with the Maasvlakte 2 port-expansion project, whose construction costs are €3 billion.

Port CEO Smits advocates special rules for large-

scale infrastructure projects



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First a brief overview. In September 2008, then-Mayor Ivo Opstelten broke ground for the construction of Maasvlakte 2, an expansion of

Rotterdam’s existing port and industrial area by 20 percent or 2,000 hectares (almost 5,000 acres) on a man-made peninsula off the Rotterdam coast. The new port area, which will be able to serve the very latest generation of mega-container ships and do so without any time lost thanks to at-sea access, will allow Rotterdam to consolidate its No. 1 position among Europe’s leading sea ports, which compete relentlessly for new business, particularly container shipping.

Moreover, this cutting-edge project will eventually create about 6,000 new jobs and will add some €3.5 billion to the Netherlands’ GDP. But before Mayor Opstelten could finally break ground with his spade in 2008, a staggering 16 years had been lost fighting opponents of the Maasvlakte 2 project. Most resistance came from environmental and nature-conservation organizations, as well as neighboring municipalities. And when at long last, all legal obstructions seem to have been cleared, the Council of State (highest administrative court) threw a wrench in the works by rejecting the application for the operating and environmental permit. In 2008, the Port of Rotterdam snatched victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to its unrelenting efforts, extra concessions toward nature conservation and environmental protection, plus an open dialogue with environmental organizations. In the meantime, work has been in full swing. A proud Smits explains, “We’re on schedule and also within budget. That’s unheard of for such a large project.” Clearly, those have conceived mega-schemes that have gone over schedule and budget, such as the Betuwe Line (dedicated cargo railroad line connecting Rotterdam with its German hinterland) and the North-South Line (extension of the Amsterdam metro system), or intend to work on huge infrastructure projects in the future would do well to visit Rotterdam to see how it goes about these matters.

Area-wide permit When Smits mentions special rules and procedure for massive infrastructure projects, the port CEO refers to a type of area-wide operating and environmental permit, whereby companies keen to establish themselves at Maasvlakte 2 could go through a straightforward and fast procedure. After all, the site is already covered by ‘the most extensive zoning plan [land-use plan] ever made.’ Smits therefore strongly favors creating a streamlined permit procedure for companies wishing to move into the new port area to save them a lot of time and money. A failure to set up a streamlined permit process would only mean that -given the carefully drafted zoning plan granted for the construction and development of Maasvlakte 2- the same work would need to be done twice. The financial savings made in this manner in Rotterdam and the rest of the Netherlands would run into the hundreds of millions of euros, says Smits. He adds: “This a pivotal point with which we can make considerable progress. At present, we’re stuck with rigid rules, which, moreover, lead to risk-averse behavior by all parties concerned. Government needs to


step up to the plate and adjust the legislation for large-scale infrastructure project. That would make all future major schemes lighter on their feet. Government must pluck up the courage to close the gap between politicians and the corporate world.”

Smits reveals that, in recent years, he has not always detected a full understanding on the part of the various layers of government of the need for specially drafted rules for the development of the unique Maasvlakte 2 project. “These types of projects place certain demands, which cannot be provided for in existing legislation.” He feels that rules specifically geared toward mega-projects -such as an area-wide permit enabling companies to set up shop at Maasvlakte 2 quickly- would not be at the expense of sustainability and safety. Undeniably, the Port of Rotterdam has long striven to strike the right balance between economic interests, the environment and safety. “When it comes to those two last areas, Maasvlakte 2 is up there with the very best. We have thoroughly examined all possible environmental effects. Rotterdam ranks among the world’s cleanest and safest ports.” Despite the current economic slump, Smits expresses his full confidence in the success of Maasvlakte 2 and its ability to attract sufficient numbers of companies. He feels that Rotterdam’s balanced approach of paying heed to both economics and sustainability will put Maasvlakte 2 on the global map. “We’ve won worldwide admiration for our focus on sustainability.” Or to quote former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers: “Maasvlakte 2 is an iconic project that exemplifies the successful Rotterdam approach and strengthens its position as an attractive location for companies.” Asked to respond to Smits’ call for the introduction of an area-wide permit, Jan van den Heuvel, who heads the Greater Rotterdam Environmental Protection Agency, says: “I myself very much support this whole concept, which would enable us to better manage the combined environmental impact of the companies operating at Maasvlakte 2. At the same time, it would speed up procedures and make life easier for both government and companies.”

Take-home lessonLooking back at the whole process, Smits admits that, now and then, he felt at loss about ‘how on earth’ to find solutions for all the permit-related tribulations. On behalf of the Port of Rotterdam, Ronald Paul led the Maasvlakte 2 project organization and was introduced at the conference as ‘the Netherland’s biggest pit bullterrier’. He responded to Smits’ portrayal of the difficulties that had to be overcome, ”In projects of this nature, you occasionally need to push hard. At the same time, you must be willing to enter into a dialogue with all parties. For example, we decided to involve environmental organizations in drawing up the draft reports about the project. This mostly happens when the reports are done and dusted. Now these organizations had access to the information in the preliminary phase and were able to contribute to finding solutions. That has also strengthened mutual confidence. To me, this a very important lesson learnt from this project. It is better

to work together in a team-like fashion than to lock horns. Over the years, the initial sense of distrust toward our environmental approach has diminished, and the relationship between the two sides is now a mature one. We have invested a lot of time in this.”

But the permit procedures have also come at a substantial financial cost to the port. Project Director Paul says: “Just carrying out the environmental-impact assessment cost us about €20 million. 45 people worked on it for more than 1.5 years. The box containing the permit documentation is 1.5 meters wide! This is the most comprehensive environmental-impact statement ever written in the Netherlands.” Paul did feel that the required research and paperwork occasionally went too far. “For example, at one time, we were even examining whether -in addition to seals- particular totally unknown types of fish might be affected by noise pollution coming from maritime shipping to and from Maasvlakte 2.” All in all, the Port of Rotterdam has now developed a sweeping monitoring system for keeping close tabs on the effects of the construction on the North Sea’s ecosystem and ensuring that these do not exceed the permitted limits. As part of that effort, life on and in the seabed is periodically mapped out at 300 locations. Paul comments, “Rotterdam is already the gateway to Europe, but can now also evolve into a world-leading green port. But most satisfactorily, by 2013, Maasvlakte 2 will be ready to handle containers from the world’s biggest container ships.”

Area-wide permit for port expansion would drastically reduce red tape and costs for companies establishing themselves there


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Thermal imaging cameras for predictive maintenance

inspections

Thermal imaging cameras can detect extremely small temperature differences. Based on these temperature differences thermal imaging cameras are able to produce a crisp image on which the smallest of details can be seen. Thanks to complicated algorithms, some thermal imaging cameras are also able to measure temperatures. This makes them perfect tools for a wide variety of predictive maintenance applications.

A thermal imaging camera is a reliable non contact instrument which is able to scan and visualize the temperature distribution of entire surfaces of machinery and electrical equipment quickly and accurately. Thermography programs have contributed to substantial cost savings for many users of thermal imaging cameras around the world.

Low voltage inspectionsElectrical cabinets and motor control centers are regularly scanned with an infrared camera. If left unchecked, heat can rise to a point that connections melt and break down; as a result, fires may break out.

Besides loose connections, electrical systems suffer from load imbalances, corrosion, and increases in impedance to current. Thermal imaging cameras can quickly locate hot spots, determine the severity of the problem, and help establish the time frame in which the equipment should be repaired.

One of the many advantages of thermal imaging cameras is the ability to perform inspections while electrical systems are under load. Since using thermal imaging cameras is a non-contact diagnostic method, a thermographer can quickly scan a particular piece of equipment from a safe distance, leave the hazardous area, return to his office and analyze the data without ever putting himself in harm’s way.

high voltage inspectionsThermal imaging cameras, are commonly used for electrical high voltage inspections. As electrical connections become loose, there is a resistance to current that can cause an increase in temperature. This can then cause components to fail, resulting in unplanned outages and injuries. In addition, the efficiency of an electrical grid becomes low prior to failure, thus energy

is spent generating heat, causing unnecessary losses. Power transformers are often checked with infrared cameras. Temperatures of the cooling fins and the high voltage connections can be compared so that, if necessary, corrective action can be taken before real problems occur. FLIR Systems thermal imaging cameras are ergonomically designed and lightweight so that they can easily be used several hours a day. They are completely integrated packages so there is no need to carry cables or other equipment around.

Mechanical inspectionsIn many industries, mechanical systems serve as the backbone of operations.

Thermal data can be an invaluable source of complimentary information to vibration studies in mechanical equipment monitoring. By automatically detecting the hottest spot in an area, and superimposing this over an image, the temperatures of different motors can easily be compared. Further examination of the overheating motor can be conducted.

A wide variety of applicationsThermal imaging cameras are also widely used for inspecting refractory and pipework. Building inspections can also seamlessly be done with a thermal imaging camera.

A comprehensive product rangeFLIR Systems, the world leader for thermal imaging cameras markets a full range for the most demanding predictive maintenance inspections. The FLIR i5 is the most affordable model. But at FLIR you have a choice! No matter if you are a first time user or a well experienced thermal imaging specialist, FLIR Systems offers you the correct thermal imaging camera for your application.


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By Paul Waayers

The idea is surprisingly simple. An oil refinery emits CO2, which causes the greenhouse effect. But another economic sector, greenhouse farming, has actually very good use for the ‘waste product’

CO2. After all, fertilization of their crops with CO2 results in bigger and better produce. And that brings economic benefits and strengthens the competitiveness of the Dutch greenhouse sector in

the international market.

CO2 from Europoort area + greenhouses =

energy savings

What is the connection between an oil refinery and the

growing of bell peppers? An ingenious idea plus a sense of

civic responsibility. A report.

Normally, greenhouse growers produce CO2

by running their cogeneration plants. These installations create heat; electric power for

the plant-grow lights and other purposes; plus CO2

to be used for CO2 fertilization, which makes crops grow faster and better. However, home-produced CO2 has a few drawbacks. First of all, the CO2 from the cogeneration installations cannot just be blown into the greenhouse because it contains ethane and NOx – substances the grower does not want to see in his greenhouse at all. A flue-gas filter on his cogeneration system prevents this from happening. Another problem is that the greenhouse grower requires substantial quantities of CO2 in the summer (depending on the product being grown), but needs much less lighting and heat during that period. The upshot is that the grower burns up expensive natural gas to produce not only CO2, but also electricity and heat, even though he has little need for them at that time of the year. Now it is possible for him to put the surplus electricity into the power grid and to store part of the generated heat sometimes. But all

in all, the whole process is not very efficient. What rubs salt in this wound is that the relatively nearby Europoort industrial area emits gigantic volumes of CO2 as a waste product into the atmosphere. Waste product? That is a misnomer for such a useful substance. This ironic combination of circumstances set some people thinking and led them to a brilliant idea. Gas supplier Linde Gas (previously called Hoek Loos) and construction company Volker Wessel got together and set up the a joint venture OCAP CO2 VOF (OCAP stands for Organic Carbon dioxide for Assimilation of Plants) in 2005. The concept adopted by OCAP is as follows. The Shell Pernis refinery and chemical complex produces large quantities of CO2. That carbon dioxide is no longer emitted into the atmosphere. Instead, it is captured, cleaned and transported to the greenhouse growers through a pipeline. The greenhouse farmers thus get top-quality CO2 and no longer need to use their gas-fired cogeneration installations just to produce CO2. This approach not only pays great environmental dividends, but also cuts down considerably on


the consumption of fossil fuel in greenhouse farming. OCAP recycling-oriented philosophy is also reflected in its logistical approach. To transport CO2 from Shell Pernis to the greenhouse areas, the company uses a 83-kilometer-long idled oil pipeline that runs between Rotterdam and Amsterdam and belonged to Shell. This pipeline turns out to be strong enough to cope with pressurized CO2 (pressure ranges between 16 and 22 bar).

worst-case scenariosNo business venture is without risk. Both TNO (Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research) and RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) examined all possible risks attached to this specific form of reuse of the retired pipeline. Although CO2 is also produced by the human body, high concentrations of the gas in the ambient air do pose a danger. After all, CO2 is heavier than air, thus pushes ambient air away and can cause asphyxiation (suffocation). To add to the risk, CO2 is odorless and colorless and is therefore hard to detect in the case of in relatively small yet still dangerous leakages. People may be unable to see or smell CO2 in small quantities, but they will definitely sit up and take notice, if a major disaster occurs. Then the escaping gas creates a lot of noise and a shock wave. In their risk assessment, TNO and RIVM used the most horrendous worst-case scenario: a full rupture in the main pipeline. The resultant shock wave can create havoc up to a distance of 17.5 meters. People might get injured because of flying glass shards and debris. The risk of asphyxiation exists up to a radius of 180 meters around the rupture, is their assessment. Beyond that area, people no longer run the risk of suffocation because of the much

lower concentrations of CO2. The main finding of the study was that the transport risks were acceptable and well controllable. The technology applied is also used in the Dutch natural-gas network, which needs to cope with much higher pressures – up to 40 bar at times. Despite its relative safety, CO2 can sometimes create problems, as was the case in September and December 2008. A number of dead ducks were found near the OCAP-operated pipeline in the small town of Berkel en Rodenrijs. The first report of a problem reached the Delfland Water Board, which, however, failed to respond. A second report prompted the water board to bring in the Greater Rotterdam Environmental Protection Agency, which found that CO2 was the culprit. Attention then immediately focused on the OCAP-run CO2 pipeline, where the remains of the ducks were found. At that precise spot, the pipeline was indeed leaking modest amounts of CO2. As soon as OCAP heard about the problem, it immediately repaired the leak.

ProfitOf course, Shell Pernis’ core business is its oil refinery and chemical plants and not the supply of carbon dioxide to the greenhouse sector via OCAP. Shell gladly does its bit for sustainability by enabling the recycling of CO2. But when CO2 production drops off for whatever reason (maintenance work or a malfunction), this is not a major concern for the oil and chemicals giant. Consequently, OCAP has not always been to obtain the gas in sufficient volumes. The shortage was also partly created by the growing demand for CO2. In 2008, OCAP supplied 282 metric tons of CO2 to greenhouse farmers. Despite the economic slump, the figure for 2009 rose to 356 tons. Being reliant on a


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single source has make OCAP vulnerable. The company is therefore busy securing a second source, which may become available in 2011 or 2012.

It should be noted that the biggest benefit derived from supplying OCAP with CO2 is not so much financial as civic-minded. Any company serving as a source for to-be-recycled CO2 clearly strengthens its environmental credentials, which is a huge selling point in an era in the grip of sustainability.

SuccessThanks to Shell Pernis and despite the teething problems, OCAP has so far been a success story. At present, OCAP is supplying this gas to about 550 greenhouse companies. By using this waste product, these growers have been able to slash their annual gas consumption by the same amount burnt each year by the whole city of Zoetermeer, which is home to well over 120,000 people. That makes OCAP the biggest energy-saving project in the whole of the Netherlands. No less important, this effort prevents the annual emission by Shell Pernis of a staggering 230,000 tons of carbon dioxide. So there is every reason to expand this energy-saving and CO

2 emission-reducing project. Plans are afoot to provide carbon dioxide to the Zuidplaspolder’s greenhouse growers, the overwhelming majority of whom have expressed an interest in obtaining the gas from OCAP and have actually indicated to need more CO2 per surface unit than expected. OCAP expects to make the first deliveries to the greenhouse growers in early 2011. Moreover, if all goes well, the company will start piping gas to the new PrimAviera greenhouse area in the Haarlemmermeer polder in the first half of 2011. OCAP’s efforts to make as much industrially produced clean CO2 available in order to considerably cut back CO2 emissions and gas consumption alike has led to, among other linkups, a partnership with the Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI). This ambitious program

brings together the City of Rotterdam, the Port of Rotterdam, the Greater Rotterdam Environmental Protection Agency and Deltalinqs (represents regional logistics and manufacturing companies). The joint objective is to halve CO2 emissions in the Rotterdam metropolitan area by 2025 in comparison with the level in 1990. OCAP is one of most important parts of the whole RCI effort.

Public oppositionTo further limit CO2 emissions, OCAP is also involved in underground CO2 storage in two empty gas fields in the Rotterdam suburb of Barendrecht. Initially, the empty gas field in Barendrecht’s Carnisselande district will be filled with 0.8 megatons of CO2. If this is successful, a further 9 megatons of CO2 will be stored under the Ziedewij field. It should be said that this underground CO2 storage is not unique for Europe. Similar projects are taking shape in Poland, France, Austria, Germany and Algeria.

Underground storage sounds a bit strange for a non-poisonous gas. However, the scientific consensus is that CO2 is the main cause of the greenhouse effect. Currently, use in greenhouses and underground storage seem to be the only methods for decreasing CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels. So underground storage of CO2 is for environmental reasons, not economic ones. In fact, the whole process is expensive. The CO2 is captured, dried, compressed and transported to the empty gas field, where it is stored. But the latter has run into firm opposition from local residents. Many inhabitants of the town of Barendrecht fear that, one day, CO2 might leak from the underground site into the atmosphere, to deadly effect. Their anxiety is stoked by a type of natural disaster in which carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating animals and humans. This rare event happened at Lake Nyos in Cameroon in 1986, killing up to 1,800 people through asphyxiation. Almost 22 years later, on 16 August 2008, a CO2-related accident occurred in the German city of Monchengladbach. A large quantity of carbon dioxide leaked from a factory’s fire-suppressant system and put 107 people into hospital. And then we had the dead ducks in nearby Berkel en Rodenrijs in the same year. Even so, there is no reason for concern, say the experts, who point out that the depleted gas field is sealed off by a layer of clay stone, which kept the gas - natural gas, including carbon dioxide - from escaping for millions of years.

Breathing spaceBack to OCAP. It not only supplies CO2 to greenhouse growers, but also tackles the acute problem of CO2 emissions (which mitigates the greenhouse effect) and reduces gas consumption (which allows us to husband our finite gas reserves) as great benefits. That has bought us some valuable extra time greatly needed for developing renewable forms of energy and making them economically viable, including wind, tidal and solar energy. Until such time, OCAP will very much welcome additional sources of carbon dioxide. Anyone contributing CO2 will help to protect the environment and create some breathing space for the creation of sustainable energy solutions for the future.


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Quality accompanied by a flexible mindset

Delta Heat Services is a specialist in heat treatment. The company claims to combine quality with a flexible mindset. How does Delta Heat Services realise this and which methods does it use?

Delta Heat Services is a provider of engineering services and specializes, among other things, in heat treatment. The organization recognizes that quality should accompany a flexible mindset. All heat treatments are carried out on site, or in temporary or stationary annealing furnaces in conformance with the requirements of various approving authorities.

MethodsThe activities of Delta Heat Services comprise of on site electrical preheating and stress relief, induction heating, annealing in stationary furnaces and temporary mobile furnaces and rental of heat treatment equipment. Besides this, Delta Heat Services also offers sale of heat treatment equipment and consumables, drying of heat-resistant concrete/coatings and advise. For preheat and post weld heat treatment (P.W.H.T.), Delta Heat Services uses a number of different methods, which include electrical resistance heating, induction and electrical, gas-fired and oil-fired furnaces.

range of equipmentThe in Stellendam based company says it offers a tailor-made approach for each treatment. Delta Heat Services claims to have ‘a very wide range’ of equipment for rental and sale, for preheating or annealing weld seams among other things: 50/65 kVA Power Units, induction units, MVC-Units, recorders, programme controllers, preheating and annealing elements, burners and consumables.

Stationary furnacesThe different locations offer a wide range of heat treatment opportunities in various dimensions and weights in one of the stationary annealing furnaces. The ‘Delta Mobile Furnace System’ enables a mobile heat treatment furnace of any dimension to be constructed in a very short time. All welds and surfaces to be heat treated are processed at once. The furnace can be installed at any location. Delta Heat Services uses professional, certified and advanced heat treatment equipment with various capacities and possibilities. All treatments are carried out using computer-aided control systems that are calibrated regularly. The client will receive a report upon completion of the work. The company works according to the standards of NEN, as recorded in the quality manual, as well as VCA*

safety standards. Delta Heat Services is certified by an independent certification organization in the Netherlands.


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By Constant Gras

Sustainable development is based on a proper balance struck between the three elements: People, Planet and Profi t. “But actual practice hardly ever refl ects that well-integrated approach”, says Kees Duijvestein, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Design at the Delft University of Technology, as well as an independent strategic consultant. “Admittedly, many companies work on environmental protection, energy savings, reduction of CO2 emissions and sustainable procurement, but without balancing this with the social and economic development of the company.” Since the two-dimensional Triple P Model (People, Planet and Profi t) does not fully provide for a well-integrated model, he developed the three-dimensional 4P Tetrahedron Model – initially for the construction industry, in which he works as designer. He has added a 4th P - standing for the spatial quality of Projects - as well as specifi c tools for creating more balance between the four Ps.

The majority of the public now understands that sustainability is a must, if we are to stave off irreversible natural disasters; to bring about a fairer

distribution of wealth; and to secure a prosperous life for future generations. Worldwide, sustainable development is the most important challenge of the 21st century and is so in every area and aspect of life.

implementation“In the past 2 decades, the concept of sustainable construction has become a fixture in municipal policies and policy documents”, explains Duijvestein. “In 1989, it was introduced in the Dutch National Environmental Policy Plan, as well as in an overview of environmental damage directly from construction activities. But nowhere is it indicated what sustainable construction really means.”

But that did not stop the construction sector from taking the idea and running with it. A national center for sustainable

By Constant Gras

Sustainable development is based on a proper balance struck between the three elements: People, Planet and Profi t. “But actual practice hardly ever refl ects that well-integrated approach”, says Kees Duijvestein, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Design at the Delft University of Technology, as well as an independent strategic consultant. “Admittedly, many companies work on environmental protection, energy savings, reduction of COprocurement, but without balancing this with the social and economic development of the company.” Since the two-dimensional Triple P Model (People, Planet and Profi t) does not fully provide for a well-integrated model, he developed the three-dimensional 4P Tetrahedron Model – initially for the construction industry, in which he works as designer. He has added a 4th P - standing for the spatial quality of Projects - as well as specifi c tools for creating more balance between the four Ps.

The majority of the public now understands that sustainability is a must, if we are to stave off irreversible natural disasters; to bring about a fairer

distribution of wealth; and to secure a prosperous life for future generations. Worldwide, sustainable development is the most important challenge of the 21st century and is so in every area and aspect of life.

implementation“In the past 2 decades, the concept of sustainable construction has become a fixture in municipal policies and policy documents”, explains Duijvestein. “In 1989, it was introduced in the Dutch National Environmental Policy Plan, as well as in an overview of environmental damage directly from construction activities. But nowhere is it indicated what sustainable construction really means.”

But that did not stop the construction sector from taking the idea and running with it. A national center for sustainable

Well-balanced basis for sustainabilityTetrahedron Model turns spotlight on four Ps


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construction was set up. Sustainable Construction Information Kits were compiled for house construction, urban development, utility construction and civil engineering. Then there are list of standards, legislation, rules and procedures to be followed by everyone working in the construction industry. Duijvestein says: “Despite all of that, sustainable construction is hardly different from what we used to call ecological, organic, environmentally friendly or energy-conscious construction.”

So what exactly are we talking about? How can we translate the concept of sustainability into concrete action within the context of urban redevelopment? That was the question facing Duijvestein, who, about five years ago, began formulating an answer by further developing the Triple P Concept. For the construction practice, he expanded this with a spatial dimension into the 4P Tetrahedron Model. He has since begun writing a book based on this model. Its title is Basic Book for Sustainable Construction, while its subtitle reads 4 Times P – Principles and Practices of Sustainable Construction. The work is aimed at Architecture and Urban Design students, but particularly at people working in the construction sector.

well-balancedThe sustainability of a company or construction project is normally measured by the degree in which a reduction in CO

2 emissions and other environmental effects has been

achieved. “This is very important, but by itself does not make a company sustainable”, emphasizes Duijvestein. “These environmental efforts are often the result of legislation, rules, procedures and societal pressure and not of a well-considered decision by the company itself. Sustainability is not something that be can forced upon you. It has to come from within a company or project and must be based on a balance struck between People, Planet and Profit.” There needs to be a bit of give and take on all sides, and an understanding of each others’ position, interests and requirements. After all, a maximum focus on the Planet would mean for the company that it would no longer be able to build or produce. What also matters, says Duijvestein, are the preferences or priorities of the workforce and of the external parties involved. What do they find important, and how serious are they about putting this into actual practice? How would they like to work and live? And what are the consequences of that for the balance between People, Planet and Profit? By continually factoring in the comprehensive considerations made by all people involved (including staff, future occupants and neighborhood residents) and steering in a particular direction on the basis of society’s values relating to sustainability, the project creates a set of values anchoring sustainability into the organization.

Strong foundationSo a systematic approach to sustainability. However, the Triple P Model is unable to make good use of the involvement of and suggestions from the people involved inside and outside the building project. Duijvestein therefore added a fourth P, which stands for Project: the spatial dimension of the building project. That changes the two-dimensional triangle into a three-dimensional tetrahedron (pyramid, formed by four triangles), which make visible, the balance to be created between the four Ps. In policy development, the 4th P represents Process, while in product development, it indicates Product.

“The current tools for sustainable construction are too often used as check-off lists that do not reflected the required balance between the three Ps”, explains Duijvestein. “An essential quality has been added to create the Tetrahedron Model, which sheds light on the importance of various dimensions and the balance that needs to be struck. It is a tripod in which three Ps form the strong basis on which the fourth rests. Which dimension receives top priority and can sit atop the Tetrahedron depends on the importance attached to particular aspects of the project by the people involved. For example, architects will probably give top priority to the spatial dimension, while property developers will emphasize the economic dimension, and users and neighborhood residents will home in on social and the ecological dimensions.”

insight into complexityThe 4P Tetrahedron Model is used for clarifying and focusing attention on the complexity of sustainable development of the built environment and thus enhancing the sustainability of building projects. It is also applicable in policy and product development. “It helps us to create


clarity about the priorities set by the various parties as early as in the initial and preliminary-design phases”, states Duijvestein. “Day-to-day work in the construction industry sees many ‘conflicts of interest,’ if you will, which need to be made clear to everyone. By doing so, you can create a solid foundation to be used by all players and other stakeholders for jointly determining what should the focal points to ensure a project’s sustainability.”

To promote that form of sustainability-oriented cooperation in the various phases of the project and across the different disciplines -from spatial planning and urban development, to construction engineering and building-services engineering- Duijvestein has developed a method for construction professionals and government officials. Contrary to existing methods, this system can be used even before a project plan has been developed. Duijvestein says: “We now have tools available for every phase in the development, design and construction process to properly ensure sustainability in a practical fashion. To that end, I have picked the 6 most important themes surrounding each of the four Ps. So what we have is a total of 24 themes, on which experts render their detailed judgments, complete with example projects and ambition levels.” While the themes may differ from one project to another depending on the type of project and its size, Duijvestein has chosen 24 themes deemed relevant by him for the construction projects. These include social themes, namely: health, safety, public participation, age-proof design, comfort and social cohesion. Then there are ecological themes: energy, water, materials, mobility, waste, nature and natural environment. The economic themes: prosperity, affordability, transparency, employment, accessibility and manageability. Finally, the spatial themes: durability, relationship with the environment, image, visual qualities, flexibility and spatial composition.

The approachSo the Sustainable Construction approach on the basis of the 4P Tetrahedron Model begins with setting the priorities for the project. “Those involved determine what is most important to them from the perspective of sustainability”, explains Duijvestein. “They then pick their priorities out of the 24 themes on a list that flesh out the four dimensions. That is done in a so-called sticker workshops. Here the list of themes are hung on the wall, and participants can openly place stickers next to their preferred themes. Use is made of four different stickers to indicate the level of importance (from unimportant to important). This ranks the priorities, which thus form the Top 24. This is compared with national and local policies and particularly the statement of requirements for the construction project. The next step is to determine the desired level of ambition: How far are people prepared to go in achieving the thematic objectives selected by them? For that purpose, they use the DCBA method, which regards a D score as the legal minimum and an A score as the best choice for that theme.” After this initiative phase, it has become clear what is important to the people involved from the viewpoint of sustainability and how they are willing to go in order to achieve their stated goals. “It’s a well-balanced basis for the further design process”, says

Duijvestein. That balance is found by the various players in the project, who jointly create a ranking for the various dimensions by comparing, weighing and making choices. “And the people concerned also make visible what these individual choices will look like in actual practice. For those themes that give structure to the whole project, we use the Maximization Method to outline the highest ambition level, pretending that only that theme matters. So what we get are sketches in which a single theme will be fleshed on the basis of the absolutely best choice made for it. These sketches are compiled into one initial-design sketch, into which then non-structure-giving priority themes are woven.”

Qualitative comparison“In most cases, the various dimensions and themes in these types of complex problems are brought together under a single heading, namely by quantifying them in money”, says Duijvestein. “It’s a quest for the objective truth, which doesn’t exist. With out method, we can compare the issues realistically, even if they seem to be incomparable. It’s the people involved themselves, who do so, by making their own choices together in open and transparent fashion and by discussing and demonstrating what they mean. In this way, it becomes clear to everyone what others find important and what this means in actual practice. Here you can already see an important part of the crucial integrated approach of balancing People with Planet and Profit. On the basis of content and not just money, people will begin to understand that they can’t always aim for their priorities on the highest ambition levels and that they will have to make choices in this, too. By allowing people to go through this process together and to listen to each other’s argument, you forge a connection between the 4 Ps and confront the decision makers with arguments that really complement the business case.”

A model to get a handle on the complexity of sustainable development of the built environment


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By Antoon Oosting

Things can change quickly in the economy and even more so in the chemical industry. A little more than a year ago, people worried themselves sick over the prospect of companies going belly-up

and large numbers of workers being laid off. Fortunately, the worst of the recession is now behind us. “The biggest worry companies now have is to find well-trained workers”, says Colette Alma,

Managing Director of the Netherlands Chemical Industry Association (Dutch abbreviation: VNCI). She adds that companies have begun recruiting people again, but are once again struggling to find

good-quality workers, as they did before the economic slump.

Jobs go unfilled in revitalized

chemical sector

So at present, sentiment is completely different from the mood music heard in the final quarter of 2008, when the

chemical industry in the Rijnmond region (Greater Rotterdam Area) went through a very rough patch as a result of the economic crisis. Production and sales plummeted. For example, the Lyondell plant on the Maasvlakte 1 and one of the plants at the Shell Moerdijk complex shut down operations for a winter break, which would last considerably longer than normally. DSM trimmed its workforce by 100 people, while 850 workers at DuPont Nederland in Dordrecht went on short-time work. Collective-wage agreements were renegotiated, as happened at Tronox Pigments in Rozenburg, whose staff were required to use their vacation days and to go on unpaid leave. “Chemistry has gone into hibernation”, said FNV Bondgenoten trade union leader Egbert Schellenberg.

The first quarter of 2009 was perhaps even worse than the same period the year before. Weak demand caused a collapse of sales and prices. The second and third quarters saw a slight recovery, which, however, was gloomily attributed to the need for customers to top replenish their dwindling stocks.

Slowly but surely, the chemical sector was picking up momentum. The Lyondell plant at the Maasvlakte 1, shut down for a 3-month period, became operational again in May of last year. After witnessing a continued improvement in the first quarter of 2010, the VNCI is now beginning to show a bit of optimism again. In the spring, production was only 3 percent lower than in the first quarter of 2008. But because of lower prices companies’ sales are still lagging 12 percent behind the turnover achieved in the spring of 2008. But volumes are going up, says the VNCI’s Managing Director Alma. She does take a wait-and-see approach to the construction sector, whose performance is of pivotal importance to chemical companies. The other big customer of the chemical sector is the automobile industry.

Chemical companies have managed to pull through the economic slump by focusing on efficiency in particular. The number of redundancies has been kept to a minimum, as even trade union leaders admit, because companies have gone all out to keep their permanent workers employed. There are no chemical companies in the Rijnmond area that have undergone a restructuring and sacked dozens of people. (That contrast sharply with your


average marine cargo-handling company in the Port of Rotterdam.) Figures from UWV Werkbedrijf Rijnmond (a government agency tasked with preventing or limiting redundancies and reintegrating dismissed employees) show that the number of chemical-sector workers in this region now receiving unemployment benefits is only 10 percent higher than the level seen at the beginning of 2009. That is a rise from 181 to 199. In September last year, unemployment in the regional chemical industry peaked at 287 job seekers. Bearing the brunt of layoffs were the contractors, which come in to do particular jobs and thus provide great flexibility to chemical companies, says Alma.

investments plans were put on the backburnerBut in the meantime, says the VNCI, companies have begun breathing new life into their investment plans. Alma adds that the basic-chemicals sector, which covers many companies in the Botlek-Europoort area, has again been putting its money where its mouth is. For example, on June 22, the then-Minister of Economic Affairs Maria van der Hoeven kicked off the construction of the new hydrogen plant operated by Air Products. The facility is located next to the ExxonMobil refinery in

the Botlek area. “We are coming on stream again”, comments Alma.

Over the past year, two formally announced massive investments in the chemical industry in Rotterdam’s port area have fallen through. Chemical giant Huntsman reported that it would put on hold for now, the construction of a new MDI plant for the production of polyurethane foam (70 percent of its production in volume) and raw materials for paints and coatings (26 percent). But the company insists that the plan has not been scrapped for good. That did happen to a plan developed by Rotterdam-based Liongas. The plan was to build a second LNG terminal on the westernmost tip of the Europoort area. The company has now relinquished its option on the plot of land, owned by the Port of Rotterdam. According to Cees Jan Asselbergs, Managing Director of Deltalinqs -which represents logistics and industrial companies in the Rotterdam port area- various companies are fiercely competing with each other over the small patch of ground (60 hectares) here to expand their operations. He adds that plenty of companies are keen to erect a few more storage tanks in Rotterdam. Except for the closure of the Evonik Carbon Black plant in the Botlek area


review 2010

(whose production will be phased out from July 31, 2010 and will cease in 2012), the chemical industry in the Greater Rotterdam Area has come thorough the crisis in a pretty decent shape without abandoning too many of its investment plans, says Asselbergs. Deltalinqs’ Managing Director explains that the 2007-08 investment boom has remained largely unscathed. In mid-June, the palm oil refinery run by Malyasian IOI Loders at the Maasvlakte 1 came into service. The bio-ethanol plant owned by Spanish Abengoa is nearing completion. Next year will see the completion of a large second-generation (sustainable) biodiesel plant built by Finnish Neste Oil. As if all of this were not enough, E.ON is building a second coal-fired power plant at Maasvlakte 1, while Belgian Electrabel has begun constructing a coal-and-biomass power plant at Maasvlakte 1. “They would not be doing this, if they thought that they would have to shut it down in a few years’ time”, says Asselbergs. He sets great store by the Carbon Capture & Storage pilot project launched by E.ON, which will thus reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas CO

2. “If they can pull that off”, states Asselbergs, “Rotterdam has a great opportunity to develop into a CO2 hub – a location where you want to set up shop because there you will be able to get rid of your CO2.” He also sees great advantages in evermore-popular company clustering: the grouping together of companies to create a win-win situation that saves on energy and/or raw materials. For example, the Exxon refinery consumes great quantities of hydrogen, which will be produced by the future adjoining plant run by Air Products to save substantial amounts of energy.

Co-siting, mono-siting and multi-sitingThe phenomenon of two companies forming a cluster is called co-siting. Another important trend is that large chemical companies split up into smaller parts or get rid of older plants and thus create space for other, new companies that can make use of the output of their ‘neighbours’. So that is a move from mono-siting (a single company using a whole site) to multi-siting (site-sharing by two or more companies). The Huntsman site is an excellent example. The construction of a new MDI plant was to have been followed by new AkzoNobel facilities, for example. Lyondell has made land available for a plant operated by IOI Loders Croklaan. “Companies need to operate in a very cost-efficient fashion to remain competitive”, says Ruud Melieste, Director of Energy and Industry for the Port of Rotterdam. “Often the smartest and most efficient approach is co-siting or multi-siting, if possible. That allows you to create synergy.” Joris Hurenkamp, the port’s Business Manager of Chemical Industry, goes as far as saying that, for any investment to be viable, it needs to involve other companies to bring about efficiencies. The Port of Rotterdam representatives say that Rotterdam is doing better than other major industrial areas in Europe because of better opportunities for

clustering and greater use of it. In Rotterdam, the refineries are operating near peak or at full capacity, and the large oil companies, such as Shell, BP and ExxonMobil, are also investing heavily in their Rotterdam facilities. How different things are in Dunkirk in France, Wilhelmshaven in Germany and Teesport in the UK, tells Ruud Melieste. Because of overcapacity and lack of clustering possibilities, the refineries there are performing far less well, and investments have fallen through. Illustrative for this trend is that the Lyondell plant at Maasvlakte 1 has rapidly returned to full capacity, while the company has reduced capacity elsewhere in Europe.

Developments in the portThe chemical industry in Rotterdam sprung up in the 1960s and 70s in particular and largely rode on the coattails of the existing oil refineries. Remarkably, it was mostly American and Dutch companies that established themselves in the Rotterdam Botlek and Europoort areas. At the same time, especially German companies gravitated toward Antwerp in Belgium. After the growth of the petrochemical sector, the period between 2006 and 2008 saw a new wave of investments – now in forms of energy other than crude oil. A total of €7 billion are now being sunk into an LNG terminal (a joint venture between Vopak and Gasunie), four combined heat-and-power plants, two hydrogen plants (Air Liquide and Air Products) and four biodiesel-ethanol plants. What is also new is Asian companies’ interest in setting up operations in Rotterdam, says Hurenkamp. In 2002, Japanese Shin-Etsu was one of the first to move to Rotterdam, followed by Malaysian IOI Loders Croklaan and others. Indian Indorama (took over the Eastman plant in the Europoort area) located to Rotterdam in 2008. Indorama has meanwhile developed plans to double its production of PET. “Looking at the vicinity of their sales markets and the low transport costs, companies understand that they can operate very cost-efficiently here”, says Sandra Prenger, Business Manager of Energy and Industry at the Port of Rotterdam.

Melieste, Prenger and Hurenkamp have already begun selling the first 80 hectares of the total of 200 hectares available for chemical industry at the Maasvlakte 2 port-and-industrial site – a manmade peninsula now being built off the Rotterdam coast. The first 80 hectares border on the existing Maasvlakte 1 site and are primarily intended to create more space for existing clusters of companies there. Lyondell, for example, has taken out on option for about 30 hectares at Maasvlakte 2. Melieste does expect that the cluster of chemical companies will be more centered around bio fuels and not so much around oil. Of course, all these chemical plants require manpower to run them. Demand for operators will therefore remain very strong, expects Hurenkamp.


review 2010

Thinking in project oriented solutions

What do shipbuilding, windmills, photovoltaic installations, power plants and the food industry have in common? These are all industries that OBO, the company based in Mijdrecht, offers solutions for through electro installation technique. In this article you will find a short description of this specialist’s product portfolio.

Safety and reliability of the produced goods should be of the greatest importance in shipbuilding. Every used part must function perfectly and reliably on full sea – even in emergency situations. OBO claims to have the right systems that meet the special demands of electric systems on ships: from the bow to the stern, from the hull to the deck.

OBO also offers solutions for the electrotechnical infrastructure of windmills. More and more households and companies are profiting from the wind as a source for green energy. Windmills are getting more efficient and the return of every wind generator is rising. There are very strict safety demands for building windmills. Especially of importance is the electric infrastructure, which is crucial for the safety of the system. OBO delivers solutions for the entire electric installation of windmills, of safety and cable systems and lightning safety systems.

Sun, rain, heat, cold, lightning and overvoltage; a photovoltaic installation has to deal with a lot of environmental circumstances over the years. With the ProtectPlus-Program for photovoltaic installations, OBO says it takes care of protection

for years and that the installation keeps on functioning in a reliable way. According to the company, the program offers electric installations protection against environmental influences and mechanical load. Installations are also protected against direct lightning strikes and overload.

Knowledge and experience are absolute demands for building power plants. Huge amounts of materials and complex systems must be at the right place, at the right time. OBO says it has already offers extensive solutions for all sorts of power plants for decades. The product range includes a wide set of systems.

OBO also offers solutions to the food industry, which is an industry that sets very high standards for the quality of products. Only the best is good enough. Food products are subject tot strict guidelines to secure constant quality. It starts with the raw materials, then production, transport of the goods, until the shelfs of the supermarket. A robust, reliable and hygienic electric infrastructure is very important for that reason. OBO states it offers total solutions for electric installations for the food industry. It uses only materials that meet the highest hygienic standards in the food industry.

Industrieel Management Magazine

Maintenance lays strong foundation for sustainability • Rotterdam Climate Initiative and Maasvlakte 2 put Rotterdam on global map as sustainable city • A single language for process intensifi cation • New hydrogen

plant will replace old one • The next big challenge for engineers: Sustainability • Port CEO Smits advocates special rules for large-scale infrastructure projects • CO2 from Europoort area + greenhouses = energy

savings • Well-balanced basis for sustainability • Jobs go unfi lled in revitalized chemical sector

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review Europoort 2010

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