This appears to be a continuing effort to improve search results by rewarding fresh and meaningful content.  If your web site content is shallow and rarely changes, you may want to consider offering more in order to get more.  One of the greatest tools for adding meaningful content easily is through social media.  This takes some effort, but done properly it can yield great results.
To successfully implement a social media program you need a plan for developing new content.  There are many ways in which a company can create good social media content.  You have to analyze your business or get a social media consultant to help you think through the possibilities.  Some companies business activities lend themselves very well to the problem solving model.  If this is your company, documenting the problem and your solution is a great source for social media content.  Like anything else in a competitive business environment, you have to be better at using this than your competitor.  Don’t give away information from which your competition could benefit.  However, make sure that your content includes keyword strings that your prospects may be using when they are trying to solve their problems.
One of our clients is now asking their project managers to send us a quick email after every project with a summary of the problem the client was facing and how they solved it.  Someone needs to have enough knowledge of your business and your market to edit this content, post it and find other relevant social media content to engage and connect to your post.  This can be handled by a combination of resources at your company and a social media company or in some cases you may find a social media company that also has significant experience in your market that can take the raw input and take it from there.
Social media offers the opportunity for companies to make meaningful and timely content available to the Internet.  It’s a media that requires some effort but offers great rewards for those that compete effectively in it.

The announcement will be made at the 39^th annual Turbomachinery Symposium, held at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

A corporate resident of the Houston area since 1977, the new building will be located at 10035 Brookriver Drive, off Beltway 8 and 290, in Jersey Village, Texas.

The new 23,000 square foot facility is twice the size of the firm’s existing building. Administration, sales, manufacturing, training and testing will all reside in one facility, allowing EagleBurgmann to streamline their operations as well as ensure the firm is able to meet increasing market demand.  The training facility will be used as an industry hub for technology transfer and instruction. The firm’s parent company, Freudenberg, will also use it to showcase their technologies for the oil and gas market.

Ambrose, McEnany and House, an architecture firm responsible for the design of many landmark buildings in Houston, has been selected for the design and implementation of this project. According to Lee Mitchell, project designer with Ambrose, McEnany and House, the goal was “to create a modern corporate headquarters to reflect the engineering qualities of the company and to incorporate modern design aspects, both in the interior and on the exterior of the building.”

In order to meet this goal, Ambrose, McEnany and House selected a variety of metal and glass materials for both exterior and interior features. The exterior of the building features long rectangular-shaped pieces of brushed stainless steel and glass in a bilateral, symmetric design to enhance the already existing building, while fusing in the new formula. Ambrose, McEnany and House utilized existing novel shapes and transformed them into distinctive models of modern engineering reflective of the highly engineered products EagleBurgmann manufactures.

EagleBurgmann USA President, Marcus Pillion stated, “This new facility will present a larger footprint to the marketplace and is just another example of our long-term commitment to the industries we serve not only here in Houston, but throughout North America. We’ve been here (in the USA) for over 30 years, and we’re excited about the next 30 years and what this new building represents for our customers.”

“We are excited about being able to make this announcement here at the Turbomachinery Symposium,” said Pillion. “As a significant event in the Houston area, this event provides us with the opportunity to share ideas and best practices with the leaders in the oil and gas industry. Our participation as well as our selection of this event for this announcement demonstrates our commitment to the industry as well as validation that the oil, gas and turbormachinery market are thriving.”

EagleBurgmann plans to break ground  in November.  The new building project is expected to be complete in 12 months. EagleBurgmann’s current facility, located at 10035 Brookriver Drive, will remain in the real estate portfolio for parent company, Freudenberg-NOK.

According to Rhonda Johnson, Marketing Director, approximately 4,000 people are expected to attend this year’s Symposium.

Page speed has always been a factor in web design.  Today, it is not only a factor in good design but also good Search Engine Optimization. Both factors are important to creating a good user experience.  Ten to fifteen years ago, before high-speed Internet connections were commonplace there was a 30 second rule that good designers lived by; if a page took longer than 30 seconds to load it was too big. With the advancement of graphics design programs creating smaller and smaller file sizes, high-speed Internet and faster computers the average person has increased expectations and if a page does not load in 5-10 seconds they are more likely to click back and pick the next page in the search results list.

Google (who maintains a 65% share of the search engine market), has now incorporated page speed into their search algorithm for determining page rank and position.  Page rank (the importance of a page relative to the rest of the Web) is the culmination of many factors and is a key component in determining the overall position of a web page in search results.

Everybody wants their website to come up first but it does not happen by accident and once you do get there it takes work to keep the position. It is the ultimate King of the Mountain game with thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake. Every click-through is a potential new customer, contact, referral or sale. Knowing how to gain a leading position and also how to ensure the most promising user experience takes more than just knowing the in and outs of web design, it has to work hand in hand with industry experience and knowledge.

Nobody knows your product better than you. There may be thousands of companies selling pumps but every one of them has something unique that set them apart. When so much of it might be the same, focusing on what you have to bring to the table can often be the difference in clicking on the contact button or the back button. Page speed is certainly an important aspect. When put together with well thought-out, efficient, customer focused web design that that has been shaped with industry knowledge and technical expertise King of the Mountain is a great place to be.

Anyone who works in graphic design or web development knows the importance of starting with good, clean images.  The amount of time it takes to clean bad images is costly.  The brain-numbing drudgery of erasing, copying and stamping parts of an image, 3 pixels at a time, is enough to make grown men cry. (OK I’m exaggerating a bit) The point is Photoshop CS5 is going to make the process of cleaning up images faster, better and happier.

Here is Adobe’s leaked preview from the CS5 blog.

If you’re pressed for time skip to 2:47

The official release date for Adobe CS5 is April 12th, 2010.  For more Photoshop CS5 goodness http://cs5.org/?cat=3

1. Sinopec Awarded $1.3B Polypropylene Plant
2. J. Ray McDermott Awarded Saudi Aramco EPC Project
3. ICA Flour Wins $622M Clean  Fuels Projects from PEMEX
4. SNC-Lavalin gets new contract in Venezuela

Sinopec Awarded $1.3 bln Polypropylene Plant

• Estimated Cost: $1.26 billion
• Engineering Firm: Sinopec Engineering
• Construction Firm: Sinopec Engineering

Description: As reported by Reuters - a unit of China’s Sinopec will build a $1.26 billion polypropylene plant in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Deputy Oil and Gas Minister Aset Magauov said on Thursday.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE62O06T20100325

J. Ray McDermott Awarded Saudi Aramco EPC Project

• Estimated Cost: $
• Operating Company: Saudi Aramco
• Engineering Firm: J. Ray McDermott
• Construction Firm: J. Ray McDermott
  

Description: As reported by Oil and Energy News – J. Ray McDermott, S.A. (“J. Ray”), a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc., has been awarded a project to upgrade crude gathering and power supply facilities in Saudi Aramco’s Safaniya field.

http://www.oilandenergynews.com/2010/03/j-ray-mcdermott-awarded-epci-project-by.html

ICA Fluor Wins $622 Million Clean Fuels Projects from PEMEX

• Estimated Cost: $622 MM
• Operating Company: PEMEX
• Engineering Firm: ICA Fluor
• Construction Firm: ICA Fluor

Description: IRVING, Texas, Mar 24, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — ICA Fluor, the industrial construction joint venture of Empresas ICA, S.A.B de C.V. and Fluor Corporation, announced today that PEMEX Refining, has awarded the company engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for two low-sulfur gasoline projects in Mexico valued at $622 million.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ica-fluor-wins-622-million-clean-fuels-projects-from-pemex-2010-03-24?reflink=MW_news_stmp

SNC-Lavalin gets new contract in Venezuela

• Estimated Cost: $
• Operating Company: PDVSA
• Engineering Firm: SNC-Lavalin
• Construction Firm:

Description: MONTREAL — SNC-Lavalin has been awarded a contract for conceptual and basic engineering involving production facilities and the upgrading of heavy oil in Venezuela’s Orinoco oil belt.

The value of the deal announced Thursday was not disclosed, but SNC said it is “the first of several expected work authorizations” under the contract signed with Venezuelan Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A..

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gn4ntQhqWVm5Cm3FpWh_o9ptBRpw

HOUSTON, Feb. 22 — Oil and gas services provider Schlumberger Ltd. announced plans to acquire Smith International Inc. in a stock-for-stock transaction worth an estimated $11 billion.

Both companies’ boards unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement. Smith, based in Houston, provides products and engineering services used during oil and gas drilling, completions, and production.

Among its products and services, Smith provides drilling and completion fluids; solids control and separation equipment; waste-management; water-treatment systems; production chemicals; directional drilling tools and services; two-cone, three-cone, and diamond drillbits; turbine drilling products; and drilling and fishing tools.

Subject to Smith stockholder approval and customary regulatory approvals, closing is expected in this year’s second half. Upon closing, and issuance of new Schlumberger shares, Smith shareholders are expected to own 12.8% of Schlumberger’s common stock.

Terms call for Smith shareholders to receive 0.6966 of a share of Schlumberger in exchange for each Smith share. Based upon Feb. 18 closing stock prices for both companies, the agreement places a value on Smith stock of $45.84/share.

Andrew Gould, Schlumberger chairman and chief executive officer, said the Smith acquisition will add Smith’s drilling expertise and its drillbits to Schlumberger’s product offerings.

Gould believes increased levels of drilling are required to sustain and increase global oil production. He said more wells are being drilling in challenging environments and new resource plays, which increases a project’s complexity.

“We firmly believe, however, that the next breakthrough will be through engineered drilling systems that optimize all the components of the drillstring, allowing our customers to drill more economically in demanding conditions,” Gould said.

Schlumberger expects the acquisition will generate pretax savings of about $160 million in 2011 and $320 million in 2012. The merger is expected to increase earnings per share in 2012, said the company, which has major corporate offices in Houston, Paris, and The Hague.

The acquisition will increase Schlumberger’s ability to compete with rival Halliburton Co. Last year, Baker Hughes Inc. announced a $5.5 billion deal to acquire BJ Services Co.

The US Department of Justice’s antitrust division has asked for more information from Baker Hughes and BJ Services regarding the proposed merger of the two firms (OGJ Online, Oct. 19, 2009).

Analysts expect antitrust regulators will closely examine Schlumberger’s acquisition of Smith.

Smith employs more than 20,000 employees operates through three operating segments—M-I SWACO, Smith Oilfield, and Wilson. Smith said two thirds of its revenues are concentrated in markets outside the US.

Both Schlumberger and Smith own M-I Swaco, which sells drilling fluids, as a joint venture . Schlumberger currently owns 40%.The Smith acquisition means Schlumberger will own 100% of M-I Swaco.

While on site you start collecting and reviewing history. There are several key points that you observe right away. Before the failure, process conditions change, causing a different load condition in the turboexpander.

The original equipment manufacturer reviewed this data as well and concluded there should be no problems since the unit was operating well within the design limits.

Previous rotordynamics work indicated a small imbalance, but that was to be expected with the machine loading and unloading.

In every case there was no warning of the pending failure. This would eliminate aerodynamic excitation, build up of the impeller or degradation of the impeller. Bearing temperatures would remain within normal limits and would not exhibit any issues of concern.

The impeller was investigated, and there was no evidence of foreign particle damage or liquid carryover.

The cause of the failure was due to a rub that occurred between the impeller and the shroud. Clearances are tight in the turboexpander to obtain desired efficiencies and performance. As the impeller spins at normally very high rpm, the clearances are tighter due to the centrifugal load. During a process change it is possible for the temperatures to vary several hundred degrees. Due to the thermal lag between the housing and the impeller, it is possible for clearances to close up and lead to a failure.

An approach to avoid these failures and make sure the equipment functions properly across all operating ranges is as follows:

1. Perform a process analysis of the unit concerning all steady state and transient conditions of the turboexpander.
2. Utilize computational fluid dynamics to model the impeller to look at local temperatures and determine the possibility of any liquid formation.
3. Based on design clearances, perform a finite element heat transfer analysis of the turboexpander to evaluate the clearances.
   The model should consider the “spin up” conditions to obtain the final location and configuration of the impeller. The analysis would have to be a transient heat transfer analysis to include the thermal lag in the system.
4. It is important that the turboexpander handle all the fluid states that come from the process. In some cases there may be ice formation or dust particles that can cause issues if not considered in the design.
5. The rotordynamics of the system are important, with rotor stiffness a major consideration.
   The rotor should also be designed to handle some imbalance due to solids buildup. Remarkable thrust conditions must also be handled by a robust design.
6. A good seal design appropriate for the application must be considered. Make sure the materials are compatible to handle temperature transients as discussed in this article.
7. Develop and incorporate the necessary instrumentation to address the reliability issues of the machine.

Turboexpanders are basic in design and are not that complex in structure. However, like many pieces of rotating equipment, the details of both process and mechanical design are what affects a successful outcome in operation. A qualified professional engineer competent in rotating equipment should be involved with troubleshooting and implementation of any fix of this equipment.

For more information, visit www.knighthawk.com or call (281) 282-9200.  Click here to find suppliers of rotating equipment.

Let these truly awful images stick in your mind, make you smile and feel better about yourself and your place in the world. Let’s celebrate the ugliness of the past, and in doing so we will feel good about the present and look forward to a new decade of hope.

(This post  made possible by the Way Back Machine at web.archive.org.)

Click on an image to see more.

ThomasNet  Mar. 2000

"Man this internet thing is easy."

GlobalSpec Jan. 2000

So much to blue.

Alford Services Jan. 2000

"This company was a fall back plan, our true passion is in science book art."

Capital Process Equipment Jan 2000

This site also available in 4 x 6 flash card.

Knighthawk Engineering

You know you want to hit "Print Screen." The right side is for taking notes.

Macaulay Controls

They could print new business cards with their new web address but really whats the point?

Jogler

You'd be amazed at how much time people spent on this site

If you have an ugly industrial website from the past decade worth including in our list write it in the comments section.

1. Asab 3
2. Ammonia and Urea plants at FERTIL fertilizer complex
3. Refinery Receiving and Loading Facility

1. Asab 3

   • Estimated Cost: $409 million
   • Operating Company: Gasco
   • Engineering Firm: Technip
   • Construction Firm: Technip

   Description: Engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPC) work on Gasco’s “Asab 3″ project, which will be completed in the third quarter of 2012. The “Asab 3″ project is being developed to process an additional 150 million cubic feet per day of associated gas from the existing Asab, Shah and Sahil oil fields resources.

2. Ammonia and Urea plants at FERTIL fertilizer complex

   • Estimated Cost: $1.2 billion
   • Operating Company: FERTIL
   • Engineering Firm: Samsung Engineering
   • Construction Firm: Samsung Engineering

   Description: Turnkey contract worth $1.2 Billion to construct Ammonia and Urea plants at its fertilizer complex in Ruwais.

3. Refinery Receiving and Loading Facility

   • Estimated Cost: $multi-million
   • Operating Company: Laffan Refinery
   • Engineering Firm: Qatar Kentz
   • Construction Firm: Qatar Kentz

   Description: Turnkey engineering, procurement and construction with Laffan Refinery in Qatar. The contract is for a receiving and loading facility, which will be built at the Ras Laffan Industrial City. The project includes developing a new automated gantry facility to load diesel products into up to eight road tankers simultaneously, as well as transferring by pipeline to the Ras Laffan Port area. The commercial structure will be based on several shareholder companies owning a share of the asset, but maintenance and operation of the facility will be managed by Woqod.

Cap and Trade Passes Committee

Cap and Trade Passed by Committee

The Environment and Public Works Committee has approved carbon cap and  trade legislation sponsored by Barbara Boxer (Democrat – California) and John Kerry (Democrat – Massachusetts). It now moves to the full Senate.

At a time when our economy is struggling and unemployment is above 10%, Democrats are pushing for legislation that will cost us jobs and increase the cost of energy for virtually all Americans. Democrats supporting this initiative are ignoring and/or dismissing all studies that indicate that this legislation will have a significant negative effect on our economy.

Effects of Cap and Trade on the Petrochemical Industry

The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA) cited an Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc. study earlier this month that said even before US refiners face higher costs from carbon emissions they would face a higher cost structure and increased international competition, which would threaten to close 2.5 million barrels/day (b/d) of the existing 17.5 million b/d of US refining capacity.

In written testimony the NPRA submitted for the record the effects pending climate legislation would have on American energy jobs. The NPRA believes that both House and Senate versions (H.R. 2454 and S. 1733) would drive domestic gasoline and diesel production away from the USA, resulting in lost jobs for American workers and the outsourcing of our nation’s energy security to regions of the world that do not follow our already stringent environmental protections.

As energy prices rise, and American companies find themselves less competitive, businesses and jobs will flow to countries without stringent environmental controls, allowing emissions to increase. The additional energy costs will raise the cost of all U.S. goods and services. This will result in further job losses.

Cost of Cap and Trade

John Kerry (Democrat – Massachusetts) said comprehensive climate change legislation would create jobs. He dismissed reports such as the one cited by NPRA saying, “Your studies aren’t credible because you haven’t considered the impacts of inaction.” This is the same attempt that Dems are using on the health care bill to confuse the public on the impact of inaction. These studies and analysis performed by the Congressional Budget Office are based on the difference between continuing with current policies vs. the proposed legislation. He disagreed with Kenneth P. Green, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI), that a cap and trade system would be an inappropriate greenhouse gas control tool that would cause economic damage, cost jobs, and provide little environmental benefit.

Who Benefits From Cap and Trade?

“Legislation now before Congress will create regional winners and losers,” Green said. “Cap and trade creates a poorly understood financial instrument, which will increase debt. As biofuels gain favor, more agricultural farmland will be converted to fuel from food production.” The amount of revenue that will be moved into greener energy is extremely small in comparison to the huge carbon tax that we will all be paying. In addition, the private sector companies that could possibly benefit from these green funds, are already being targeted by unions that are using the threat of tying up permits in our courts as a way of forcing themselves into the labor side. Is part of the objective to tax all American’s energy consumption, give a small portion to Dem supporting organizations and use the rest to fund bigger government?

Instead of these energy alternatives that are not economically feasible without subsidy, why aren’t we promoting nuclear energy?

Margo Thorning, senior vice-president and chief economist at the American Council for Capital Formation, said “Macroeconomic studies show significant costs,” she maintained. “As [the US Environmental Protection Agency] and others have admitted, the environmental benefits will be almost nil if the US goes it alone.”

White House officials have hinted that if cap and trade isn’t approved in Congress, the EPA could regulate greenhouse gas emissions by all businesses. “The actions the EPA has taken and its plans to regulate greenhouse gases are a serious concern,” said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), according to the Wall Street Journal. “However, EPA’s actions should not scare Congress into passing bad legislation.”

The fact is that both the House and Senate versions of cap and trade legislation would have devastating impacts on American businesses across the economic spectrum.