Honeywell’s Primus Apex® integrated avionics suite has received Technical Standard Order (TSO) approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the new Viking Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft.

Primus Apex is Honeywell’s integrated avionics platform for customers that desire an industry standard solution that offers navigation and situational awareness capabilities similar to those offered in global business jets.  Honeywell’s Interactive Navigation (INAV®) graphical flight planning with detailed terrain and sensor overlays is standard on Primus Apex and provides unparalleled situational awareness with the ease of point and click navigation.

The DHC-6 Twin Otter is the largest-selling 19-passenger commuter aircraft in the world, with more than 40 years of operations.

For more information, read the press release.

Norm Gilsdorf, President of Honeywell Process Solutions, presents an industry perspective to more than 500 Honeywell customers at the Honeywell Users Group Americas symposium.

This year marked the 35th anniversary of Honeywell Users Group (HUG), a five-day event to enable Honeywell Process Solutions’ (HPS) leaders and customers to share best practices and strategies for enhancing business results. 

The theme of this year’s event was “Dynamic Solutions. Endless Possibilities.” Held in Phoenix, Arizona, the event included the opportunity for customers to come together to learn about the latest HPS technologies and provide input on HPS’ research and development priorities.

Key technologies announcements during HUG included:

• OneWireless™ R200, the process industry’s first truly universal wireless mesh network solution, is now fully compliant with the ISA100.11a standard, which will allow plants to design a wireless network with different types of wireless coverage.
• Experion R400, the newest version of Honeywell’s flagship Experion® Process Knowledge System® (PKS), features enhancements to protect manufacturers from the high cost of evolving technology and includes new turbine-control capabilities for power generators.  Experion PKS is Honeywell’s process automation and control system that sends data from critical plant subsystems directly to operators to help improve decision making in the control room.
• Field Advisor™, Honeywell’s newest addition to its family of mobile productivity solutions, helps industrial facilities keep their equipment running within safe operating limits and at optimum performance.

For more information about the event, visit Honeywell Users Group website.

Honeywell’s Delphi combustion efficiency panel and Reveal touch screen display have been recognized for excellence in product design in the 6th annual Dealer Design Awards Program sponsored by The Air Conditioning Heating & Refrigeration News (The ACHR News), the leading trade magazine in the heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration industries.

Delphi, which won a Silver award in the Miscellaneous category, provides flame safeguard control, fuel air ratio control, O2 trim, and variable frequency drive (VFD) control in a single, integrated panel with an easy-to-use touch screen user interface.  Fuel air ratio control with O2 trim can provide energy savings of 5-7% per year.  VFD control can reduce electrical costs by up to 30% per year.

Honeywell’s Reveal™, which provides real-time building automation status information, also received an Honorable Mention in the Commercial Controls Products category. Reveal is small enough for easy mounting in small equipment rooms and is built on the NiagaraAX Framework®.  It interfaces seamlessly with all WEBs-AX controllers and makes information accessible from all systems connected to these controllers.

An independent panel of 30 contractors served as judges in the contest which had more than 100 entries from different industry brands.

For more information, read the story in The ACHR News.

Honeywell announced it has been selected by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) to provide the wheels and brakes, Brake Control System (BCS), and tires for the new C919 airliner.

Honeywell’s 75-year heritage of wheels and brakes development ensures C919 operators will receive long life, up to 2,200 landings per overhaul, and high reliability from their wheels and brakes.

Honeywell operates 10 facilities throughout China, including Aerospace maintenance and manufacturing facilities in Xiamen, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Shanghai.  The Asia Pacific business is based in Shanghai.

Honeywell is collaborating on the COMAC C919 pedal-to-ground solution with Hunan Boyun New Materials Co., Ltd., Changsha Xinhang Wheel & Brake Co., Ltd. A joint venture will be formed to provide the wheels and brakes system for the new C919 airliner.

For more information, read the press release.

Honeywell announced it has been selected to help Abu Dhabi Gas Development Company Ltd achieve safe and efficient production at the Shah Gas Development Project, which is expected to significantly increase the Emirate’s domestic gas supply. When it reaches full production capacity in 2014, the site is expected to process some 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day. Abu Dhabi Gas Development Company Ltd is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC).

Although the Shah Gas field was discovered more than 40 years ago, dangerously high levels of hydrogen sulfide have prevented ADNOC from extracting the gas, which is critical to domestic and industrial growth in the region. To help reduce the risk of safety incidents, Honeywell is providing its Experion® Process Knowledge System® (PKS) and Safety Manager technologies, which can be integrated to give personnel a complete view of process and safety information across the site. This approach helps operators more effectively manage the safety systems throughout the plant. In addition to this core system, Honeywell will design, engineer and implement a broad array of new technologies and advanced applications that will help the plant operate as efficiently as possible from the first day of production.

Honeywell will provide its OneWireless™ industrial wireless network both inside the plant and at the gathering field well pads to track key personnel and assets during both construction and operational phases. Operations staff will be equipped with wireless gas detectors that will transmit alerts when dangerous gases are detected. They will also have Honeywell’s wireless Dolphin™ handheld and Webpad computers that will allow them to develop consistent and safe operating rounds and procedures and view and manage key control parameters.

For more information, read the press release.

Honeywell announced that its Spectra Shield® and Gold Shield® materials will provide bullet-resistance to body armor for Indian paramilitary and police forces.

As part of a contract awarded by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs to MKU Pvt. Ltd., an India-based supplier of body armor, Honeywell’s Gold Shield and Spectra Shield composite materials will be the primary ballistics protection incorporated into 59,000 jackets that each contain two breast plates. The first shipment of armor is likely to be sent to the Central Reserve Police Force by the end of June 2010.

Modernization of India’s police forces has been a top priority for the Ministry of Home Affairs. According to Informa, PLC, an international market research firm, the Indian homeland security budget is set to grow by 25 percent in 2010, making it the fastest-growing market for homeland security equipment in the world.

The body armor, designed and manufactured by MKU, is intended to protect against a variety of pistol, ground and small arms threats. The soft armor containing Gold Shield can substantially reduce injuries caused by a bullet’s impact, but with improved weight, flexibility and comfort. The breast plates containing Spectra Shield offer protection from multiple bullet hits, angle shots and high-velocity rifle rounds.

MKU is one of the leading suppliers of personal and platform ballistic protection solutions globally. Its products are in service in more than 60 countries around the world. It currently has several innovative products in the pipeline and various patent applications pending.

For more information, read the press release.

Honeywell announced the appointment of Pritam Bhavnani as President of Honeywell Aerospace in India. Pritam will relocate from Honeywell Aerospace, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, where he was most recently the Vice President of Customer and Product Support. He will be based in Gurgaon, India.

In his new role, Pritam will work to provide direction to the various operations and to drive Honeywell initiatives and strategies for aerospace and defense.  Over the last five years, Honeywell’s Aerospace business in India has been growing rapidly, driven by strong capabilities in new technologies that are committed to India’s safety and security. 

Pritam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Marquette University in Wisconsin and an MBA from University of Phoenix in Arizona.

For more information, read the press release.

Honeywell has been awarded a contract by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop mature technology for Fuel Burn Reduction and test aviation biofuels for use in Honeywell Gas Turbine Engines.

The agreement is valued at approximately $27 million over the five-year life of the agreement, cost shared with the FAA. Honeywell will use its TECH7000 turbofan test engine as the basis for its research. The TECH7000 is a turbofan technology demonstrator that is based on Honeywell’s HTF7000 propulsion engine. The five-year contract, awarded under the FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) Program, covers a 12-month base period and four 12-month option periods.

CLEEN is a joint FAA-industry program focused on reducing current levels of aircraft noise, greenhouse gas emissions, and fuel burn and advancing alternative fuels for aviation use. CLEEN will accelerate maturation of engine and airframe technologies to meet NextGen environmental goals and enable greater mobility. Fuel burn reduction technologies matured in this contract will enable higher engine cycle efficiency through increased operating pressure and turbine inlet temperature.

For more information, read the press release.

Honeywell announced that its T-Hawk™ Micro Air Vehicle, the only fielded unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with hover and stare surveillance capability, has recorded its 10,000th flight since its introduction.

The 10,000th flight was part of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal evaluation exercise in Iraq.

Honeywell’s T-Hawk Micro Air Vehicle is a 17-pound vehicle that can hover and stare and offers an option of electro optical or infrared camera sensors for real-time surveillance without exposing soldiers to enemy fire.

At just 14 inches in diameter, the Honeywell T-Hawk vehicle is small enough for a backpack and can be deployed within five minutes. The T-Hawk features vertical take-off and landing and can fly up to 10,000 feet at 46 miles per hour, in winds up to 20 knots. Honeywell delivered the first production T-Hawks to the U.S. Navy in August 2009.

For more information, read the press release.

More than 300 of Honeywell’s key customers, partners, leaders, and employees attended Honeywell China’s Technology Day, an opportunity for visitors to learn about the company’s great positions in good industries and differentiated technologies.

Honeywell’s products and solutions related to building and industrial controls, energy efficiency and generation, turbocharging, and aerospace were exhibited and interacted with at the event.

Shane Tedjarati, President and CEO of Honeywell China and India, spoke at Technology Day and emphasized the company’s expanding global presence to bring new product development, manufacturing, and service closer to customers.

“The world is placing great importance on China as the platform for global growth and this offers us good opportunities ahead,” said Tedjarati. “Together with all of you here, we have braved through the difficult times and will definitely do the same to capture the great opportunities that are to come.”

Honeywell’s guests were also invited to the Shanghai World Expo where they were introduced to the Honeywell safety, security, and energy efficiency technologies chosen to protect the properties at the World Expo 2010. A VIP tour was conducted at the USA Pavilion, where Honeywell is a sponsor and is enabling the 6,000 square meter venue to optimize energy efficient technologies for visitors’ comfort and safety.

For more information, watch Shane Tedjarati on CNBC discuss Honeywell’s presence at the World Expo and how China is the fastest growing region for the company.