Heyl & Patterson Blog

The current version of the Heyl & Patterson website went live in 2010, and it included a woman whose identity has been shrouded in mystery.  Some believe she is related to the company's owners, and others believe she was simply hired as a model to welcome vistors to a website.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Her name is Heyland Patterson, and this is her story.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 68% of the country's electrical grid is generated by fossil fuels.  As of 2013, about 37% of our energy comes from coal, 30% from natural gas, 30% from nuclear, 7% from hydroelectric and 5.4% from other renewables such as wind (3.46%), biomass (1.42%), geothermal (0.41%) and solar (0.11%).  An additional 1% is generated by petroleum, and less than 1% by other gases such as waste heat from blast furnaces.

Google has described Google+ as a social layer that enhances many of its existing online properties.  It is promoted not as just another social networking website, but as an authorship tool that associates web content directly with its owner or author.  Google+ launched in June 2011, and in less than three years has become the world's second-largest social site after Facebook.

One key element of Google+ is its focus on targeted sharing within subsets of a user's social group, which Google calls "circles."  These are small groups of friends, family, classmates and coworkers that users can share information with.

Heyl & Patterson created the first conference specifically for users of railcar dumping systems in 1984.  Thirty years later, the event still brings users together for industry best practices, product updates, training, roundtables and social networking.  Attendees have access to Heyl & Patterson engineers and technicians to discuss up-to-date techniques and processes for efficient operations.  The exchange of ideas is second to none, and dialogue revolves around actual problems and realistic solutions.

Power generation comes from a variety of heat-producing sources:  oil, natural gas, nuclear, geothermal, wind, solar and of course, coal.  The heat boils water and creates steam.  The steam, under high pressure, spins a turbine.  The turbine interacts with a series of magnets to produce electricity, which is transmitted as moving electrons through a series of wires to homes and businesses.

Coal is primarily used as a solid fuel to produce electricity and heat through combustion.  World coal consumption was 7.99 billion tons in 2010, and is expected to increase 48% to about 9.98 billion tons by 2030.  Coal can be delivered by truck, rail, barge or ship, and some power plants are even situated near coal mines so coal can be delivered by conveyor systems.

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Pittsburgh, PA – Heyl & Patterson Inc., a world leader in thermal processing systems and bulk materials handling, has received a Golden Triangle Award from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Pittsburgh Chapter during its annual competition.

Ferrous alloy production can trace its origin to as early as 2000 BC, based upon manmade ferrous metals found in ancient China and India.  More than 4,000 years later, modern iron and steelmakers still use the same carbothermic processes.  However, this industry continues to develop technology improvements that are more efficient, productive and inexpensive than longstanding processes to produce high quality ferrous alloys with a wide range of properties and applications.

Coal is under mounting pressure from cheap natural gas, tougher federal pollution standards and state-level energy efficiency requirements.  The Environmental Protection Agency's newest proposal for toxic-waste disposal in water could require millions of dollars in spending to upgrade individual power plants.  The EPA aims to ban the use of slurry ponds for the disposal of waste left over after coal is burned to generate power.  Transmission grid stability will again emerge as a major issue because power plants may be shut down, either for upgrades or replacement.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Pittsburgh, PA - Heyl & Patterson Inc., a world leader in thermal processing systems and bulk material handling, announced that it has joined the Pennsylvania Mining Export Program (PAMEX), an initiative that provides assistance to Pennsylvania-based companies to successfully penetrate the Southern African market.