Still snow and no end in sight
I do not know what is wrong with the weather these days. All the years we were longing for snow up here near the Dutch-German border and this year we got so much that we will probably wish for less snow for the coming years. For the past 8 weeks we have had snow and apparently there is still some more to come in the next days. To be honest, I hope not. Please do not get me wrong, I love the winter, it has something magical about it and I especially like white Christmas (well, who doesn’t?) but now seven weeks into the new year, I think we have had our fair share of snow for time being and spring should slowly come into sight (and also because 1 March is the official first day of spring). But alas, we cannot decide about the weather, only complain, enjoy or, most of the time, just simply resign oneself, as I do now.
So let’s get away from the weather and turn to something really interesting and important. In the middle of March, the Steering Committee meeting for Valve World 2010 takes place. During this meeting the members will decide which papers will be selected for presentation at this year’s Valve World Conference & Exhibition. And all signs are on go for an unforgettable event. To date, the facts show that this year will be the biggest Valve World exhibition ever. More companies than ever before have taken a stand to present their products and services. And it is expected that more will join before the actual start of the event in late November.
Another record that has been broken is the number of abstracts that were received for the conference. On the day of the deadline, around one hundred abstracts were submitted. This is more than ever before and although the quantity does not necessarily promise quality, in this case you can rest assured. There are some highly interesting, informative, and yet critical topics among the received abstracts. So, make sure you watch out for the Advanced Conference Programme. Or, if you cannot wait already to register as a conference delegate, then please turn to page 71 and send us back your filled in registration form to benefit from the early bird prices. I look forward to seeing you all at this year’s Valve World Conference & Exhibition in Düsseldorf.
I hope you enjoy reading this month’s issue of Valve World with its special topic on Oil & Gas/ Refinery. You will find articles on new developments of technologies in the refinery sector and news on latest projects, which are going on right now. And as for the winter, let’s all just keep our fingers crossed and hope that spring finally comes around the corner so that we can then hopefully enjoy the nice weather, the singing birds and the blooming of flowers and trees.
Best wishes,
Christian Borrmann
Senior Editor – Valve World
c.borrmann@kci-world.com
Ever heard of the ‘Elfstedentocht’?
The Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour), one of the world’s largest and longest speed skating competition and leisure skating tour, is held irregularly in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. The tour, which is almost 200 km long, is conducted on frozen canals, rivers and lakes between the eleven historic Friesian cities: Leeuwarden, Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker, Dokkum then back to Leeuwarden. Unfortunately, the event cannot take place every year, because not every Dutch winter permits skating on natural ice. The last events were in 1985, 1986 and 1997. So, as you can imagine, since the Elfstedentocht is such a rare occurrence, its declaration creates excitement all over the country. And this winter the excitement is really high but at the moment it looks as if the next edition of the tour has to be postponed.