Maintenance, Repair and Operations Feature Library

Operations Engineer's library catalogues editorial features going back five years.

Access to all archive material is free to all, including non-members of IPlantE (the Institution of Operations Engineers) or BES (Bureau of Engineer Surveyors), under the umbrella of SOE (Society of Operations Engineers). However, to discover the many benefits of becoming an SOE member, please click here.

07/11/2024 Small but mighty Components such as bearings, belts and fans are no less critical to engineering operations than the giant bits of equipment they keep running. And innovation here is continuous: Louise Davis finds out what’s new in moving parts » Read More

02/11/2023 Hybrid bearing benefits Not all industrial bearings use steel as their exclusive construction material. Hybrid bearings, comprising both steel and ceramic (or ceramic-coated) components, provide additional benefits » Read More

02/11/2023 All about bearings As an integral part of many operations, the demand for stronger, more durable and longer-lasting bearings is on the rise – and, for many applications, conventional steel ball bearings often cannot compare to their hybrid counterparts » Read More

09/01/2023 Bearing useful news A new approach to condition monitoring relies on computers making their own connections on bearing health from large datasets. By Toby Clark » Read More

16/09/2021 Pump retrofit beyond the bearing housing Sulzer examines pump retrofit options outside of the bearing housing for single-stage overhung pumps to improve reliability and reduce operating costs » Read More

21/01/2021 The uses of ultrasound inspection Ultrasound is especially good at early detection of bearing faults, lubricant condition, leaks, discharge in electrical systems and steam trap monitoring. Unlike vibration analysis, it generally doesn’t require detailed knowledge of the ... » Read More

03/12/2020 SKF builds a new model to better understand hybrid bearing performance For more than 50 years, hybrid bearings, which use ceramic silicon nitride rolling elements and steel rings, have been the preferred choice for high-speed, high-precision equipment. After a recently-completed testing programme, SKF ... » Read More

20/04/2020 Bearing the brunt Seismic isolation bearings decouple structures, such as buildings and bridges, from the ground. This allows such structures to behave more flexibly during seismic activity » Read More

06/09/2019 The wheel deal Bucket wheel reclaimers/excavators are among the largest machines ever built, shifting vast amounts of stored solid material – and all at remarkable speed. Operations Engineer gets up close to these Leviathans to find out more » Read More

06/12/2012 Get your bearings Selecting the right bearings for plant and equipment is a nicety that plant engineers under pressure often sidestep in favour of personal preference. Steed Webzell provides advice » Read More

05/10/2012 NSK’s L-PPS bearings solve heat-induced failures problems NSK's L-PPS bearing cage technology has improved long-term performance and cost for an unnamed manufacturer of screw compressors in the refrigerant sector, according to the company. » Read More

08/06/2012 Split bearing radically reduce maintenance for Wessex Water Split-to-the-shaft design and improved sealing of Revolvo's SRB bearings has resulted in massively reduced maintenance on orbital aeration tanks at a Wessex Water treatment plant. » Read More

05/04/2012 Operator-driven reliability programme does it for Stora Enso Global paper, packaging and wood products firm Stora Enso is reporting significant benefits since introducing SKF's operator-driven reliability (ODR) programme. » Read More

07/06/2010 Spherical plain bearings smooth Spanish solar generation plant More than 1,000 high precision plain bearing rod ends are enabling the efficient operation of the Andasol solar power plants in southern Spain, currently the largest parabolic trough solar power station in the world. » Read More

01/03/2010 Game,set and match The famous Wimbledon sliding roof is often held up as a triumph of engineering ingenuity. Brian Tinham takes us behind the scenes, with its designers » Read More

01/03/2010 Steelworks saves thousands on bearings Savings of a staggering _372,558 per annum are being reported on an annealing process line accumulator sheave at a major UK steelworks, following bespoke redesign of the bearing assembly. » Read More

01/12/2009 Reaching the parts Environmentally friendly and synthetic lubricants are creeping into mainstream plant applications as alternatives to conventional mineral oils – and for good, solid economic reasons, as Brian Wall reports » Read More

01/06/2009 Better crystal balls With a breakdown in plant sometimes so catastrophic (failures of lubrication pumps have resulted in shutdowns of more than a year before new parts could be made), it is astonishing that so few plant engineers make use of increasingly ... » Read More

01/12/2008 Plant life matters Although the cost of components - such as rolling element bearings, rotors and fasteners - in hydraulic pumps is usually very small, compared to the list price of the pumps themselves, the cost of stopped production and any consequential ... » Read More

01/12/2008 Breath of fresh air It is not uncommon for organisations to report that up to a third of their total factory energy bill can be attributed to compressed air plant. No surprise then that, with energy prices at record highs, reviews of compressed air systems ... » Read More

01/10/2008 Unreasonable engineering So how do you fancy a bit of unreasonable engineering? How about building a variable speed electric motor, rated at 2.5MW for pumping operations 3,000 metres down on the sea bed? Oh, and, for good measure, let's have it driven by an 11kV ... » Read More

01/10/2008 Sound of silence Ultrasonic tools are invaluable in detecting bearing failure, mostly because warnings appear well before any temperature rise or low frequency vibration can be seen. In fact, the technology recognises everything from early fatigue failure, ... » Read More

01/08/2007 Replace or recondition? Reconditioning large roller bearings can save a great deal of time and money - and result in at least as good a job as installing new. And that applies even on critical machinery that could seriously impact plant availability. Sounds ... » Read More

01/12/2005 Stem the flow These days, industrial lubrication has two main purposes: first, to ensure by some mechanical, electronic or outsourced human means that machine mechanisms receive timely lubrication; and, secondly, that this lubrication should be as ... » Read More

01/10/2004 Condition Monitoring - Bearing down on stoppages A machine tool spindle condition monitoring unit (CMU) at car manufacturer BMW's plant at Steyr, Austria, has reduced the number of bearing failures from 21 per year to zero. The Multilog CMU, supplied by bearings manufacturer SKF, is an ... » Read More