Plant Equipment 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.

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01/10/2009 Saving the earth

In the rush to save energy and reduce emissions, it's easy to forget the sheer range of potential solutions. Dr Tom Shelley reviews some of today's most powerful options » Read More

01/10/2009 Process control

PID has been the mainstay of process control for more than 60 years, but technology and the ever-expanding role of plant engineers merit a new, closer look, advises Brian Tinham » Read More

01/10/2009 Making the case

Plant engineers have serious value to add, way beyond their primary function. Brian Tinham talks to E.On's Ian Jackson about the need to stand up and be counted » Read More

01/10/2009 Babies and bathwater

Plant, equipment, instrumentation and the regulatory frameworks have all been evolving to meet the challenges of pollution and climate change. Brian Tinham examines the issues » Read More

01/08/2009 The Energy Event 09

What: The Energy Event Where: The National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham When: 9-10 September 2009 How: Go to www.theenergyevent.co.uk » Read More

01/08/2009 Motor Madness

Man enough, simple and lowest cost have been the rules of thumb for specifying electric motors on plant. Brian Tinham explains how the guidelines are changing » Read More

01/08/2009 May the force be with you

Would hydraulics and pneumatics feature in a futuristic Star Wars setting? Either way, innovations are ensuring that more of the force is with you, as Dr Tom Shelley explains » Read More

01/06/2009 Pump primer

On average, each of us drives past around 1,000 pumps on our daily commute to work. That's all types, including pumps installed in process plants, industrial facilities, construction sites, HVAC equipment - you name it. But wherever and ... » 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

01/04/2009 The filter factor

The benefits of keeping hydraulic fluid and compressed air clean are well known to time-served plant engineers. They include higher system reliability, longer component life and improved efficiency, as well as more responsive plant ... » Read More

01/04/2009 Testing safety valves

Late in 2006, an RSA (Royal & SunAlliance) engineer surveyor was involved in the testing of safety valves at a coal-fired power station on a boiler return service. After testing was complete, a major failure occurred on the plant. The ... » Read More

01/04/2009 Lift wire rope corrosion

Under instruction, and on making almost my first thorough examinations of lifts, I recall how my instructors stressed the importance of looking for ?rouging' between the strands of the wire ropes. Research soon showed that rouging was the ... » Read More

01/04/2009 ISIS or Oracle

What has the opening of the £200 million second target station (TS2) at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's ISIS pulsed neutron source got to do with plant engineers? More than most mere mortals - apart, that is, from the world's ... » Read More

01/04/2009 Cut the energy hype

Although oil prices have come down, the recession is forcing organisations of all kinds to keep on cutting energy costs. One consequence is increasing numbers of companies seeing energy saving as a business opportunity - and hence the ... » Read More

01/04/2009 Compressed energy

Electric motors use two-thirds of all electricity consumed by industry, so any technology capable of cutting this drain on resources has got to be a good thing. Yet, despite proven and significant savings from variable speed drives (VSDs) ... » Read More

01/02/2009 The pressure is on

In the post Buncefield era, both the HSE and competent persons have been finding plant operators failing in their statutory duty. Brian Tinham reports » Read More

01/02/2009 Open & shut case

You'll have heard it said more times than you probably care to remember that variance is the bane of manufacturing - and the same is true in the process sector, the utilities and so on. Why? Because it leads to all sorts of problems, ... » Read More

01/02/2009 Maintec show

What - Maintec exhibition and conference Where - NEC, Birmingham When - 17-19 March 2009 » Read More

01/02/2009 Lift ropes and lubrication

When it comes to steel wire ropes for lifts and elevators, getting lubrication and maintenance right couldn't be much more critical. At the most basic level, all such ropes must be periodically checked for equal tensions, as well as for ... » Read More

01/02/2009 Electric Engineers

It's often said that one of the biggest differences between plants in, say, the chemical or pharmaceutical industries, as opposed to those in power generation, is that the former are developed in a laboratory pilot (where the learning is ... » Read More

01/02/2009 Busting the dust

Whether it's fumes from the manufacture or application of paints, solvents, chemicals and rubber, or dust from processes such as sanding, grinding or machining, plant engineers need to be concerned with correctly applied dust and fume ... » Read More

01/12/2008 Waste not, want not

With legislation, under EC pressure, now forcing reductions in the quantity of municipal and industrial waste that goes to landfill, the relatively simple processes of collecting rubbish and tipping it into holes are having to be replaced ... » Read More

01/12/2008 Trapped steam

Pulp and paper mills are among our most energy- and emissions-intensive plants. Large quantities of steam are essential for many of its processes and the sad fact is that, because boilers, steam distribution systems, heat exchangers, ... » Read More

01/12/2008 Pump suction

Selecting a pump is always about balancing several factors - for example, the volumes and contents to be pumped, the efficiency required and how frequently the pump will be run. But where space is at a premium, or the cost of changing ... » 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

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