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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01/12/2008 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

01/12/2008 Near zero emissions

With the obvious exception of the global economic crisis and its insidious infection now of the ?real economy', recent months, and indeed years, have seen no greater issue than climate change. Governments and organisations around the world ... » Read More

01/12/2008 Hospital robots

The robot revolution is underway and will be happening in a hospital near you very soon. So says Dr Patrick Finlay, director of Prosurgics, the company he founded back in 1995 to build medical robots. And he adds: 'Within the next 20 ... » Read More

01/12/2008 Discovery machine

CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - the planet's most powerful subatomic particle accelerator - made it into the record books when, at 10.28am on Wednesday 10 September, in front of the world's hyped-up media, the first beam was ... » 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 Wet engineering

With the likely passing of the European Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/EC into British law in December - extending the existing 'polluter pays' principle to water sources, inhabited land, and protected species and habitats - ... » 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 Turning the tide

While wind farms, for most of us, are the iconic, if not entirely friendly, face of renewable energy, there's a quiet revolution readying itself for launch on an unsuspecting public. The new talking point will be marine turbines. Not only ... » 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

01/10/2008 Go easy on energy

The oil price might fall below $100 per barrel, taking other energy prices down with it, but it may also climb to $200, according to energy industry insider Mike Brooks of St Omer Consulting. The point: plant managers should be planning ... » Read More

01/10/2008 Fluid thinking

According to the Carbon Trust, UK industry spends around £9.5 billion on energy, with at least 40% of that consumed by process heating. 'Using straightforward techniques, between 5% and 10% of this could be saved, reducing spending on ... » Read More

01/10/2008 An inspector calls

If you speak to engineer surveyors across the industry, chances are they'll mention two trends - one slightly surprising, the other plain worrying. On the surprising side of the equation, they'll probably mention that only now are some ... » Read More

01/10/2008 17th edition wiring

The 17th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS 7671 2008) came into effect on 1 July, following publication back in January - and engineers and technicians are being warned that, this time, there are significant changes. » Read More

01/08/2008 Water hammer

The destructive potential of water hammer and entrained air were demonstrated recently at the Conwy tunnel, where a leaking fire main had been discharging at 300m3 per day for well over a year - costing some £3,500 in electricity alone for ... » Read More

01/08/2008 Sellafield special seal

Novel wet pipeline sealing and deployment techniques, successfully trialled for the now redundant first-generation nuclear waste treatment and storage plant at Sellafield, will not only prevent hazardous conditions arising on plant, but ... » Read More

01/08/2008 Motoring clinic

Given current low prices for electric motors, compared with high costs of plant downtime caused by a failure, making a repair-versus-replace decision should be easy, shouldn't it? In theory, yes, but while there's no contest for motors ... » Read More

01/08/2008 Greener world

Most plants have already implemented a wide range of energy-related programmes - from switch-off campaigns to intelligent production scheduling at lower time-tariffs; and from installing energy-efficient equipment to improving maintenance ... » Read More

01/08/2008 Good vibrations

Now that both noise and vibration are being seen as less acceptable - thanks to legislation limiting exposure (the Control of Noise (April 2006) and Control of Vibration (July 2005) at Work Regulations) - technology is emerging not only to ... » Read More

01/08/2008 Flying without wings

Mobile plant takes some stick in the armed forces. It's not just that it's required to do the job it was designed for - loading baggage, bombs or weapons on and off aircraft; transporting and lifting materials, equipment and people, both ... » Read More

01/08/2008 Driven world

Unless you're heavily involved in project work, chances are your experience of drives, motors and controls is wide - after all, it's bread and butter stuff - but not as wide as it could be. So a quick update would be useful. Especially if ... » Read More

01/06/2008 You pays your money

Key 'pumps' into Google and you'll be rewarded with a multitude of impressive Internet resources - from Cole Parmer's technical library, to Engineers Edge, the Engineering Toolbox, the Hydraulic Institute, the British Fluid Power ... » Read More

01/06/2008 Waste water wars

Waste water treatment may not exactly sound glamorous but, from a plant perspective, it presents some interesting engineering and management challenges. For a start, the far-flung nature of pumping stations, sewage treatment works and the ... » Read More

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