Control Automation 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.

01/08/2009 Clear vision Selecting the right lighting for a plant or building requires some understanding of current options. Brian Wall explains » Read More

01/06/2009 Safety first When it comes to automated plant, ensuring safety is not just about adherence to the IEC 61508 control system standard or its industry-specific derivatives (IEC 61511 for the process industries, IEC 62061 for machinery etc). It's also ... » Read More

01/06/2009 Safety first When it comes to automated plant, ensuring safety is not just about adherence to the IEC 61508 control system standard or its industry-specific derivatives (IEC 61511 for the process industries, IEC 62061 for machinery etc). It's also ... » 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 Propeller head Ask any engineer about electric motors and most of us visualise low- or medium-voltage three-phase equipment, either precision synchronous motors, driving machines or, more likely, standard asynchronous induction motors running pumps, fans ... » Read More

01/06/2009 Instrument aware Maintenance engineers used to have a lot in common with fire fighters. Now, the job is increasingly about heading off trouble before it starts - and on highly automated plants, this predictive approach is possible, thanks largely to ... » Read More

01/06/2009 Highs and lows Working at height comes with clear - indeed often all too visible - dangers, of which more later. By contrast, in confined spaces, the hazards may be less evident, but nonetheless potentially fatal - with asphyxiation, entrapment, physical ... » Read More

01/06/2009 Hidden hazards Did you know that if dry wire wool - think of discarded Brillo pads - comes into contact with a dead nine-volt battery, it can spontaneously combust? Or that dust - for that matter, even sugar or custard powder - can ignite and unleash a ... » Read More

01/06/2009 Flawed floor? A recent survey of 1,500 IOSH (Institute of Occupational Safety & Health) members revealed that slips and trips are the most recognised safety hazard in the workplace. Yet just 22% of respondents use key preventive measures, such as ... » Read More

01/06/2009 Blowing hot and cold Last summer's government energy strategy - which called for power generation from renewables to rise to 20% by 2020 and for CO2 to be reduced by 60% before 2050 - is going to have a profound effect on plant, and that includes HVAC ... » 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 Uplifting experience SAFed (the Safety Assessment Federation) care' - which is why SAFed does recommend is still reporting 4.5% immediate defects to HSE after thorough examinations by its members. That's around 14,000 problems with lifts alone that are serious ... » 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 Protection collection Much more comfortable safety gloves and shoes, ultra lightweight eye glasses and overalls, an ingenious plastic drum barrow and clearer warnings on gas detectors were among highlights at the Health and Safety 09 show at Sandown race course. » 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 In the hot seat So we've got pressure, flow and level measurement under our belts (see Plant Engineer, November/December 2008 and January/February 2009). Time to move on to temperature - and although there are very few sensing technologies, there is huge ... » 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

01/04/2009 Belt and braces Can you recall some of the more extreme reactions from the general public when the idea of compulsory seat belts was first mooted? They ranged from: 'No one can make me put one of those things on' to 'No [expletive deleted] way!' In short, ... » 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 Maintaining a balance Why is it that, when plant can fail so completely and expensively, many organisations still turn their backs on preventive maintenance tools? Brian Wall looks at some options » Read More

01/02/2009 Training matters Setting aside the global recession, there are few subjects more in the news than engineering skills. Recent months have seen government ministers, DIUS (the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills), EC UK, the ETB (Engineering ... » 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