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.

01/10/2008 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 Machinery directive How will you be affected by the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (SI2008/159), which come into force on 29 December 2009? If you're not involved with the design, manufacture or sale of machinery, you might think, ?not much', ... » Read More

01/10/2008 Got it covered? The scale of demand for innovative surface coatings, from sectors of manufacturing where component performance and longevity are key, demonstrates the potency of new technologies - and the sheer potential value for plant engineers ... » 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 The energy event The Energy Event What: The Energy Event Where: The National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham When: 10-11 September 2008 How: Go to: www.theenergyevent.co.uk » 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 PiperAlpha: 20 Years on On 6 July 1988, at about 10.00pm, Occidental's Piper Alpha platform, operating 120 miles off the north east coast of Scotland, exploded in a ball of flames 120m high. 167 people died and many others were horrifically injured as they jumped ... » 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 Get a green light Legislation, such as the Building Regulations Part L, places pressure on engineers to make facilities more energy efficient, and replacing fluorescent lamps is one way to do so. Part L2B of the regulations, which applies to facilities with ... » 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

01/08/2008 Cost versus risk Here's a thing. Suppose you've got condition monitoring in place on plant: if you find some equipment trending towards failure, what should you do? Or suppose you haven't gone the condition monitoring route, so you're running planned ... » 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

01/06/2008 Peak performance Maintenance is about looking after plant, right? So how much we spend on it, depends on the value of that plant. That's how we make our decisions over what maintenance policy to apply - break/fix, preventive, predictive. Isn't it? And, if ... » Read More

01/06/2008 Magic bullets Maintenance of the all-new Hitachi trains for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link - the first consignment of which is now in the UK - is going to be a challenge. It's not that this fleet, which is based on the iconic Japanese Shinkansen bullet ... » Read More

01/06/2008 Heightened awareness Last year alone, 45 workers died following falls from height, while 3,409 were seriously injured. And while recent years have shown a downward trend, falls from height remain the most common cause of fatal injury in the workplace. ... » Read More