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.

01/04/2008 Power to the people We've got a problem with energy generation. We need more capacity and higher efficiencies to cater for unrelenting increases in demand, but we also need to reduce CO2 and other emissions. This at a time when many of our fossil fuel power ... » Read More

01/04/2008 Overall benefits The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide (Scotland) Act 2007 will enter the statute books in June this year. Under its provisions, it will be easier for companies of all sizes to be successfully prosecuted for causing the death of ... » Read More

01/04/2008 Fuel for fire Converting corn into fuel ethanol is a fast-growing business, responsible for one of the fastest plant-building programmes in the world. But it's not been without its challenges, particularly in terms of process optimisation. So it's well ... » Read More

01/04/2008 Field of dreams Ever thought about EMFs - electromagnetic fields caused by everything from power lines to mobile phones and arc welding gear? If not, you should, because a little-reported European directive that seeks to restrict exposure of workers to ... » Read More

01/04/2008 Commercial Vehicle '08 What: Commercial Vehicle Show 2008 Where: NEC, Birmingham When: April 15-17 How: www.cvshow.com » Read More

01/04/2008 Cheap as CHPs Combined heat and power (CHP) isn't only about CCGT (combined cycle gas turbine) installations that generate hundreds of megawatts. Especially in these times of expensive energy and environmental awareness, all of us need to be considering ... » Read More

01/03/2008 Welcome to the machine Studying the latest version of the Machinery Directive in its draft form, it is apparent that, contrary to the common charge of Euro gobbledegook, here is a sound, best practice design guide for machinery designers, builders, operators and ... » Read More

01/03/2008 State of the nation Health and safety in the workplace is not only about PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations) and LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations), important though both are. It's also not just about precautions ... » Read More

01/03/2008 SILs explained It's clearly important to determine the safety functions that we want an automatic electrical, electronic or programmable electronic safety-related system to perform - but what about the safety integrity level (SIL)? What does it really ... » Read More

01/03/2008 Raise your safety game During the 10 years that LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) and PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations) have been in operation, they've played a significant role in providing safe working ... » Read More

01/03/2008 Passport to safety No one would disagree with the HSE's insistence that health and safety training, as well as engineering competence, must be demonstrated before employees, contractors or visitors are allowed on-site. That's the proof we all demand of ... » Read More

01/03/2008 Law in your own hands You could be forgiven for thinking that on 6 April the eyes of the legal profession will be firmly on the Corporate Manslaughter (Corporate Homicide in Scotland) Act, as it comes into force. But you would be wrong. Why? Because for the ... » Read More

01/03/2008 Friends in high places Falls from height are the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the predominant causes of major injury in the UK. According to HSE statistics, 2006/07 falls from height accounted for 45 fatal accidents at work and 3,350 major ... » Read More

01/03/2008 Electric shock Electrical standards governing design, build, installation, commissioning, testing and maintenance of electrical and electronic systems are changing - and the changes do impact engineering choices, methods and responsibilities. They also ... » Read More

01/03/2008 Building a safer future Some 2.2 million people work in Britain's construction industry and, in the last 25 years, more than 2,800 have died from work-related accidents. Many more have been injured or made ill. What's more, HSE's figures show an increase in both ... » Read More

01/03/2008 Belt, braces and proactive safety The Kings Cross tube fire on 18 November 1987, which claimed the lives of 31 people, changed attitudes to safety on the underground for ever. That one terrible incident (which led to the public inquiry chaired by Sir Desmond Fennell QC) ... » Read More

01/03/2008 A process of elimination Mercifully, serious incidents in the process industries are few and far between. Sadly, however, when they do happen, they're devastating. Consider Flixborough back in 1974, Piper Alpha in the North Sea in 1988 and, much more recently, ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Working order This year's Maintec exhibition seems set to do rather more than what it says on the tin - with a focus that extends from predictive maintenance to wireless systems for plant data gathering. As well as around 150 exhibitors - including ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Track performance Infrarail 2008, the UK's major rail infrastructure show, provides an opportunity for plant engineers responsible for ensuring the safety and efficiency of rail equipment, machinery and systems to see engineering innovation in action. » Read More

01/02/2008 Prove your competence 'Within the next 18 to 24 months, industry will have to be much more proactive about proving the competence of its engineers and technicians at all levels. That's certainly the case in the rail sector. We're going to want to see external ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Power of the press Power presses, like most big mechanical plant, have been operated subject to regular mandatory inspections for many years. But there's a problem: the approaches taken to those inspections have varied, according both to the inspection ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Money for nothing? There's no such thing as a free lunch - and that holds true for green energy generation, too. Even with wind farms, there is the price of the plant, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance. There are also safety inspections ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Global warning For some engineers, questions about how much money could have been saved if a major failure had been predicted, trigger thoughts about the cost of expensive process interruptions and downtime. For others, it's all about avoiding ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Dusting off better control practices It is one thing to extract and trap dust and fumes, but quite another to do so efficiently and at minimum cost. But that's what we have to do: it is important to minimise energy and consumables usage, as well as complying with health and ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Court napping? 'Engineers need to understand the legal framework in which they operate, and be able to conduct themselves in a competent manner in their professional and investigative roles.' So says Ian Chisholm, head of technical services at the SOE ... » Read More