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.

01/02/2008 Carbon capture The UK is to finance the construction of a 300-400MW coal-fired power station with full carbon capture, and intends to work with China on developing and implementing the technology globally. Why? 'Because coal is still the cheapest and ... » Read More

01/02/2008 Atomic kitten Ever wondered about nuclear submarines and the issues for plant engineers in operational and supporting roles, either onboard or dockside? Andrew Law, specialist in the operational plant support department at Rolls-Royce Nuclear Propulsion ... » Read More

01/02/2008 40 metres under Experience, sound engineering and better sensing technologies have together transformed the effectiveness of the Channel Tunnel's waste water plant. Not only has its dedicated water treatment works near Dover been rendered redundant and ... » Read More

01/12/2007 Watch your waste According to a report by Research and Markets, 'Global Waste Management Market Assessment', municipal solid waste (MSW) generated worldwide reached 2.02 billion tonnes in 2006 and is expected to increase by 37.3% between 2007 and 2011. ... » Read More

01/12/2007 Taking the air Energy sustainability is one of the hottest topics on the political agenda - closely linked to environmental concerns. Combine these with soaring energy costs and it's no surprise that reducing consumption on plant is right up there for ... » Read More

01/12/2007 Lubricate the parts Just a decade ago, outside the automotive industry, synthetic lubricants were in low volume production. PTFE-based lubes, for example, were expensive problem solvers, aimed only at applications where mineral oils just couldn't handle the ... » Read More

01/12/2007 Lifting the lid on lifting Most plant engineers probably have a horror story about lifting equipment that failed or malfunctioned. For many, the experience will have resulted in neither serious injuries nor fatalities. But the truth is, we all know they so easily ... » Read More

01/12/2007 Fire hazard Fire in an engineering environment is likely to have far more serious consequences than in almost any other industrial premises. » Read More

01/12/2007 Cooling the tube Anyone who travels on London Underground knows that the tube is too hot, particularly on the deeper central area lines. When Transport for London's (TfL) Cooling the Tube programme director Kevin Payne tells you: "We're going to move from ... » Read More

01/12/2007 Beating boiler failure Design and manufacturing requirements for shell boilers are covered by BS2790:1992 and water tube boilers by BS1113:1992, while the recommendations for treatment of water for steam and hot water boilers are detailed in BS2486:1997. So, if ... » Read More

01/12/2007 An Illustrious Career It takes a certain kind of person to be a marine engineering technician (ETME) in the Royal Navy - and a decidedly special engineer. Why? Quite simply, because they have to be 'can do' individuals able, practically at a moment's notice, to ... » Read More

01/10/2007 The heat is on Two of the key concerns for anyone involved in process heating are to save energy and reduce running costs. But how many organisations really know how well – or badly – they are doing? Brian Wall finds out » Read More

01/10/2007 Testing the waters No one likes being overburdened with regulations, and plant engineers are no exception - fact. However, in a world forced into a rather late, reactionary effort to clean up its act, pollution in the waste water and effluent sector was ... » Read More

01/10/2007 Skin deep While it's still the case that bulk material properties decide overall engineering strength and mechanical performance, coatings increasingly determine not only appearance, but corrosion and wear resistance - and serious developments are ... » Read More

01/10/2007 Pumping challenge Engineering invariably involves a balancing act - mostly between, on the one hand, keeping within budget, while, on the other, developing robust, dependable solutions that meet parameters, such as design life and risk mitigation. » Read More

01/10/2007 Passionate about energy Every engineer knows that energy saving is good. It's almost invariably linked with worthwhile emissions savings and there are attractive financial returns. Also, installing new equipment, instrumentation and/or controls usually solves ... » Read More

01/10/2007 Light fantastic With government and regulators calling for industry to consider environmental issues, to drive down energy consumption and to rein-in waste, selecting commercial lighting has become more than just a simple 'cost versus illumination' ... » Read More

01/10/2007 Going underground What keeps London Underground's head of operational engineering awake at night? Top of Maurice Poole's list is the competence of project and maintenance engineering people - across all the professional sectors. That's not just in his own ... » Read More

01/10/2007 Fire for the future It is now possible to improve the efficiency of steam raising boiler systems by 10% and there are cases where fuel bills have been cut by 30%, using technology developed by London-based Autoflame. What's more, although developed for ... » Read More

01/08/2007 www.soe.org.uk Looking for technical information, best practice or guidance notes? Just want to be kept abreast of industry and technology news as it might affect you? Or maybe you want to review that feature from a back issue of Plant Engineer, but ... » Read More

01/08/2007 Great engineers for a Great Britain Ian Ling is the new president of the Society of when apprenticeships were common currency in Operations Engineers. He took up office on the occasion of the AGM at the Ironmongers Hall, London, on 28 June, after a year as president elect ... » Read More

01/08/2007 Replace or recondition? Reconditioning large roller bearings can save a great deal of time and money - and result in at least as good a job as installing new. And that applies even on critical machinery that could seriously impact plant availability. Sounds ... » Read More

01/08/2007 Machine safety Following the ISO 13849-1:2006 debacle, and now its harmonisation to the Machinery Directive, machinery safety standards are under the spotlight again. ISO 13849-1 (Safety of machinery, Safety-related parts of control systems, Part 1: ... » Read More

01/08/2007 Green choices More and more organisations are hoisting the environmental flag and flying it proudly over their businesses as the move to greater corporate responsibility - and potentially punitive legislation - takes a tighter hold on industry's ... » Read More

01/08/2007 Control freak Let's talk about drives, motors and controls - no, not just the technologies for linear or rotational motion control, important though those are, but also control engineering in, for example, transportation, the process sector and the ... » Read More