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.

01/02/2006 Safety and savings Compressed air continues to offer many advantages in process industry applications, especially in hazardous areas, but often continues to be used inefficiently. Help - much of it free - is readily available to help reduce energy costs and ... » Read More

01/02/2006 Pollution Solution Whether you look at the heavy engineering manufacturers, pharmaceutical, petro-chemical, or continuous process industries, copious volumes of dust and fumes are generated. These fumes and dusts have to be processed before they can be ... » Read More

01/02/2006 On the right track Rail is said to be favoured by European governments as an alternative to road transport because of its environmental friendliness compared to people driving their own cars. With oil supplies likely to begin to fall at a time when world ... » Read More

01/02/2006 Maintenance means business Maintec 2006 promises everything for today's maintenance professional, whether in industry, commerce or the public sector. It takes place from 14-16 March at the NEC, Birmingham. » Read More

01/12/2005 Under pressure The use of compressed air systems in manufacturing and process industries is said to account for some 10-15% of energy consumption, and they are found in almost every area of economic activity. The applications and use of compressed air ... » Read More

01/12/2005 Stem the flow These days, industrial lubrication has two main purposes: first, to ensure by some mechanical, electronic or outsourced human means that machine mechanisms receive timely lubrication; and, secondly, that this lubrication should be as ... » Read More

01/12/2005 Smooth a path to silence There shouldn't be any significant problems meeting the requirements of the new noise and vibration regulations, but there are issues which employers need to consider - and they should be wary of figures quoted by some equipment ... » Read More

01/12/2005 Make sense of data to boost profit Significant advances are constantly being made in gathering information about what is really going on in process and industrial plant - especially where located in more remote locations - and in processing this information to reduce ... » Read More

01/12/2005 Fuelling the debate With the price of fuel soaring in the UK - and diesel hovering around the £1 per litre mark - the time may well be right to look at viable alternatives. Biofuels seem to be attracting the headlines, so Plant Engineer felt it would be worth ... » Read More

01/12/2005 A man of the people When John Ratcliff, CBE, was made Patron of the SOE (Society of Operations Engineers) a year ago, not only did he see that as a tremendous honour, he also regarded is as a huge responsibility. For one thing, he was passionately committed ... » Read More

01/10/2005 Water waste batters cashflow Headlines about water shortages in the UK have featured heavily in the media in recent years - with threats of hosepipe bans and other rationing measures a regular occurrence. While businesses are often unaffected in the short term, the ... » Read More

01/10/2005 Turning up the heat At any stage in every manufacturing process, the application of heat to the workpiece or product is required - whether that is in the drying of paper or cellulose films, to the curing of rubber or painted surfaces. Within industry, the use ... » Read More

01/10/2005 The self generation society There is a growing movement towards generating electricity from wind and water locally, with rooftop wind turbines, small hydroelectric plants and solar photovoltaic cells. » Read More

01/10/2005 Skin-deep functionality Beauty may only be skin deep, but protective coatings, which tend to be even thinner, determine corrosion and wear resistance, as well as the product's outward appearance. » Read More

01/10/2005 Don't trust to luck While the risk of a prison sentence as a result of an accident resulting from the non-observance of safety regulations remains small, it is a possibility. The legal complications and potential damage to a business as a consequence of a ... » Read More

01/10/2005 Copycat scaffolding poses major threat Although perhaps more readily associated with building and construction, scaffolding is widely used throughout industry. Whether to meet a short-term access requirement or as part of a larger scale refurbishment project, the need to retain ... » Read More

01/10/2005 All fired up Fortum O&M (UK) operates and maintains the Grangemouth combined heat and power plant (CHP), which supplies power and steam to BP's Grangemouth complex, Scotland's largest industrial site and one of the biggest, most integrated oil and gas ... » Read More

01/08/2005 Water and Environment - Water, water everywhere... With rapidly rising populations, coupled with the effects of global warming, water is becoming an increasingly sought-after commodity in nations both developed and developing. » Read More

01/08/2005 Skills Shortage - Where there's a skill....there's a way While there could well be more academic engineering graduates than the country really needs, there is no doubt that there is an acute shortage of people with properly honed practical skills. » Read More

01/08/2005 Process Optimisation - A framework that can't be overlooked By 2007/8, some 4,500 installations regulated by the Environment Agency under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) regime brought in by the EU IPPC Directive should finally have completed the permitting process. The ... » Read More

01/08/2005 Noise and Vibration - Shake, rattle and hum All employers, operators and users of equipment that causes noise and/or vibration need to take very serious notice of the new regulations relating to vibration that come into force on July 6th 2005 and the corresponding noise regulations ... » Read More

01/08/2005 Lighting - Control systems come out of the shadows In the early days of lighting, the first person into the office, building or workshop generally just switched the light on at a wall location, interrupting the power supply and causing a surge of demand for power throughout the plant. At ... » Read More

01/08/2005 Flooring - Don't slip up on safety Slips and trips cost British industry millions of pounds a year, can result in expensive legal actions and, most significantly, can inflict great physical and mental pain on the injured party. » Read More

06/06/2005 Waste & recycling - Rubbish as a resource Rubbish is just waste, isn't it? Rubbish! It has significant value as a source of energy, according to a report from the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Renewable Power Association. The report says that if all residual waste were to ... » Read More

06/06/2005 Waste & environment - Waste water comes full circle Ford has commenced tests of a pilot plant that can completely recycle waste water from the company's vehicle paint shops in Saarlouis, Germany. The Saarlouis site produces the new Focus and Focus C-MAX models. » Read More