Test and Measurement 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 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

01/06/2008 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 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

01/04/2008 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

01/03/2008 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

01/02/2008 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 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

01/12/2007 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

01/10/2007 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 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

01/08/2007 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

01/02/2007 Laser-guided track to safety The increased loading of the rail network, along with the greater speeds of modern trains, has led to higher stressing of the rails. The track itself is therefore the most important safety aspect and so needs to be inspected regularly to ... » Read More

01/02/2007 Health check-ups reap big rewards In the age of lean, condition monitoring of capital equipment is an obvious aid to efficient operation, as opposed to waiting for something to break down. As Chris Haines, Rockwell director of customer support and maintenance UK and ... » Read More

01/12/2006 Smoothing the way While many new developments now allow lubricant quality to be monitored continuously in situ - as well as various kits and portable equipment that enable tests and measurements to be carried out on site - it is still general practice for ... » Read More

01/10/2006 Waste water gets the treatment Regulations relating to reducing pollution from industrial activities have been around in the UK for more than 150 years, while the present Pollution Prevention and Control regulations came into force in 1999, with a transitional process ... » Read More

01/10/2006 Monitor this situation Yorkshire Water (YW) has 4.7 million customers - a lot of people to let down, if a piece of equipment fails. OFWAT ranks YW as 'the most capital-efficient company'. At YW, therefore, monitoring of the equipment that is used so extensively, ... » Read More

01/08/2006 Sustaining the future - making it happen Ever a practically-minded body of men and women, the SOE's annual conference in Birmingham was particularly well worth attending, because it was not so much about the threats to the world environment and the nation's energy supply as it ... » Read More

01/08/2006 Environment for change In 1952, the Great Smog of London caused nearly 2,000 deaths above the norm for that period. This resulted in the Clean Air Act of 1956, which marked the beginning of effective environmental legislation in Britain. » Read More

01/04/2006 Red spells danger For many businesses, getting started in thermal imaging has never been easier. The latest thermal imagers designed for industrial maintenance are both powerful and easy to use. Maintenance engineers can quickly learn how to use the ... » Read More

01/04/2006 Prevention & protection There are only two ways in which workers can be protected from environmental, chemical and biological hazards. One is by giving them protective clothing - gloves, boots and, where appropriate, ear and eye protection. The other is by ... » 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 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

01/10/2005 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 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