Plugging the cost of compressed air leaks
New products are now available that step up the efficiency of compressed air systems - especially compressors - finding and attacking leaks, and improving the management of pneumatic systems, while slashing energy losses and costs by up to 50%.
Power play
Combined heat and power, and energy storage plants are the biggest games in town. Brian Tinham looks at latest developments
Pump suction
Selecting a pump is always about balancing several factors - for example, the volumes and contents to be pumped, the efficiency required and how frequently the pump will be run. But where space is at a premium, or the cost of changing process the liquid structures or pipework is prohibitive, may be a cocktail of plant engineers may also have to deal chemicals, meaning with an additional factor - namely the vapour pressure poor suction static head. Failure to take may need to be this into account can cause cavitation, determined with catastrophic consequences.
Putting the focus on energy
The development of an energy efficiency programme has many direct and indirect benefits. It can significantly reduce a manufacturer’s energy use per unit of output, and thus the unit costs to ensure persistent profitability, and it can lead to markedly improved operational and financial information, such as activity-based costing, as Mark Venables discovers
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 what are often annoying maintenance and/or operations headaches, as well as resulting in cleaner plant and better working environments.
Renewable Energy - Out of the shadows
Green energy is high on the UK agenda. Announcements are spawned on a seemingly daily basis about the government's commitment to renewable energy - and the Prime Minister has said that he will try to use Britain's forthcoming pole positions as head of the G8 and presidency of the European Union to push the environmental arguments still further.
Saving the earth
In the rush to save energy and reduce emissions, it's easy to forget the sheer range of potential solutions. Dr Tom Shelley reviews some of today's most powerful options
Laundry saves £30,000 thanks to flash steam recovery
Commercial laundry Bates of London is reporting savings of tens of thousands of pounds in energy since installing FREME (flash recovery energy management equipment) plant, from Spirax Sarco.
Lay waste to poor treatment
There are many ways to clean up performance of water and effluent treatment units in industrial plants. Steed Webzell takes a look at some of them
Sustainable engineering
'Sustainability': that word is rising up the engineering agenda even faster than 'environmental' did before it. The latest development was last month's release of the Engineering Council's new guidelines on sustainability. Others, however, have included revised thinking on the use of renewables in all sorts of applications and new efficiency initiatives around several plant types – all suddenly in the name of 'sustainability'. It may be good and worthy stuff, but perversely, an issue for us, as practicing engineers, is to separate the wheat from the chaff.