Air Pollution Control

Analysis lab

Asbestos 

Asbestos Removal

Compressors

Cranes

Crane Rental

Contract Lifts

Effluent Control

Factories, farms, even houses all produce waste. The liquid, or liquid carried portion of the waste is called effluent.

Sewage effluent from most modern towns and cities is piped to a sewage works, where it is treated to remove bacteria odours and solids. Solids are removed by filtration. Filtered solids range from condoms to diapers, from shirts to tampons. The sewage is then stirred and lots of air bubbled through it. This gives the bacteria perfect breeding conditions. They feed on the nutrients in the sewage and reproduce wildly because of all the oxygen present. Eventually the nutrients are used up and the bacteria all die. If raw sewage was allowed into the local river the bacteria would use up all the oxygen and fish would die.

Factories also produce liquids that need getting rid of, but they cannot just allow them to soak into the ground. The effluent needs to be treated with alkalis to neutralize any acids. It may need to be contained in tanks and removed from the site altogether for safe treatment and disposal. When tanks overflow or leak, effluent escapes and causes damage to local wildlife in streams and stream banks.

Farm effluent includes silage run-off and farmyard slurry. Farmers need to contain this effluent and to use it or have it processed in an approved fashion.

Leaks of effluent from farms, housing and factories can be traced back to the source and the polluter faces heavy fines.

Environmental Protection laws have made an enormous difference to the quality of water in our rivers and the variety of wildlife that they support.
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Flammable Liquids

Specific laws and regulations apply to the storage and transport of flammable liquids.

You should look up the regulations that apply in your own locality as these do vary.

Flammable liquids can be found in most homes and factories as well as in every high school. Flammable liquids include meths used for starting barbecues and gasoline for the lawnmower or hedge trimmer. These are the most common examples found in the home.

Factories may have flammable liquids in specialist solvents or cleaning fluids. Schools have flammable liquids such as acetone and alcohol in science laboratory storage areas.

Regulations relating to the storage of flammable liquids generally limit the amount that can be stored in one location, or inside a building. A specifically designed flammable liquid storage may be mandatory. This will have trays to prevent liquids leaking into building cavities where they may be set alight by electrical sparks.

Transport of flammable liquids must be by trained personnel. The most obvious example is the movement of gasoline around the country in special tankers. These drivers are highly trained individuals, who take no chances on the road. Return to Top

Forklifts

The movement and storage of goods on pallets means you will need a forklift truck.

Forklifts require special operator qualifications in many countries. This is a health and safety requirement introduced to reduce the disproportionate number of forklift accidents that occur.

Forklifts have rear wheel steering because that gives increased maneuverability. Forklifts are available with a wide range of options. You can choose from propane, petrol and diesel internal combustion engines and electric motors too. The electric option is worth considering if your forklift will be used in an enclosed space with little ventilation.

You can get front or side-loading forklifts, wide or narrow forklifts, forklifts designed for stacking high shelves and forklifts that fit on the back of a truck.

The truck carrying its own forklift allows palletized goods to be offloaded at retail locations where no forklift is available. This gives delivery companies another option besides roll-on roll-of caged goods.

Forklifts are available with increased stability options, with counterweights and with telescopic arms to deliver the pallet deep inside the building. Walker operated forklifts are also available at a lower cost, suitable for stores and other locations where moving pallets is less frequent. Return to Top

Fume Hoods and Fume Cupboards

Fume hoods, fume cupboards and glove boxes are all essentials in a modern laboratory. Health & Safety regulations mean that every employer must provide these to minimize risks to laboratory workers.

Most people will think of a fume cupboard as that sliding window in the corner of a school chemistry lab, where all sorts of dangerous chemicals and smelly gas generators were kept.

I can remember using a Kipps generator to make hydrogen sulfide. Sulfide precipitation at various pH levels was part of the syllabus at that time. I shudder to think of the H2S levels in the lab, while the class was taking it in turns to use the thing. The extractor fan, when it worked just sucked the noxious substances out into the air.

Fume hoods in a modern laboratory are totally different. They are kept as clear working spaces, where laboratory workers can use noxious reagents without endangering themselves or their co-workers. Extracted fumes are filtered and adsorbed onto activated charcoal or a similar substrate.

Glove boxes are especially useful in a biological context where even the slightest exposure to the pathogens inside the box would be fatal. The operator puts his hands into rubber gauntlets that project into the sealed glove box and can safely manipulate glassware and reagents without the slightest risk of exposure. Return to Top

Health & Safety

Hoists

Hoists are used for lifting or lowering a load. The hoist has a drum, which chain or rope wraps around. Hoists may be powered by internal combustion engines or by electricity. Hoists may also be powered by compressed air or be hand powered.

Cranes have a hoist that travels along the jib. It is the hoist that actually does the lifting and lowering, the jib is just there to position the hoist above the load.

Hoists may be fixed in position, like the engine hoist in a garage, or they may be more mobile, like a builders hoist, used to raise men, machinery and materials to the higher floors of a construction project.

The term hoists is often used to include scissor lift tables. These are used to access ceilings in commercial premises and for roof maintenance in tunnels. The table may have power to the wheels, allowing the operator to move the table from high in the air. Return to Top

Hydraulic Systems

Hydraulic systems use a liquid to transfer pressure from one part of a system to another. Pressure is transferred, not force. Pressure is force per square inch. A hydraulic system can magnify the force applied by use of slave and master cylinders, like in a car brake system.

Hydraulic fluid is used in much heavy machinery, sometimes because it can be used to give increased end force compared to the exerted force, sometimes for safety reasons. Hydraulic lifts in garages are safer because if there is a pressure leak the mechanic has time to get out from under the car as the lift comes down.

Hydraulic systems are used in tractors and excavating machinery, too.

Hydraulic fluid is hygroscopic. This means that it absorbs atmospheric moisture. This can lead to serious problems. The water in the hydraulic fluid boils and vaporizes under pressure, like when the brake pedal is pressed. The system now contains a gas, that can be compressed, rather than only the virtually incompressible liquid which transfers pressure to the brakes. The foot pressure is now used to compress the gaseous steam, rather than to move brake fluid - result, your brakes fail. Return to Top

Hydrogen Sulfide

My first encounter with hydrogen sulfide was at school. I can remember using a Kipps generator to make hydrogen sulfide. Sulfide precipitation at various pH levels was part of the syllabus at that time. I shudder to think of the H2S levels in the lab, while the class was taking it in turns to use the thing. The extractor fan, when it worked just sucked the noxious substances out into the air.

Most people will recognize hydrogen sulfide as one of the gases given off by stink bombs. Did you know that the hydrogen sulfide is more poisonous than hydrogen cyanide? Luckily you can smell it long before it reaches toxic concentrations.

When catalytic converters were first used car exhausts were very smelly because the engines gave off hydrogen sulfide. Ultra-low sulfur gasoline was developed to remove almost all of the hydrogen sulfide from car exhausts.

Crude oil contains sulfur compounds and hydrogen sulfide is a common contaminant found in naphtha and diesel fractions. Natural gas contains hydrogen sulfide. This is removed at the gas refinery, converted into sulfur dioxide and eventually into sulfuric acid. The removal is necessary for environmental reasons as well as the reaction that gas users would have to the nasty smells issuing from their cookers. Return to Top

Industrial Cleaning

Factories and offices need to employ specialist cleaning companies to deal with their specialized cleaning requirements

You will find many companies specializing in cleaning offices. These companies may employ personnel who have security clearances and have been trained in using heavy duty carpet vacuuming and cleaning systems. Commercial cleaning systems can achieve far higher dust removal and hygiene standards than those generally available to Joe Public.

If a company is carrying food in tankers, flour, for example, the tankers will need to be cleaned by specialist and certified companies. Road tankers and storage tanks for chemicals and oil products need to be cleaned to ensure the integrity of the manufacturing process. Only a company specializing in tank cleaning will have the special equipment necessary.

Heat exchangers need cleaning, as do heating elements in boilers. If these are not cleaned properly there will be significantly increased running costs to bear. Again these are specialist jobs, requiring specialist chemicals and personnel trained in their use. Return to Top

Invar

Invar is a nickel/iron alloy with 36% nickel. It has a coefficient of thermal expansion of almost zero between from -100 to +200°C. This means that it does not expand appreciably when heated. The alloy was first developed in 1896. Invar can be welded easily and is ductile. It does not suffer stress-induced cracking.

Initially invar was used in bimetallic strips as thermal cut-outs. The bimetallic strip had an invar strip fixed to another metal, such as copper. As the strip warms up the copper expands, the invar doesn’t, consequently the strip bends, makes contact with a switch and closes or opens a safety circuit. An oven thermostat uses such a device, as does a toaster and any other device that cuts off when it gets too hot

Invar is used in shadow masks for TV screens and cathode ray tube monitors. It is used in tank membranes in LNG tanks in ships transporting liquefied natural gas at very low temperatures around the world. These uses depend on the lack of expansion of invar at high or low temperatures. The machined invar components do not change their dimensions when hot or cold

Some research suggests that Invar should not be roughly handled or dropped as this will disturb the grain structure and cause it to become easily magnetized.

Elinvar is another nickel/iron alloy. It maintains a relatively constant elasticity (springiness) over temperature, and is used in watch hairsprings.

Super Invar which has some Cobalt added, has about 3 to 6 times lower thermal expansion.  Return to Top

Kovar

Kovar alloy is a vacuum melted, iron-nickel-cobalt, low expansion alloy. It’s chemical composition is controlled within narrow limits to assure precise uniform thermal expansion properties.

Kovar alloy has been used for making hermetic seals with the harder Pyrex glasses and ceramic materials as well as in power tubes, microwave tubes, transistors and diodes Return to Top

Lab Equipment

A laboratory cannot run without equipment to use. Some equipment is common to all laboratories, like glassware, stop-clocks and balances. Other types of equipment are specific to the purpose to which the lab is put.

School labs will have basic glassware stocks of beakers, flasks and test-tubes as well as Bunsen burners and electronic balances. Research labs will have integrated fume cupboards on every bench and a much tighter focus on instrumentation rather than glassware and Bunsens. Return to Top

Instrumental analysis techniques like gas/liquid chromatography and IR spectrometry all need very specific reagents and supplies. Reagents are chemicals, usually liquids or solutions that are used in the laboratory.

Analysis labs will have a wide range of equipment including that for mass spectrometry and gas liquid chromatography. Mass spectrometers used to be the size of a small room, now they are about 3in square and about 6in high, another example of miniaturization and the resultant lower costs.

Laboratory supplies can be ordered from traditional suppliers catalogues or online. Online suppliers will usually be faster and have a lower cost basis. Return to Top

Logistics

Logistics, the management of goods inwards and goods outwards is an essential part of a manufacturing business that many companies choose to outsource to a third party logistics provider (3PL).

Some 3PL companies provide warehousing facilities as well as transport. Their role is to ensure that you have the goods you need for your manufacturing process, just in time. This reduces your stockholding costs and frees up more money for investment.

Identifying logistics costs may sound simple. Incorporating all business costs impacted by logistics functions and taking into account all support costs and transfer credits can often be a much more difficult.

The managers responsible for organizing and outsourcing logistics must understand every aspect of logistics and supply chain operations. This allows them to communicate intelligently with providers and understand the basic activities relevant to their operations.

Third party logistics services can be as simple as brokering out and managing freight flows for the customer to the more complex and difficult to set-up operation of major warehouse or distribution centers.

Different 3PL companies provide different aspects of Supply Chain Management and specialize in different industries. Find one that caters for all your needs by searching online. Return to Top

Molybdenum

The main use of molybdenum is in the production of high specification stainless steels and tool steels. It has a unique combination of properties and molybdenum alloy steels are strong, easily welded and tough. They retain their strength at high temperatures and show great corrosion and pitting resistance, especially in highly corrosive salty environments.

Unlike lead, cadmium and ,other similar heavy metals, molybdenum has been shown to have a very low toxicity. In fact, low concentrations are beneficial to plant and animal life.

Metallic molybdenum was only identified in the late 18th century, but it was used in mixtures by the ancient Greeks and a 14th century Japanese sword has been found to contain the element.

Molybdenum was only made in industrial quantities in 1891, as an alloying element in armor plating. The armor was less dense that the tungsten alloy that was previously used. Molybdenum�s low density led to its replacing tungsten in many steel alloys

Tungsten demand increased vastly in the 1914-18 World War. This increased the tendency to replace tungsten steels with molybdenum steels where hardness and impact resistance were needed. The demand caused a large increase in exploration efforts that led to the discovery of massive deposits in Colorado, USA

A drive to develop non-military applications and uses for molybdenum alloys followed the end of World War 1 and the fall in demand for armor plating and bomb casings. Molybdenum was included in small percentages in steels used for making car bodies.

Following research into the heat treatment of molybdenum steels in the 1930s, breakthroughs in the forging of molybdenum steels occurred and high speed alloys containing molybdenum were developed.


Alloy steels comprise the single biggest market segment, but molybdenum\'s diversity has also proven invaluable in superalloys, nickel base alloys, lubricants, chemicals, electronics and many other applications. Return to Top

Nitric Oxide

Nitric oxide is a gas. It is highly reactive and takes part in many chemical reactions. It is one of the nitrogen oxides, NOx, in automobile exhaust gases and plays a major role in the formation of photochemical smog. Nitric oxide is made in industry by the catalytic oxidation of ammonia, using a platinum catalyst. The nitric oxide is then reacted with more oxygen and water to make nitric acid.

NO also has many functions in our bodies, including relaxing the smooth muscles in the artery walls, allowing blood to flow more freely, reducing the risk of a coronary heart attack. Nitrolycerine is well known as a substance that reduces the pain from angina; it does this by generating nitric oxide and so. relaxing the walls of the coronary arteries.

Nitric oxide supplements are now available for so called athletes who want to improve their performance. Blood vessels are dilated, so more oxygen carrying blood reaches the muscles.

Viagra and similar drugs that are prescribed for erectile dysfunction work by improving blood flow to the penis and thereby improving the quality of any erection. Return to Top

Nitrous Oxide

Laughing gas, N2O, dinitrogen monoxide or to use its older name, nitrous oxide has a range of uses in our society.

Nitrous oxide is well known as a dental anaesthetic gas. Having gas at the dentist though, is much less common nowadays, because of accidents that have happened and the requirement in some states that a fully qualified anaesthetist is present when nitrous oxide is used. It is not as pleasant to be given nitrous oxide as it sounds, it often causes nausea and dizziness.

Whipped ice-cream uses nitrous oxide as the gas in the tiny bubbles. Nitrous oxide ice-cream chargers have caused death to individuals who have inhaled the gas directly. Nitrous oxide is not poisonous, but inhaled in large amounts, like this and without any added oxygen, it causes the lungs to collapse. Inhaling nitrous oxide in this way is illegal in many jurisdictions. Accidents have also occurred when people have confused nitrous oxide with the highly poisonous nitric oxide gas.

Nitrous oxide is used in rocket fuels and is also used by custom car enthusiasts to boost the performance of their engines.

Nitrous oxide is extremely harmful to the atmosphere. It has 250 times the greenhouse gas effect as carbon dioxide. Return to Top

Pressure Vessels

Pressure vessels are in use in many industries, from food and beverage production to chemical manufacture.

Specifications vary because of the range of applications. Different temperatures, pressures and resistance to corrosion can all be specified. Thin walled vessels will be less costly and may be specified when ordering.

Pressure vessels in the food industry allow higher temperatures for cooking food and consequently shorter cooking times and a higher throughput.

Pressure vessels in the chemical industry must generally be capable of standing higher pressures than the 2 atmospheres pressure required in the food industry. Chemical processes may require pressures greater than 150 x atmospheric pressure.

The greater the pressure contained in the vessel, the more complex and expensive a system will be required to add or remove things to and from the pressure vessel. Higher quality design is more costly, but essential at higher pressures, so designers must be careful not to over specify because of the associated costs. Return to Top

Project Management

The Project Manager is the individual responsible for managing the project from conception through to delivery. The Project Manager leads and manages the project team, with the authority and responsibility to run the project on a day-to-day basis. A Project Manager will specialise in certain areas, eg Company Relocation or Production Line Reorganisation. Areas like UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) require specialist knowledge to avoid the costs associated with under or over specification.

Project planning is the discipline of defining and achieving targets while optimising the use of resources (time, money, people, space etc.) This includes planning, scheduling and maintaining progress of the activities that comprise the project. Projects may be as simple as drawing up UPS Specification for a new Computer Room or IT Facility, or as complex as a Company Relocation or Production Line Reorganisation.

Risk of failure of a project arises primarily from the presence of uncertainty at all stages of a project. Good project planning and management, maintains the risk of failure at as low a value as possible over the lifetime of the project. Project Managers have the experience to oversee your Production Line Reorganisation or Company Relocation while causing the minimum of expensive disruption to your production.

Irrespective of the project size, cost or duration, the successful delivery of any project requires 100% attention to the planning and supervision of the project, including out of normal hours work. Individuals employed within an organisation, have existing roles that do not allow the time or dedication required to achieve this.

External Project Managers are employed on a pre-agreed day rate. The cost of delays in production and failure to complete delivery of the project by not using a Project manager, far outweigh the costs of employing one. Return to Top

Pyrometers

Temperature measurement is an integral part of many industrial processes. Pyrometers are specialist temperature measuring devices.

Pyrometers may have a response time as low as 5 milliseconds and can measure the temperature without contact with the material. These features mean that a pyrometer is essential where a manufacturer wants to measure the temperature of a rapidly moving steel rod or even of a molten steel stream.

A pyrometer works by analysing the thermal radiation emitted by a hot object.

All black bodies emit radiation of the same frequency at the same temperature. An optical pyrometer the frequency emitted by an electrically heated filament is matched with the frequency of the radiation emitted by the hot object/material under test. When the two match they are the same temperature. The temperature of the filament is obtained by referring to tables of data and operating conditions.

In a radiation pyrometer the radiation emitted from the object or material under test is detected using sensor such as a thermocouple. Return to Top

Reactors

Chemical reactions occur inside reactors. The reactor is deigned to ensure thorough mixing of the reactants as well as safe flows of liquids, gases and solids into and out of the reactor. The reactants flow over catalysts, or may be mixed with catalysts to allow the reaction to occur at lower temperatures and save energy.

Chemical engineers design reactors for maximum efficiency. Efficiency calculations include the cost of heating or cooling the reactor, pumping costs to raise pressure and the reduction of flow rate that occurs at bends or joints in the pipes and reactor.

Chemical reactors may be pipe or tube shaped, or they may be sealed tanks. Both can be set up for continuous use or for batch processes. After start up or maintenance shut down the reactor may take some time to reach its normal operating conditions of pressure and temperature. Careful monitoring is needed until the equilibrium between reactants has become established again. Return to Top

Risk Assessments

We have all been making risk assessments since we were 2 years old, yet people are often mystified by the term, when it is used in the workplace.

A 2 year old will look around and work out the chance of getting caught taking the baby toys. If a parent is watching the risk of getting caught is too high and he waits until later when the risk is lower. He is following a classic risk assessment and risk reduction policy.

Risk assessments are made in the workplace to try to reduce the risk of injury. They are an essential tool in the fight for lower numbers of workplace injuries and deaths.

Machinery is fitted with guards and safety cut-outs as a result of risk assessments having been made. One way traffic systems may be in place on staircases and i certain areas of warehouses to help reduce injuries caused by collisions.

It is the individual\'s responsibility to make decide the level of risk inherent in any activity. If the risk of injury is great or there is a risk of serious injury then a safer way of carrying out the activity must be found. Trades unions often provide training to their members in risk assessment, seeing it as a vital tool to improve working conditions.

Tiredness and stress cause illness and accidents. Employers could argue that these cannot be removed completely from a working environment. A subjective decision must be made, using case law as a basis, as to what is a reasonable number of hours to work each day.

Risk assessment is never going to be clear-cut. Subjective criteria apply so there are always going to be grey areas.

Managers can purchase software to help with risk assessments, but the software is not going to make a decision for the manager, it is just another tool. Return to Top

Solvent Recovery

<>Spectroscopy

Sterilizers

System Backup

Tantalum

UPS Systems

Valves

Warehousing

• Air Pollution Control
• Analysis lab
• Asbestos
• Asbestos Removal
  
• Compressors
• Cranes
  
• Effluent Control
• Flammable Liquids
• Forklifts
  
• Fume Hoods and Fume Cupboards
• Health & Safety
  
• Hoists
• Hydraulic Systems
• Hydrogen Sulfide
  
• Industrial Cleaning
• Invar
• Kovar
• Lab Equipment
• Logistics
• Molybdenum
• Nitric Oxide
• Nitrous Oxide
• Pressure Vessels
• Project Management
• Pyrometers
• Reactors
  
• Risk Assessment
• Solvent Recovery
• Spectroscopy
• System Backup
  
• Sterilizers
• Tantalum
• UPS Systems
  
• Valves
• Warehousing