Effect of "Unofficial" Maintenance Spare Parts Storerooms

For a standard factory operation, a maintenance system will usually include an equipment spare parts inventory with its own stores management system under the engineer in charge of the operations. The system is necessary to achieve the desired level of plant availability. The basic business reason is of course, “time”. For example, a breakdown can last a few minutes to several months depending on the availability of a necessary part or material.

Keeping inventories will absorb a significant portion of the budget. However, the downtime costs of not having a required spare part often far outweigh the purchase and holding cost and this can lead to holding more (as insurance parts) in inventory than is really required. As a result, accountants will often find this area an easy target for cost savings. The problem starts if the engineer acquiescent and just reduce inventory without a diligent and thorough review. Though there will be short term cost savings, this will later lead to more inconveniences with stock-outs and other hustles if the usage rate (due to poor maintenance practices?) and lead times (in the procurement process & for the supplier) are not addressed

Job Opportunity with TBMC

Technology Builders and Management Corporation (TBMC) is currently looking for a mechanical engineer for projects they are currently handling at Cagayan de Oro City.

Rainwater Harvesting

In the neighborhood where I grew up as a kid, many of the houses have metal barrels that collected water off the gutter from the roof to be used for bathing, washing and laundry. These days many facilities use the same principles to collect rainwater to augment their water supply from rooftops, land surfaces and rock catchments.

AEMAS National Conference

The ASEAN Energy Management Scheme (AEMAS) recently conducted a National Conference at the Oakwood Premiere Hotel in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, M.M. through the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME) last January 27, 2014.

Cooling Water Treatment Chemistry Control & Monitoring

The second law of thermodynamics says that to produce work in a cyclic process, waste heat have to be rejected to the external surroundings. One equipment normally used to release heat back to the environment is through a closed loop cooling water system using a tower and a heat exchanger.
Waterside fouling and/or scaling can seriously affect the heat transfer efficiency and increase operating costs. Scaling can result when the dissolved solids reached saturation in the water. In cooling tower, water is evaporated to cool its temperature when latent heat is absorbed by the water when it changes state. The solids are left behind during this process. With the addition of make-up water to replenish the amount evaporated, the amount of dissolved solids increases. Blowdown helps control excess dissolved solid buildup. However, blowdown by itself is not the solution to scaling problem as several compounds in solution will have exceeded saturation level and precipitate out of solution on the heat exchange surfaces.

Excessive Foam Formation during CIP of Dairy Plant

Caustic soda is the most widely used chemical for cleaning in place. During operation, caustic soda reacts with fats and proteins. This splits them into smaller molecules and creating foaming compounds (saponification process). Foaming compounds reduce the surface tension of water, increasing the cleansing ability.

New USFDA Food Code 2013

For those working the food industry, you may be interested to know that tbe new US FDA food code is now available for download from their website. This contains several provisions and good practices in food processing.

Pipe Material for CIP Chemical in a Dairy Plant - 304 versus 316

Cleaning in place (CIP) has become standard practice in almost all dairy, beverage and processed-food production plants brought about the ever increasing pressure to increase uptime of the process. Over the past 10–15 years, the industry technology has seen increased demands from customers in terms of CIP verification and validation to provide improvements in plant hygiene, finished product quality, and related shelf-life and microbiological considerations.

The cleaning process will usually consist of a series of discrete stages or cycles, generally including:

Closed Loop Systems Water Treatment

The problems found in a recirculating cooling water system usually fall into the following categories:

- Corrosion

- Scale

- Fouling Deposits

- Microbiological

Modern Technologies for Buildings

High-performance buildings have an energy, economic and environmental performance that is substantially better than standard practice and actually ties the building performance to the mission of the organization or business. They also offer reduced operating costs, higher occupant productivity and enhanced asset value. Superior energy, economic, comfort and environmental performance are a hallmark of high-performance buildings.