Steve Goddard

Evaluate Environmental Management Policies

1.1 Describe the environmental management policies relevant to plant engineering

Firstly I will give a brief description of the main voluntary regulations used within plant engineering today.

ISO 14001ISO14001 requires an Environmental Policy to be in existence within the organisation, fully supported by senior management, and outlining the policies of the company, not only to the staff but to the public. The policy needs to clarify compliance with Environmental Legislation that may effect the organization and stress a commitment to continuous improvement. Emphasis has been placed on policy as this provides the direction for the remainder of the Management System.

ISO14001 provides the initial foundation and direction for the Management System and will be reviewed more than a similar ISO9000 policy. A statement must be publicised in non-technical language so that it can be understood by the majority of readers. It should relate to the sites within the organisation encompassed by the Management System, it should provide an overview of the company’s activities on the site and a description of those activities and a clear picture of the company’s operations.

The preparatory review of the organization's environmental effects is not part of a ISO14001 Assessment, however examination of this data will provide an external audit with a lot of information on the methods adopted by the company. This review should be designed to identify all relevant environmental aspects that may arise from existence on the site. These may relate to current operations, they may relate to future, or unplanned future activities and will certainly relate to the activities performed on site in the past (i.e. contamination of land).

The initial or preparatory review will also include a wide-ranging consideration of the legislation which may effect the site, whether it is currently being complied with, and perhaps even whether copies of the legislation are available. Many of the environmental assessments undertaken already have highlighted that companies are often unaware of ALL of the legislation that affects them.

The company will declare its primary environmental objectives, those that can have most environmental impact. In order to gain most benefit these will become the primary areas of consideration within the improvement process, and the company’s environmental program. The program will be the plan to achieve specific goals or targets along the route to a specific goal and describe the means to reach those objectives. The Environmental Management System provides further detail on the environmental program. The EMS establishes procedures, work instructions and controls to ensure that implementation of the policy and achievement of the targets can become a reality.

The Environmental Management System requires a planned periodic audit to ensure that it is effective in operation, is meeting specified goals, and the system continues to perform in accordance with relevant regulations and standards. In addition to audit, there is a requirement for Management Review of the system to ensure that it is suitable (for the organization and the objectives) and effective in operation. The management review is the ideal forum to make decisions on how to improve for the future.

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Schematic Model of Environmental Management System

The environmental management system promotes continuous improvement by the cyclic repetition of the activities of [PLAN] -->[DO] -->[CHECK]-->[ACTION].

Figure 1 – Schematic Model of EMS from www.TQA.com

BS 8555

BS 8555 is otherwise known similarly as the Acorn scheme

The British Standard BS8555 entitled “Guide to the phased implementation of an environmental management system including the use of environmental performance evaluation” was published in April 2003 and involves a six phase achievement criteria which is used in the IEMA Acorn Scheme.

The standard combines Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) and Environmental Performance Evaluation (ISO 14031), with training, auditing and implementation at each level and improves relationships between suppliers and customers.BS8555 describes how to implement a generic EMS and can be used as a route towards achieving ISO14001 accreditation and EMAS which I will talk about later. The standard’s inclusion of ISO 14031 allows the development of tasks focussing on indicators that add

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value and are driven by company needs e.g. Turnover, competitive advantage, views of interested parties.

The environmental performance focus of BS8555 is valuable within the supply chain and concentrates on:

Delivery of measurable benefits for participants

Delivery of performance data for internal/external reporting

Maximum credibility and competitive advantage

Figure 2 – Diagram of Phases from BS 8555

EMAS

EMAS which stands for the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme is a European initiative that encourages industry to manage its environmental effects and to publicly report progress on its environmental achievements. EMAS is strongly supported by the Government as a positive step to promoting good environmental management and performance, and to improve the competitiveness of British industry internationally. Companies large and small are participating in the scheme.

EMAS helps industrial sites to:

1) Minimise pollution, creating a cleaner and healthier environment;2) Operate more efficiently, by minimising energy and water usage, saving natural resources and reducing waste;3) Minimise their production and processing costs, therefore improving profitability and enhancing competitiveness;4) Openly report their environmental improvements in an environmental statement, ensuring that the general public are informed of their environmental achievements;

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5) Develop new markets for their products and services from the competitive advantage that positive environmental management can achieve.

EMAS involves setting up an EMS to ensure that all the activities of the business that might have a significant effect on the environment are properly managed and controlled. An environmental statement is then produced to ensure that the public, and other interested parties, understand the environmental impacts of the site and how they are being managed. The EMS and the environmental statement are then checked by an independent verifier to ensure that the site is complying with all of the requirements of the scheme. It is only after this has been done that the site can apply to the EMAS Competent Body to be registered.

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There are other regulations that are in place within workplaces today and these are not voluntary and have to be abided by law. I will describe a few here:

Environmental Waste

For waste disposal, there are many different regulations such as:

The Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 – These regulations describe the types of waste produced and what categories it falls into.

Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 – This standard replace the “Special waste Regulations 1996” these new regulations:

Define hazardous waste in England and Wales

Require producers or consignors of hazardous waste to notify (register) their

premises

Restrict mixing and require separation of hazardous wastes where appropriate

Make sure that companies document the movement of hazardous waste.

Require consignees receiving hazardous waste to keep thorough records and

provide the Environment Agency with information on the disposal and recovery of

hazardous waste every three months.

Clean Air Act 1956

A Clean Air Act describes one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of smog and air pollution in general.In the UK in response to the “Great Smog of 1952”, the British Parliament introduced the Clean Air Act 1956. This act legislated for zones where smokeless fuels had to be burnt and relocated power stations to rural areas. The Clean Air Act 1968 introduced the use of tall chimneys to disperse air pollution for industries burning coal, liquid or gaseous fuels.

Westland Helicopters

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The following statement is an extract detailing the directive of the company from the EMS document.

“The Environmental Management System (EMS) identifies the organisation and procedures that enable Westland Helicopters Limited (WHL) and Westland Transmissions Limited (WTL) to meet the requirements of ISO 14001:2004. This includes all applicable environmental legislation as detailed in the Legal Register EOS 432-100 as well as details on how the Companies manage the environmental aspects of their activities.Conformance with these procedures is mandatory. When a WHL or WTL procedure, for any reason, cannot be followed, the Safety and Environment Manager (SEM) must be notified.”

This is the WHL and WTL EMS taken from the EMS manual.

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Figure 3 – AgustaWestland EMS

Steve Goddard

This is a screen grab of the AgustaWestland Health, Safety and Environment internal website; it details all the regulations and legislation that we have to follow.

For example some of the regulations mentioned on this page are:

Solvent Management - To detail the approach to the management of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) by:

- Determining the ongoing use of VOCs- Investigation of alternatives to VOCs

- Setting annual reduction targets, to be achieved through identification and regular reporting.

Noise Emissions, Identification, Characterisation and minimisation

To define the approach to the management of noise emissions, and to ensure that the noise generation potential of any future development or new equipment is assessed, in order that nuisance to neighbours is avoided.

Energy Resource Management

To provide guidance and instruction in the management of energy use on the AW UKYeovil site in order to minimise environmental impact and business costs and to ensureCompliance with relevant legislation as identified in EOS432-100.

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Figure 3 – AgustaWestland Health, Safety and Environment Website

Steve Goddard

1.2 Evaluate the types of energy technologies associated with plant engineering

Compressed Air

Utilities can use off-peak electricity to compress air and store it in airtight underground caverns. When the air is released from storage, it expands through a combustion turbine to create electricity.

How It Works

Off-peak electricity is used to power a motor/generator that drives compressors to force air into an underground storage reservoir. This process typically occurs when utility system demands and electricity costs are the lowest. When electric power demand peaks during the day, the process is reversed. The compressed air is returned to the surface, heated by natural gas in combustors and run through high-pressure and low-pressure expanders to power the motor/generator to produce electricity.

Advantages

Nearly two-thirds of the natural gas in a conventional power plant is consumed by a typical natural gas turbine because the gas is used to drive the machine's compressor. In contrast, a compressed-air storage plant uses low-cost heated compressed air to power the turbines and create off-peak electricity, conserving some natural gas.

Storage and transportation

CAES is stored mainly in air cylinders or pressure vessels. The main problem with CAES is that when the air is compressed it produces heat much like a bicycle bump therefore energy is lost when the air is compressed.

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Figure 4 – Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)

Steve Goddard

Fluid Power

Fluid power is the technology of exploiting the properties of fluids to generate, control, and transmit power as a result of the pressurization of fluids by means of a pressurized fluid, either liquid or gas.The term fluid power applies to both hydraulics and pneumatics.Hydraulics uses pressurized liquid, for example, oil or water; pneumatics uses compressed air or other neutral gases. Fluid power can be effectively combined with other technologies through the use of sensors, transducers and microprocessors.

How It works

A fluid power system starts with a pump driven by a prime mover (electric motor or IC engine) that converts mechanical energy in to fluid energy. This fluid flow is used to actuate a device specifically designed to operate from the flow provided. In general, these actuators fall into the following categories:

Cylinder (hydraulic or pneumatic): Provides force in a linear fashion Motor (hydraulic or pneumatic): Provides continuous rotational motion Rotary actuator: Provides rotational motion of less than 360 degrees.

Pascal's Law expresses the central concept of fluid power: "Pressure exerted by a confined fluid acts undiminished equally in all directions."

An input force of 10 pounds (44.8 N) on a 1-square-inch (6.45 cm2) piston develops a pressure of 10 pounds per square inch (psi) (68.95 kN/m2 or 68.95 KPa) throughout the container. This pressure will allow a 10-square-inch piston to support a 100-pound (444.8 N) weight. The forces are proportional to the piston areas. Advantages

Fluid power systems provide many benefits to users including: Multiplication and variation of force - Linear or rotary force can be multiplied from

a fraction of an ounce to several hundred tons of output. Easy, accurate control - You can start, stop, accelerate, decelerate, reverse or

position large forces with great accuracy. Analog (infinitely variable) and digital (on/off) control are possible. Instantly reversible motion-within less than half a revolution-can be achieved.

Multi-function control - A single hydraulic pump or air compressor can provide power and control for numerous machines or machine functions when combined with fluid power manifolds and valves.

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Figure 5 – Fluid Power Example

Steve Goddard

High horsepower, low weight ratio - Pneumatic components are compact and lightweight. You can hold a five horsepower hydraulic motor in the palm of your hand.

Low speed torque - Unlike electric motors, air or hydraulic motors can produce large amounts of torque (twisting force) while operating at low speeds. Some hydraulic and air motors can even maintain torque at zero speed without overheating.

Constant force or torque - This is a unique fluid power attribute. Safety in hazardous environments - Fluid power can be used in mines, chemical

plants, near explosives and in paint applications because it is inherently spark-free and can tolerate high temperatures.

Established standards and engineering - The fluid power industry has established design and performance standards for hydraulic and pneumatic products through NFPA, the National Fluid Power Association; ANSI, the American National Standards Institute; and ISO, the International Organization for Standardization.

Storage and transportation

As mentioned above the low weigh to high horsepower ratio means you can get a lot of power from a small device. This makes it very easy to store and transport.

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear Fission is the splitting of the nucleus of an atom into parts (lighter nuclei) often producing photons (in the form of gamma rays), free neutrons and other subatomic particles as by-products. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation and as kinetic energy of the fragments (heating the bulk material where fission takes place). Nuclear fission produces energy for nuclear power and to drive the explosion of nuclear weapons. Both uses are made possible because certain substances called nuclear fuels undergo fission when struck by free neutrons and in turn generate neutrons when they break apart. This makes possible a self-sustaining chain reaction that releases energy at a controlled rate in a nuclear reactor or at a very rapid uncontrolled rate in a nuclear weapon.The amount of free energy contained in nuclear fuel is millions of times the amount of free energy contained in a similar mass of chemical fuel such as gasoline, making nuclear fission a very tempting source of energy; however, the products of nuclear fission are radioactive and remain so for significant amounts of time, giving rise to a nuclear waste problem.

To turn nuclear fission into electrical energy, the first step for nuclear power plant operators is to be able to control the energy given off by the enriched uranium and allow it to heat water into steam.Enriched uranium is typically formed into inch-long (2.5-cm-long) pellets, each with approximately the same diameter as a dime. Next the pellets are arranged into long rods, and the rods are collected together into bundles. The bundles are submerged in water inside a pressure vessel. The water acts as a coolant. For the reactor to work, the submerged bundles must be slightly supercritical. Left to its own devices, the uranium would eventually overheat and melt.To prevent overheating, control rods made of a material that absorbs neutrons are inserted into the uranium bundle using a mechanism that can raise or lower the control rods. Raising and lowering the control rods allow operators to control the rate of the

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nuclear reaction. When an operator wants the uranium core to produce more heat, the control rods are raised out of the uranium bundle (thus absorbing fewer neutrons). To create less heat, they are lowered into the uranium bundle. The rods can also be lowered completely into the uranium bundle to shut the reactor down in the case of an accident or to change the fuel.

The uranium bundle acts as an extremely high-energy source of heat. It heats the water and turns it to steam. The steam drives a turbine, which spins a generator to produce power.

This brings me on to talk about:

Steam Turbines

The steam turbine is a major factor in electric power generation throughout the world. Even nuclear power plants use the heat from a controlled nuclear chain reaction to produce needed steam. In the United States, more than 88 percent of all electricity is produced by steam turbines.

How it Works

There are basically three stages of matter: Solid, liquid and gas. Each stage is held together by a different level of molecular force. With water, gaseous steam takes up space due to its molecules being furthest apart. However, when enough pressure is applied to steam, an amazing thing happens. The molecules are forced together to the point that the water becomes more like a liquid again, while retaining the properties of a gas. It is at this point that it becomes a supercritical fluid.

Many of today's power plants use supercritical steam, with pressure and temperature at the critical point. This means supercritical steam power plants operate at much higher temperatures and pressures than plants using subcritical steam. Water is actually heated to such a high pressure that boiling does not even occur.The resulting high-pressure fluid of supercritical steam provides excellent energy efficiency. With the aid of high pressure, supercritical steam turbines can be driven to much higher speeds for the same amount of heat energy as traditional steam power.

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Figure 7 – Cooling towers from a Nuclear Power Plant

Figure 6 – Typical Nuclear Power Plant

Steve Goddard

The future is bright for steam on other fronts as well. In the search for alternative automobile fuel systems, some scientists continue to pursue the 15th century dream of a car driven on steam power.

Advantages of Steam Turbines.

High efficiency at full load Mechanical simplicity and hence potential reliability. Conventional reciprocating steam locomotives give a varying torque through the

cycle, resembling a sine characteristic. This makes wheelslip at starting much more likely.

Conventional steam locomotives have substantial reciprocating masses such as connecting rods and valve gear. This creates fore-and-aft forces that cannot be completely balanced without unacceptably increasing the up-and-down forces on the track.

Hydropower

Hydroelectricity is electricity produced by hydropower. Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator. In this case the energy extracted from the water depends on the volume and on the difference in height between the source and the water's outflow. This height difference is called the head. The amount of potential energy in water is proportional to the head. To obtain very high head, water for a hydraulic turbine may be run through a large pipe

called a penstock.

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Figure 8 – Steam Turbine used in a Power Plant

Figure 9 – Hydro Electric Plant and Generator

Steve Goddard

Wind Power

The Sun heats our atmosphere unevenly, so some patches become warmer than others. These warm patches of air rise, other air blows in to replace them - and we feel a wind blowing.We can use the energy in the wind by building a tall tower, with a large propeller on the top. The wind blows the propeller round, which turns a generator to produce electricity.

The Sun heats our atmosphere unevenly, so some patches become warmer than others. These warm patches of air rise, other air blows in to replace them - and we feel a wind blowing.We can use the energy in the wind by building a tall tower, with a large propeller on the top. The wind blows the propeller round, which turns a generator to produce electricity.

Advantages

Wind is free, wind farms need no fuel. Produces no waste or greenhouse gases. The land beneath can usually still be used for farming. Wind farms can be tourist attractions. A good method of supplying energy to remote areas.

Disadvantages

The wind is not always predictable - some days have no wind. Suitable areas for wind farms are often near the coast, where land is expensive. Some people feel that covering the landscape with these towers is unsightly. Can kill birds - migrating flocks tend to like strong winds.

However, this is rare, and we tend not to build wind farms on migratory routes anyway.

Can affect television reception if you live nearby. Can be noisy. Wind generators have a reputation for making a constant, low,

"swooshing" noise day and night, which can drive you nuts.

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Figure 10 – Wind Turbine

Steve Goddard

My Company

In my company, the main energy sourced used is electricity. This comes from, the national grid.

Other energy sources are gas and electricity. This graph shows the continuous improvement of kWh per Manhour over the past 2 years.

Figure 11 – Kwh per Manhour

The following table also shows the objectives and targets to reduce energy and water consumption in 2008 and the key points of how the company is going to do this.

In comparison with the same period in 2007, in Quarter 2 of 2008 there had been a:

• 11% reduction in our gas, electric and fuel oil Carbon Footprint

• 1% reduction in our energy consumption per man hour

• 16% reduction in our water consumption per man hour

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The following two graphs show the cumulative power usage in gigawatts and fuel oil carbon footprint in tonnes.

As you can see here during April power usage was slightly higher than last year, but the usage dropped back to roughly the same as last year at quarter 2 in 2008 we were on target with 2007.

This graph shows the total carbon footprint and can be linked with the power usage as the carbon footprint is slightly more than 2007 during the April period but reduces back down to meet the 2007 value at the end of quarter 2 in 2008.

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1.3 Assess the various aspects of resource management in the context of plant engineering

I have already talked about the resource management policies in AgustaWestland but there are many ways in which the company monitors the policies

• There are continuous projects within the company to remove asbestos.

• Bins in offices have been replaced with recycling boxes.

• There has been extensive ISO 14001 awareness training to everyone on site.

• There has been a survey into the site’s drains to try and show where storm water and foul water are going and drain markings have been renewed to help support this activity. Another part to this is that there have been improvements made with our car rental firms on site base. Water from washing cars goes into a collector tank underground and not the storm water drain. This can then be re-used.

• All PCs shut themselves down at night automatically unless told specifically not to, in case this isn’t done by each individual user.

• We also have a disposals team who help to recycle any equipment, furniture etc within the site this makes and saves money.

• There is a bicycle user group to encourage people to cycles to work.

• There is a lift share system set up.

• There is an on site recycling centre.

• All boilers have been replaced with gas boilers which are less pollutant that oil boilers.

• Any areas of the company that use or create hazardous products are produced are registered with the council, health and safety representatives check and monitor this.

At the time being I cannot see any improvements that could be made apart from implementing the use of renewable energy sources such as wind power, this could work by placing wind turbines by the helicopter pads, when the helicopters are flying the down force could be used to power a propeller blade

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Bibliography

ISO 14000 - www.TQA.comhttp://www.strategicsafety.co.uk/SoYouWant14001.htmlBS 8555 - http://www.iema.net/acorn/bs8555BS 8555 - http://www.passingham-associates.co.uk/bs8555.htmEMAS Info - http://www.greenconsumerguide.com/www.NFPA.com – National Fluid Power Associationwww.Wikipedia.orghttp://science.howstuffworks.com/steam-technology8.htmhttp://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/wind.htm

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