Emergencies can throw your whole operation into a tailspin if you’re not prepared. In a manufacturing facility, where being “down” means an idle workforce and lost revenue, the tendency is to use any means necessary to continue running production. Sometimes this means finding temporary solutions. Unfortunately, a temporary solution might become permanent for lack of Read More
Category Archives: Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook
Qualifications are Paramount
A worker who commits to a task and sees it through is a valuable asset, but they ought to realize when the task exceeds their qualifications, and seek guidance. Especially when the task involves important safety equipment, where making the wrong decision could create a dangerous situation for personnel and property. Parachutes and safety shut-off Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
July 31, 2024
It’s Not Alive!
It’s common for an industrial plant to have openings to in the roof, especially when these plants have furnaces or ovens. A vent line allows excess combustible gases to exit to atmosphere, and a flue might allow the same for products of combustion inside the furnace chamber. Placement of these vents and flues should be Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
June 26, 2024
Don’t Choke Your Furnace
Industrial furnaces require periodic maintenance to ensure efficiency and continued operation. Much of this maintenance can be performed by properly trained plant technicians, rather than relying on outside support. Depending on size and design, your furnace probably has two main input lines: one for natural gas (or some other combustible gas), and one for air. Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
May 22, 2024
How Low is Your Purge Time?
The purge sequence is essential to the safety of personnel and the continued integrity of equipment. Purging the furnace of combustible gases from the furnace atmosphere considerably reduces the risk of an “event.” Safety should always come first, but it’s not uncommon to find purge timers in old panels with the dial pegged at zero. Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
May 1, 2024
Commissioning Shouldn’t Take a (Literal) Lifetime
In the past, everything took forever. Lifespans were shorter, the world was larger, and mysteries were everywhere. We’ve progressed to the point where we can hardly stand to wait for anything, and yet, one still hears stories of excruciatingly lengthy furnace commissioning. The progression from construction to useful production on your new industrial furnace should Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
February 28, 2024
The Proper Way to Light a Burner
Something we share in common with most other animals in nature is a drive for individual survival and the survival of the species. If your environment happens to include industrial furnaces and/or ovens, employing the proper way to light a burner is key to the safety of yourself and those around you. Our ability to Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
January 16, 2024
The Mysterious Art of Burner Tuning
Burners should be tuned on a regular basis to capture peak performance and efficiency. Referencing the manufacturer’s literature and keeping a log of past settings makes tuning the modern burner a straightforward and scientific task. Once you know how to tune burners, watching the uninitiated try their hand at it can be amusing at best, Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
December 27, 2023
Heat Rises?
There’s a common misconception that heat rises. It does not. Heat radiates equally in all directions. The misunderstanding comes from the true and observable statement that, relative to cooler air, hot air rises. That’s why hot air balloons work, also why many politicians have excellent posture. For commercial and industrial heating, knowing that heat and Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
November 15, 2023
It’s Not Alive!
Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook #8 Baron von Olsträd’s new comic pokes fun at perceptions. Though the literary Frankenstein’s Monster was calculating and coldly intelligent, most people seem to think of this character as brainless and bumbling, maybe even goofy. It’s all a matter of how the character is portrayed commonly, and the instances with which Read More
Posted by
b-olstrad
; Published
April 26, 2013