Technical English

Production
 PRODUCTION I
Production management is concerned with planning and controIIing industrial
processes which produce and distribute products and services. Techniques of production
management are also used in service industries: here they are called operations
management. During production processes, inputs are converted into outputs. These
processes take many forms: from basic agriculture to large-scale manufacturing. Much
manufacturing takes place in factories, where assembly lines allow a steady flow of raw
materials (inputs) and finished products (outputs).
People in production focus on efficiency and effectiveness of processes in order to
maximize productivity. To achieve overall success, it is important to measure, analyse and
evaluate these processes. However, other activities also con tribute to success:
purchasing, inventory control, quality control. storage, logistics.
 PRODUCTION
Production varies according to the inputs, processes and outputs. Other important factors
are the place of production and the resources. In addition, stock, a major cost, needs to
be carefully controlled, and the equipment must be regularly maintained to remain
productive and prevent breakdowns.
PRODUCTION PLACE
Factory Layout Plant Site Unit workshop

PROCESS
Assemble Batch component convert Effectiveness effeciency line
lot maximize optimize
RESOURCES

Equipement Fixture Machinery materials handling raw materials

STOCK
Inventory stock store

MAINTENANCE
Breakdown Fault Failure maintain repair

Study the Productivity Conceptual Model below

A simple way of looking at productivity in a business organization is to think of it in terms

of the productivity model. The Productivity Conceptual Model below takes the form of
a 'productivity tree'. The roots denote the inputs to the system, the trunk the conversion
process and the leaves and fruit the system outputs.
 PRODUCTION II
A
A production planning system is essential to ensure that a company's processes,
machinery, equipment, labour skills and material are organized efficiently for better
profitability. There are many factors that need to be considered in the planning system. For
example, a firm may require a large number of different components. AIso demand can
vary daily in this ever-changing world. New sales orders corne in. Some get cancelled;
there may be breakdowns in the workshop;
backlogs build up; there may be late or early delivery from suppliers. It is difficult to keep
track of all these changes manually. To handle these situations, many companies keep
safety stock.
However, if a company has an effective production planning system there is no
need to keephigh safety stock. The money blocked in the excessive safety stock can be
released. At the same time, opportunity costs due to stock-outs can be minimized.
 PRODUCTION II
B
All areas of management require careful planning and organizing. Planning and organizing
production is essential for efficient operations.

Planning

Aggregate backlog back order bottleneck capacity cycle downtime

Flow forecast idle lead time make-to-order make-to-stock
optimization output productivity prototype requirement run satisfy
Schedule sequence set up set-up time slack throughput
uncertainty work in progress

Work organization

Lot Overtime Shift Workforce Workload

 C
Study the Market Needs Analysis Model below:

There are two principal aims of the Market Needs Analysis Model below:
• To identify market needs for your product
• To analyse the market potential for new products or services

The product performance specifications detail the operational features of the product.

At the product design stage, designers and product managers will redefine how the
product is to work and how it is to be made.

At the production system specifications stage, we focus on the manufacturing

requirements. Investment decision methods focus on the alternative methods for financing
the investment needed.

The objective of production system design is to standardize both the methods of production
system design and the machine units for production system construction.
Market Analysis Model
 ENGINEERING
A
Engineering is based principally on physics, chemistry, and mathematics, and their
extensions into materials science, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, transfer and rate
processes, and systems analysis.
Engineering as a profession involves different tasks. It can refer specifically to the
manufacture or assembly of engines, machine tools and machine parts. It is also used more
generally to describe the creative application of scientific principIes to design, develop,
construct and forecast the behaviour of structures, apparatus, machines, manufacturing
processes and works.
The function of scientists is to know, while that of engineers is to do: they must solve
specific problems.
Engineering
 B
Different branches of engineering require different equipment and are based on different
processes.
Branches of engineering
The following words/ phrases are followed by Engineering.

Chemical civil electrical electronic highway hydraulic industrial

mechanical mining petroleum production production structural

Equipement in Engineering

Boiler crane gas engine pump machine tool Turbine

Process in treating metals

Anneal anodize electroplate forge found galvanize grind harden

mint plate roll soften temper tinplate
Anneal : to make materials tough by cooling them slowly, e.g. glass (recuit)

Anodize : to give a metal a protective coat by using it as an anode in electrolysis e.g.

cars components
Electroplate : to cover with a thin layer of metal using electrolysis, e.g. car components
Forge : to shape metals by heating and then hammering, e.g. horse shoes
Found : to melt metal and then pour it into a form, e.g. iron components
Galvanize : to protect from rusting by coating in zinc, e.g. food cans
Grind : to polish or sharpen by rubbing on a rough surface, e.g. stone
Roll : to make thin sheets of metal by passing it between large rollers, e.g. steel
Plate : to cover one metal with a thin layer of another, e.g. silver plate
Soften : to make something softer, e.g. fibres
Temper : to heat and then cool metals to obtain the required hardness and elasticity,
e.g. steel
 C
Notice the following adjective endings:

-al chemical mechanical physical structural

-ial industrial
-ic Electronic Hydraulic

Notice the following verb endings :

-en Harden soften
-ize anodize galvanize

Notice the following nouns which are a plural form but are normally used with a singular verb

Mathematics mechanics physics thermodynamics

Energy
 A
The UK’s enegy system has changed dramatically over the last century.

In the first half of the twentieth century :

• Coal was the dominant fuel in industrial and electricity power plants and in houses and
businesses
• Town-gas networks existed in larger towns with the gas derived from the coal
In the second half of the 20th century :
• Coal continued to be of central importancefor electricity generation, although its
importance elsewhere fell substantially
• Nuclear power plants began to be commissioned from the mid 1950s
• The electricity industry was combined onto state-owned monopolies during the 1950s
 A
• The high voltage electricity transmission network was created in order to transport
electricity for long distances from big power plants.
• Electricity distribustion networks shrank in importance and activity.
• During the 1960s and 1970s there was a move to an extensive natural gas networks
for heating (industry, commerce and domestic).
• Demand for transport fuel increased dramatically.
• Gas fired central heating largely replaced open coal fire in homes
• The use of electrical appliances in commerceand the domestic sector increased
hugely.
 B
Today we are seeing an increasing interest in those renewable sources of energy which
can deliver clean and sheap types of enrgy. Using environmentally-Friendly process and
equipement.
Sources of energy

Renewable Non-renewaable
Sun water Fossil fuel : coal, oil, natural gas, petroleum
Wave wind Biofuel plutonium uranium

Types of energy :

Electrical energy fire fossil fuels gas pwer geothermal

energy greenhouse effet hydraulic power hydroelectric energy
kinetic enrgy magnetic energy nuclear energy solar energy steam
power tidal power water power wave power wind power
Equipments to produce energy :

Atomic energy plant gas station gasworks generating station

generator heat exchanger hydroelectric sheme nuclear plaant
power station pwerhorse solar cell solar panel tidal barrage tide mill
turbine waterworks wind farm windmill

Study the sentences below :

In 1950. the energy system for both industry and domestic demand was fuelled by coal .
Tody domestic natural gas is the UK’s largest source of energy.
Developments in technology are gradually lowering the costs of generating electricity
from alternative and renewable sources.
The increasing and fluctuating prices of natural gas are contributing to makingbiomss
Petroleum 1
 A
Petroleum is an oily, thick, flammable, usually dark-coloured liquid that is a form of
bitumen or a mixture of various hydrocarbons. It occurs naturally in various parts of the
world and is usually obtained by drilling. Offshore drilling for oil takes places in oceans, seas
or large lakes from platforms standing on the bed: onshore drilling takes place on land.
Because problem is found underground, it must be extracted by means of wells. To check
whether there is any oil at a site, an exploratory well, or wildcat is dug. Scientific methods
and technical equipement, such as gravimeters, magnetometers, and seismographs are
used to find subsurface rock formations that might hold crude oil.
The petroleum from a new well will usually come to the surface under its own pressure. Later
the crude oil must be pumped out or forced to the surface by injecting water, gas or air
into the deposits.
The oil and gas industry distinguishes between :
Upstream – oil and natural gas explortaion and production activities : plus gathering, processing
and marketing operations.
Downstream -,all activities from processing of refined crude oil into petroleum products to
distribution, marketing, and shipping of products

B
Accurate forecating and measuring always precedes drilling and pumping

Forecasting and measuring

Downhole flow rate layer pressure reserves reservoir

rock mapping wellbore wildcat well
Drilling and pumping

Blowout casing (drill) collar cuttings derrick drill bit drill pipe drill string
drilling mud inject licence kelly oil field/ gas field permit platform
pump recover rig trap turntable/rotary table well.

C
Below some excerpts from professional journals about exploration and drilling
Petroleum 2
 A
Petroleum is used in a natural or refined state fuel, or separated by destillation into
petrochemicals such as petrol (gazoline), benzen, kerozene and paraffin. From the well the
crude is usually transported to rfinery in pipelines or tanker ships. There the hydrocarbons are
separated from each other by various refining processes. In a process called fractional
distillation, petroleum is heated and sent into tower. The vapours of different components
condense on collectors at different heights in tower. The separated fractions are then drawn
from the collectors and further processed into various petroleum products, for example
gasoline ar asphalt.

Cracking processes use heat, pressure, and certain catalyst to break up the large
molecules of heavy hydrocarbons into small molecules of light hydrocarbons. Some of the
heavier fractions find eventual use as lubricating oils and paraffins.
Today The world is heavily dependent on petroleum for power, lubrification. Fuel dyes, drugs, and many
synthetics. The widespread use of petroleum has created serious environmental problems; air pollution from
burnt fuels contaminates the atmosphere and oil spillages from tankers and offshore wells pollute oceans
and coastline.

B
After refining the petroleum is transported to the refinery. Depending on the end use, the petroleum may
be converted into petrochemicals.
Refining

Catalytic cracking distillation impurity refinery separation steam

cracking heat cracking
Transporting

Barrel pipeline spill store tanker terminal transport

Use of Petroleum fuel
Aeroplanes explosives fertilizers jellies paints plastics soaps
solvents synthetic rubber and fibers waxes
 C
One way of increasing your vocabulary is to learn the associated words from a key word. Look at
the word table below, which shows words related to the key words presented below.

Nown Verb Adjective

Refinery Refine Refining/ refined
Separation Separate Separate
Distillation Distil Distilling/ distilled
Heat Heat Hot
Vapour Vaporize Vaporous
Lubrication/ Lubricate Lubricating / lubricated
lubricant
Synthetics Synthesize Synthetic
Pollution pollutant Pollute Polluting / polluted
Spillage Spill Split
explosive Explode Explosive