From experience

Introduction A few days ago, a customer approached me with a question that initially left me slightly puzzled. He is building a private house, takes an interest in modern technologies, and wants to install a household boiler in his cottage that runs on pure hydrogen. No additives, no natural gas — only 100% H₂. His arguments were that he had "read about the hydrogen economy," "wants to be environmentally friendly," and "is looking to the future." I admit, I was somewhat taken

The accuracy of a gas analyzer's readings is not just a matter of having a good instrument. It is a matter of correct and timely calibration. Even the most expensive and precision analyzer will drift over time: the zero point shifts, sensor sensitivity changes, and eventually the display shows figures that cannot be trusted. Calibration brings the instrument back to its certified accuracy. However, there is no universal recipe here. Calibrating a flue gas analyzer for a boile

Introduction Before February 2022, many Russian tourists habitually viewed vacations as synonymous with trips abroad: Turkey, Egypt, Thailand, and European capitals. Domestic tourism existed somewhere on the periphery of mass consciousness — for enthusiasts, for those who "hadn't saved up enough," or for short weekend getaways. However, border closures, the imposition of sanctions, increasingly complex visa regimes, and the rising cost of travel abroad radically reshaped the

Introduction In recent years, I have increasingly noticed a shift in the demands coming from industrial enterprises. Whereas a typical inquiry used to sound like "we need a gas analyzer for the stack" or "tell us which filter to install," today the conversation starts differently. Executives and chief engineers of major plants in the oil and gas, mining, and metallurgical sectors no longer want to simply purchase equipment; they want a comprehensive solution that addresses al

Photo from inbusiness.kz Introduction I keep this story in my memory as one of the most vivid reminders that launching a project is not the finish line but only the beginning of the journey. It took place at one of the flagships of non-ferrous metallurgy in Kazakhstan. The enterprise, keeping pace with the times and recognizing the importance of environmental responsibility, decided to implement a large-scale project to introduce an environmental monitoring system. Everythin

Introduction Almost everyone involved in the implementation of industrial automation systems sooner or later encounters the same scenario. The equipment is selected, mounted, and configured. The final, seemingly elementary step remains — connecting it to the electrical grid. And this is where what I call the "eternal conflict" begins. On one side, there is you, the automation specialist, for whom the system is a sensitive low-voltage organism requiring strictly defined power,

In this article, I want to share a case that vividly demonstrates how even a perfectly designed and installed gas analytical system can fail in the shortest possible time due to a seemingly secondary component — the air supply compressor. The situation unfolded at a major oil refinery where industrial safety and environmental control are taken with the utmost seriousness. The project was executed competently, albeit with minor remarks, and the equipment was selected in accord

Introduction Over nearly two decades of working in industry and related fields, I have changed quite a few places. The reasons varied: interesting projects would come to an end, priorities would shift, or I would simply outgrow a position. I have worked at enterprises in Russia and Kazakhstan, collaborated with companies from Europe, and in recent years have been closely interacting with colleagues from Israel. And over these years, I have clearly seen a fundamental differenc

When I was just starting my career, my first mentor — Gennady Nikolaevich Podoprigora — told me a phrase that I have remembered for life and mentally repeat every time I face a complex task: "An engineer is not a person who knows everything. An engineer is someone who knows where to look, how to analyze, and how to apply information correctly." Almost nineteen years have passed working in and around field service, and I see more and more clearly how few specialists today, ev

This case occurred at one of the largest copper smelters in Central Asia. The project seemed to have been prepared by all the rules: the customer conducted pre-design surveys, completed detailed questionnaires, and transmitted all the data to the manufacturer. Moreover, a supplier representative even visited the site. However, this visit was limited to a visual inspection only — there was simply no opportunity to conduct a more in-depth survey, take measurements, or test unde

If the previous case study was about how a mistake in choosing the type of equipment led to its demise, today I will share a story with a different ending but no less instructive. Here, the main equipment type was seemingly chosen correctly — the right "hot" extractive system was selected. However, first, there was a "fly in the ointment" in the form of in-situ instruments, and second, a fatal miscalculation was made regarding where and how to place everything. As a result,

I want to share with you perhaps one of the most striking and, at the same time, disheartening examples from my practice — a vivid illustration of how mistakes made at the design stage can, in a matter of months, turn expensive, high-tech environmental monitoring equipment into a pile of useless metal and optics. Operating Conditions: When Theory Diverges from Practice The events unfold at one of the largest metallurgical plants in the world. A modern emission control system

Introduction In industrial consulting practice, situations periodically arise where a technically sound decision — converting process equipment from one fuel type to another — encounters non-obvious yet critically important limitations. One such limitation is the environmental and process emission monitoring system. At first glance, what difference does it make to a gas analyzer what exactly is being burned in the kiln? However, as practice shows, the difference is enormous,

Many foreign manufacturers believe that if they have quality equipment, certificates, and a successful track record in Europe or the US, they will be welcomed with open arms anywhere in the world. Experience shows the opposite. Markets are radically different. What works in Germany can fail completely in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. Not because the product is bad, but because business is not only about technology – it’s about people, laws, and the unwritten rules of the game. In