Automation training provides authentic working environment

One of Europe’s main chemical industry training centres has upgraded to full digital plant architecture and predictive maintenance software that provides an authentic working environment for chemical industry trainees

A training centre for the chemical industry, the &pound;8.2m Centre for the Assessment of Technical Competence (CATCH) is based in Stallingborough, near Grimsby in England. It has been developed to meet the need for a training centre that accurately reflects the environment existing in plants but without the hazards found in many process industries<p><font size="1"><p align="left">CATCH is owned by North East Lincolnshire Council and operated through a dedicated management team by the Humber Client/Contractor Training Associationan alliance of 40 chemical companies and contractors. Catch was funded through Yorkshire Forwardthe European Regional Development Fund and the Learning and Skills Council.</p><p align="left">The investment comprises an administration building and plant complex and the foundation stone went down in July 2005. The first students started their courses in September 2006 and by September 2007 a major extension had been completed.</p><p align="left">Its mission is to make a real contribution to the competitiveness of the chemical and allied businesses in the Humber region by encouraging people to choose careers in the industry and by facilitating the provision of effectiveindustry-led training and competence assessment within an authentic plant environment.</p><p align="left">This it plans to achieve by: working in collaboration with industry and providers; developing innovative training and competence assessment solutions; promoting the highest standards of safety behaviour; being nationally recognised as a best-in-class facility; and being financially self-sustaining and reinvesting in developing the facility.</p><p align="left">CATCH believes that a more highly competent workforce with the right attitude will deliver real productivity gains for industry. Trainingdevelopment and assessment in an authentic chemical plant environment will add another dimensionbetter equipping the local workforce to bring success to their companiessays its mission statement.</p><p align="left">In terms of the facilities on offerCATCH includes a solids handling process planta plant rigging areaa fan balancing areaa bunded tank farm areaversatile hard standing areas for outside working projects and a DCE process simulator. In terms of personneltechnical supporta solutions service and administration/facilitation are also available.</p><p align="left">Howeverthe lastest addition is PlantWeb digital plant architecture supplied by US-based company Emerson Process Management (Fig.1).</p><p align="left">The company supplied productssoftware and services and was involved with the engineeringdesign and installation of the plant architecture. This includes the DeltaV digital automation system and AMS Suite Intelligent Device Managertogether with Fisher control valves and FIELDVUE digital valve controllersRosemount levelflowpressureand temperature transmitters and Micro Motion Coriolis mass flowmeters.</p><p align="left">Originally designed as a conventional plant utilising HART communications technologythe challenging timescale and the projected savings in cabling costs led to the adoption of FOUNDATION fieldbus technology (Fig.2).</p><p align="left">As the project evolvedextra instruments were added and these changestogether with any future expansion planscould be readily accommodated using the existing cabling. Had the plant retained the original architecture it would have been necessary to excavate a roadway to lay additional cablingextending the original project timescale. With customer training sessions already arrangedany delay would have created serious problems for CATCH. By adopting FOUNDATION fieldbus communications the plant was ready for its first scheduled training sessions.</p><p align="left">&quot;CATCH provides professional facilities although it is not itself a training organisation&quot; said Clive Rouncegeneral manager at CATCH. &quot;Our brief is to provide and maintain a realistic and safe training facility for our partner companies. When the project was at the design stagewe approached our partners for input on the type of automation system to be used. They wanted a system that would provide the best training platform based on what they actually have installed on siteand their first choice was Emerson's DeltaV system as the state of the art front end system and as a key component in an overall PlantWeb architecture.&quot;</p><p align="left">In order to create an authentic working environmentthe process on site is based on a real digital automation architecture. FOUNDATION fieldbus digital communication technologies feed data over a network to the centralised control room where students are able to controlconfigure and troubleshoot in a real plant environment.</p><p align="left">Most of the hardware for the plant was contributed to CATCH by its partner companies and comprises a tank farm and system of pipeworkpumpsvalvesheat exchangers and reactor vessels that is typical of the chemical industry. The plant is run as a live system with safety rules and full evacuation procedures in place. It can be operated as a continuous processor by using the reactor vesselconfigured for batch production. Students are able to experience a range of situations and incidents that test their knowledge and skills in a real environment.</p><p align="left">As new technologies are introduced to the industrythe equipment on site will be upgraded to ensure the latest innovations can be experienced. For examplethe automation system incorporates Emerson's DeltaV SIS (Safety Instrumented System) which extends the benefits of the PlantWeb digital plant architecture to safety applications. Other innovations include the addition of Emerson's DeltaV Simulate software that allows engineers to develop new control strategiesand fully test them on their laptop computer using actual control configurations and process simulation software. CATCH is also planning to include Emerson's Smart Wireless solutions that enable data to be collected from remote locations without the need for wires.</p><p align="left">&quot;We are delighted to be involved with the CATCH project which sets a new standard for training facilities in our industry&quot; said Travis Heskethdirector of PlantWeb for EuropeEmerson Process Management. &quot;By basing its training facility on our PlantWeb digital architecture and DeltaV systemCATCH offers its partners a state of the art facility that uses the architecture of choice for the process industry.&quot; </p><p>The project is already proving to be a great success with over 6000 students having passed through the facility in the first year of operation. From January 2008 more than 120 apprentices will be based at Stallingboroughlearning skills and gaining experience that will be vital to the future success of the industry. </p></font><strong><font face="Zapf Dingbats Bold" size="1" color="#0038ef">v</font></strong></p>&quot;

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