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Operator Training Simulator and
Training Solutions for
STRATCO® Alkylation

Operator Training Simulator and Training Solutions for STRATCO® Alkylation

Training of refinery personnel is often the most cost-effective investment you can make in your alkylation unit operations. Ask any operations manager what describes their best operators and you’ll get the same answer: knowledge and confidence. The best operators know what to do and when to do it, with confidence that is honed by years of experience and deep process knowledge. Cost pressures, employee churn, and the threat of the “boomer retirement wave” are challenging companies to find new ways to train and develop their teams more quickly than ever.  Operations teams must turn good operators into great operators in months, not years.

To help our customers address this challenge, Elessent Clean Technologies has developed an operator training program that combines experienced alkylation experts with best-in-class training tools which can be tailored to meet customer’s needs, budgets and time constraints. In addition to traditional classroom-style training, Elessent offers programs that leverage our proprietary operator training simulators to deliver a high-impact experience that translates to faster skills development, better long-term skills retention and deeper process understanding than conventional methods. 

Each class can be tailored to focus on subjects of specific interest to the customer from basic topics such as introduction to alkylation, to advanced topics such as process optimization, troubleshooting and emergency response. Classes can be geared for both operators and engineers and cover a wide scope of activities.

Combining Experienced Alkylation Subject Experts with Best-in-Class Training Tools

Customized Operator Training Courses

Elessent’s on-site operator training provides a catalyst to help you identify areas for operations improvements. The objective of the Elessent operations training course is to review the best sulfuric acid alkylation operating practices known to Elessent with refinery operations personnel to achieve improved operating and monitoring techniques, increased efficiency of the alkylation unit, and a better-trained staff who will be a source of ideas for continued improvement of facilities and operations.

For grassroots units or operation teams new to the alkylation process, Elessent’s initial operation training program (provided prior to the mechanical completion and start-up of a new alkylation unit) is designed to be conducted in two phases, but can be tailored to your specific needs. Following the successful start-up and operation of the alkylation unit, Elessent recommends periodic refresher training to refinery personnel to reinforce correct practices and procedures and to identify and change incorrect habits that may have been adopted over time.

In every engagement, Elessent personnel work directly with customers to develop an operations training program that meets their specific needs. This can include traditional classroom training, field training and simulator-enhanced training. 

Classroom Training Topics and Activities:

  • Introduction to the alkylation process
  • Key process variables and their effect on product quality
  • Major process instrumentation
  • Unit process description (detailed review of each section in the unit)
  • Alkylation unit operations and principles
  • Unit monitoring and surveillance of all major systems and equipment
  • Startup procedures
  • Normal shutdown procedures
  • Emergency shutdown procedures
  • Safety procedures and proper handling of acid
  • Prevention and detection of an acid runaway
  • Lessons learned from emergency scenarios witnessed at other sites
  • Review and enhancement of site-specific startup procedures
  • Review of site-specific P&IDs and equipment descriptions

Field Training Topics and Activities

Field training is performed while walking through the unit with a small group of operators and reviewing the following:

  • Identifying critical unit components such as equipment, valves, and instrumentation, and describing operational significance of each
  • Reviewing normal tasks associated with field operations, providing guidelines on safety, purpose of tasks, and impact on plant performance
  • Recognizing unit upset conditions and the appropriate response to such conditions

World Class Process Dynamic Simulators for STRATCO® Alkylation Technology

At Elessent, we believe that people learn the most when they put their skills into practice using high-fidelity training tools in realistic environments.

With that specific goal in mind, Elessent developed its TMODS modeling software to train operators to anticipate and respond to a variety of situations using a realistic operator interface with a robust process simulator that accurately models the behavior of the alkylation processes from feeds to product storage. The TMODS modeling software is widely used within Elessent to simulate processes and train operators on Elessent’s most critical process units.

Elessent’s alkylation OTS includes preconfigured operator training scenarios and objective tasks to make it easy to tailor your training strategy to your particular needs and prepare your operators for successful startup and operation of actual units.

Each OTS combines Elessent subject matter expertise with the Elessent world-class training and safety culture. Our training simulators can be fully customized to match plant configuration, conditions, compositions, control schemes, safety interlocks and user interfaces. Each Elessent OTS is:

  •     Designed for immediate impact
  •     Uses best-in-class training tools
  •     Customizable for immediate benefits
  •     Developed, tested and taught by subject matter experts
  •     Engineered for integrity
  •     Designed for realistic “cause and effect” experience
  •     Incorporates Elessent subject matter expertise
  •     Built on robust software platform (Elessent TMODS)
  •     Fully supported for long-term value
  •     Provides regularly scheduled software updates
  •     Includes new scenarios (regular releases or customized by your needs)
  •     Offers refresher training
  •     Comes with technical support (software and training)

    
OTS-Enhanced Training Topics and Activities

A typical dynamic simulator training session is one week with up to two instructors and can accommodate up to 15 personnel.  Topics can include the following:

  •     Simulator familiarization and overview
  •     Full unit startup from unit filling to introduction of olefin feed
  •     Troubleshooting and emergency scenarios
  •     Power failure
  •     Compressor trip
  •     Acid runaway
  •     Cooling water failure
  •     Reactor tube bundle leak
  •     Demonstration of “cause and effect” in the alkylation unit
  •     General operating and safety principles
  •     Full unit shutdown

Elessent TMODS
Operator Training Simulators (OTS)

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