FLSmidth is one of the important partners in the process of upgrading the skills of employees through simulation packages. Sridhar Padmanabhan provides a case study on one such product, ECS/CEMulator, a realistic simulator of cement plant processes.
World is competitive and cost optimisation is the biggest challenge for any industry. Cement industry in India expects 7-8 per cent growth by 2016 and seeks improvement in system effectiveness and reduced energy consumption to be more competitive and economical. With this focus, now they primarily focus on equipment and control optimisation, wherein upgrading available equipment and the technologies with optimum capital expenditure (CAPEX) are on high priority.
FLSmidth Automation supports cement plants to achieve their goals and objectives through various solutions comprising innovative products and services. One such latest break through is its simulation product- ECS/Cemulator.
In general, the plant management oversees the entire plant performance and improvement with a bird?s eye view and has narrowed down its focus on the operating procedures and plant operator knowledge. These two aspects play a vital role in process optimisation, as operating procedures vary widely from person-to-person competency levels. A uniform plant operation by a well-trained operator is highly significant for optimal production and process improvement. A poorly trained operator can take inappropriate and untimely control action trying to run the plant at one desired level by sacrificing other parameters, thereby causing energy losses, poor quality, higher pollution levels, and reducing the equipment life time directly or indirectly.
A worm?s eye view Now it?s the right time for the plant management to transform their view from a bird?s eye to that of a worm?s eye to analyse:
?Why invest in training your Operator?? This view has to be made from the lower end perspective, which is mostly ignored by many people giving least preference and in turn not realising the ultimate potential of a ?trained? operator who can make the plant more competent and optimised.
Training improves operator performance in quality, quantity, speed, safety, and problem solving; it enhances company profits and saves money directly or indirectly. A well-trained group of operators would result best plant operation, uniform control action, consistent quality, fewer machine breakdowns, lower maintenance costs, minimal supervision, reduced downtime, and increased productivity. In a study, Motorola calculated that every dollar spent on training yields an approximate 30 per cent gain in productivity within a three-year period. Motorola also used training to reduce costs by over $3 billion and increase profits by 47 per cent.
According to a research, performance problems mostly occur because of three main reasons: (a) Operators don?t know what they?re supposed to do, (b) Operators don?t know how to do it, and (c) Operators don?t know why they should do it. Targeted training is the only solution to address all these issues. FLSmidth has developed many customised solutions for the cement industry to specifically overcome operator training concerns. One such finest solution for the cement plant operator training has been identified as the ECS/CEMulator – An absolute realistic simulator of cement plant processes.
ECS/CEMulator is a process training simulation tool built by combining decades of process design and operational experience of FLSmidth, an extensive theoretical insight on process dynamics, and the latest software technology. FLSmidth offers customised simulation models designed from the ground to meet the needs of the plants in all its uniqueness. This is the best way of ensuring to get maximum value of investment in training.
User-friendly
- ECS/CEMulator is an advanced and user-friendly cement process simulator which aims at:
- Process operator training in an absolutely realistic and risk-free environment
- Increasing operator skills in reaching pre-defined production quantity and quality targets
- Operator performance evaluation
- Increasing operator skills for optimal utilization of a modern control system
- Enabling process engineers and designers to test their ideas before practical implementations
ECS/CEMulator uses ?Learning by doing? methodology, the most effective way of training, which ensures excellent skill development of the operators at a lesser cost to train a group. It also provides the best access to the FLS operational knowledge, enables fast knowledge transfer and gives the driver the driving license.
Differences between traditional (control room) training and systematic training with simulators:
- Operator has to be careful in the real environment while in a simulated plant you can do whatever you want. You can push the kiln until the production stop. You can just ?start the plant? again.
- Operator has to wait for the interesting condition and events to occur; the instructor will normally not create them for the trainee, e.g., a ring formation, or hot spot. With simulator, trainee himself can invoke them any time needed
- Due to the process slow dynamics, responses for the actions get delayed to learn from them. In a simulator, the process reactions (up to 20 times as real time) can be sped up.
- It is difficult to judge ?how good? operators are in control room, what they can handle, and how efficient they do their job. ECS/CEMulator gives the possibility for formal evaluation and documentation of how good an operator is in the achievement of pre-defined production, quality, environmental, and safety targets.
Simulators are not ?alternatives?, but complementary for the control room training. In combination the right knowledge can be gained and maintained very efficiently.
The author is Sales Manager – Expert Systems, FLSmidth Pvt Ltd