Hands-On Wins Hands Down
CONTROL REPORT
Hands-On Wins Hands Down JIM MONTAGUE
E XECUTIVE EDITOR [email protected]
”We can even unexpectedly introduce problems like entrained air and teach students and users to solve them.” 62
O
nscreen simulations are terrific, but they aren’t the, ahem, whole picture. Even using the latest virtual-reality headsets, they’re still flat images seen though a small window, and can’t reflect all the sensory input of the physical reality they mimic. Pretty images can’t replace all the sights, sounds, touches and smells of physical events, and abundant research shows that stronger neural pathways, more vivid memories and better learning are created by real experiences. To give future, young and even veteran process engineers and operators more real-life, hands-on training or retraining, Endress+Hauser (www.us.endress.com) and friends recently designed and built their ninth and 10th process training units (PTUs) nationwide at its U.S. headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana, and at 52-year-old distributor George E. Booth Co., Inc. (www.gebooth.com) in Romeoville, Illinois. The two-story PTU—the “u” also stands for “university”—includes tanks, pumps, pipelines, valves, gauges, flowmeters, instruments, transmitters and many other devices, controls and software that students and other users can operate to learn how real process systems run, and most importantly, how experienced operators solve problems and optimize performance. “One-half of the PTU focuses on industrial applications found in chemical plants, steel mills and other processes, while the other features sanitary and stainless-steel facilities found in food and beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications,” says Nick Hryniw, area sales manager at George E. Booth. “However, this isn’t just a showplace or static, tabletop demonstration. It’s an operating lab where we can run classes and even unexpectedly introduce problems like entrained air, and teach students and users to solve them.” The PTU construction team and contributions at George E. Booth include Waner Enterprises’ building construction, A&R Erectors’ mezzanine and PTU structure, BMW Con-
www.controlglobal.com A P R I L / 2 0 1 5
PROCESS TRAINING UNIT – AND UNIVERSITY Nick Hryniw, area sales manager at George E. Booth Co., shows the PTU to Rick Isemonger, control engineer at Ferrara Candy, during the March 25 Process Solutions Summit it hosted with Endress+Hauser and Rockwell Automation.
structors’ mechanical piping, Endress+Hauser process instrumentation, Samson Controls control valves, Gebco II on-off valve automation, Rockwell Automation process control systems, Jogler sight glasses/stilling wells and Sharpe Valves on-off valves. Besides hosting tours, training programs at George E. Booth’s PTU include basic instrumentation; pH and conductivity measurement; liquid analytical measurement; Coriolis flow; introductory and advanced flow; introductory and advanced level; time of flight, free space and guided-wave radar level; pressure and temperature; and certified Profibus PA. Finally, to really put the “university” in PTU, Hryniw adds George E. Booth is talking with nearby Joliet Junior College about running some of its process control classes at the PTU. Other than taking over an actual process plant, there’s probably no better way to teach control and develop all those engineers that everyone will need soon, if not immediately. Bravo.
Hands-On Wins Hands Down JIM MONTAGUE
E XECUTIVE EDITOR [email protected]
”We can even unexpectedly introduce problems like entrained air and teach students and users to solve them.” 62
O
nscreen simulations are terrific, but they aren’t the, ahem, whole picture. Even using the latest virtual-reality headsets, they’re still flat images seen though a small window, and can’t reflect all the sensory input of the physical reality they mimic. Pretty images can’t replace all the sights, sounds, touches and smells of physical events, and abundant research shows that stronger neural pathways, more vivid memories and better learning are created by real experiences. To give future, young and even veteran process engineers and operators more real-life, hands-on training or retraining, Endress+Hauser (www.us.endress.com) and friends recently designed and built their ninth and 10th process training units (PTUs) nationwide at its U.S. headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana, and at 52-year-old distributor George E. Booth Co., Inc. (www.gebooth.com) in Romeoville, Illinois. The two-story PTU—the “u” also stands for “university”—includes tanks, pumps, pipelines, valves, gauges, flowmeters, instruments, transmitters and many other devices, controls and software that students and other users can operate to learn how real process systems run, and most importantly, how experienced operators solve problems and optimize performance. “One-half of the PTU focuses on industrial applications found in chemical plants, steel mills and other processes, while the other features sanitary and stainless-steel facilities found in food and beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications,” says Nick Hryniw, area sales manager at George E. Booth. “However, this isn’t just a showplace or static, tabletop demonstration. It’s an operating lab where we can run classes and even unexpectedly introduce problems like entrained air, and teach students and users to solve them.” The PTU construction team and contributions at George E. Booth include Waner Enterprises’ building construction, A&R Erectors’ mezzanine and PTU structure, BMW Con-
www.controlglobal.com A P R I L / 2 0 1 5
PROCESS TRAINING UNIT – AND UNIVERSITY Nick Hryniw, area sales manager at George E. Booth Co., shows the PTU to Rick Isemonger, control engineer at Ferrara Candy, during the March 25 Process Solutions Summit it hosted with Endress+Hauser and Rockwell Automation.
structors’ mechanical piping, Endress+Hauser process instrumentation, Samson Controls control valves, Gebco II on-off valve automation, Rockwell Automation process control systems, Jogler sight glasses/stilling wells and Sharpe Valves on-off valves. Besides hosting tours, training programs at George E. Booth’s PTU include basic instrumentation; pH and conductivity measurement; liquid analytical measurement; Coriolis flow; introductory and advanced flow; introductory and advanced level; time of flight, free space and guided-wave radar level; pressure and temperature; and certified Profibus PA. Finally, to really put the “university” in PTU, Hryniw adds George E. Booth is talking with nearby Joliet Junior College about running some of its process control classes at the PTU. Other than taking over an actual process plant, there’s probably no better way to teach control and develop all those engineers that everyone will need soon, if not immediately. Bravo.
