Operations Skills For the 21~(ST) Century

摘要

Today's refiners are dealing with many issues related to the safety, reliability and environmental performance of critical process plants. A lot of these issues are driven by the skills of human resources. The focus of this paper is how to maintain and enhance the skills of the plant engineers and operators who run these plants. Currently we are going through a period of transition as a new generation of engineers and operators enter the refining industry. In countries with mature economies and slow growth rates, this transition is largely due to a wave of retiring expertise. In countries with developing economies and high growth rates, the transition is due to the rapid addition of new process plants and the corresponding shortage of expertise. In both cases, there is a looming shortage of skills which are typically gained over many years of experience. These skills are critical for avoiding operational errors that can negatively effect plant performance.