Aerial view of a large process plant with storage tanks

Ready before startup.

Building a chemical plant from the ground up, then getting it operating safely and efficiently, takes expert training materials, sound procedures and a strong working relationship.

Industry: Petrochemical
Client: Global 500 petrochemical company
Project: New plant near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Service: Operator training program and operating procedures

Overview: In June 2016, a Global 500 petrochemical company began building a major chemical plant near Pittsburgh. The scope included an ethane cracker with about 3.3 billion pounds of ethylene capacity per year, three polyethylene units with a combined capacity of about 3.5 billion pounds per year, power and steam generation, storage, logistics, cooling water, water treatment, flare and associated buildings. Starting up and safely operating a plant of this size led the company to ask PeopleCore to develop and implement an operator training program and operating procedures.
The brief: The site’s operations team wanted one complete program covering both training materials and operating procedures, and they wanted it developed and implemented before operations began. Our training material developers and procedure writers worked closely with the plant’s production unit managers and subject matter experts.
Challenge: A new facility brings many obstacles. New training materials and operating procedures had to be written to keep the plant safe, and a large number of new operators had to be trained. In short, a complete training program had to be developed and implemented before production began.
Solution: PeopleCore built a custom training program with unit overview, system, equipment, process technology and process control modules for every unit on site, plus training guides and assessments to lead instructors through the content and confirm learners retained it. Our procedure team wrote standard operating procedures from site information and federal, state and local regulations and standards, with on-site meetings and close work with plant SMEs to keep them accurate. We also built a procedure generator for the client that ensured every required item was included and kept formatting consistent plant-wide.
Results: Working closely with the operations team, PeopleCore delivered the training materials and operating procedures the new facility needed before the start of production.

Starting up a complex, large-scale facility takes an enormous amount of preparation to make sure operations are safe and reliable. Working side by side with the operations team, PeopleCore had the training and procedures ready before production began.Conclusion