Summary of Instrument Work

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This post was last edited by wwxxss_1 on 2009-5-28 at 14:08. Work Summary: JinHong Company is a chemical plant that mainly produces chlor-alkali and polyvinyl chloride; it has been in operation in Guizhou for nearly three years now. I have been involved in the installation, commissioning, and maintenance of instruments and electrical equipment since the company began its construction. I originally studied computer science, but when I started training at the company, I chose to work in the field of instrumentation. At that time, I had no idea what exactly instrumentation meant; however, through some time of learning and guidance from my mentors, I gradually gained an understanding of it and acquired relevant knowledge. Eventually, after three years of hard work alongside the company, my professional skills improved significantly. To the extent that they can fully handle faults on site and various issues that arise during work, as well as guide new employees by teaching them how to address problems and acquire knowledge. When I first arrived at the company, it was still in the construction phase; at that time, the installation work for instruments and electrical equipment was contracted out to Sinochem 13th Construction Company. We were fortunate to be able to contribute to the construction process. At first, we didn’t know anything and could only assist the workers by holding ladders and carrying tools. After some time, we were able to handle the wiring for the instruments as well as build supports for them. By following the blueprints to order the discharge cables and installing the instruments, as well as handling the wiring in the instrument site and control room, I acquired some basic knowledge of instrument installation after several months of learning and practice. Although the work is a bit tough, I feel the joy of learning new skills, so it doesn’t matter if I’m a little tired. Even better is that it develops one’s ability to handle problems independently. For example, figuring out how to lay the pipelines and cable trays for instruments during installation, what to do when there are errors in the design drawings, and what to do when certain instruments cannot be connected properly to the process systems. These are all minor issues, but without thinking critically, it’s impossible to complete any task or learn any skills. This was the first time I realized that working with instruments requires learning a lot, asking many questions, and using one’s brain actively – only in this way can progress be made in the work. After installation comes the debugging phase, which is the best time to truly learn the techniques; it is during this phase that the parameters of the instruments need to be set correctly. For example, for the liquid level of a device in an open-container setup, how should its range be set? What about in a closed-container setup? And if a pressure transducer is used, how should the range be determined? It is also necessary to take into account the operating conditions of the process as well as the medium present inside. For another example, since a flow channel is always subject to fluctuations, one must first determine whether the fluid flows into the container through the channel or out of it; whether there is a large pressure difference on either side of the channel; whether the pump’s head pressure is sufficient; whether there are any issues with the channel locator; and whether the PID settings on the DCS are correct. All these factors need to be checked carefully one by one. In short, many, many problems will arise during the debugging process, and once you handle them all, your skills will reach a new level. Then there are a few years of maintenance period, during which certain work experience is gained. Once you gain experience, work efficiency improves and a lot of costs can be saved as well. For example, the thermocouples inside the furnaces of hot-blast furnaces used to get damaged frequently; moreover, they would bend after being exposed to high temperatures, making it difficult to remove them during maintenance. One reason for this is that they are designed to be too long, which leads to such problems. When ordering these components, it’s better to choose ones that are shorter – since the temperature inside is very high, it’s sufficient if the thermocouple can merely detect the temperature. This way, there will be less friction with the coal ash inside, reducing the risk of damage. As a instrumentation worker, having only the ability to troubleshoot faults is far from enough; one must also understand how to select instruments, carry out anti-corrosion maintenance, and know how to ensure safe operation. When the medium inside an instrument installed on a pipeline is acid, alkali, a mixture, or a medium involved in redox reactions, what type of instrument should be chosen? And what type of instrument is appropriate when there is a vacuum inside or high temperatures present? All these factors are very important; otherwise, an instrument worth tens of thousands of dollars can be damaged after just a few days due to harsh operating conditions. It has been truly difficult for JinHong Company to grow to where it is today in just a few short years; it has now become a medium-to-large-sized enterprise. However, based on the changes that have taken place over these years, I believe there are still several issues existing within the company. First: employee turnover is too high. Jinhong Company has almost become a transit station for talents; new employees leave within just a few months of starting work. Take our instrumentation workshop, for example: over the course of three years, the staff there always consists of new employees. When these new employees arrive, they know nothing at all, not even the most basic facts. It is then necessary to provide them with training in safety and professional skills. Once they are able to carry out their tasks to a certain extent, they quit due to issues related to salary and benefits. That’s why the workforce there is always made up mainly of new employees. Regarding salaries, this reform for this exam is rather late; such changes should have been made long ago. Both technical supervisors and ordinary employees have equal opportunities – as long as you work hard, you will get what you deserve. However, in the process of implementation, there must be firmness to reflect the principles of fairness and justice. During regular theoretical training for employees, the factory also made great efforts to organize it, offering corresponding rewards and punishments for those who performed well or poorly. However, this approach had no effect at all; it seemed to be merely a formality, as everyone was not serious enough. They avoided participating in the training under various excuses, and during exams they cheated by copying from each other. As a result, someone who knew nothing ended up coming first, which in turn affected others, leading to even less attention being paid to such training sessions. That’s all regarding employee benefits. Another issue is that the company lacks credibility: when employees encounter problems, the company is not very willing to help resolve them, and it fails to adopt a people-oriented approach to address their concerns, which is why it has not yet managed to win the trust of its employees. Jinhong Company is a chemical plant with multiple hazards, where danger can arise at any time. And when an accident does occur, how many people would be willing to risk their lives to carry out rescue efforts for the sake of the company? Therefore, the company must convey trust in the minds of its employees. Second: it is a lack of awareness regarding safety. If we recall the safety incidents that have occurred in the company over the past few years. It all started with an explosion in the acetylene workshop; this was caused by an excessive amount of calcium carbide stored on the third floor, which wasn’t removed in time, resulting in too much acetylene gas in that confined space and thus an explosion. The second incident, a death due to poisoning during maintenance in an acetylene generator, occurred because the proper procedures for entering the equipment for maintenance were not followed, and there was no dedicated person to supervise the process. Third, the vehicle used to transport acid was not clean enough for transporting alkali, which led to a violent reaction occurring in a short period of time and resulting in an explosion that caused burns to people. Fourth, when hydrogen chloride leaked, the employees who tried to escape did not know how to determine the wind direction, which prevented them from taking the correct escape route and led to many people being poisoned, and so on. Therefore, the company should regularly organize training for its staff on safety issues and send them to other places to acquire technical knowledge. No matter how well a leader manages things, it are still the workers on the front line who carry out the actual work; their insufficient professional skills remain the main cause of problems. Our company also conducts safety training, but it isn’t thorough enough; safety measures should be linked to employees’ salaries and bonuses. All departments must also carry out thorough and strict safety assessments; only in this way, when it comes to the employees’ finances, will it be effective. Third: it is extremely wasteful. At the production site, we can see that many items are still usable, but they end up being discarded because there is no one to take care of them. And tools can be found everywhere at the site. Take instruments, for example: A Falun locator is purchased in large quantities over the course of a year. When a problem arises, the simplest solution is to replace it with a new one. But it doesn’t mean the device becomes unusable right away; it’s just that some small components may stop working. In that case, the damaged parts can still be reused by reassembling them from the waste materials. An instrument costs thousands or even tens of thousands of yen, but for less critical tasks we can opt for a cheaper one, thus saving a lot of money in the long run. In short, the company has now entered a completely new phase, and I am confident that I can work together with the company to create an even better future!