The role of equipment manager is quite leisurely
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Graduated in 2013 and worked at a chemical plant as a equipment supervisor. For the past 2 years, I’ve been mostly idle; of course, I get busy during major repairs or when there are problems with the equipment. In my free time, I want to improve my professional knowledge, but I’m not sure what area to focus on. Could you recommend some books or give some suggestions?
A equipment operator can become quite idle – your skills are truly outstanding.
For books, those related to equipment in one’s own workshop are useful; referring to the standards set by the American Petroleum Institute can be very helpful.
I haven’t heard of equipment operators having free time, unless they are highly skilled or just starting out.
If it’s possible to get involved in the manufacturing process, it’s worth investigating why those particular equipment choices were made, in order to gradually gain an understanding of that process
The equipment operators here are extremely exhausted, just like firefighters who can’t even bring fire under control.
I have reviewed the plant process PID, PFD, and SOPs several times, but whenever there are problems with the plant, I still can’t figure out the cause.
Is that why we need to study? If you already know everything, what’s there left to learn?
In chemical plants, it is first necessary to distinguish between different equipment categories. Reactor towers, valves, instruments, motors, hydraulics, foundations, etc. At the same time, refer to the circuit diagram to see what they look like ； Then find out what the equipment’s capabilities are, which ones are key performance aspects, what points need attention, and what aspects need to be taken into account for equipment maintenance, and so on. Once reached a certain level, one can gradually become familiar with the process parameters for various positions as well as the data during operation. Through major overhauls, one can progressively learn about the internal structure of the equipment and its key design elements, thereby gaining a comprehensive understanding of the equipment’s operation and the associated processes. It is recommended to follow the approach of borrowing drawings from the document room, verifying pipelines on-site, visiting relevant workstations, compiling the information, and seeking help on professional forums. As long as one goes deep into the workshop rather than to the drinking tables, they will gradually grow.
Your suggestions are very helpful; thank you.
At the very least, understanding the principles behind how the device works and identifying its vulnerable components could help improve things a bit.