Utility Operations: An Effective and Economic Approach to Operator Training

There is no question that, with the increasing costs of Fossil-Fuels, overall production of electricity, and replacement energy costs, the need to develop an operator’s complete familiarity with the specific plant he will be required to operate is a necessity. The major benefit is that of reduced operator errors which maximizes unit availability as dictated to by the operating staff. The approach presented utilizes the concept of developing an operator’s understanding of each system within the plant through the use of a visual tool called an operational schematic. Coupled with the use of condensed word instructions to explain both normal and abnormal operator actions in addition to a system’s control logic, the operator experiences an environment very similar to his working atmosphere. Finally, the effectiveness of this approach, considering that classroom training is coupled with continual control room and in-plant inspections, can be seen to be competitive with that obtainable from the use of a simulator but for a fraction of the cost.