Reunión en 25 Minutos
The same weekly coordination meeting, run five Mondays in a row (1 February - 1 March 2027): the learner is the new operations manager of a…
About this simulation
A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation for Spanish vocational training (Formacion Profesional), module 0112 Control de procesos quimicos industriales of the Tecnico en Planta Quimica (Real Decreto 178/2008) and module 0190 Regulacion y control de proceso quimico of the Tecnico Superior en Quimica Industrial (Real Decreto 175/2008).
The learner is Jaione Urquidi, a newly qualified panel operator of a fictional oleochemical firm, through 2027, at the DCS console of a continuous glycerine concentration unit: a feed-flow loop, an evaporator level loop, a temperature loop in cascade on the steam flow and an independent high-level trip.
Four situations set the year's course: a level transmitter that reads low while the evaporator fills, and how a suspect reading is checked (against the field gauge, a redundant indication and the mass balance, never by bypassing the trip) and how the oscillating loop is tuned (by the method, the inner loop first); an alarm flood after a steam dip and a hunting flow loop, and how the flood is read (by priority, each alarm read before it is acknowledged) and how the loop is diagnosed (the valve before the tuning); the summer restart and the alarm system, and how the loops change mode (without a bump) and what is done with the alarms (rationalised from the log, shelving only for a set time); and a real high temperature at night, confirmed in a minute and treated as real, and how failures and changes are recorded.
Three critical errors cap the round: the high-level trip bypassed because the screen reads low, the whole alarm list acknowledged unread, a confirmed deviation dismissed as another faulty transmitter. KPIs: glycerine on specification, unit operating cost, alarms not attended a week and unplanned stops. Lesson: a failed sensor can lead the operator to cause the accident. Spanish primary, English parity.
Fictional plant, companies and people; real curriculum cited.
What participants learn
After the session, participants will be able to:
- Distinguish a failed transmitter from a real process change by comparing the reading with the field gauge, a redundant indication and the mass balance before acting on it
- Apply a methodical loop tuning: check the measurement and the valve first, run a step test in manual, change one parameter at a time and close the inner loop of a cascade before the outer one
- Prioritize an alarm flood by reading the first-out and high-priority alarms and the trends before acknowledging, and send the field operator where the priority alarm points
- Change control modes without a bump and keep the alarms healthy, giving each alarm its cause, consequence, response and priority and shelving one only for a set time and with a record
- Judge when two independent indications confirm a real deviation, bring the unit to a safe state before diagnosing any instrument, and record every sensor failure, alarm flood and change
Who it is for
An introductory simulation that assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, designed for undergraduate courses. It also works in vocational and high-school programmes and in onboarding sessions.
How a session runs
- The instructor creates a session from the Eureka dashboard and invites the participants.
- Participants play 4 rounds. In each one they submit their decisions and the simulation calculates the results. The first round opens with: martes 12 de enero, 6:10: la lectura que miente y el lazo que oscila.
- The simulation can be run in English, Español.
- The instructor follows each participant's progress and results from the dashboard, and uses the class results for the debrief.