Secado de madera

A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation for Spanish vocational training (Formacion Profesional), Madera, Mueble y Corcho family: module 1639 Tratamientos de la madera (Tecnico en Procesado y transformacion de la madera, grado medio, Real Decreto 838/2020).

The learner is a newly qualified technician who runs a charge on her own for the first time in the drying chamber of a fictional sawmill in a fictional town of Leon: 40 cubic metres of 27 mm oak boards, sawn green, for a flooring maker who asks for 9 per cent of moisture with 2 points of tolerance.

Eight decisions over four moments of the drying programme: how the stack is built and where the probes go, the climate of the first phase, what is done about the first surface checks, how the moisture is followed, when the step to the hot phase is taken, how vents, fans and heat are run, how the programme ends, and how the charge is checked and delivered.

Scored on timber downgraded, days in the chamber, energy per cubic metre of sound timber and boards delivered outside the moisture tolerance; two tempting choices hide their cost until the timber shows it, and two critical errors (the running chamber entered alone, a moisture written on the delivery note without measuring) cap the round. Lesson: drying fast saves days and costs timber. Training level only.

Spanish primary, English parity. All companies, towns and people are fictional.

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.