Operator expertise required

Activated sludge process description, 140 influencing factors, 140 operator expertise required, 140 use of Activated Sludge Advisor Prototype, 141-145... 

The data logger or microprocessor selected by your predictive maintenance program is critical to the success of the program. There is a wide variety of systems on the market that range from handheld overall value meters to advanced analyzers that can provide an almost unlimited amount of data. The key selection parameters for a data acquisition instrument should include the expertise required to operate, accuracy of data, type of data, and manpower required to meet the program demands. 

Expertise required to operate One of the objectives for using microprocessor-based predictive maintenance systems is to reduce the expertise required to acquire error-free, useful vibration and process data from a large population of machinery and systems within a plant. The system should not require user input to establish maximum amplitude, measurement bandwidths, filter settings, or allow free-form data input. All of these functions force the user to be a trained analyst and will increase both the cost and time required to routinely acquire data from plant equipment. Many of the microprocessors on the market provide easy, menu-driven measurement routes that lead the user through the process of acquiring accurate data. The ideal system should require a single key input to automatically acquire, analyze, alarm and store all pertinent data from plant equipment. This type of system would enable an unskilled user to quickly and accurately acquire all of the data required for predictive maintenance. 

Training. All personnel involved in the operation or maintenance of the system must be appropriately trained or experienced to conduct their duties as stated in GMP regulations. The project must determine the level of training required in order to establish the appropriate awareness, understanding and/or expertise required to exercise these tasks. 

A procedure shall be defined and executed for a functional safety assessment in such a way that a judgement can be made as to the functional safety and safety integrity achieved by the safety instrumented system. The procedure shall require that an assessment team is appointed which includes the technical, application and operations expertise needed for the particular installation. 

The definitive method for Pb quantification in biological media, and notably whole blood, is IDMS. IDMS accuracy traces to the fact all analytical manipulations are on a weight basis and entail simple procedures (NAS/NRC, 1993 U.S. EPA, 1986). There are essentially two reference methods, both validated with IDMS and in widespread use for routine measurements in environmental and occupational epidemiology and clinical applications (NAS/NRC, 1993 U.S. EPA, 2006). These are a spectroscopic method, graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GE-AAS), and an electrochemical approach, ASV. Both ASV and GE-AAS demonstrate the requisite track record in terms of accuracy, precision, time requirements, and cost-effectiveness for routine but reliable methodology (Flegal and Smith, 1995 NAS/NRC, 1993). ICP-MS can also be viewed as a reference method for those analytical settings where costs for operator expertise, instrumentation, and procedures are not critical, such as academic research laboratories. 

The major disadvantages of ECM over conventional machining are the high cost of the ECM machine and its high maintenance cost, the technical expertise required of the operator, and the lower accuracy achieved. 

Mass spectrometty is generally used in the flavor area to either determine the identity of an unknown or to act as a mass-selective GC detector. As mentioned, MS as an identification tool is unequaled by other instruments. The systems have largely become turn-key systems that require little or no operator expertise. If the operator can do GC, he/she can do MS. Comprehensive MS libraries and efficient searching algorithms make identification simple however, here lies a danger. A MS will provide a best match (suggest identity) for any unknown irrespective of the validity of the match. The neophyte often accepts the proposed identifications without question and obtains incorrect identifications. It is essential that all MS identifications be supported by other data, for example, GC retention data, IR, or nmr. 

The goal is to design the entire water/steam plant in compliance with guidelines and quality requirements applied in conventional (fossil fired) power plants. This presupposes that it need not perform any safety related tasks. For this reason the conventional water/steam plant can be designed according to utility/national practice. This minimises the special operator expertise and can be readily accommodated without real impact on the EFR NSSS. 

Is special expertise required to operate or maintain the new system What service will the vendor provide Does the system or procedure create or remove safety hazards ... 

The CHDF technique (Section 8.4.2.2) is capable of providing very accurate size distribution information for dilute polymer emulsions containing more than one peak in the PSD. However, it cannot be used to analyze soft polymers, due to particle retention problems. This technique is used more frequently in research/QC labs than in production environments, because it requires significant operator expertise and experience. 

Operational Constraints and Problems. Synthetic ammonia manufacture is a mature technology and all fundamental technical problems have been solved. However, extensive know-how in the constmction and operation of the faciUties is required. Although apparendy simple in concept, these facihties are complex in practice. Some of the myriad operational parameters, such as feedstock source or quaUty, change frequendy and the plant operator has to adjust accordingly. Most modem facihties rely on computers to monitor and optimize performance on a continual basis. This situation can produce problems where industrial expertise is lacking. 

Generahzed correlations are available for each of the operations which make up the full filter cycle. This means that simulated operating conditions can be varied to obtain a maximum of information without requiring an excessive number of test runs. The minimum number of test runs required for a given feed will, of course, vary with the expertise of the experimenter and the number of operations performed during the filter cycle. If, for example, the operation invdves only the dewatering of a slurry which forms a cake of relatively low to moderate porosity, frequently sufficient data can be obtained in as little as six runs. For more difficult tests, more runs are usually advisable, and the novice certainly should make a larger number of runs as there is likely to be more data scatter. 

The analyst must necessarily rely on the expertise and efforts of others to operate, gather, and analyze samples and record (automatically or manually) readings. Communication of the goals, measurement requirements, and outcome to all involved is critical. It is imperative that aU involved understand their responsibilities, the use of the information that they gather, and the goals of the test. 

If the technical staff from the client company recognizes that a toller may be asked to perform new analyses and make operating decisions based upon the results, the client may help the toller develop the needed procedures and skills required to make these decisions. Typically a round robin laboratory qualification exercise will be performed. Samples of known standards and unknown concentrations of the materials to be analyzed for the toll will be prepared and sent to both laboratories. This can help ensure that equipment calibration is synchronized and that the toller is capable of performing accurate measurements. In some cases, the toller may be the party with the chemical, process, or synthesis specific expertise. 

The IMAS technique described above is useful, in that it addresses aspects of operational skills, that is, diagnostic and problem solving abilities, that are not covered by other techniques. To that extent it can be regarded as a method of cognitive task analysis. It is not essential to use a computer program to obtain useful results. The mental models produced by IMAS can be elicited by pencil and paper methods. Nevertheless interpretation and application of the results require some expertise. 

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