Elements and Performance Criteria

Context
This unit of competency includes all such items of equipment and unit operations which form part of the distillation system.

For your plant this may include (select relevant items):
columns/towers
trays/packing
boilers/reboilers
condensers
heat exchangers
refrigerant compressors
pumps
valves.

Typical problems for your plant may include:
flooding
channelling (packed column)
dumping
entrainment.

HSE
All operations to which this unit applies are subject to stringent health, safety and environment requirements, which may be imposed through State or Federal legislation, and these must not be compromised at any time. Where there is an apparent conflict between performance criteria and HSE requirements, the HSE requirements take precedence.

Assessment context and methods
Assessment for this unit of competency will be on an operating plant. The unit will be assessed in as holistic a manner as is practical and may be integrated with the assessment of other relevant units of competency. Assessment will occur over a range of situations, which will include disruptions to normal, smooth operation.

Simulation may be required to allow for timely assessment of parts of this unit of competency (e.g. elements 1- 3). Simulation should be based on the actual plant and will include walk throughs of the relevant competency components. Simulations may also include the use of case studies/scenarios, role plays and 3D virtual reality interactive systems. In the case of evacuation training or of training for competencies practised in life threatening situations, simulation may be used for the bulk of the training.

This unit of competency requires an application of the knowledge contained in the use of distillation units and their integral equipment, to the level needed to maintain control and recognise and resolve problems. This can be assessed through questioning and the use of what if scenarios both on the plant (during demonstration of normal operations and walk throughs of abnormal operations) and off the plant.

Critical aspects
Competence must be demonstrated in the ability to recognise and analyse potential situations requiring action and then in implementing appropriate corrective action. The emphasis should be on the ability to stay out of trouble rather than on recovery from a disaster.

Consistent performance should be demonstrated. In particular look to see that:
early warning signs of equipment/processes needing attention or with potential problems are recognised
the range of possible causes can be identified and analysed and the most likely cause determined
appropriate action is taken to ensure a timely return to full performance
obvious problems in related plant areas are recognised and an appropriate contribution made to their solution.

These aspects may be best assessed using a range of scenarios/case studies/what ifs as the stimulus with a walk through forming part of the response. These assessment activities should include a range of problems, including new, unusual and improbable situations, which may have been generated from the past incident history of the plant, incidents on similar plants around the world, hazard analysis activities and similar sources.

Resource implications
Assessment will require access to an operating plant over an extended period of time, or a suitable method of gathering evidence of operating ability over a range of situations. A bank of scenarios/case studies/what ifs will be required as will a bank of questions, which will be used to probe the reasoning behind the observable actions.

Other assessment advice
In all plants it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with relevant teamwork and communication units. Consider co-assessment with:
PMAOPS201A - Operate fluid flow equipment
PMAOPS222A - Operate and monitor pumping systems and equipment
PMAOPS205A - Operate heat exchangers.

In a major hazard facility, it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with:
PMAOHS200 - Participate in workplace safety procedures.

Essential knowledge
The knowledge referred to in the evidence guide for this unit includes:
architecture of the process/production system
tolerances, limitations and specifications required
systems operating parameters
process control philosophies and strategies
outside process/production operations (including column, tray/packing and boiler operations) and distillation principles (including stripping and rectification)
heating and cooling principles
stabilisation principles.

Competence also includes the ability to isolate the causes of problems to an item of equipment within the distillation system and to distinguish between causes of problems/alarm/fault indications such as:
process feed variations
instrument failure/wrong reading
electrical failure
mechanical failure
operational problem.