Valve Training Overcomes Bad Habits

Instrument technicians at the Chevron Oil Co. refinery in El Paso, TX, have a thirst for knowledge, but sources of technical information in the west Texas city have been scarce, and not always accurate.

According to Hector Pedregon, an instrument technician at the refinery for more than 15 years, Until 1997, we never had any formal training on valves. We learned from the "old-timers"; they taught us their bad habits. When a technician transferred here from another refinery and started questioning some of our procedures, our only answer was, "that's the way they told us to do it." Come to find out, we were doing a lot of things wrong, which resulted in inefficient process control and extra valve wear. Thats a hard way to learn.

Another person who recognized that the maintenance technicians needed more knowledge was Pat Carroll, account manager for Vinson Process Controls, the Fisher-Rosemount representative covering west Texas. Carroll began holding informal classes with technicians in a section of the refinery where some of the valves were so old the instruction manuals were long gone.

Those guys were starving for information, Carroll said, but I couldn't convince management to bring professional instruction to El Paso. That attitude changed after the true condition of some valves was revealed.

Valve evaluation
In preparation for a shutdown period early in 1996, Carroll arranged to have an outside technician bring equipment to the refinery to evaluate several control valves identified as problems by various operators.

Most of the valves were located in the crude oil unit, where severe service conditions can be very hard on valve components. The test results showed that more than half the valves tested were suffering from calibration problems that could be corrected by knowledgeable technicians without costly, time-consuming valve repairs.

That was a big win for valve testing, Carroll said. Refinery officials now intend to have all, troublesome, valves scanned prior to major shutdowns. Also, some process engineers began to realize that many of their control problems stemmed from inadequate valve maintenance. As a result, we were able to schedule a valve instrumentation course in El Paso for the first time.

On-site training
Because little money had been budgeted for training, the on-site school for all instrument technicians and some of the process engineers was pared down to just 2 days. The normal 4 1/2 day Fisher-Rosemount Educational Services valve instrument technician course was tailored to address the company's most urgent needs, as determined by the number of complaints received on various pieces of equipment. Valve actuators and the calibration of positioners were to be emphasized.

A good deal of information was presented in lecture format, and the technicians then had an opportunity to practice correct procedures for calibrating different types of valve positioners in the hands-on laboratory sessions.

Rick Spano, the technician from the other refinery who pointed out faults in local instrument calibration procedures, felt the training was good, but a little quick. I'd like to have more time to play with the stuff. It was good that they brought in a lot of equipment, because the best way to learn is to practice doing things the right way on the same equipment we have in the refinery.

Steve Lemmon, another technician who spends most of his time working on control valves, said, The course was tailored nicely to our needs. It was very informative; we need more of this type of training.

It looks as if Lemmon and some of the others will have their wishes answered. Carroll now meets regularly with refinery officials to discuss valve-related issues, and he said that training, not just for technicians but for process and project engineers, as well, is near the top of the list.

We're trying to devise a formal training program, Carroll said. We're slowly proving that training is necessary to overcome some of the old ways and lay the groundwork for more efficient valve operation in the future. MT

Ed Boehm is an instructor with Fisher-Rosemount Educational Services, P.O. Box 190, Marshalltown, IA 50158-0190; (800) 338-8158; e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .