In a space of 3 months, I taught and trained 2 new graduated chemical engineers about my physical refining plant. As a person in charge of the plant, I thought I already know everything about my plant. However, having those 2 new engineers really tested my real understanding of my own plant.
The two of them were fresh graduates and they haven't seen or experienced being in a plant before. So, they were very curious about the plant, its process, equipments, vessels, PID drawing and a lot more. I explained to them the process involved in the plant step by step with reference to the plant PID drawing. As I went through the initial stage i.e. from the storage tank, then to a pump, strainer, heat exchanger and so on... both of them (in different occasions) tentatively listen and made notes. Then we went through the Niagara filters, filters bags, filter cartridges.... and so on. Then the heating stage... passing through few plate heat exchangers, shell and tube etc. Then to the pack column, another series of heat exchangers, filters and to a product storage tank (I'm not trying to explain my process here, that's just a brief idea on how I explained the steps and processes to them).
The
PID (
Piping and Instrumentation Diagram) contains all the piping, valves, actuators, pump, RTD, pressure transmitters, level sensors, flow meters, heat exchangers, vessels, strainers, filters and so on in the plant. I need to really look at it and trace the lines in order to show the flow. Well, my plant is quite big and that is really shown in the complicated PID drawing. That's good... at least it refreshes me when I'm explaining to them.
At several occasions, they asked about this and that.... Some of the questions were easy to answer while some others were surprisingly difficult to answer because I forgot, or I don't know about it. That means, there are still points and stuffs about my plant that I haven't covered yet (that I don't know). They made me realized about it and it made me seek for answers. So, after investigating about it and getting answers, I informed those new engineers and indirectly my comprehension on my own plant became better. Looking the scenario at a different angle, I'm actually revising and learning about my own plant when I teach or explain to others. Isn't that cool? Both parties benefited. They learned new process and engineering knowledge while I established my understanding on my plant.
Conclusion and morale of the story...
Don't keep the technical knowledge to yourself. Share them. The more you share, the more you'll get. The more you share, the better you are. The more you share, the stronger you become.
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