Page 287 - Sustainable On-Site CHP Systems Design, Construction, and Operations

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engineer license issued by a city or state as requirement for employment. As in the
case of district heating and cooling plants, many of these utility engineers received
their basic training in the navy, where engine technology and plant systems aboard a
ship is commonplace.
Beginning in the 1980s manufacturing facilities became aware of the development
of small combustion turbine–driven as well as reciprocating engine–driven generator
packages and changed the way their plant operators performed their jobs. Now with
the higher cost of electricity purchased from utility companies, the use of reciprocating
engines and combustion turbine technology (as well as other CHP technologies) has
spread to district heating and cooling operations of all sizes. Now we have steam engi-
neers who are no longer firing conventional boilers to produce their process steam. The
steam engineers are challenged to learn about various engine packages, heat recovery,
the production and distribution of high voltage and how to maintain an efficient balance
of process steam or hot water produced as the result of power production.
Even as technology and demands for steam and electricity change, qualified plant
operators are still in demand. From hand-positioned controls to microprocessor-based
control systems, the plant operators today and into the future will need to receive addi-
tional training in the use of the new tools now at his or her disposal. However, the bottom
line is that these operators are still responsible for mechanical rotating equipment and
there is no substitute for the human senses in the day-to-day operation of the plant.
Each operator brings their individual skills and abilities to their plant. Those skills
and abilities should be recognized and encouraged by plant management. Those indi-
vidual skills such as welding, pipe fitting, and instrument calibration are in addition to
the ability of each operator to use all of their respective senses to constantly analyze the
present and changing conditions of the plant. Operators need to understand the internal
workings of individual pieces of equipment, how individual pieces of equipment are
connected and controlled as CHP plant systems, and how the individual CHP plant
systems work together to provide an efficient, functioning CHP plant.

The Exceptional Operator
The most common way that an operator recognizes the conditions of the plant is visu-
ally. Every plant monitors pressures, temperatures, levels, and flows through the use of
instrumentation and commonly presents that information via a gauge, chart, or com-
puter display. The operator can see the data displayed and may determine from the
data if the plant is running properly and efficiently. Through the use of computer
programmed monitoring and human–machine interface (HMI) software and monitor
screen displays the operator can see the data organized graphically to represent the
process flow of the plant and observe on/off status of equipment as well as warning
and alarm conditions. The operator will also be able to visualize the interaction of
processes as parameters change and gain new insights. The plant computer can archive
the hundreds of process measurements as historic data files and provide the operator
with the opportunity to build graphs and charts to further analyze trends and the per-
formance of the plant (see Chap. 17).
An exceptional operator will use his or her other senses too. The plant is not just a
noisy place that usually requires hearing protection. There are sounds in the plant that
the exceptional operator has learned to recognize. For example, the operator listens to
the sound of a feed pump or a condensate pump; the operator listens to the sound of the