DCS

Apply to local supervision for access to a training course!

Agree.

If your company wants to make sure that you know what you're doing (and ensure that both you and their processes are safe ), they'll have you trained. Here's one quote I've been hearing (just don't know who to attribute it to) that you can tell them:

"What if we train them and they leave? Well, what if we don't and they stay?"

I just love the logic of it!

I like that one, I will add it to my collection.

That is a good one, I'll break it out on my boss soon.

Let's face a real situation when there is no training; what can you do ??

keep in mind that it is very easy to know all the activities of DCS.......it is not a matter of magic as somebody could say

try to know something about the hardware ( specify limited time say 10 days)

try to find a specific job and decide to have it done by yourself, this job may be a dummy screen with only one tank and only one point of measurement say indication for the level of that tank

you will face a lot of difficulties but anyway try to have it done using the documents and the help, I am sure you will succeed

After that you will reach the starting point and you will not be afraid that DCS is difficult

You will be ready to proceed...believe me

wish you good luck and don't forget to inform me about your success

Hi ,

Very encouraging reply. Even I too wonder how all this DCS works and those who are trained never allow others to touch and do changes .....so I never used to get a chance to do even a minor modifications ....for persons like me , a small beginning like this will help us to improve further.

Thanks

Self-study is something we should all do. If you have spare time, practicing is time well spent.

The reason why untrained people are not allowed to touch and do changes is because they may do something wrong and either endanger other people, themselves and the company's equipment. Practicing offline is the only safe way to do this.

Before you get started, try to get one of the experienced guys to teach you the basics. Once you know this, you can study on your own (especially if they won't spend time to tutor you). Once in a while you can ask a single question to them. This can be done during lunch perhaps.

The next alternative is to go with the guy when he does the job. Watch how he does things without being too inquisitive. Learning how and when to ask a question to a busy person is a skill you should learn as well.

It may take a year or so but you'll learn eventually.

You may encounter people who do not want to teach you because they feel it will endanger their own position, future or status. Steer clear of them.

Other people I know took things into their own hands and got themselves trained with their own money. This is only applicable if the company is doing nothing to train you. It's money well spent, in my opinion.

I agree with trying things out for yourself, you can always build a little test stand and build some logic that doesn't affect your process as a test to see if you can make it work. The help file on DeltaV is actually pretty good as far as DCS files go, the one concern that I would have is that DeltaV logic is extremely easy to build, very user-friendly, you just put some boxes on a screen and draw lines in between them. However, that doesn't mean that it is easy to build a safe and reliable program. Downloading changes, new modules, etc. to your controller and I/O cards can be a little tricky as well.

There are roughly a bajillion check boxes and options in each DeltaV function block so test things out and make sure that everything is how you want it before you install it on a live process.

Good luck!

Recently, I found myself in the same situation as yourself. My project team was installing a version of DeltaV on a new process and noone on the team had specific prior knowledge of the programming environment. I myself went to the training class and found it to be VERY helpful but by no means exhaustive. It was a good starting point, laying the foundation for more complex work, but did not go into the level of detail that is necessary for the majority of the work my project demands. However, a point often overlooked is, the training gave me the tools to ask the right questions. The class familiarized me with the DeltaV "language" and generally calmed my fears of working with such a large complex control system platform, being out of the area of my expertise. My recommendation for you would be to take the training class (Course 7009 DeltaV Operate Implementation I) and maybe even another course (I believe there is a DeltaV Operate Implementation II). Then, discuss with your Emerson supplier, the option of a DeltaV Simulate package for your personal PC. This will give you the opportunity to experiment, learn, make mistakes, etc. on a simulation that does not effect the physical conditions of your process.