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Dung Quat refinery trains its own
The long-delayed Dung Quat oil refinery is on schedule to begin operations on February 25, with State-run oil giant PetroViet-nam and the French contractor Technip-Coflexip both committed to the date, PetroVietnam chairman Dinh La Thang said last week.
"Building and operating an oil refinery is an enormously complex task, requiring enormous investment in capital, technology, and equipment, as well as skilled labour forces," said Thang.
To meet the pressing demand for qualified workers, Technip has conducted a number of training courses, including those for engineers who will operate the plant and ensure its safety.
Technip selected the RSI Simcon Group, an affiliate of the French Petrol Institute, to deliver four operator training simulators to the refinery to ensure initial training of plant operators prior to start-up, according to RSI project manager Dau Thi Thuy Lan.
The simulators model processes for the refinery’s atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit, continuous catalytic reformer unit, residue fluid catalytic cracking unit and light cycle oil hydrotreating unit. Refinery personnel who pass training using the simulators would be certified by the RSI, Lan said.
The simulators would act as a virtual plant giving workers better understanding of complex, automated facilities in an era of increasing environmental and safety concerns, said Lan.
The RSI would also support Technip and PetroVietnam to maintain simulators and deliver training courses until 2012, she said.
The Dung Quat oil refinery commenced construction in November 2005 with a budget for its initial stage of about US$2.5 billion. The facility has a design capacity to process 6.5 million tonnes of crude oil per year.
The RSI has operated since 1980, serving the onshore/offshore oil and gas, refining, petrochemicals, LNG processing, coal liquification, and environment fields.
VNS
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