PLC, simulation training helping personnel cope with growing complexity of China`s pipelines

There are more than 7,000 km of crude oil pipelines and more than 8,000 km of natural gas pipelines in China. The Langfang-based Staff and Workers College (known simply as the Pipeline College) is a unit of the China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (Cpplb). In 1996, the Pipeline College developed plans to embrace advanced training tools in order to increase the effectiveness of the training courses it offered. The focus was in two areas: pipeline operations and programmable logic controller (PLC) set-up and maintenance. To achieve an effective training environment for pipeline operations, a simulation training system was set up using commercially available pipeline simulation software from Stoner Associates; the PLC training is based on Allen-Bradley equipment. This article covers the development of the pipeline industry in China as a background to the operation of the Pipeline College, training center hardware and software configurations, and the Pipeline College`s first experiences in using these advanced training tools and their plans for the future development of the training center.