Addressing the skills gap

In the latest development of a long established partnership, Honeywell Process Solutions has delivered its latest automation control system to Edinburgh College, boosting the Scottish college’s efforts to educate future engineers and operators to run the world’s advanced oil and gas facilities.

Using the HPS Experion C300 controller, part of the Experion distributed control system (DCS), students will be able to study and train on the same state-of-the-art control system that is being used in many control rooms around the world. Honeywell’s automation control systems can be found in about 5000 sites such as refineries, chemical plants, natural gas facilities and offshore platforms in the oil and gas industries, as well as other manufacturing sites such as mines, paper mills, and industrial power plants.

The new DCS forms the foundation of Edinburgh College’s Oil Production Platform Simulator – a purposebuilt plant with tanks, pumps, instrumentation and other components that allows apprentices to work on a simulated system as close as possible to an actual plant.

Ross Milligan, curriculum manager for Engineering at Edinburgh College, said: “If we are to address the skills gaps we face in engineering and support the industry to reach its full potential, it’s essential we can provide today’s young engineers with the very best training and experience on modern technology.

“The new simulation system here will help students get the best possible preparation for working life, including the understanding and practical application of modern control systems used by industries in the in the UK and worldwide.”