LINCOLN, Nebraska – The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Manufacturing Extension Partnership will hold two courses this summer for ethanol plant employees intended to increase company profitability, site safety and well-being.

The Process Control Essentials Short Course provides industrial bioprocess personnel with a better understanding of all elements in a PID control loop including the sensor, actuator, process and controller. Participants will gain hands-on experience operating and tuning loops using pilot-scale equipment. Several different tuning methods and control structures will be explored.

It is a two-day course held June 25-26 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is intended for plant operators, maintenance personnel and engineers of any experience level who use or maintain control equipment and/or a DCS system. The cost is $600, and the Nebraska Ethanol Board is offering $300 tuition reimbursement upon completion of the course for qualifying ethanol plants in Nebraska. Reimbursement is limited to the first 16 registrants.

An impact study for last year’s course showed that one plant sent two employees at a cost of $1,200. This directly resulted in $150,000 in annual cost savings, $60,000 annual sales increase, one job retained and $14,000 reinvestment in employee skills’ training and workforce practices.

The Process Safety Boot Camp looks at the OSHA PSM Regulations and EPA Prevention Program process safety regulation requirements. Participants will leave with the knowledge needed to effectively implement, evaluate and audit an OSHA or EPA process safety management program in their organization.

The three-day course will take place August 7-9 at Novozymes Inc. in Blair, Nebraska. The course should be taken by new and experienced front-line engineers responsible for design, maintenance, manufacturing or supervision as managers and engineers involved in regulatory compliance. It will also be of value to auditors, insurance inspectors, compliance program managers, department managers, and corporate process safety support staff.
The cost is $1,720 for American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AlChE) members and $2,020 for non-members. Tuition reimbursement of $400 per person upon completion is available to employees of qualifying Nebraska ethanol plants, and is limited to the first 20 registrants.

For more information on either course, contact Matthew Jorgensen at 308-293-5884 or mjorgensen@unl.edu. Information and registration for the Process Control Essentials Short Course can be found at http://nemep.unl.edu/pce-2018, and for the Process Safety Boot Camp at http://nemep.unl.edu/psbc-2018.