PPI 300
Process Equipment and Piping Systems
COURSE SCHEDULE
| Code | Date | Location | price (€)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| PPI 300 | 23 - 25 July 2026 | Online | 2000 |
| PPI 300 | 2-4 Nov 2026 | Paris | 2700 |
* Prices are subject to VAT and local terms. Ph.D. students, groups (≥ 3 persons) and early bird registrants (8 weeks in advance) are entitled to a DISCOUNT!
COURSE OVERVIEW
Every process plant is built around equipment, vessels, exchangers, columns, pumps, compressors, turbines, valves, and the piping that connects them all. Understanding how these systems work is not optional for anyone who operates, maintains, or manages them. But understanding how they fail is equal if not more important.
This course takes a deliberate top-down approach: starting with the equipment categories that have the broadest impact on plant operation (pressure vessels, heat exchangers, piping systems), then moving to the rotating machinery that drives production (pumps, compressors, turbines). Throughout, the emphasis is consistent: what is this equipment doing, why does it behave the way it does, and what are the early warning signs that something is going wrong.
At the end of the course, participants will approach equipment not as black boxes to be operated blindly, but as systems with predictable behavior, recognizable failure patterns, and clear indicators of degradation, giving them the ability to act before failures become incidents.
COURSE OUTLINE
5 days
Day 1:Static Equipment
o Pressure Vessels and Process Columns.
o Heat Exchangers and Fouling.
o Piping Systems and Pipe Classes.
o Flanges, Gaskets and Valves.
o Safety Relief Devices.
o Exercises:
• Exercise 01: Catch a distillation column in early performance decline and determine the right intervention before separation efficiency forces a shutdown.
• Exercise 02: Identify which exchanger is quietly eroding heat recovery performance and build the economic argument that makes deferral the more expensive option.
• Exercise 03: Determine whether a PSV that refuses to behave is signaling a process threat or announcing its own failure and respond correctly to each.
• Exercise 04: Pinpoint the cause of a high-pressure flange leak and sequence the safest repair without interrupting unit operations
Plant Alpha Anchor Scenario: All case studies and exercises drawn from a single integrated process plant containing all equipment categories covered in the course, used progressively across all three days
Day 2: Rotating Equipment
o Centrifugal Pumps: Curves, Cavitation and Mechanical Seals.
o Positive Displacement Pumps.
o Centrifugal and Reciprocating Compressors.
o Gas and Steam Turbines.
o Exercises:
• Exercise 05: Decode the warning signs of a deteriorating reflux pump and name the exact failure mode before it escalates into an unplanned shutdown.
• Exercise 06: Determine whether a booster pump is still operating where it should be or already drifting toward a failure that preventive action could have avoided.
• Exercise 07: Find out why a compressor keeps surging at every startup and deliver the specific fix that breaks the pattern permanently.
• Exercise 08: Uncover what is quietly stealing of a gas turbine's power output while the fuel consumption gives nothing away.
Day 3: Practical Workshop
Morning Session: Diagnose three simultaneous equipment problems in isolation, heat exchanger fouling, pump deterioration, and PSV abnormal behavior using real Plant Alpha operating data.
Afternoon Session: Determine whether four simultaneous equipment symptoms share a single underlying process cause and develop the integrated diagnosis and response sequence.
Individual Quiz Assessment: 20 questions. Minimum passing score: 60%.
INSTRUCTOR
Instructor Profile
The Instructor is a Petroleum Engineer, holds M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering, and is Specialist Natural Gas Engineering. He has over 20 years of hands-on O&G industry experience spanning gas processing, crude treatment, production operations, and technical training across onshore and offshore environments in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.
His operational background includes five years as OJT Instructor at production facilities in the Middle East, AGRU Package Leader roles, and extensive experience as Process Engineer across upstream and downstream O&G facilities.
Since 2015 he has been a Senior Lecturer on IFP Training’s international instructor roster, delivering advanced gas processing, thermodynamics, field processing, and operations training to engineers and operators across three continents
FAQ
DESIGNED FOR
Operations and engineering professionals who work with process equipment in OandG and refining environments:
o Process and Field Operators who work directly with the equipment covered
o Maintenance Technicians and Reliability Engineers seeking process context for their work
o Process Engineers who need a working understanding of equipment behavior and failure modes
o Inspection Engineers and Technical Supervisors
o Engineers transitioning from upstream or midstream roles into downstream or refining environments
Recommended experience: Minimum 2 years in a process plant or OandG facility environment.
COURSE LEVEL
o Intermediate to Advance
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
o Explain the operating principles and typical failure modes of the main categories of static equipment: pressure vessels, columns, heat exchangers, and piping systems
o Identify the function and operational behavior of valves and safety relief devices, including PSVs and rupture discs
o Recognize the early warning signs of heat exchanger fouling and explain its impact on process performance and energy consumption
o Explain the operating principles of centrifugal and positive displacement pumps, including cavitation, NPSH, and mechanical seal behavior
o Describe the operating logic of centrifugal and reciprocating compressors, including surge, anti-surge systems, and common failure indicators
o Explain the operating principles of gas and steam turbines and identify the main parameters used to monitor their performance
o Diagnose common equipment problems using process data, equipment trends, and operational observations
o Apply a systematic equipment failure diagnosis approach in realistic plant scenarios
REGISTER
Registration is now OPEN!
* Prices are subject to VAT and local terms. Ph.D. students, groups (≥ 3 persons) and early bird registrants (8 weeks in advance) are entitled to a DISCOUNT!
For more details and registration please send email to: register@petro-teach.com
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