(73a) Plant Troubleshooting: Engineers as Detectives

It's 2am and the plant calls to tell you that the unit is not running well and they have no idea what is wrong. All eyes are on you to figure out what happened. Where do you start? How do you find the information you need? As engineering majors, not only were we taught how to design heat exchangers and run a material balance, but we were also shown how to solve problems. This paper outlines the mental process used to troubleshoot plant issues including the information that needs to be gathered to solve the problem and the role an engineer plays as a liaison for the team.