An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Advanced Troubleshooting of Oil & Gas Processing Plants
A structured method for diagnosing process plant problems.
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 4,000
Starting From
08 Nov 2027
Advanced Troubleshooting of Oil & Gas Processing Plants
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Advanced Troubleshooting of Oil & Gas Processing Plants - SF-ATPP-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF-ATPP-PEA27 | 08 - 12 Nov 2027 | 10 AM CST | 5 Days - 4 Hours / Day |
Online |
USD |
4000 |
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Advanced Troubleshooting of Oil & Gas Processing Plants
This training teaches a structured method for diagnosing process plant problems and applies it across every major unit in an oil and gas facility. It covers evidence gathering and data validation, balance testing, hypothesis generation and elimination, the characteristic failure signatures of each equipment class, the diagnosis of instrument and measurement error, and root cause analysis for problems that keep returning.
Description
Most plant troubleshooting is unstructured. A problem appears, the most recently changed variable is blamed, adjustments are made, and if the symptom improves the matter is considered closed. Sometimes this works. More often it consumes time, produces side effects, and leaves the actual cause in place to return later. This training replaces that with a method: gather evidence, validate it, close the balances, generate hypotheses that explain all the evidence, design a test that eliminates them, and confirm the cause before acting.
The method is then applied across the plant. Separation problems, crude treating failures, glycol and amine unit deviations, fractionation column upsets, compressor and pump performance loss, heat exchanger and fired heater degradation, water treatment quality failures, utility and control system problems are each covered with their characteristic signatures and the data that distinguishes between competing causes. Instrument and measurement error is treated as a category in its own right, because a substantial proportion of apparent process problems are measurement problems, and because a wrong measurement can send a diagnosis in the wrong direction for weeks. The training closes with root cause analysis for recurring problems and the organisational practices that turn a diagnosis into a permanent fix.
The most common diagnostic error is accepting the symptom's location as the problem's location. Liquid carried into a compressor is a compressor trip, but the cause is upstream in a scrubber, a level controller, a slug or an upstream separator. Off-specification crude is a treating problem, until it turns out to be a sampling problem or a level control problem. Following the evidence upstream rather than treating the equipment that alarmed is the single most useful habit in plant troubleshooting.
Balance closure is the most powerful diagnostic tool available and the least used. If mass does not balance across a unit, something is either not being measured, being measured wrongly, or leaving somewhere it should not. If energy does not balance, heat is going somewhere unaccounted for. Both results narrow the field of possible causes dramatically before any equipment is opened, and both are available from data the plant already collects.
Instrument error deserves specific suspicion. Impulse lines block with wax and hydrate, level bridles fill with solids, orifice plates wear and reverse, thermowells fail, transmitters drift, and analysers lose calibration. In each case the reading remains plausible, which is what makes the error dangerous. A diagnostic approach that treats measurements as facts rather than as evidence to be validated will eventually chase a problem that does not exist.
Finally, recurring problems are different from single events. A problem that returns after being fixed was not fixed; the symptom was suppressed. Root cause analysis exists to distinguish between the immediate cause, the underlying technical cause and the systemic cause, and to identify which of them has to be addressed for the problem to stop returning. Facilities that do this well have short lists of chronic problems. Facilities that do not carry the same issues for years.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Apply a structured troubleshooting method from problem definition through evidence gathering to confirmed cause
- Validate process data and identify instrument and measurement error before diagnosing process causes
- Close mass, energy and component balances and use the results to narrow possible causes
- Generate hypotheses that explain all available evidence and design tests that eliminate them
- Diagnose separation, treating, dehydration, sweetening and fractionation problems from operating data
- Diagnose compressor, pump, exchanger and fired heater performance loss from process and mechanical evidence
- Diagnose produced water quality failures and utility system problems
- Distinguish process causes, mechanical causes, control causes and measurement causes
- Conduct root cause analysis on recurring problems and identify the systemic causes behind them
The training establishes the diagnostic method first, then applies it repeatedly to progressively harder problems drawn from operating facilities. Each case is presented as it would appear in practice, with incomplete and partly contradictory data, and participants work through evidence gathering, validation, balance closure, hypothesis generation and test design before the actual cause is revealed. Failure signatures for each equipment class are developed with the data patterns that identify them. Cases where the initial diagnosis was wrong are included deliberately, and participants are encouraged to bring unresolved problems from their own facilities for group analysis.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Shorten the time from problem onset to correct diagnosis and restore production faster
- Reduce unnecessary equipment intervention and spend on components that were not the cause
- Reduce recurrence of chronic problems through proper root cause resolution
- Improve the quality of data used in operating decisions by identifying measurement error routinely
- Reduce reliance on external specialists for plant performance problems
- Build a common diagnostic language across operations, process, maintenance and instrumentation teams
Participants will:
- Diagnose plant problems methodically rather than by trial and error
- Recognise the characteristic signature of each common failure mode
- Identify bad measurements before they mislead the diagnosis
- Use balance closure as a routine diagnostic step
- Lead root cause analysis on recurring problems
- Build a capability that is valued in every operating facility
- Process, facilities and production engineers
- Operations engineers, supervisors and panel operators
- Maintenance, reliability and rotating equipment engineers
- Instrument and control engineers and technicians
- Technical support and plant performance engineers
- Production chemists supporting facility operations
- Experienced field operators moving into technical roles
Module 1 - The Troubleshooting Method
- Why unstructured troubleshooting fails
- Problem definition: what changed, when, and what exactly is wrong
- Distinguishing symptom from problem and location of symptom from location of cause
- Evidence gathering: process data, laboratory data, observation, history
- Hypothesis generation and the discipline of explaining all the evidence
- Designing tests that eliminate hypotheses rather than confirm favourites
- Confirming cause before acting
- Documenting the diagnosis and the reasoning
- Managing troubleshooting under production pressure
- Common cognitive traps in diagnosis
Module 2 - Data Validation and Measurement Error
- Treating measurements as evidence rather than fact
- Pressure measurement errors: impulse line blockage, freezing, hydrate, leaks
- Temperature measurement errors: thermowell failure, poor contact, location
- Level measurement errors: bridle blockage, density change, emulsion, solids, foam
- Flow measurement errors: orifice wear and reversal, straight run, meter fouling
- Analyser errors: calibration drift, sampling system faults, response time
- Composition and laboratory data errors: sampling, handling, analysis
- Cross-checking instruments against each other and against physics
- Identifying a measurement problem masquerading as a process problem
- Historian data pitfalls: compression, averaging, tag mapping
Module 3 - Balance Testing as a Diagnostic Tool
- Mass balance closure across the facility and by unit
- Component and phase balances
- Energy balance closure and heat loss allowance
- Interpreting balance discrepancies and what each pattern suggests
- Identifying unmeasured streams, losses and leaks from balance gaps
- Reconciliation methods and gross error detection
- Using a validated simulation model as a diagnostic reference
- Establishing what the plant should be doing at current conditions
- Worked balance diagnostics on facility data sets
Module 4 - Separation and Vessel Problems
- Liquid carryover: causes, evidence and elimination sequence
- Gas blowby and its consequences downstream
- Foaming: identification and distinguishing it from other carryover causes
- Emulsion band growth and interface loss of control
- Solids accumulation and its capacity effect
- Internals damage, dislodgement and post-maintenance errors
- Level control instability and its process consequences
- Slug arrival and inlet flow variability
- Distinguishing separation problems from upstream and downstream causes
Module 5 - Crude Treating and Water Handling Problems
- Off-specification crude water content: full diagnostic sequence
- Salt content failures and desalter problems
- Tight emulsion development and chemical programme failure
- Heater treater problems: fire tube, temperature, level, internals
- Electrostatic treater grid shorting and current excursions
- Oil carry-under to the produced water system
- Produced water quality failures: hydrocyclone, flotation, filtration diagnosis
- Solids, scale and biological problems in water systems
- Chemical injection failures and their signature
- Distinguishing chemical, mechanical, hydraulic and measurement causes
Module 6 - Gas Treating and Processing Problems
- Glycol unit off-specification dew point: diagnostic sequence
- Glycol losses, degradation and contamination
- Contactor foaming and flooding
- Molecular sieve breakthrough and bed performance loss
- Amine unit off-specification treated gas
- Amine foaming, corrosion and heat stable salt effects
- Fractionation column problems: flooding, weeping, entrainment, fouling
- Column specification failures and their causes
- Cryogenic plant problems: freeze-up, exchanger fouling, recovery loss
- Distinguishing solvent condition problems from equipment problems
Module 7 - Rotating Equipment Problems
- Compressor capacity loss: process, valve, internal or driver
- High discharge temperature and its diagnosis
- Surge events and anti-surge configuration problems
- Seal system failures and gas leakage
- Pump loss of head or flow: hydraulic and mechanical causes
- Cavitation and suction recirculation signatures
- Seal and bearing failures and what the wear pattern reveals
- Vibration diagnosis: mechanical, hydraulic, process and installation causes
- Lubrication system problems and their effects
- Distinguishing machine problems from system and process problems
Module 8 - Heat Transfer and Fired Equipment Problems
- Exchanger duty loss: fouling, leakage, bypassing, maldistribution or measurement
- Tube leakage detection and cross-contamination diagnosis
- Air cooler performance loss and ambient effects
- Fired heater efficiency loss and combustion problems
- Tube skin temperature excursions and coking
- Draft problems and their consequences
- Fuel gas quality effects on fired equipment
- Heating and cooling medium circuit problems
- Distinguishing heat transfer problems from process condition changes
Module 9 - Control, Instrument and Utility Problems
- Control loop instability and cycling: measurement, valve, tuning or process
- Control valve stiction, hysteresis and sizing problems
- Valves operating fully open or fully closed as hidden constraints
- Interaction between loops and unintended coupling
- Shutdown and trip investigation methodology
- Spurious trips and their causes
- Instrument air quality and supply problems
- Power quality, voltage dip and electrical trip investigation
- Fuel gas, cooling and utility problems presenting as process problems
- Alarm flood analysis and event sequence reconstruction
Module 10 - Root Cause Analysis and Chronic Problems
- Distinguishing single events from recurring problems
- Immediate cause, underlying cause and systemic cause
- Root cause analysis methods: five whys, fault tree, causal factor charting
- Evidence preservation after an event
- Interviewing and gathering human factors evidence
- Failure analysis of components and what physical evidence reveals
- Identifying which cause must be addressed to stop recurrence
- Corrective action design and verification of effectiveness
- Bad actor identification and chronic problem registers
- Organisational practices that allow chronic problems to persist
- Sharing and applying troubleshooting knowledge across a facility
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
This course is led by a process troubleshooting specialist with more than 20 years in the oil and gas industry, built on finding the cause instead of changing things until the problem goes away.
He currently holds process engineering leadership responsibility with a major operator managing oil and gas processing plants, covering evidence-based diagnosis, root cause analysis and recurring problem resolution — the disciplines that separate real fixes from temporary workarounds. Earlier in his career he served as a process engineer on major processing facilities, leading troubleshooting investigations across separation, treating and gas processing units on some of the industry's most persistent operating problems. Across two decades he has resolved numerous recurring process issues by tracing them back to their true root cause rather than their visible symptoms.
That operating background shapes how he teaches. Delegates learn not only how process plants are designed to work, but how to diagnose them when they don't — where evidence gathering and data validation actually reveal the problem, why mass and energy balance testing exposes hidden inconsistencies, what failure signatures look like across separation, treating, rotating and heat transfer equipment, how instrument error gets mistaken for process failure, and how engineering and operations teams work through root cause analysis together. Every module is anchored in real plant problems, diagnostic data and decisions made under operational pressure.
His subject coverage spans the full troubleshooting discipline: evidence gathering and data validation, mass and energy balance testing, unit-by-unit failure signatures across separation, treating, gas processing, rotating and heat transfer equipment, instrument error, and root cause analysis for recurring problems.
He has delivered process troubleshooting training for many years across the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, working with mixed groups of engineers, operators and technical staff at every level of experience. He is an active contributor to industry forums on process troubleshooting and plant reliability.
His approach is practical, discussion-led and grounded in real plant problems — not the textbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
