HOW DO THE PROCESS TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES
IMPACT LIFESTYLES IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES?

If you live in the United States, there is a high probability that process industries impacted your life from the get-go this morning.

As the great poet, John Lennon, once wrote: “Woke up, fell out of bed…dragged a comb across my head.”

This morning, the vast majority of PTOA Readers that live within city limits were woken up by an alarm ringing from a cell phone or perhaps from an ancient electric clock-radio.

Eventually, you turned on the lights and got out of bed and then stumbled into the bathroom where you did your business and brushed your teeth.

You didn’t give a second thought to any of these actions. You were expecting your charged-up cell phone or the alarm from your plugged-in clock-radio to wake you up. Next you expected the bedroom and bathroom lights to go on when you flipped their switches. And then you presumed that the water would flow when you turned on the sink faucets and flushed the toilet.

 

Exploration & Production of Natural Resources
And Power Generation & Transmission are Process Industries

In reality, an army of employees working in the electrical generation and transmission process industries made it possible for PTOA Readers to take electricity-on-demand for granted. The unsung heroes of all the process technology workers are those that work generating and distributing utilities because without them no other processing or work could happen!

So what’s happening on the other side of that plate cover screwed over the electrical outlet on your bathroom wall?

The majority of the USA consumed energy is derived from fossil fuels.

A 2010 USA energy report states that 25% of the energy in the United States was derived from petroleum (aka crude oil), 22% from the combustion (burning) of coal and 22% was supplied by the combustion of natural gas.

Nuclear Power is also a process industry and it supplied 8.4% of the US energy.

Renewable energy sources supplied 8%, which was mainly from hydroelectric dams and biomass but also included other renewable sources such as wind power, geothermal and solar energy.

All of the energy producing industries apply the fundamentals of Process Technology that are featured in the Process Technology & Operator Academy.

Coal and natural gas must be coaxed out of the ground and drastically cleaned up prior to even being transported and delivered as feedstock to a power plant. The process technology workers involved with the exploration and production (E&P) of natural resources do that work.

The coal becomes feedstock for the furnace-boiler of a coal-fired plant and the natural gas becomes feedstock for a gas turbine in a more modern power plant. These power-generating plants are operated and monitored by process plant operators.

To make certain that the generation and distribution of quality electricity to your home would not be interrupted, the furnaces and turbines are overhauled at regular intervals by mechanics, mechanical technicians and automatic instrumentation technicians.

Everybody on this electrical utility supply chain had to do their job right so that PTOA Readers could take it for granted that the utility known as “electricity” would be safely supplied to that wall outlet.

 

Other Kinds of Utilities Used by Process Industries

Some process technology industries use utility types that PTOA Readers will not be familiar with. For example, a utility called fuel gas is ignited in a thing called a fired heater (don’t worry! PTOA Readers will learn all about these things later).

When fuel gas is not available, dry natural gas (just like the gas that  may be used in your household kitchen range or clothes dryer) is needed as a substitute fuel.

Cooling water is needed to cool things down. Potable water must be available for drinking water. Less pure water can be stored for access in the event a fire needs to be extinguished (hence called fire water).

Nitrogen and even steam are used to make sure an atmosphere is inert or clean.

 

Take Home Message: Two important industries that use process technologies are the exploration and production of natural resources and electrical utility generation and transmission. Without utilities, no other processing can take place. There are several types of utilities used in an industrial process facility that are not commonly used outside of the processing plant.

Photo credit: http://diy.stackexchange.com

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©2014 PTOA Orientation Segment 2

 

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