By Texas A&M University

The Process Engineering R&D Center, a part of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station at Texas A&M, is offering a short course, entitled “Practical Short Course on Plant Operations and Process Engineering for Solvent and Biofuel Facilities,”October 17-20 at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

Course organizer Rich Clough states, “This course will focus on the fundamentals of the infrastructure, equipment, and process engineering unit operations required for success in modern, efficient, agricultural processing facilities  This will be helpful to new personnel as well as veterans in the industry. These folks may work in crush plants, fuel ethanol or biodiesel plants, corn wet/dry milling, sugar beet operations etc. The common thread is that everyone from this sector deals with electrical power, PLCs, steam distribution, heat exchange, separations, conveyance systems, logistics, and so on. We are fortunate to have a loyal lineup of instructors who are industry experts each with a career’s-worth of knowledge and experience to teach our attendees”.

The Process Engineering R&D Center (Formerly known as the Food Protein R&D Center) is known for hosting its “Hands-on” Practical Short Courses, so named because of the live demonstrations held at its pilot plants where participants see processing equipment in action.

Clough notes, “Everyone enjoys the ‘demos,’ even experienced processors”.

“It’s exciting because some of our participants are seeing some types of equipment for the first time, and even our seasoned operators often learn something new”.

Course Objectives: To receive comprehensive training in plant operations, to learn about and receive hands-on training in processing engineering, and to learn about emerging extraction/solvent plant and biofuel technologies

Who Should Attend: Supervisors and processing personnel from extraction plants, refineries, fuel ethanol and biodiesel plants, and individuals from other ag processing facilities interested in learning more about plant operations and process engineering.

Accommodations are available at the LaSalle Hotel for Block Rate of $95.00, use code PROCESS, 979-822-2000.

For more information, call Rich Clough at 979-862-2262 or email rclough@tamu.edu.