Seal Training Center (STC) –Interactive Training for Sealing
Operation
1. Introduction

To meet those needs and to provide training
opportunities regarding various on-site sealing

In recent years, technology succession issues in plant

operations, Valqua started to produce skill-training

maintenance skills have gained attention in Japan due

curriculums. The first Seal Training Center（STC）

to the retirement of the baby-boomer generation andwas established in our R&D center in Nara, Japan in

the deterioration of plant equipment. Therefore,

2014 to train specialized trainers. It offers interactivemaintenance management is becoming moretraining of sealing operation curriculum withimportant. However, as extension of continuous

organizing hardware-side educational accommodation.

running periods, there are fewer opportunities forSummer 2017
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younger operators to experience on-site periodical
repair, and making it difficult to maintain and improve

2. Market Development

plant-maintenance skills. Especially, it is said thatAs Figure1 shows, starting from STC in our Nara

plant managers who are educated with only basic

R&D center, we opened other STCs including inknowledge of flange operation including specifications

Machida, Tokyo, Japan and also in China, Taiwan,and procedures without enough on-site experience

Vietnam, Thailand, and South Korea to provide

have increased. In spite of that, they need to face on-training on sealing operations for Japanese andsite troubles and field operators tend to follow theiroversea customers. This training program has become

experience and intuition for troubleshooting. In

widely known and been rated high.

general, finding root causes of troubles by knowledge

Especially, in Vietnam, Petrovietnam Manpower

only from education is not easy. It is considered that

Training College（PVMTC）, a technical-educationsome serious seal-related accidents have occurred byschool under the control of Petrovietnam, the largest

luck of on-sight experience. According to the Fire andnation energy company, adopted our training system

Disaster Management Agency, the number offor their technical training on handling industrial-use

accidents including fires and leakage（except forseal products. PVMTC is Vietnam's only vocational

those caused by earthquakes）occurring at major

training school for processing plants, where overpetrochemical complexes around Japan has been

15,000 field workers from various industries study.

increasing rapidly since 2006.

We dispatched several Vietnamese specialists as aAlso, in developing nations, where many projects fortrainer to PVMTC, and lent main equipment of STC

the new construction and expansion of facilities andand transferred it to PVMTC. We also provide ourequipment are planned, manpower shortages cause

technologies through essential training-associatedleakage troubles due to inappropriate selection of seal

knowledge, textbooks and other materials, thus

product and unstable operation. To address suchoffering practical training on sealing skills toproblems, these countries are urgently demanded tocontribute the heavy chemical industry of Vietnam.

develop and secure operators.

We also expect to promote the Valqua brand through19

Technical Papers

those activites.

and disclosed the results as shown in Table 1. The

Furthermore, in China, we have co-held“Valquacolored cells in the table show the number ofTraining Session”with China Petroleum and Chemical

accidents caused by seals, which account for 20 toIndustry Federation which have been sponsored by25% of all accidents.

the China Friction & Sealing Material Association forAmong accidents caused by seals, over 80% were due

seals and fluororesin products since 2003. At“Valquato inappropriate selection of seal product and unstable

Training Session”in 2016, our new on-site service ofoperation, as shown in Figure2.

conducting STC training at users' sites wasintroduced with user’s great interest.

Poor
operation

Seal Training Center

Locations of STC

Korea

China
Vietnam

MACHIDA-SHI, TOKYO

Poorselection

GOJO-SHI, NARA

OthersTaiwan※ Source: The High Pressure Gas
Safety Institute of Japan

ThailandCauses of leakage

Therefore, as Figure3 shows, we extracted on-site

Locations of STC

problems, analyzed seal-related troubles, introduced
countermeasures against the problems and applied theknowledge into our STC training curriculums. In

3. Concept

short, the STC training covers the processes from theSTC, which has attracted great interest from thebasics of seal product selection to the management ofmarket, was developed through our accumulated

sealing-associated components. Based on "Know-Why";

sealing skills, especially engineering skills obtained byto know the causes of leakage and why selection andanalyzing and solving troubles.

operation are important, we have developed training

The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan has

which integrates classroom-lecture theories andanalyzed the causes of high-pressure-gas accidents

operational training to teach our Know-How including
what operations are required and how to solve
problems.

Total

Total

Malpractice

Total

Total

Poor sealing management

Poor inspection

Poor fastening management

9 40 6 46 345

Total

1

Poor manufacturing

6

Poor design2015 54 9 24 87 85 30 13 28 26 21 203 2Year

Insufficient communication

4. Training Program

Insufficient operational
standard and others

Errors in operation and judgment

Poor
Human
organization factors
Poor organizational management

Poor vessel management

Poor testing management

Poor maintenance andadministration of equipment
Poor corrosion management

Poor design andmanufacturing ofequipment

Poor operational management

Classification

Table 1 C ause-specific analysis of high-pressure-gas
accidents

We analyzed mistakes in seal-product selection andoperation which are the major causes of accidents
stemming from sealing and then devisedcountermeasures. STC offers training focusing on such

2014 53 14 19 86 72 19 11 29 26 17 174 0 15 6 21 33 6 39 320

countermeasures. In selection training of seal product,2013 38 14 23 75 77 28 18 23 33 19 198 0 15 1 16 50 4 54 343

trainees study the basic selection guidelines to learn

2012 35 11 10 56 65 65 8 28 31 11 208 0 13 1 14 69 13 82 360

how to select optimal gaskets based on fluid type,2011 22 17 11 50 67 66 8 38 28 20 227 0pressure, and temperature specified by the customer.

8

19 45 4 49 335

The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan, Summary Report ofAccidents Associated with High-Pressure Gas（as of December 2015）

Then, they learn about the dynamic behavior of20

Summer 2017

Figure1

Figure2

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Seal Training Center (STC) – Interactive Training for Sealing Operation

Seal Training Center（STC）
Cooperation with customers to investigate the root cause of a leakSelection error

Operational mistake

Pressure

Fluid

Tightening

Mounting

Practicing "Know-Why"and turning "KnowWhy" into skills
Exceeds the range of utilizationpressure → Breakage

Temperature

Fluid mismatch and breakage

Life cycle

Misaligned mounting →reduction in seal width

Overtightening →Breakage

Transportation

Storage

MaintenanceAccumulation of "seal engineering"
Hands-on training of maintenance functions
through integration of theory and experience

Seal Training Center
Figure3

Summer 2017
No.33

Concept of STC

gaskets under special environments to understand thetrainee's tightening force with the target force andmalfunctions and troubles caused by inappropriatethen shows how a particular trainee can conduct aselection.

tightening operation. In the process, the special sensor

In addition, trainees learn the effects of management

bolts output the axial bolt force applied during flange

conditions regarding not only gaskets but also sealing-tightening as an electronic signal, then the data logger

associated components including flanges and bolts,

transforms the signal into axial bolt force, which iswhich are used in flanged fasteners, to acquire key

shown on the PC display. The display can compare theaspects of on-site management/supervising operations.

trainee's results with the predetermined target axial

In operational training, trainees use the flange training

bolt force.

device shown in Figure4 to confirm their own bolt-

Trainees then use the torque-sensor training device,tightening skills. In the confirmation process, theshown in Figure5, to confirm their own tightening

device uses special sensor bolts to compare thecharacteristics and power-adjustment skills, andFlange

Reset button

Display

Socket opening

Display

Specialized sensor bolt

Data logger

Figure421

Flange-tightening training device

Figure5Torque-sensor training device

Technical Papers

practice repeatedly until there is no deviation in bolttightening. The torque-sensor training device inserts atightening tool in the socket opening and the display
shows the tightening torque under the trainee'sFlangeBolt

posture and power adjustment.
In addition, trainees receive training on recognizing
malfunctions which occur due to over-tightening andunder-tightening. The training proceeds as follows.
First, the trainee fastens flanges loaded on the sealingproperty training device, as shown in Figure6, to
make the contact pressure lower than the contact
gasket stress necessary for sealing. Then, thepressure gauge adjusts the pressure to replicate airFigure7

Compression-fracture training device

At the end of the training, the on-site tightening-understand the necessity of selecting the optimalsimulation training device shown in Figure8 replicates

fastening conditions. Next, the trainee uses thethe following situations to confirm the effectiveness ofcompression-fracture training device shown in

the training and whether the trainees have acquired

Figure7 to experience and understand problems

tightening skills and whether they can operate

which occur due to over-tightening.

properly: a） a work environment with a narrowfooting, assuming that the trainee works at a highplace; and b）a work environment which replicates a

Pressure gauge

narrow work space due to the presence of piping
which is not subject to tightening.

Air

These efforts of ours are highly evaluated by manycustomers including plant owners and companies

Flangeassociated with plant engineering.

Flange Piping
Figure6

Summer 2017

leaking, so the trainee experiences the leakage toWorking
standSealing-property training device

In addition, we established a curriculum in which
trainees can learn other important points. For
example, some devices, which are replicated device
and piping alignments, are used to make trainees
understand the phenomenon of creep, which isdependent on the gasket's temperature, so they canexperience and understand the resulting problems

Figure8On-site tightening-simulation training device

and countermeasures.

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Seal Training Center (STC) – Interactive Training for Sealing Operation

5. Conclusion

Overseas, we are planning to expand collaboration
with public institutions, such as we have already done

To date, STC users have given us feedback that theyin Vietnam and China, in other countries.

want to continue with such training programs. They

Furthermore, we are establishing service package

have also requested additional training on trouble-systems which include IT-based maintenance supports

prone devices including heat exchangers, so we will

and abnormality diagnoses as a "Hardware & Seal-continue to develop new curriculums. We have also

engineering service" business, which integrates

received inquiries for training all operators engaging

products and services to meet needs obtained at skill

in flange operations at periodical-repair sites, and aretrainings.

now studying ways to improve on-site services.

Akira Muramatsu
Ｈ＆Ｓ BUSINESS GROUP

Summer 2017No.33

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