160 hours with professionals
JSC AlES completed the dual training course for young turbine and boiler engineers. Two groups of students completed their practical training at JSC AlES .
The company conducts two training courses within the framework of the dual training project – “Training of workers in the profession of “Turbine equipment machinist-turner” and “Training of personnel in the profession of “Boiler equipment machinist-turner”. 160 hours were allocated for each of the courses. A total of 22 future power engineers and young specialists of Company were trained.Many of them are the young replacement of the Company.
In spring, AlES signed memorandums of co-operation with KazNU n.a. al-Farabi, KazNRTU n.a. Satpayev and other relevant educational institutions on mutual assistance in the development of training of national engineering and technical personnel, development of integration of education, science and business. Dual training is also envisaged within this partnership. Non-profit JSC “Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications named after Gumarbek Daukeyev actively started to implement the training of specialists under the German system of dual education. Since 2018, 166 students have undergone practical training at the base of CHPP-1 n.a. B.Orazbayev and the Personnel Training Department of JSC AlES.
Training in the workshops was not just in real time, but also in the mode of solving real problems, including those related to repair works in preparation for the future heating season. Although it was a training internship, the whole training process and all actions were not “showy”, but conditioned by current tasks.
For example, the course for boiler equipment machinists included such topics as industrial safety rules; operational modes and indicators of boiler operation; taking dimensions from parts and drawing dimensions on a sketch; reading auxiliary equipment diagrams of steam and hot water boilers.
Several classes were devoted to materials science, and a large block of classes was devoted to “Water treatment and water-chemical regime”. The trainees studied the cooling devices of the power plant under the reverse water supply system: cooling ponds, splash basins and cooling towers; blowdown and replenishment of water losses in splash basins and cooling towers; water operation in the condenser-cooler or splash basin cycle, or ponds.
They studied oxygen corrosion control, thermal, vacuum and other deaeration methods. The programme included the block “Fundamentals of electrical engineering”, also on the agenda was the classification of fuels, classification of boiler units and many other highly professional topics. The guys went through the whole production process, including labour safety issues and successfully passed the exams.
Altynbek Doszhan, a 3rd year student of “Heat Power Engineering” department of Almaty University of Energy and Telecommunications had an internship in the boiler shop of CHPP-1 named after B.Orazbayev. It was his first time at the station, and he admits that he was impressed by both the shop and the boiler itself.
– It turned out to be very large, which impressed us. We saw many other workshops, everywhere was clean”, Altynbek said. – The people here are very nice. Zhanat, a very positive person, worked with us at the boiler shop. He told us everything, showed us, explained everything clearly. I would like to work at CHPP-1 after I finish university, to study here, to gain practical experience.
Almas Mukas, also a student of the Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications, underwent dual training in the boiler shop of CHPP-1.
– At the university we were taught the theoretical part: what a boiler is, what a mill is. And now we see them with our own eyes, they explain to us everything clearly, what and how it works”, says Almas. – I am interested in the whole process, the functions of the equipment, its potential. Now the station is under repair, but it was cool to see it live.
Almas’s brother is a power engineer, but his father advised him to take an internship at AlES. And he chose the shop himself, he says that he could also go to the turbine shop, but he was more interested in working in the boiler shop.
– The most interesting thing was when we went up to the boiler drum, where half of its volume is steam and half is water. The work process itself was very interesting, I watched how everything was clearly controlled. The station is very interesting, but after graduation I will return to my Atyrau, where there is also a CHPP, and they also need specialists. I would like to work there after graduation!
The course for turbine operators was difficult. The classes started with the topical topic – prevention and elimination of emergency situations, personnel actions in case of emergency. The trainees also studied the technological cycle of a thermal power plant, practised reading drawings and schemes, made drawings and sketches themselves. They learnt in practice the basics of electrical engineering, memorised the main faults in electric motors, familiarised themselves with the operation of instrumentation and automatic process control schemes.
The course included water supply and water treatment, material science, thermodynamics, turbine operation in variable modes. The trainees learnt how to switch on protective interlocking devices and signalling, to stop and switch off a pump and an electric motor. And on this course part of the time was devoted to the issues of safe work at production. But it is noteworthy that many … girls chose this direction of the energy sector.
“When we came to the station, we were asked if you have girls here. – Zhanel Mukhitdinova, a third-year student specialising in energy audit and energy management at the same university, says. – At once we were even a little offended: we can do a good job too! We had a choice between the boiler or turbine shop. I chose the turbine shop. I think it’s more interesting. I wanted to see everything with my own eyes in real life. I expected to see very big turbines here, but they turned out to be not so big. I thought only men would work here, but there are women working in the turbine shop at the station. I was also impressed by the large green area of the station …».
Nazym Bisakhan, a third-year student studying energy audit and energy management at the Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications, agrees with her in her assessment of the practice at JSC AlES and the arrangement of its production facilities.
-In the third year we studied turbines in detail. We had a good teacher who told us interesting things about turbines. That’s why I wanted to see them in operation with my own eyes. Now there is a repair company at the station, so we were able to see almost all the details of the equipment during installation. I used to think why the efficiency of the turbine is not very high, but when I saw the complex structure of the turbine, I understood everything. I also realised that producing heat and electricity is not so easy.It is a complicated process but very interesting. We were lucky to have a teacher who explained and showed us everything in detail. We liked very much the responsive staff of the station.
Active learning of various specialities of electric power engineering by girls has become a modern trend. For example, Yedil Berdiyev, a 3rd year student of the Heat Power Engineering Department of the Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications, studies in a group where five out of 12 people are girls.
He perceives it calmly, but, not offending beautiful fellow students, believes that men’s and women’s work in production differ in that men’s work requires more strength. For example, to open/close all the valves, to climb up/down on the boiler. And also because of the high temperature inside the room, girls can’t always stand it”, he thinks. – But he sees no problem in working in a female team in production. And although he has not yet decided on a specific place of work, he says he is ready to work at JSC AlES .
At the end of the course, all trainees passed exams, and the power engineers took a closer look at those with whom they may soon have to work together and get their knowledge, experience, communication skills.