Type B gas licence - Type B Reciprocating Engine Exemption Skills Set

Origin HPU for Type B Reciprocating Engine Exemption Skills Set

Most people would know that both electrical and plumbing are licensed trades. That means at the completion of an electrical apprenticeship in Queensland the tradesperson applies to the Electrical Safety Office (ESO) to gain their licence to work as a fully qualified electrician.

Likewise, plumbers are required to gain additional licences to install, disconnect and reconnect gas to domestic appliances. This type of gas work is allowed under the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 (the Act) and is restricted to ‘white goods'; i.e. appliances used in domestic/commercial areas. Therefore, household or light commercial heaters, cookers etc. require a gas fitter with “Type A” Gas licence.

The Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate of Safety and Health Division is part of the Queensland Government’s Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRN), which provides expert advice, approves the sale, installation and use of both Type A (and Type B) gas devices and also collects relevant information under the Act to meet its obligations under the Act.

The Act defines Type B gas devices as all other gas devices (other than Type A), which are essentially industrial and commercial gas devices, such as fuel gas systems for a vehicle or vessel.

Type B has four classes of Gas Work Authorisations in Queensland:

• Industrial Appliances (can cover installing, altering, removing, servicing, repairing, testing and certifying Type B Devices)
• Motor Fuel (for installing, altering, removing, servicing, repairing, testing and certifying a gas system that supplies fuel to vehicle and vessel engines)
• Servicing (where an authorisation is to be limited to repairing and maintaining Type B industrial appliances only)
• Major Project (for development and construction of plant for major gas users (>50GJ/hour) only)

The training program for the Type B licences is under the Construction, Plumbing and Services Training Package and the unit of competency is the “CPCPGS4023A Install, commission and service Type B gas appliances”. Candidates are required to have a restricted electrical licence or permit or equivalent to connect and disconnect appliances according to the requirements of the particular State or Territory as a prerequisite and the program duration is approximately 10 days to complete.
 

Enerflex Type B Reciprocating Engine Exemption Skills Set Asset

In Queensland this is where most Coal seam Gas (CSG) companies run into licencing issues. To replace ‘like-for-like’ components on a gas fuel skid i.e.: gas filter the tradesperson requires a Type B gas licence. The license covers design aspects of valve trains, burner, steam and heated water boilers and water heaters. Participants must have a working knowledge of up to five Australian Standards, including AS2593 Boilers - Unattended and limited attendance.
 

The four, tier one Queensland–based CSG proponents such as Arrow Energy, SANTOS GLNG, QGC and Origin Energy have all complied with the Type B licence requirements. However, at the same time have requested through DNRN if every single person who replaces a gas fuel filter for maintenance purposes requires this level of compliance and licencing?

 

After exhaustive discussions with all relevant government bodies and the CSG proponents put a case forward for a ‘maintenance centric’ version of the Type B. As a result, SkillsTech Australia is proud to announce the “Type B Reciprocating Engine Exemption Skills Set” program.  The skill sets are drawn from the Certificate IV in ESI Generation Maintenance (Mechanical) (UEP40312) program.  The exception set is based on two (2) units of competency:

·         UEPMNT368A - Repair and maintain stationary gas fuelled reciprocating engines

·         UEPMNT367A - Install and commission stationary gas fuelled reciprocating engines.

 

This exception program allows workers to understand the requirements of the safety standards; predominantly AS3814 & AS/NZS 5601.1 that the fuel train needs to comply with these Australian Standards. In this way they can report/repair any safety related issues or non-compliances to the site superintendent.

 

The course also gives them the skills to install, repair and tune the fuel train (only) for the gas appliance, which may be a generation set (genset), hydropack (hydraulic pack) or compressor etc. It is restricted to the manual isolation valve for the appliance and may not include the gas filters which may be upstream. This work must be completed by an operator who has been appropriately trained to work on this equipment.

 

The program also allows the participants to work on an engine in a downstream situation, such as a ‘genset’ for freezers in supermarkets. In this case it would work under Type B gas fitters Gas Work Authorisation (GWA).

 

The program is much shorter at eight days for both units of competency and has a number of prerequisite units. This Type B Reciprocation Engine Exemption Skills Set allows maintenance staff to perform routine upkeep of CSG related equipment without the need to focus on information that may not be relevant to their job profiles or tasks. The exception program is only valid in Queensland; however, South Australia and other states are looking at similar outcomes for their conventional fields.

Most information about the Type B Reciprocating Engine Exemption Skills Set can be found at:
http://coursesearch.skillstech.tafe.qld.gov.au/tafe/training/UEP40312_Certificate_IV_in_ESI_Generation_Maintenance_Mechanical/Brochure_827.ashx