Simulated workplaceCAQA Riverside Pulp and Paper is a fictional business created by CAQA for training and assessment. It is not a real company and no person, client or record here is real.About this simulation
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Simulated workplace
Scenario · Steam, Power, Water and Chemical Recovery

Perform a power boiler day shift with an opacity watch

You are a trainee Boiler Operator working under the supervision of the licensed operator.

Intermediate3 to 4 hours8 tasks
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The situation

What has happened

The power boiler is supplying steam to the paper machine and the turbine on a normal production day. Yesterday's opacity peaked at 18 per cent during sootblowing against a licence limit of 20 per cent, and the supervisor wants the sootblowing sequence staggered. A steam leak on a drain valve gland at the turbine end was repaired under permit last week and the work order is complete. During your shift the low water alarm test is due, the water chemistry tests are due, and the feed pump 2 bearing is on the lubrication schedule. Part way through the shift the drum level drops and a low water alarm sounds.

Your brief. Complete the full shift routine under the Power Boiler Operations and Monitoring Procedure, manage combustion to keep opacity within limits during sootblowing, respond correctly to the low water alarm, complete operator preventative maintenance, and record every reading, test and event in the Production Shift Log and the Environmental Discharge and Emissions Log.
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Tasks

Deliverables

  • Start of shift handover and walk-down record
  • Hourly readings table
  • Written response to the low water alarm
  • Operator preventative maintenance checklist and any work order
  • Environmental log records and end of shift handover

Documents to use

Systems to use

Production Shift Log

The shift record for each production area covering tonnes made, downtime, quality results, plant status and handover notes.

Environmental Discharge and Emissions Log

The shift record of effluent and stack monitoring results against licence limits, with any exceedance and the action taken.

Maintenance Work Orders

The record of preventative and breakdown maintenance requests, their priority, planning and completion across the mill.

For trainers and assessors

Units of competency

Current on training.gov.au for the Pulp and Paper Manufacturing Industry Training Package as at 10 September 2026.

PPMSTM301Perform steam boiler operations
PPMSTM201Monitor and control boiler operations
PPMPRM201Undertake operator level preventative maintenance
PPMPRM202Perform lubrication
PPMWHS301Contribute to work health and safety processes

Qualifications

PPM30121Certificate III in Pulp and Paper Operations
Assessor notes

What to look for

Evidence guide

Evidence should show the low water response in the correct order with the gauge glass confirmation and a clear trip decision point, opacity kept below 20 per cent with a described control action, and readings recorded hourly. The preventative maintenance record must show lubrication done and the walk-down must find and record at least one defect. The handover should name the abnormal event and its status.

The student's evidence summary lists every record they created or changed in the systems named above, their notes and the tasks they ticked. Verify it against the deliverables and your own assessment tool.