Advanced Industrial Automation

and Optimisation

Operator Training
Simulators
INTRODUCTION OPERATOR-TRAINING SIMULATOR OPTIONS
Effective operator training is an absolute imperative • Trainers should be able to manage operator
to ensure operators are adequately trained to tuition through a single interface that is intuitive Option 1: HMI and control-system emulation in software
operate critical plants safely and confidently. and easy to drive
The HMI, control systems, and plant processes are emulated entirely in software to replicate the real-world
Operators have to be skilled at operating the plant • It should be possible to expose operators to a operating conditions.
within defined parameters, and also have to be range of normal and abnormal plant conditions • Advantages:
equipped to cope with operating in adverse plant through adaptive pre-configured scenarios Small physical footprint since the solution is entirely software based, and can thus run on a limited number
conditions in a variety of real-world scenarios, such of powerful laptops , servers or desktop PCs.
as when equipment fails, or when plant operating • The system should track training progression,
conditions stray outside of expected parameters. and provide tools for monitoring operator • Disadvantages:
accuracy and progress through the training Can be very costly to run and maintain, and often takes a long time to engineer. The configuration of the
It is potentially costly and dangerous to train plans system is generally complex, and requires software specialists to make design changes. In the long run it
operators on real plants. Real plants also cannot is possible for the simulator to be out of synch with plant modifications, and thus not be reflective of the
be manipulated easily to reflect adverse conditions Safe plant operations is the overarching real-world control systems.
such as failed equipment without having to simulate consideration when considering deployment of an
errors in the relevant control systems. OTS . That said the OTS should be cost effective to
deploy and maintain.
Operator training simulators (OTSs) provide safe Option 2: Real-world HMI and control-system hardware
environments for operators to be trained on
systems that approximate real-world conditions. Uses real-world HMI software and control system hardware, coupled with thermodynamic models to emulate
The trainees can be put through their paces to plant processes.
cope with a large variety of scenarios, and ensure • Advantages:
they are comfortable to operate plants under most HMI configuration and control strategies can be reused as-is. This means that engineering is reused,
foreseeable circumstances. and the simulator is kept current by downloading the latest plant control configurations. No specialized
personnel required to manage downloads.
The OTS provides a tool for trainers to demonstrate
to trainees the optimal methods to run their plant, • Disadvantages:
and then to assess their ability to control the plant The footprint is determined by the size and complexity of the control-system hardware. This can be quite
within preset parameters. Faults can be injected large in instances where specialized cabinets and supporting infrastructure (such as dedicated racks) are
dynamically to determine how operators effectively required.
respond.

Trainees practice in their own time, either supervised

or unsupervised, to familiarize themselves with Option 3: Real-world HMI and software-based control-system hardware
plant terminology and control dynamics.
This option is much like Option 2 above, with the difference that the control system is replaced with soft
The net result is the ability to manage the progression controllers, i.e. controllers that behave like real-world controllers, but run on servers, PCs or laptops.
of trainees through the training curriculum using • Advantages:
scenarios, and scoring trainees’ ability to operate In addition to the benefits of Option 2 above, this option has the added benefit of lower hardware costs
plants safely and effectively. since the control system can be run in low-cost servers, PCs or laptops. This approach reduces the physical
A robust OTS solution should have the following footprint of the simulator.
attributes: • Disadvantages:
Some soft controllers don’t offer the full functionality of their real-world counterparts, and are therefore
• A safe environment for operators to learn how not always suited to application as simulators.
to operate plants

• Closely mimic the functioning and dynamics of

real plants
Moore specializes in Options 2 and 3 above due to their ease of use, lower cost to engineer and commission,
• It should be relatively easy to change the and lower total cost of ownership.
configuration of the simulator to reflect plant
modifications and additions
Moore | 2 Moore | 3
 OUR OTS SOLUTION MAXIMIZES REUSE OF EXISTING CONTROL SYSTEM ENGINEERING AND RESOURCES

TYPICAL PLANT CONTROL STRATEGY MOORE’S OTS SOLUTION

• Comprehensive student management from

one interface
Engineering Station Trainer and Engineering Station
• Full control of the training simulator solution
and scenarios

HMI configuration • No re-engineering of the HMI required

Operator Stations Student HMI Training Stations
used as-is • Accurately reflects real-world behaviour, and look and feel

Control System The control-system code running in the simulator is identical

Control system
Control System to that running in the plant – no possibility of functional
code used as-is (Hardware or software based)
mismatch

• Allows a wide range of scenarios to be developed for training

purposes
Thermodynamic Models • Provides the ability to be test and verify the logic of the code
running in the plant control system
Plant modeled • Custom library components can be create for reuse
using dedicated
Plant
thermodynamic
modeling software

High-fidelity Thermodynamic Provides a user-friendly interface for high-precision

Model Add-on applications such as flow assurance using specialist 3rd party
packages

Moore | 4 Moore | 5
OTS DELIVERY SUCCESSES ABOUT MOORE
FPSO MONDO OTS Moore was founded in 1984 and is a privately held company, registered in South Africa. Our head office
is in Johannesburg, with regional offices in South Africa, Houston and London.
OTS located on the FPSO
We provide a comprehensive set of services ranging from FEED studies, right through to turnkey pro-
cess-automation projects. Service scope also includes long-term maintenance services for offshore in-
Training scenarios: stallations.
• Level-3 shutdown initiated by the fire
FPSO PLANT: and gas system Sector focus in on offshore and onshore oil and gas production, with special emphasis on FPSO inte-
• Trips for: grated control and safety shutdown systems (ICSS), subsea master control stations (MCS) , and refining.
Fire and Gas Full production - Heating and cooling pumps
In addition to oil and gas we have significant installed systems in mining, petrochemical and chemical
system system - Water injection booster pump
facilities.
- Sea water lift and lube oil pumps
- Flash gas A Our customer base is global, including several of the oil majors, preeminent EPC providers, and blue-
- Main gas A compressor chip mining houses.
ESD system Marine system - Fuel gas system
- Production HIPPS We have a long-standing reputation for engineering and service excellence, underpinned by our ISO
- Test HIPPS 9001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications, and IEC61508 and 61511 recognition.
• Failures of:
- HP separator level control valve
Cargo handling OEM packages
- Test separator level control valve
OUR COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT APPROACH

FEED STUDY INPUT

KIZOMBA B SUBSEA OTS Moore participates extensively in FEED studies to provide early architectural
solutions, safety requirements, and accurate pricing to aid end customers
with their FEED study inputs.
OTS located on the FPSO Training scenarios:
• Trainer interface DETAILED ENGINEERING
• Real-world HMI student stations Moore participates extensively in FEED studies to provide early architectural
• Soft PLC control-system hardware solutions, safety requirements, and accurate pricing to aid end customers
SUBSEA PLANT: with their FEED study inputs.
• Operating scenarios:
- Start-up (hot and cold)
- Normal operation
Two production Five water FACTORY ACCEPTANCE TESTING (FAT)
- Ramping up and down
manifolds injection wells Comprehensive FATs reduce the time spent commissioning and fault
- Blow down
finding on site. Our audited approach using simulators provides assurance
- Slug management
that systems perform in situ as anticipated.
- Dead oiling and pigging
- Variation in separator operating pressures
Seven production - Chemical injection (including automated - MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT
Chemical injection
wells strategies) After system go-live we provide comprehensive maintenance services
- Flow meter (single and multiphase), sand and to maximise plant safety and uptime, respond to crises, and perform
corrosion interpretation routine-maintenance operations.
• Plant malfunction simulations

Moore | 6 Moore | 7
 Key Clients: Contact us:
South Africa:
Head Office (Johannesburg)
[email protected]
Tel: +27 (11) 466 1673

(Vanderbijlpark) - Tel: +27 (16) 932 4471

(Secunda) - Tel: +27 (17) 631 2744
(Westville) - Tel: +27 (31) 003 3100

USA (Houston)
[email protected]
Tel: +1 832-299-6759

Europe (London)
[email protected]
Tel: +44 777 265 1605

Singapore
[email protected]
Tel: +65 6742 0776

Moore is an equal-opportunities employer.

We are ISO 9001:2008 and OHSAS 18001:2007 accredited, and IEC 61508 and IEC
61511 certified.

Legal notice: The logos, trademarks and

www.moore.co.za references used in this brochure are
acknowledged as belonging to their respective
owner. These organizations have not consented
to their use by Moore Process Controls, nor
are they affiliated to Moore Process Controls.
Copyright Their use is not an endorsement of Moore
Process Controls’ services or products.

Moore Process Controls Pty (Ltd)