Importance of Simulators, Systematic Approach to Training, and Integral Instruction Centres in the Process Industry

Abstract

Due to globalisation, present challenges of process industries include increasing their competitiveness. One way to address these defies is by investing in the training of plant operators. Traditionally, operator training was done informally through on-the-job techniques and has been improved trough time. Simulators were included as a part of training and have proved to be efficient and effective. It has also been found that their use results in savings caused by availability, thermal performance, plant life, and environ-mental compliance of the simulated processes. Despite its benefits, a simulator does not guarantee a successful training unless a program based on a systematic approach to training is used, this maintains a continuous improvement in the stages here proposed (analysis, design, development and support, integration, implementation and evaluation) considering the simulator explicitly. Having an integral instruction centre with adequate personnel and material infrastructure is helpful to exploit both, simulators and training system. These centres, among other things, must be designed so that the simulator may: exchange data with modern commercial external programs to support the training program, consider the evolution of simulators technology (for example, with immersive or non-immersive virtual reality), and expand the simulators considering analysis and optimisation capabilities. A review of the present situation of all these topics is exposed in this paper.