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Text Box:   FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Text Box:  What is a Simulator?  What is Power Station Simulation?  What is a difference between Stimulation and Emulation? What are the Models? What is Human Machine Interface (HMI)? What are the functions of Instructor? What is the purpose for the Input/Output (I/O) System is used? What Hardware can be used for a Simulator? What Operating Systems are used by simulator manufacturer? Why Training on a Simulator is important?     1.      1. What is a Simulator? A simulator is made up of a group of software programs that are designed to replicate a power plant. The general types of simulators are: ·          Generic: The control system, human machine interface and plant models do not replicate the customer’s plant. The accuracy of the modelling is usually less stringent. However, the generic simulator should model the physics of the plant faithfully. In practice, a generic simulator will copy some plant in the world. ·          Full Scope Replica: This type of simulator faithfully replicates the control system, human machine interface and plant. The accuracy of the models in both the steady state and dynamic situations will be high. ·          Reduced Scope Replica: This will be some compromise between the Generic and the Full Scope Replica. TOP   2.      2. What is Power Station Simulation? A power station training simulator is a training tool designed to replicate the steady state and dynamic responses of a power station to operator actions. In its simplest form, a simulator is a combination of: ·          mathematical models of the plant that “trick” a control system into thinking it is controlling real plant ·          control system emulation ·          man-machine interface. The operator carries out plant operations on the simulator and observes responses as they would occur in the real plant. The control system provides signals to the models and then receives a signal back from the models as expected. TOP   3.      3. What is the difference between Stimulation and Emulation? The control system and human machine interface may be simulated in two different ways:  Stimulation or Emulation. ·          Emulation: This technique takes the information for the control system and HMI and copies it into a proprietary software of the simulator vendor. The copying process may be done electronically or by hand; ·          Stimulation: This technique uses the actual software configuration from the DCS manufacturer to simulate these features. The DCS configuration is connected via Ethernet to the process models. Some manufacturers accomplish this by modifying the actual controller hardware while others use software solutions. Either way the essential feature is that the actual DCS plant software can be tested on the simulator and later downloaded to the real plant. TOP   4.      4. What are the Models? The models in a simulator replicate the plant using mathematical techniques. Some commonly used terms are: ·          Fidelity: This is the accuracy the models will replicate the plant. Typical accuracy for a high quality simulator are 99~98~2% steady state and 95~805~20% dynamic; ·          Physical: This means the modelling equations are based on physical principles rather than using curve fitting to achieve the required results. Physical models have a much broader operating range than curve fitting models. TOP   5.      5. What is the Human Machine Interface (HMI) This is sometimes called Man-Machine Interface (MMI). The Human Machine Interface is the screens that the operator will use on the real plant to control the plant.   6.      6. What are the functions of the Instructor? The Instructor software is the brain of the simulator. Its functions include: ·          Run, freeze, step and stop the simulator; ·          Apply plant malfunctions or combinations of malfunctions (scenarios); ·          Speed-up or slow down the simulation; ·          Force variables to a desired value; ·          Prepare and run training exercises; ·          Access the trainee databases. TOP 7.      7. What is the purpose of the Input/Output (I/O) System? The I/O system of a simulator is used to drive the hard-panel meters, gauges and switches. TOP   8.      8. What Hardware can be used for a Simulator? Simulator hardware can be made up of either Intel based PC’s or a more powerful server (e.g. AlphaHP AlphaServer) and PC’s. The key difference between the platforms is the processing power. Lower processing power may mean lower fidelity and/or longer processing cycle times. TOP   9.      9. What Operating Systems are used by simulator manufacturer? Generally there are two operating systems being used by simulator manufacturers: ·          UNIX: Commonly found on microcomputer based simulators; and ·          Windows NT: Used on both microcomputer and PC-based platforms. TOP   1010. Why Training on a Simulator is important? No matter what level of training is being carried out in the power station, training simulators are being used to enhance and improve the efficiency of this training. Power plants around the world have discovered that it is much more cost effective to train competent operators than it is to repair the damage caused by incompetent ones! TOP  

 

 

 

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