Interactive plant simulation modeling for developing an operator training system in a natural gas pressure-regulating station

This study proposes a method of interactive plant simulation modeling which delivers the online simulated results to the field operators and induces them to take proper actions in the case of pre-identified accident scenarios in a chemical plant. The developed model integrates the real-time process dynamic simulation with 3D-CFD accident simulation in a designed interface using object linking and embedding technology so that it can convey to trainees the online information of the accident which is not available in existing operator training systems. The model encompasses the whole process of data transfer till the end of the training at which a trainee operates an emergency shutdown system in a programmed model. In this work, an overall scenario is simulated which is from an abnormal increase in the main valve discharge (second) pressure due to valve malfunction to accidental gas release through the crack of a pressure recorder, and the magnitude of the accident with respect to the lead time of each trainee’s emergency response is analyzed. The model can improve the effectiveness of the operator training system through interactively linking the trainee actions with the simulation model resulting in different accident scenarios with respect to each trainee’s competence when facing an accident.