Advanced Simulation Technology: How process simulation supports operator training and control/safety system logic testing

Transcript

Stan Miller:  Hello everyone and welcome to ROK Studios.  I’m Stan Miller, I’m the PR and Analyst Relations Manager for Rockwell Automation, in the EMEA Region.  And I’m here with Winston Jenks.  He is the Technical Director for Cape Software.  Winston, welcome to the studio.

Winston Jenks: Thank you, Stan.  Nice to be here.

Stan Miller:  So, we are here to talk about advanced simulation technology and how that technology can support operator training and control safety system logic testing.  Before we get into the topic though, can we just learn a little bit more about Cape Software?

Winston Jenks:  Sure.  Cape Software was founded in 1990, and since then, we’ve been providing simulation capability to control systems and people that put control systems together.  Normally, we help out at the FAT to provide – to sort of bring the plant to life, if you will, when it’s being tested and before commissioning. And we’ve found that people can save a lot of time and – and effort if you catch bugs early.

Stan Miller:  Absolutely.  Well, let’s get into it.  What are the core features of advanced simulation technology?

Winston Jenks:  Well, back in the early ‘90’s, when we started, you really just needed to connect up some IO to the processor, maybe have a simple model behind it, to make those values do what they would normally do in the field.  But with today’s advanced projects, we have multiple controllers, different controller types, there’s firewalls involved, safety systems, and smart devices.  So, it’s really advanced quite a bit further than just let’s just hook up some IO and provide some signals.  We really need to support all of those things, and multiple protocols, in a modern FAT.

Stan Miller:  With that additional complexity you just explained, help us understand what are the key issues simulation technology is helping solve?

Winston Jenks:  Well, there’s – usually what happens is after people program or have an application ready to run, when you take it to the field, you always find things that need to be tweaked a little bit.  And really, what we endeavor to do is rather than wait to take the application to the field, let’s bring the field to the application and let you go through that procedure, and those procedures, in the – let’s say environment of an office rather than under the crucible of an online facility getting ready to start up.

Stan Miller:  Makes a lot of sense.  Well, let’s talk a little bit about how a simulated experience can prepare operators for real world situations.  Help us understand that.

Winston Jenks:  Right.  So, I had an off-shore operator once tell me that his job was mostly boredom, and there was some fraction which was engaging, where he actually needed to do quite a bit of work, and then there was a small percentage of sheer terror when he knew that the operation of that facility was on the line and he was the guy that was going to need to save that facility from shutting down.  And really, he appreciated the training simulator because it gave him the ability to understand a bit better his capability, what he can, what he can’t do, and be able to turn those moments that would otherwise have been terrifying into just sort of a normal day to day operation.

Stan Miller:  That’s a great example.  Let’s talk about the organizational benefits that can come from simulated training.

Winston Jenks:  Right.  So, one of the things that is a fallout of what I just mentioned, is one, increased morale.  People like to do their job well and if you provide them with the capability and the functionality and the training to do their job better, they feel a lot – you know, a lot better about coming to work every day and – and really performing as best they can.  So, that’s one thing.  But there’s the other more obvious, let’s say financial and schedule benefits that you can get by testing early.

Stan Miller:  Okay.  Those are very compelling.  Let’s talk about examples.  What are some specific examples of successful applications of – you know, in real world scenarios, you know, within the simulation technology?

Winston Jenks:  So, we had – we have a training simulator that’s at a refinery, and the simulate – the training goes on just behind the control room, in the same building, but – but separate from the control room.  And control room operators need to qualify in order to become a control room operator, so typically, an outside operator might want to qualify as a control room operator.  And he goes through a series of training, and one of those happen to be a compressor restart.  So, there was a trainee learning how to restart a particular compressor after it went down, and literally right at the end of the training session, his radio crackles and that compressor actually just went down.  He asked the training manager to be excused so he could go into the control room and watch the existing control room operator restart the compressor.  And it was something that doesn’t happen very often, I don’t think that control room operator had even seen that before on his particular shift, right, and the end result was the trainee actually kind of offered to help, jumped in, restarted the compressor in about 20 minutes, and – you know, things were good again.  But the real telling part of that story was a few days later, the control room operator walked up to the training manager and said, can you please re-enroll me in that training, because that’s something that I need to do my job better and I would like to take advantage of that as well.  And that was the real, I think, positive benefit from that.

Stan Miller:  That is a result.

Winston Jenks:  Yes.

Stan Miller:  That’s a real great result.

Winston Jenks:  Yeah.

Stan Miller:  So, can you help me and the audience understand?  When we talk about organizational flexibility and connectivity between control systems, is there a particular technology that our audience should be considering; what are your thoughts on that?

Winston Jenks:  So, the – the first thing is that there are new features that Rockwell has provided that make my job easier.  First of all, the FactoryTalk Echo Product has enabled us to integrate both basic process controls and safety.  So, we can run GuardLogix applications in FT Echo now, that’s a big deal.  Motion has become a lot easier with FactoryTalk Echo as well.  And additionally, it also provides us with the specialized functionality to be able to perform operator training functions.  And this includes pausing the controller, restarting the controller, saving it, restoring it back to a safe state.  You can imagine an operator shows up for a training session and the trainer doesn’t want to drive the plant back from some start-up state to a position where it’s ready to train the operator, he’s wants to push one button and 45 seconds later, everything’s been restored to a place where the trainee can start his run.  That also gives the trainer an opportunity to – if the trainee makes a mistake, to be able to save and go back to this point and say okay, let’s restart that from here and – and see what you did before.  So, new functionality from Rockwell enables us to provide that functionality in a full OTS environment.

Stan Miller:  Winston, I don’t have anymore questions for you, but I can’t say enough how much I’ve enjoyed this discussion, so thank you so much for joining us in the studio.

Winston Jenks:  Thank you very much, Stan.  It was my pleasure.

Stan Miller:  And thank you for watching.  If you’d like to learn more about Rockwell Automation and Cape Software, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.