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modeling and simulation tools are Dymola [10] or EcosimPro [11]. These modeling
and simulation packages require that the user has a deep knowledge about them.
Modeling and simulation skills are necessaries, especially in some cases in which he
should develop their own model libraries. Besides, for training purposes, the experi-
mental frame is not the more suitable one and also its price is high.
These tools pursue different objectives ranging from PID controllers tuning,
process identification, design of process and control structures, study of advanced
control strategies, operation of process unit and, even, complete industrial processes.
Some of them are reduced to a single industrial field and other ones cover a reduced
number of processes. Some aspects of interest in the training of process control engi-
neers cannot be covered by any of them. For instance: some special control aspects
related to process safety, as anti surge mechanism in centrifugal compressors; special
processes, as blending processes; or parameterization procedures, as the linearization
of the static operation curves of valves. In addition the graphical user interfaces
(GUIs) are different ones, both in appearance and functionality.
So, to give a complete training to a control engineer requires the use of different
tools that use dynamic simulation. This implies a high economic cost to the institution
that provides training, both for the licenses purchase as for maintaining and updating
them. For the students, it means an effort to adapt and learn different tools, some of
which have many features that are not used by the students and they are being paid by
the institution offering the training.
For these reasons, a simulation tool oriented to study typical problems of operation
and control in production units of the process industry has been developed. The mod-
ules have been carried out by the Department of Systems Engineering and Automatic
Control of the University of Valladolid and they are based on the expertise of control
and instrumentation engineers of Repsol (a Spanish company in which one of its main
activities is the production of petroleum derivates). This tool is being used in the
“Master in instrumentation and process control ISA-REPSOL”) given by the CSFR
(“Superior Training Center of Repsol”).
The paper describes the mentioned tool. In particular, a simulation module will be
shown as an example. Afterwards, the software structure of the simulation tool is
detailed, as well as, the software used for its development.
2
Tool Description
The mentioned tool is a Windows® NT/XP/7 application that allows selecting a set of
simulation modules organized in two graphical main menus: “Control techniques” and
“Process control units”. The tool provides a complete help that explain each module in
Spanish language. However, if more information is required, the great majority of the
study cases are well explained in [12-13]. In order to give a general idea of the training
capacity of the developed modules, these are listed and briefly described.
The “Control techniques” modules are:
•
Ratio Control. Two options comparative for products mixture.
•
Cascade control. Level tank control using cascade controllers. Mainly the tuning
and the switching of the manual and automatic mode of the nested controllers are
outlined.
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