Operational simulators and automatic control systems

Abstract

This paper deals with operational aspects of geothermal projects with focus on control system maintenance and upgrade, and operator training. Various factors affecting the life-cycle cost of control systems are discussed. Considerable reductions in the life-cycle cost of a geothermal project can be achieved through the careful development and implementation of a long-term strategy for the design and commissioning of a new control system and for the upgrades of older control systems. The paper also describes benefits that can be achieved by the application of operator training simulators. The advantages that can be gained by use of simulation techniques in the engineering design of geothermal projects are discussed. The increasing cost of manpower and the decreasing cost of control system hardware has lead to an increase in automation and emphasis on monitoring and control from a remote central control room. Several aspects of this evolvement are discussed.