Simulation

A simulation recreates the behaviour of an installation, a process or a situation, so somebody can act and see the consequences of that action without risk. The form ranges from a software model of a process installation to a full VR environment or a physical rig.

It makes rehearsal possible for situations that are too dangerous, too expensive or too rare in reality. Those are exactly the situations in which mistakes turn out most costly.

The most important design question is how faithful the simulation has to be. Full physical fidelity is expensive and rarely necessary: what counts is whether the decisions are the same. An operator learning to recognise an alarm pattern and pick the right isolation sequence does not need a photorealistic installation for that. They need realistic information, realistic time pressure and realistic consequences.