What is the difference between an OTS and 3D equipment training?
An OTS trains the control room on how the process behaves; 3D equipment training trains the field and maintenance side on the machine itself. One answers what the process does when an operator acts at the console; the other, where the equipment is, what is inside it and how to make it safe.
A 2006 article in Digital Refining on managing training simulator projects describes the core of an OTS as “a dynamic simulation of the real process plant (the plant model)” together with “DCS controller emulation software, onto which the real plant DCS configuration will be loaded”, the DCS being the distributed control system. Operators work at replica control-room stations while an instructor sets up trips, upsets and failures and watches how the crew responds.
3D equipment training starts from a different model: a three-dimensional model of the equipment, with its tags, valves, instruments and access routes, linked to the manuals, drawings and procedures that govern it. A field operator or technician can walk round a machine, open it up, trace a line, plan an isolation or work through a fault. It does not need a dynamic model of the whole process behind it, which is a large part of why it costs less to build for this purpose.
How do an OTS and 3D equipment training compare?
An OTS is a plant-level simulation for the control room; 3D equipment training is a machine-level model for the field. The OTS figures below come from the 2006 Digital Refining article; the rest describes typical practice rather than any one product.
| Factor | Operator training simulator (OTS) | 3D equipment training |
|---|---|---|
| What it trains | Process behaviour and control actions: start-ups, shutdowns, upsets, trips and alarms at the console | The physical equipment: tags and routes, isolation, field alarm response, start checks and fault finding |
| Who uses it | Control-room (panel) operators, shift supervisors and the instructors who run scenarios | Field operators, maintenance technicians, new starters and their trainers |
| Hardware | Computers running the process model and control-system emulation, operator stations and an instructor station | A standard laptop or desktop; a projector or large screen for classes |
| Set-up and lead time | Heat and material balances, process flow diagrams and data sheets; “a year to deliver” (2006) | Equipment manuals, drawings, the equipment register and procedures; time depends on the number of machines and the state of the documents |
| Cost basis | Per process unit or plant; “in the order of $1 million” (2006) | Per machine or area; no process model or control-system copy to build |
| Offline use | Normally installed on dedicated computers at site or in a training centre | Can run on a single computer with no network connection, depending on the product |
How much does an operator training simulator cost, and how long does it take?
A published estimate puts a typical OTS at about $1 million and a year to deliver, though it dates from 2006. The Digital Refining article says: “Typically, an OTS costs in the order of $1 million, which can amount to more than 20% of the combined cost of process control and safety systems.” It adds: “These systems generally take a year to deliver and the OTS must be ready at least six months prior to plant startup.”
Treat the cost as an order of magnitude, not a quote: it is about twenty years old, and simulator scope and fidelity vary widely. The lead time is the more lasting point. The same article notes that OTS projects need “prodigious quantities of input data, including heat and material balances, process flow diagrams, most equipment and instrument data sheets”. On a new project that data has to exist before the model can be built, so the simulator runs as a project in its own right alongside the control and safety systems.
To stay useful, an OTS model also generally has to be kept in step with changes to the real process and its control configuration, or the training drifts away from the plant it represents.
Is there a lower-cost alternative to an OTS?
For field familiarisation, yes. For dynamic control-room training, no.
If the need is for field operators and technicians to know the equipment (where each tag is, how to reach it, how to isolate it, what a local alarm means and what to check before a start), 3D equipment training does that job without a process model or a copy of the control system. It is usually scoped machine by machine rather than for a whole plant, so a site can start with the equipment its new starters find hardest and add more later.
If the need is for panel operators to practise a start-up, spot an upset developing on their screens and act on the controls in time, only a dynamic simulation will do. A 3D model of a pump cannot show how a column responds when the feed changes, so buying 3D equipment training instead of an OTS for that purpose would be a false saving. For the control room, the lower-cost step is a generic simulator of a typical process unit, which teaches principles but not a site’s own start-up sequence or control configuration.
What does 3D equipment training cover that an OTS does not?
It covers the work done by hand out on site, away from the console. Typical tasks include:
- finding any tag on the equipment and the walking route to reach it;
- planning an isolation and seeing which sections are live, trapped or isolated;
- responding to an alarm in the field: what it means locally and what to check;
- pre-start checks, including finding an inhibit or override that would stop a start;
- fault finding on rotating and packaged equipment, one safe step at a time;
- seeing inside a machine: how it is built, how it runs and which parts wear.
Isolation deserves particular attention. An analysis of IOGP member data presented at IChemE Hazards 32 (2022) looked at 223 of the most serious (Tier 1) upstream process safety events from 2014 to 2021 that were assigned to operational human performance, and found that 36% “were associated with control of work and isolation practices”. The figure covers upstream oil and gas only, and it says nothing about which training method prevents such events. It does show why field-side preparation matters as much as console skills.
When do you need both?
You need both when a site has a control room running a complex process and field staff who must know the equipment that process runs through. That describes many oil and gas, LNG, power and process facilities. A sensible sequence on a new project is:
- field familiarisation early, from the equipment manuals and design drawings, so field operators and technicians know the equipment before they meet it;
- OTS training for control-room operators in the months before start-up, once the model and control configuration are ready;
- walkdowns and supervised on-the-job training on the real equipment;
- competence assessment by the site’s own qualified assessors, against its competence management system.
On an operating plant, any OTS is already in place, and field knowledge is often passed on by shadowing experienced colleagues. 3D equipment training can give that shadowing a consistent structure and a record of what each person has covered.
What should you check before choosing?
Start from the people and the tasks, not the technology. Before scoping either tool, check:
- Roles and tasks: console actions, field and maintenance tasks, or both.
- Source data: process design data and control configuration for an OTS; manuals, drawings, the equipment register and procedures for 3D equipment training.
- Where it runs: whether it must run offline, and whether plant documents may leave site.
- Measures: how you will judge the result, agreed before the work starts.
- Competence sign-off: neither tool certifies anyone; a qualified assessor does.
- Authority: neither tool authorises a task, an isolation or a permit; your procedures and authorised people do.
Where does the Upskill Energy Equipment Explorer fit?
The Upskill Energy Equipment Explorer is a desktop 3D training application for the field and maintenance side. It does not replace an OTS for control-room training.
The Explorer covers the field tasks listed above: cutting a machine open and running it, finding a tag and the walking route to it, isolation with every section coloured live, trapped or isolated, alarm response, start checks with an inhibit to find, and guided fault finding one safe question at a time. Questions are answered from the training library with numbered citations, and a course leads to an assessment on unseen situations and a walkdown with tags hidden.
A client build is made from the plant’s own manuals, drawings, equipment register extract and operating and isolation procedures. It runs offline on the client’s own systems and, once handed over, sends nothing off site. The first build is one machine, to a fixed scope and a fixed price agreed before starting. Measures are agreed with the client before starting, and the client’s own people judge the result. The Explorer is a training aid: it does not authorise any task, isolation, reset or entry. Upskill Energy does not certify anyone; a qualified assessor at the client signs competence.
You can try the Upskill Energy Equipment Explorer in the browser, best on a laptop or desktop in Chrome or Edge, with no headset and nothing to install. In the demonstration build the gas turbine package and the centrifugal pump carry the full training layer, and eight more machines show how they work; the models are generic and illustrative. To discuss a machine of your own, see how a fixed-scope first build works.