TRAINING SIMULATION SOFTWARE FOR CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER PLANTS

Abstract

This thesis discusses the development of the interface for a dynamic training simulator for operators of a concentrated solar power plant. Efforts were made to replicate the operator work environment through the use of a custom user interface. User interfaces in the field of concentrated solar power plants are examined, and several suggestions of best practices are included in the thesis. These best practices were designed according to human factors principles. An interface design toolkit is included with this work, which enables administrators of the operating training software to implement new interface screens in the simulator. Additionally, this work discusses various training scenarios that operators of a concen- trated solar power plant are expected to be familiar with in order to gain an understanding of the principles of power production and avoid faults. These scenarios include common operations procedures, as well as upset conditions derived from a failure modes and analysis study conducted with a partner power plant.