Onboard testing of the control system in the LNG carrier using a dynamic simulator

Abstract

A simulator, which has process, controllers, and man-machine interface (MMI), can be configured as a hardware-in-the-loop system or a software-in-the-loop system. In this paper, these general simulator configurations are reviewed and applied to the liquefied natural gas carrier (LNGC). The characteristics of the LNGC process, control, and its simulator configurations are presented. The simulator process/control/MMI models, hardware, software configurations, and onboard tests, which have been carried on the LNGC, are also presented. Using this simulator, the control engineers on board effectively debug and validate the control system of the LNGC, and the future operators of the LNGC can test various operating conditions, including abnormal and very severe operations.