Technical plant system technology

Adequate technical expertise in the original technology for the hardware and software should be preserved over the lifetime of the plant. Contrary to what is typical for other plant systems, maintenance of computer systans is not routine. Maintenance staff shonld have in-depth knowledge of the reqnirements of the computerized systems and of the development process used for the digital retrofit. 

Maturity of technology Although the principal technical elements for CCS are available, the entire system within a plant is not yet to be considered as mature. Stakeholders are concentrating on research and development of the components and of system design. In particular, safe and permanent C02 underground storage needs to be proven. 

As technology progresses the safety of man-machine systems depends more and more on the quality of the human component (operator). This fact is very obvious in transportation, where the operator (driver) is formally and actually in control of his or her vehicle. In aviation, however, a strong trend towards software control of the aeroplane is already becoming dominant, forcing the operator (pilot) primarily into the role of supervisor or monitor of the automatic control system and into that of trouble-shooter in case of (technical) failure. In this respect a cockpit crew is facing the same situation as for instance a shift of operators in the central control room of a completely computerised chemical process plant. 

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