SE1100665A1

SE1100665A1 - Förfarande och system för övervakning och styrning av en industriell process

Info

Publication number: SE1100665A1
Application number: SE1100665A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Susanne Timsjoe; Hongyu Pei-Breivold; Saad Azhar
Original assignee: Abb Research Ltd
Priority date: 2011-09-12
Filing date: 2011-09-12
Publication date: 2011-09-14

Abstract

FÖRFARANDE OCH SYSTEM FÖR ÖVERVAKNING OCH STYRNING AV EN INDUSTRIELL PROCESS. Föreliggande uppfinning avser ett förfarande för att övervaka och styra en industriell process (2) medelst ett styrsystem (1). Förfarandet innefattar stegen att visa trenddata avseende den industriella processen på en displayenhet (23) och samtidigt visa ytterligare information avseende den industriella processen (2) på nämnda displayenhet (23).(Fig- 1)

Description

15 20 25 ln one embodiment the additional information pertains to one of the group of: alarm, notes, task or action.

In one embodiment the step of displaying comprises displaying the trend data and the additional informaﬁon in different layers of graphics displayed on the display device.

Thereby situation awareness With respect to the industrial process can be increased.

One embodiment comprises receiving an input command When the additional information relates to an alarm.

One embodiment comprises controlling the industrial process by means of the control system based on the input command.

Accordin to a second as ect of the resent disclosure there is rovided a com uter g P P P P ro ram roduct com risin a com uter readable medium havin a com uter ro ram P g P P g P g P P g stored thereon, which computer program When executed performs the method according to the first aspect. ln a third aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a control system for monitoring and controlling an industrial process, the control system comprising: a display device arranged to display trend data pertairiirig to the industrial process and to, simultaneously With displaying the trend dara, display additional information pertaining to the industrial process.

One embodiment comprises an input unit arranged to receive user input for selecting the additional information to be displayed on the display device.

In one embodiment the additional information pertains to one of the group of: alarm, notes, task or action.

In one embodiment the display device is arranged to display the trend data and the additional information in different layers of graphics displayed on the display device. ln one embodiment the input unit is arranged to receive an input command When the additional information relates to an alarm. 10 15 20 25 One embodiment comprises a plurality of control units, each control unit being arranged to control a respective process Variable associated With the industrial process, wherein the control system is arranged to control the industrial process by means of a control unit based on the input Command.

Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defmed otherwise herein. All references to "a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc." are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The inventíve concept will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 is a schematic view of a control system arranged to control an industrial process;.

Fig. 2 illustrate a view of a display device displaying trend data and additional information pertaining to the industrial process; and Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of monitoring and controlling an industrial process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The inventíve concept will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplifying embodiments are shown. The inventive concept may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as lirnited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description.

Fig. 1 schematically shows an example of a control system 1 for monitoring and controlling an industrial process 3. The industrial process 3 usually involves various process steps carried out by one or more process component S-A, 5-B, S-C and 5-D. 10 15 20 25 The process flow according to the example of Fig. 1 is in a direction from left to right, as indicated by arrows A.

An industrial process is to be understood to mean for instance a process relating to the refining of oil and gas, the petrochemical industry, power generation, power transmission, power distribution, metals and rnining, chemical industry, pulp and paper, or automation in e.g. the manufacturing industry or food industry. It is to be noted that the present inventive concept can be utilised for monitoring and/ or controlling many different types of industrial processes, with only a few examples having been given above.

In one embodiment the control system 1 is a distributed control system. The control system may also be of SCADA type. In such embodirnents, the control system 1 comprises a plurality of control units 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 and a plurality of sensors 9-1, 9-2, 9-3, 9-4 associated with a respective control unit 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4. Each sensor 9-1, 9-2, 9-3, 9-4 of the plurality of sensors is arranged to measure one or more process variable(s) of a process component 5-A, 5-B, 5-C, S-D. Each control unit 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 is arranged to control a process component S-A, 5-B, S-C, 5-D according to a respective setpoint value which can be set by means of the control system 1.

A process component may for instance be a tank, a valve, a turbine, a roller or a cluster or rollers for a pulp and paper mill, dryíng equipment, a reﬁner, a generator, a motor, a transformer or a boiler.

A process Variable is to be construed as a measurable quantity, such as pressure, temperature or voltage, associated with a process component.

The control units 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 may for instance be Remote Terminal Units (RTU) or Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC). In one embodiment the control system comprises a combination of RTUs and PLCs.

Altematively, the control system may be a centralised control system having one control unit, such as a PLC, providing control signals to one or more process components.

The control system 1 of Fíg. 1 further comprises a communications network N and a Human-Machine-Interface (HMI) 11. The communications network N is arranged to 10 15 20 25 30 enable data communication between the control units 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 and the HMI 11.

Thereby communicaﬁon may be achieved between a control system operator and the industrial process 2. The HMI 11 comprises a computer device 13, an input unit 21, and a display device 23.

The computer device 13 comprises a communications unit 15 arranged to communicate With the control units 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4, a processor 17 and a memory 19, and an input unit 21 arranged to receive input commands from a user of the control system 1, eg. a process operator. The communications unit 15 is arranged to receive data, such as process variable data pertaining to one or more process variables, from the control units 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4. The communications unit 15 may also be arranged to send data such as a control command to the control units 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 for controlling the industrial process 2, e.g. by changing the setpoint value of one or more control units 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4. A control command may be based on an input command received by the input unit 21.

The processor 17 is arranged to receive data such as process Variable data, process the data, and oplionally store the data in the memory 19, the data having been received by the communications unit 15 or the input unit 21. Furthermore, the processor 17 is arranged to display data on the display device 23. Such data may for instance be displayed on the display device 23 in the form of trend data and additional information pertaining to the industrial process 2 sirniiltaneously as the trend data is displayed. The trend data and the additional data are in one embodiment displayed on the display device 23 in different graphical layers.

Such additional information may for instance be trend charts, process statistics, alarms, operator notes displayed for instance by means of icons, task or actions or any other type of data relating to the industrial process.

Beneﬁcially, the HMI 11 defined by the display device 23 the computer device 13 and the input unit 21 allows a user such as an operator to interact with the industrial process 2. The industrial process 2 may thereby be monitored and controlled.

In one embodiment the display device is also the input unit. In this case the display unit may be a touch-screen device. In one embodiment, the input unit may be a gesture- 10 15 20 25 based detection unit arranged to detect gestured-based input by a user. In further embodiments, the input unit may be a mouse, a keyboard or any other similar traditional input means.

The processor 17 may comprise software for processing process variable data, displaying process related irnages on the display device and for providing control commands to the control units 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 for controlling the industrial process 2.

An example of a method of monitoring and controlling an industrial process will now be described in more detail With reference to Figs 2-3.

Fig. 2 shows an example of trend data 24 and additional information 25, 26 pertaining to an industrial process displayed on a display such as display device 23. In a ﬁrst step S1 of the present method the display device 23 displays trend data 24 pertaining to the industrial process 2, and sirnultaneously with displaying the trend data, displays additional information 25, 26 pertaining to the industrial process 2.

In a step S0 the input unit 21 receives user input for selecting the additional information 25, 26 to be displayed on the display device in the step of displaying trend data. This step may be performed either before step S1 or after step S1. The additional information may be selected from a menu 27 which may be shown in the same view as the trend data 24, the menu 27 thereby also being a type of additional information relating to the industrial process. An operator may select one or more items from the menu 27 to be displayed sirnultaneously on the display device 23 together with the trend data 24.

Step S0 is typically performed at any time a user decides to provide a user input via the input unit 21 for changing the display view of the display device 23. Additional information may for instance include user notes 25 which may include comments for a specific event in a specific instance in time. A user note may be displayed as additional information along a time axis for the trend data 24 to thereby tie the user note 25 to the trend data 24 at a specific instance in time.

In case a process variable data including alarm data is received, an alarm 26 will be displayed on the display screen 23 in the form of additional information. The alarm 26 10 15 may for instance be displayed as a red dot on in an alarm value and time axis coordinate system. A user may react to the alarm and take action and provide a user input via the input unit 21. The control system 1 can thereby receive an input command via the input unit 21 in a step S2.

In a step S3 the control system may via one or more control units control the industrial process based on the input command.

The inventive concept has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible Within the scope of the inventíon, as deﬁned by the appended patent claims. The control system may for instance be of SCADA type and it may be a distributed or centralised control system. ln one embodiment the number of alarrns Within a selected time may be displayed. Task information can in one embodirnent be shown by selecting a task item in the menu. A shadowed area as shown in Fig. 2 may mean that a task was executed in a certain time eriod, for exarn le “start/ sto enerator”.

P P P g

Claims

10 15 20 25 CLAIMS

1. A method of monitoring and controlling an industrial process (2) by means of a control system (1), the method comprising the steps of: displaying (S1) trend data pertaining to the industrial process on a display device of the control system, and sirnultaneously With displaying the trend data, displaying additional information pertaining to the industrial process.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising receiving (SO) user input for selecting the additional information to be displayed on the display device in the step of displaying trend data.

3. The method as clairned in clairn 1 or 2, Wherein the additional information pertains to one of the group of: alarm, notes, task or action.

4. The method as claimed in any of the preceding clairns, Wherein the step of displaying (S1) comprises displaying the trend data and the additional information in different layers of graphics displayed on the display device.

5. The method as claimed in any of the preceding clairns, comprising receiving (S2) an input command When the additional information relates to an alarm.

6. The method as clairned in claim 5, comprising controlling (S3) the industrial process by means of the control system based on the input command.

7. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, Which computer program When executed performs the method as claimed in any of claims 1-6.

8. A control system (1) for monitoring and controlling an industrial process (2), the control system (1) comprising: a display device (23) arranged to display trend data pertaining to the industrial process and to, sirnultaneously With displaying the trend data, display additional information pertaining to the industrial process. 10 15

9. The control system (1) as claimed in claim 8, comprising an input unit arranged to receive user input for selecting the additional information to be displayed on the display device.

10. The control system (1) as claimed in clairn 8 or 9, Wherein the additional information pertains to one of the group of: alarm, notes, task or action.

11. The control system (1) as clairned in any of clairns 8-10, Wherein the display device (23) is arranged to display the trend data and the additional information in different layers of graphics displayed on the display device.

12. The control system (1) as clairned in any of clairns 9-11, Wherein the input unit is arranged to receive an input command when the additional information relates to an alarm.

13. The control system (1) as clairned in claim12, comprising a plurality of control units (7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4), each control unit (7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4) being arranged to control a respective process variable associated With the industrial process, Wherein the control system is arranged to control the industrial process by means of a control unit based on the input command.