System, method and apparatus for determining properties of product or process streams
First Claim
1. A system for determining a property of a fluid process stream, the system comprising:
- a hard analyzer including hardware, configured to generate one or more dependent variables associated with a sample of the fluid process stream, wherein said dependent variables are properties that correspond to composition of the sample, and wherein said dependent variables exclude independent process variables of pressure, temperature, and flow rate;
a distributed control system (DCS) having a plurality of sensors including at least one temperature sensor, at least one pressure sensor, and at least one flow rate sensor, communicably coupled to the fluid process stream;
the DCS configured to use said sensors to capture a plurality of independent process variables associated with the fluid process stream, and to use said plurality of independently process variables as process control inputs to control the fluid process stream;
an inferential analyzer including a model of aspects of the fluid process stream, the inferential analyzer being configured to capture from said DCS said plurality of independent process variables associated with the process stream and to use said plurality of independent process variables to generate one or more inferred dependent variables, wherein said plurality of independent process variables are not said dependent variables;
a comparison module configured to generate a comparison of the dependent variables and the inferred dependent variables;
the system being configured to use the comparison to adjust the model; and
the DCS configured to use the comparison to adjust one or more parameters of the fluid process stream.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems, methods, and apparatuses are provided for determining properties of process streams, in particular, hydrocarbon processing streams. The systems, methods, and apparatuses frequently, for example, substantially in real-time, determine measurements for the properties of the process stream. The systems, methods, and apparatuses provide features that allow such properties of process streams to be accurately measured even as process conditions and other parameters that affect process operations change. More specifically, an analyzer having a measurement device configured to detect one or more independent variables of a process stream, a model configured to determine one or more analyzer measurements from the one or more independent variables, and a procedure to adjust the model using a corresponding primary measurement is disclosed.
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Citations
50 Claims
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1. A system for determining a property of a fluid process stream, the system comprising:
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a hard analyzer including hardware, configured to generate one or more dependent variables associated with a sample of the fluid process stream, wherein said dependent variables are properties that correspond to composition of the sample, and wherein said dependent variables exclude independent process variables of pressure, temperature, and flow rate; a distributed control system (DCS) having a plurality of sensors including at least one temperature sensor, at least one pressure sensor, and at least one flow rate sensor, communicably coupled to the fluid process stream; the DCS configured to use said sensors to capture a plurality of independent process variables associated with the fluid process stream, and to use said plurality of independently process variables as process control inputs to control the fluid process stream; an inferential analyzer including a model of aspects of the fluid process stream, the inferential analyzer being configured to capture from said DCS said plurality of independent process variables associated with the process stream and to use said plurality of independent process variables to generate one or more inferred dependent variables, wherein said plurality of independent process variables are not said dependent variables; a comparison module configured to generate a comparison of the dependent variables and the inferred dependent variables; the system being configured to use the comparison to adjust the model; and the DCS configured to use the comparison to adjust one or more parameters of the fluid process stream. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for determining a property of a process stream, the method comprising:
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generating, with a hard analyzer including hardware, one or more dependent variables associated with a sample of the process stream, wherein said dependent variables are properties that correspond to composition of the sample, and wherein said dependent variables exclude independent process variables of pressure, temperature, and flow rate; communicably coupling a distributed control system (DCS) having a plurality of sensors including at least one temperature sensor, at least one pressure sensor, and at least one flow rate sensor, to the fluid process stream; using the DCS and the sensors to capture a plurality of independent process variables associated with the fluid process stream, and using said plurality of independent process variables as process control inputs to control the fluid process stream; capturing from the DCS, with an inferential analyzer including a model of aspects of the process stream, said plurality of independent process variables associated with the process stream and using said plurality of independent process variables to generate one or more inferred dependent variables, wherein said plurality of independent process variables are not said dependent variables; generating, with a comparison module, a comparison of the dependent variables and the inferred dependent variables; using the comparison to adjust the model; and with the DCS, using the comparison to adjust one or more parameters of the fluid process stream. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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Specification