System and method for monitoring a control process in a process plant
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring a control process in a process plant, the process plant comprising:
- a plurality of plant items to be controlled, at least some of which have sensor means for obtaining a status signal indicative of the status of that plant item, and at least some of which have control means for controlling that plant item in response to a control signal;
the method comprising receiving a plurality of input signals, at least some of which have been derived from the said the status signals;
processing at least some of the input signals according to a control algorithm structured from a plurality of control functions, and generating a plurality of output signals from the processed input signals;
selecting a first output signal generated from an output of a one of the plurality of control functions of the control algorithm;
tracing the derivation of that first output signal to its source or sources via the said control algorithm, and visually displaying the functional relationship between the source or sources and the first output signal which is a result of the control algorithm, so as to permit the tracing of a fault within the process plant from its effect back to its cause.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A System and a method are provided for the monitoring of a control process in a process plant such as a power generation plant. The process plant contains a plurality of plant items to be controlled, such as valves, pumps, turbines and so forth. At least some of these have sensors attached to them which output a digital (binary) or analog signal indicative of the status of that plant item. Many plant items also have control actuators for shutting and opening the valve, for example. The plant item sensor outputs are connected to a network and a control algorithm representing the control logic of the process plant processes the sensor outputs.
The output of one of a plurality of control functions forming the control algorithm is selected to begin a fault tracing procedure. The control logic forming the control algorithm is visually displayed on a computer monitor. The selected control function output is traced back to its source via the control algorithm shown on the computer monitor to identify the root cause of a fault.
46 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring a control process in a process plant, the process plant comprising:
a plurality of plant items to be controlled, at least some of which have sensor means for obtaining a status signal indicative of the status of that plant item, and at least some of which have control means for controlling that plant item in response to a control signal;
the method comprisingreceiving a plurality of input signals, at least some of which have been derived from the said the status signals;
processing at least some of the input signals according to a control algorithm structured from a plurality of control functions, and generating a plurality of output signals from the processed input signals;
selecting a first output signal generated from an output of a one of the plurality of control functions of the control algorithm;
tracing the derivation of that first output signal to its source or sources via the said control algorithm, and visually displaying the functional relationship between the source or sources and the first output signal which is a result of the control algorithm, so as to permit the tracing of a fault within the process plant from its effect back to its cause. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24)
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23. A system for monitoring a control process in a process plant, the process plant comprising:
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a plurality of plant items to be controlled, at least some of which have sensor means for obtaining a status signal indicative of the status of that plant item, and at least some of which have control means for controlling that plant item in response to a control signal, the system comprising;
storage means for receiving a plurality of input signals at least some of which have been derived from the said status signals;
processor means for processing at least some of the input signals according to a control algorithm structured from a plurality of control functions, and for generating a plurality of output signals from the processed input signals; and
display means;
the processor means being further arranged to permit selection of a first output signal generated from an output of one of the plurality of control functions of the control algorithm, and to trace the derivation of that first output signal to its source or sources via the said control algorithm, the display means being arranged to display the functional relationship between the source or sources and the first output signal which is a result of the control algorithm, so as to permit the tracing of a fault within the process plant from its effect back to its cause. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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Specification