Smart process objects used in a process plant modeling system

• US 20050096872A1
• Filed: 12/16/2004
• Published: 05/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Nixon, Mark, Beoughter, Ken, Webb, Arthur, Lucas, Michael, Blevins, Terrence
• Granted Patent: US 9,904,263 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/183
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 17/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41885 characterised by modeling, simulation of the manufacturing system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

Smart process objects, which have both graphical and simulation elements, may be used to create one or more graphic displays and one or more process simulation modules, each having elements which may communicate with one another and with devices within a process plant to model and depict the operation of a process plant. The smart process objects may include one or more device objects, which represent physical devices within the process plant, and may include one or more smart connection objects which represent and model the flow of a material, such as a gas, a liquid, a composition of solid, electricity, etc., through a connection between entities within the process plant. The smart process objects may also include one or more smart stream objects, which also may represent and model the flow of a material at a particular point in the process plant. The smart device, connection, and stream objects may be interconnected to model the flow of material through the actual physical devices within the process plant thereby enabling enhanced simulation and modeling capabilities with the smart connection and stream objects providing a convenient manner of enabling different entities and sections of a process model to be tied to one another.

Claims

1. A modeling entity for use in modeling a connection between physical entities in a process plant, the modeling entity comprising:

a computer readable memory; and

,

a connection object stored on the computer readable memory and adapted to be executed on a processor, the connection object including;

a parameter memory adapted to store connection parameter data pertaining to the connection in the process plant; and

,

a graphic representation of the connection adapted to be displayed to a user on a display device.

2. The modeling entity of claim 1, wherein the connection parameter data comprises information indicative of a connection type, and wherein the graphic representation is indicative of the connection type.

3. The modeling entity of claim 2, wherein the connection type is one of a pipe connection, a duct connection, an electrical connection, and a conveyor connection.

4. The modeling entity of claim 1, wherein the parameter memory is further adapted to store flow parameter data pertaining to a material flow through the connection, the flow parameter data comprising information indicative of one or more of direction, pressure, temperature, density, material type, composition, and rate.

5. The modeling entity of claim 1, wherein the connection parameter data comprises information indicative of a connection status, and wherein the graphic representation is indicative of the connection status.

6. The modeling entity of claim 1, wherein the graphic representation comprises a display of a flow measurement taken by a measurement object associated with the connection object.

7. The modeling entity of claim 1, wherein the graphic representation comprises a display of a flow composition determined by a further model object associated with the connection object.

8. The modeling entity of claim 1, wherein the connection object comprises a method adapted to be executed on the processor and to use the connection parameter data to produce an output related to the connection.

9. The modeling entity of claim 8, wherein the method includes one or more of a unit conversion algorithm, a flow tracking algorithm, a mass balance algorithm, and a simulation algorithm for simulating the flow through the connection.

10. A modeling system for use in modeling operation of a process plant, the modeling system comprising:

a computer readable memory; and

,

a plurality of modeling objects stored on the computer readable memory and adapted to be executed on a processor to model different physical entities within the process plant, the plurality of modeling objects including;

first and second process objects stored on the computer readable memory and associated with first and second physical entities of the process plant, respectively; and

,

a connection object stored on the computer readable memory, associated with a connection between the first and second physical entities, and having a parameter memory adapted to store connection parameter data pertaining to the connection and a graphic representation of the connection adapted to be displayed to a user on a display device.

11. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein one of the first and second physical entities comprises a field device disposed within the process plant.

12. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein the first process object comprises a stream object having a connection specification enabling the stream object to be logically connected to the connection object.

13. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein the connection parameter data comprises information indicative of a connection type, and wherein the graphic representation is indicative of the connection type.

14. The modeling system of claim 13, wherein the connection type is one of a pipe connection, a duct connection, an electrical connection, and a conveyor connection.

15. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein the parameter memory is further adapted to store flow parameter data pertaining to material flow through the connection, the flow parameter data comprising information indicative of one or more of direction, pressure, temperature, density, material type, composition, and rate.

16. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein the connection parameter data comprises information indicative of a connection status, and wherein the graphic representation is indicative of the connection status.

17. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of modeling objects further includes a measurement object associated with the connection, and wherein the graphic representation comprises a display of a flow measurement taken by the measurement object.

18. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of modeling objects further includes a flow composition object associated with the connection, and wherein the graphic representation comprises a display of the flow composition.

19. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein the connection object comprises a method adapted to be executed on the processor and to use the connection parameter data to produce an output related to the connection.

20. The modeling system of claim 19, wherein the method includes one or more of a unit conversion algorithm, a flow tracking algorithm, a mass balance algorithm, and a simulation algorithm for simulating material flow through the connection.

21. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of modeling objects includes a tag uniquely identifying the modeling object for communication purposes to enable communication between the plurality of modeling objects using the unique tags.

22. The modeling system of claim 10, wherein the connection object includes one or more outputs enabling the connection object to communicate the connection parameter data to one of the first and second process objects.

23. A method of modeling operation of a process plant, comprising:

storing a plurality of modeling objects in a computer readable memory, wherein each of the plurality of modeling objects is adapted to be associated with a different physical entity within the process plant, the plurality of modeling objects including;

first and second device objects stored on the computer readable memory, associated with first and second physical devices of the process plant, respectively, and having respective parameter memories and graphic representations adapted to be displayed to a user on a display device; and

,

a connection object stored on the computer readable memory and having a parameter memory adapted to store connection parameter data and a connection graphic representation adapted to be displayed to the user on the display device;

enabling the user to establish a connection between the first and second device objects using the connection object to specify a material flow between the first and second physical devices; and

,

executing the plurality of modeling objects on a processor to produce a model of the operation of the process plant including displaying the connection graphic representation and the device graphic representations to the user on the display device to graphically illustrate the operation of the process plant.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the plurality of modeling objects further includes a measurement object associated with the connection such that displaying the connection graphic representation includes displaying a flow measurement taken by the measurement object.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the connection parameter data comprises information indicative of a connection type, and wherein the connection type is one of a duct connection, a pipe connection, and a conveyor connection.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein storing a plurality of modeling objects includes storing a connection object method wherein the connection object method is adapted to be executed on a processor to use the connection parameter data to produce an output related to the material flow through the connection between the first and second physical devices.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the connection object method includes a simulation algorithm for simulating the material flow through the connection between the first and second physical devices.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein executing the plurality of modeling objects includes passing the connection parameter data from the connection object to one of the first and second device objects.

29. The method of claim 23, further comprising storing a plurality of template modeling objects in the computer readable memory, and enabling the user to create the first and second device objects by associating one or more of the template device objects with the first and second physical devices.

30. The method of claim 23, wherein the parameter memory of the connection object is further adapted to store flow parameter data pertaining to the flow through the connection, the flow parameter data comprising information regarding one or more of direction, pressure, temperature, density, material type, composition, and rate.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein the connection parameter data comprises information indicative of a connection status, and wherein the connection graphic representation is indicative of the connection status.

32. A modeling system for use in modeling an operation of a process plant, the modeling system comprising:

a computer readable memory; and

a plurality of modeling objects stored on the computer readable memory and adapted to be executed on a processor to model different physical entities within the process plant, the plurality of modeling objects including;

a stream object associated with a material flow within the process plant having a stream parameter memory adapted to store material flow parameter data pertaining to the material flow in the process plant and a material flow graphic representation of the material flow adapted to be displayed to a user on a display device; and

a further modeling object associated with a physical device within the process plant having a device parameter memory adapted to store device parameter data pertaining to the physical device and a device graphic representation for the physical device adapted to be displayed to a user on a display device.

33. The modeling system of claim 32, wherein the stream object further includes a connection specification enabling the stream object to be logically connected to the further modeling object.

34. The modeling system of claim 33, wherein the further modeling object is associated with one of a field device disposed within the process plant and a material transport device disposed within the process plant.

35. The modeling system of claim 33, wherein the connection specification includes a specification of a type of further modeling object to which the stream object may be connected to model the material flow.

36. The modeling system of claim 35, wherein the specification of the type of further modeling object indicates one of a duct, a pipe and a conveyor and wherein the further modeling object is associated with one of a physical duct, a physical pipe and a physical conveyor.

37. The modeling system of claim 32, wherein the stream parameter memory is adapted to store material flow parameter data defining a type of the material flow in the process plant, and wherein the type of the material flow is one of a liquid, a gas and a composition of one or more solids.

38. The modeling system of claim 32, wherein the stream parameter memory is adapted to store material flow parameter data pertaining to a composition of material associated with the material flow in the process plant.

39. The modeling system of claim 32, wherein the stream object includes one or more outputs enabling the stream object to communicate the material flow parameter data to the further modeling object.

40. The modeling system of claim 32, wherein the stream parameter memory is adapted to store material flow parameter data pertaining to one or more properties of the material flow in the process plant, and wherein one of the one or more properties is indicative of direction, pressure, temperature, density, material type, composition, or rate.

41. The modeling system of claim 32, wherein the stream object includes a method adapted to be executed on the processor to use the material flow parameter data to produce an output related to the material flow in the process plant.

42. The modeling system of claim 41, wherein the method includes one or more of a unit conversion method, a flow tracking algorithm, a mass balance algorithm, and a simulation algorithm.

43. The modeling system of claim 32, wherein the stream object includes one or more communication inputs adapted to receive one or more measured parameters pertaining to the material flow in the process plant and to store the one or more measured parameters as the material flow parameter data.