Updating and Utilizing Dynamic Process Simulation in an Operating Process Environment

• US 20070129917A1
• Filed: 10/02/2006
• Published: 06/07/2007
• 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, Blevins, Terrence, Wojsznis, Wilhelm
• Granted Patent: US 9,983,559 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/6
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 17/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0428 Safety, monitoring G05B19/0423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23404 If data error detected, switch automatically to program mode
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23445 Real time simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30

Abstract

A simulation system that includes interconnected simulation blocks which use process models to perform simulation activities for a process plant is integrated into a process control environment for the process plant in a manner that makes the simulation system easy to use and easily updated for on-line process simulation. The disclosed simulation system enables future predicted values as well as the current predicted values of process parameters produced by the simulation system to be made available for performance evaluation as well as to guide plant operations. Additionally, the simulation system is connected to the operating process plant to receive various on-line process plant measurements, and uses these measurements to automatically update the process models used in the simulation system, to thereby keep the simulation system coordinated with the actual operating conditions of the process plant.

Claims

1. A simulation system for use in simulating the operation of a portion of a process plant, the simulation system comprising:

one or more simulation blocks configured to perform simulation of one or more pieces of equipment within the process plant, each simulation block including;

a process model that models a portion of the process plant;

a simulation unit that uses the process model to simulate the operation of the portion of the process plant to produce a simulated output for a process element associated with the portion of the process plant;

an input adapted to accept an indication of an actual value of the process element corresponding to the simulated output for the process element; and

a model regeneration unit that compares the indication of the actual value of the process element with the simulated output of the process element to develop an updated process model for use by the simulation routine.

2. The simulation system of claim 1, wherein the process element is a process variable.

3. The simulation system of claim 2, wherein the process variable is indicative of one a fluid flow, a temperature or a pressure within the process plant.

4. The simulation system of claim 1, wherein the input is communicatively connected to accept a measurement of the process element made during on-line operation of the process plant.

5. The simulation system of claim 1, wherein the input is communicatively connected to a user input device to accept a user provided indication of the value of the process element.

6. The simulation system of claim 1, wherein the input is communicatively connected to accept a measurement signal indicative of an actual measurement of the process element made during on-line operation of the process plant and to accept a user provided input indicative of a value of the process element.

7. The simulation system of claim 6, wherein the model regeneration unit determines if the measurement signal is available, and regenerates the process model based on the measurement signal when the measurement signal is available and regenerates the process model based on the user provided input when the measurement signal is not available.

8. The simulation system of claim 6, wherein the model regeneration unit determines if the measurement signal is valid, and regenerates the process model based on the measurement signal when the measurement signal is valid and regenerates the process model based on the user provided input when the measurement signal is not valid.

9. The simulation system of claim 1, wherein the process model is a first principles model.

10. The simulation system of claim 1, wherein the process model is an impulse response model.

11. The simulation system of claim 10, wherein the model regeneration unit provides bias correction to the process model based on the difference between the indication of the value of the process element and the simulated output for the process element.

12. The simulation system of claim 1, wherein the process model is a step response model.

13. The simulation system of claim 12, wherein the model regeneration unit provides bias correction to the process model based on the difference between the indication of the value of the process element and the simulated output for the process element.

14. The simulation system of claim 1, wherein the process model is a neural network model.

15. A system for use in simulating the operation of a portion of a process plant, comprising:

a simulation system including a plurality of simulation blocks and one or more communication links that communicatively couple the simulation blocks together, the simulation system configured to perform simulation of one or more pieces of equipment within the process plant, wherein each of the simulation blocks includes;

a process model that models a portion of the process plant;

a simulation routine that uses the process model to simulate the operation of the portion of the process plant to produce a simulated output for a process element;

an input adapted to accept an indication of an actual value of the process element corresponding to the simulated output for the process element; and

a model regeneration routine that compares the indication of the actual value of the process element with the simulated output of the process element to develop an updated process model for use by the simulation routine; and

a process control system having one or more control blocks connected to elements within the process to perform on-line control of the process.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the input of one of the simulation blocks is communicatively connected to a user input device to accept a user provided indication of the actual value of the process element.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the input of one of the simulation blocks is communicatively connected to an output of the process control system to accept an on-line measured process value as the indication of the actual value of the process element.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the on-line measured process value is indicative of one a fluid flow, a temperature or a pressure within the process plant.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the on-line measured process value is a process variable measurement made by the process control system during on-line operation of the process plant.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the input of the one of the simulation blocks is communicatively connected to accept a measurement signal indicative of an actual measurement of the process element made within the on-line process and to accept a user provided input indicative of the actual value of the process element.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the model regeneration routine for the one of the simulation blocks determines if the measurement signal is available or valid, and regenerates the process model for the one of the simulation blocks based on the measurement signal when the measurement signal is available or valid and regenerates the process model for the one of the simulation blocks based on the user provided input when the measurement signal is not available or not valid.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the process model for one of the simulation blocks is a first principles model.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein the process model for one of the simulation blocks is an impulse response model or a step response model.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the model regeneration routine for the one of the simulation blocks provides bias correction to the process model for the one of the simulation blocks based on a difference between the indication of the value of the process element and the simulated output for the process element.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein one of the control blocks used by the process control system includes a process model to perform an on-line process control activity, and wherein the simulation system provides the updated process model developed by the model regeneration routine for one of the simulation blocks to the one of the control blocks for use by the one of the control blocks to perform the on-line process control activity.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the one of the control blocks is a model predictive control block that implements model predictive control using a process model.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the one of the control blocks is an adaptive proportion-integral-derivative (PID) control block that implements PID control using a process model.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the one of the control blocks includes an optimizer that implements process optimization using a process model.

29. The system of claim 15, wherein multiple ones of the simulation blocks simulate the operation of process equipment within the process plant and wherein one of the one or more communication links is a smart communication link that models the movement of a process material from a first piece of process equipment to a second piece of process equipment within the process plant.

30. A method of simulating the operation of a portion of a process plant, comprising:

simulating the operation of the portion of the process plant using a process model for the portion of the process plant to produce a simulated output for a process element within the process plant;

using an indication of an actual value of the process element corresponding to the simulated output for the process element to develop an updated process model for use by the simulation routine; and

using the updated process model to simulate further operation of the process plant.

31. The method of claim 30, including enabling a user to provide the indication of the actual value of the process element to be used to develop the updated process model.

32. The method of claim 30, including running a process control system to control the operation of the portion of the process plant in conjunction with simulating the operation of the portion of the process plant, measuring the process element within the process plant and using the measured value of the process element as the indication of the actual value of the process element.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein measuring the process element within the process plant includes measuring one of a fluid flow, a temperature or a pressure within the process plant.

34. The method of claim 32, including accepting a user provided input indicative of the actual value of the process element and obtaining a measurement signal indicative of a measurement of the actual value of the process element measured during the running of the process control system and using one of the user provided input and the measurement signal as the indication of the actual value of the process element.

35. The method of claim 34, further including determining if the measurement signal is available or valid, and using the measurement signal as the indication of the actual value of the process element when the measurement signal is available or valid and using the user provided input as the indication of the actual value of the process element when the measurement signal is not available or not valid.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein running a process control system includes using a process model to perform an on-line process control activity within the process plant, and including providing the updated process model to the process control system and using the updated process model within the process control system to perform the on-line process control activity.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein using the process model to perform the on-line process control activity includes implementing model predictive control using the process model.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein using the process model to perform the on-line process control activity includes implementing an adaptive proportion-integral-derivative (PID) control routine using the process model.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein using the process model to perform the on-line process control activity includes using an optimizer to perform process or control optimization using the process model.

40. The method of claim 30, wherein simulating the operation of the portion of the process plant using a process model includes using a first principles model as the process model.

41. The method of claim 30, wherein simulating the operation of the portion of the process plant using a process model includes using an impulse response model or a step response model as the process model.

42. The method of claim 30, wherein using an indication of an actual value of the process element corresponding to the simulated output for the process element to develop the updated process model includes providing bias correction to the process model based on the difference between the indication of the value of the process element and the simulated output for the process element.

43. A method of simulating the operation of a process plant, comprising:

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

a process model that models a portion of the process plant; and

a simulation routine that uses the process model to simulate the operation of the portion of the process plant to produce a simulated output for a process element;

enabling a user to communicatively connect the simulation objects together to develop a simulation system;

executing the simulation system on one or more processors to produce a simulated output for a process element during on-line operation of the process; and

regenerating the process model of one of the simulation objects during on-line operation of the process using a comparison between an indication of an actual value of the process element and the simulated output for the process element.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein regenerating the process model includes enabling a user to provide the indication of an actual value of the process element to be used in the comparison between the indication of the actual value of the process element and the simulated output of the process element.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein regenerating the process model includes enabling a user to provide the indication of an actual value of the process element and providing a measurement signal indicative of a measurement of the actual value of the process element measured during the on-line operation of the process, and includes using one of the user provided input and the measurement signal as the indication of the actual value of the process element to generate the regenerated process model.

46. The method of claim 43, further including executing a process control system in conjunction with the simulation system to control the on-line operation of the process, wherein executing the process control system includes using a further process model to perform an on-line process control activity within the process, and further including providing the regenerated process model of the one of the simulation objects to the process control system to be used as the further process model to perform the on-line process control activity.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein using the further process model to perform the on-line process control activity includes implementing model predictive control using the further process model.

48. The method of claim 43, wherein the process model for one of the simulation objects is an impulse response model or a step response model and wherein regenerating the process model for the one of the simulation objects during on-line operation of the process includes performing bias correction based on a difference between the indication of the value of the process element and the simulated output for the process element.