REAL TIME ENERGY CONSUMPTION ANALYSIS AND REPORTING

• US 20100274602A1
• Filed: 04/24/2009
• Published: 10/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Walker, Marcia Elaine, Kaufman, Philip John
• Granted Patent: US 9,129,231 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/024 Quantitative history assessment, e.g. mathematical relationships between available data; Functions therefor; Principal component analysis [PCA]; Partial least square [PLS]; Statistical classifiers, e.g. Bayesian networks, linear regression or correlation analysis; Neural networks
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0254 based on a quantitative model, e.g. mathematical relationships between inputs and outputs; functions: observer, Kalman filter, residual calculation, Neural Networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/82 Energy audits or management systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/845 Inventory and reporting systems for greenhouse gases [GHG]

Abstract

The claimed subject matter relates to an architecture that can facilitate analysis, processing, or reporting in connection with energy consumption data and/or emissions or sustainability factors associated with an automation process. In particular, the architecture can obtain process-level or machine- or device-level energy consumption data collected during execution of an automation process. The data can be analyzed or processed, with general or application-specific results output to a specified recipient and/or formatted (e.g., parsed, filtered, or transformed) according to a general or application-specific scheme.

Claims

1. A system capable of implementation upon an industrial control configuration, comprising:

an acquisition component that obtains energy consumption data across a plurality of locations during execution of or upon completion of an automation process to produce a specified product, service, or output;

an analysis component that examines the energy consumption data and that outputs processed data that pertains to an operational parameter of the automation process; and

a reporting component that generates a process statement associated with the energy consumption data or the processed data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the automation process comprises a discrete process or a batch process.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operational parameter is at least one of a run-time parameter that relates to configuration of a machine employed during the automation process, a process scheduling parameter that establishes a timetable for engagement of machinery during the automation process, a production modulation parameter that relates to modification of the automation process or a predetermined schedule thereof, or a combination thereof.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the process statement is a bill of materials that itemizes the energy consumption data associated with production of all or a portion of the specified product, service, or output.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the reporting component formats and outputs the process statement by way of email, electronic message, printer, or a human-machine interface (HMI).

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the process statement is transmitted to at least one of an authorized network address, a graphical display associated with the HMI, a data store, or a decision tree of the industrial control configuration.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising an optimization component that employs the operational parameter and a process control algorithm to determine an update to the automation process based upon a state of the energy consumption data.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the optimization component determines the update further based upon at least one environmental factor.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the optimization component determines the update further based upon at least one emission factor in connection with the automation process.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the optimization component determines the update to the automation process further based upon a sustainability factor in connection with the automation process.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the sustainability factor that pertains to at least one of an energy provider, raw materials, waste, effluent, worker safety, corporate policy, fair labor policy, or regulatory mandates.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an input component that obtains a command that pertains to an update to the automation process as a function of the energy consumption data, an emissions factor, or a sustainability factor, wherein the command is obtained from an HMI device or a decision controller.

13. A method capable of implementation upon an industrial control configuration, comprising:

employing a data processor for executing the following instructions stored on a computer readable medium;

accessing data describing process-level energy consumption data associated with multiple components of one or more industrial automation processes;

characterizing the process-level energy consumption data for steady-state analysis of the multiple components of the one or more industrial automation processes as a function of energy consumption state; and

storing the characterized process-level energy consumption data in memory.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising optimizing the one or more industrial automation process in connection with the process-level energy consumption data.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising facilitating real-time process modification to a subset of the one or more industrial automation process as a function of a sustainability benefit associated with the industrial automation process.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising outputting at least a portion of the process-level energy consumption data or water consumption data as a bill of materials report for an output of the industrial automation process.

17. A system capable of implementation upon an industrial control configuration, comprising:

means for acquiring device-level energy or water consumption data for a set of devices, the device-level energy consumption data relating to an output of an industrial control configuration during run-time of an automation process;

means for reporting a relevant portion of the device-level energy consumption data to a recipient as a function of an application or responsibility of the recipient; and

means for selecting the relevant portion according to the application or responsibility of the recipient.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for transforming the device-level energy consumption data according to the application or responsibility of the recipient.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for modulating the automation process or a disparate automation process for facilitating a desired change in the device-level energy consumption.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising means for receiving an input describing the desired change or the modulating the automation process.