SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING PLANT OPERATIONS

• US 20120290104A1
• Filed: 05/11/2011
• Published: 11/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Infrastructure Technology, LLC (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Holt, Joel Donnell, Nichols, Richard Lee, Block, Frederick William, Alexander, Michael Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 8,972,067 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/29
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/84 Greenhouse gas [GHG] management systems

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure include systems and a method. In one embodiment, a system is provided. The system includes a risk calculation system configured to calculate a risk based on a static input and a dynamic input, and a decision support system configured to use the risk to derive a decision. The system also includes a plant control system configured to update operations of a plant based on the decision, wherein the decision predicts future plant conditions.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a risk calculation system configured to calculate a risk based on a static input and a dynamic input; and

a decision support system configured to use the risk to derive a decision; and

a plant control system configured to update operations of a plant based on the decision, wherein the decision predicts future plant conditions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the static input comprises a design data, a manufacturing data, a plant configuration, a failure mode analysis, a regulation, a margin for unknown factors, or a combination thereof.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the dynamic input comprises a plant instrumentation input, a plant equipment input, a plant external independent systems data, a business environment input, an external systems input, a replacement of unknown factors input, or a combination thereof.

4. The system of claim 1, comprising a data highway communicatively coupled to the plant, the plant control system, the risk calculation system, the decision support system, and wherein the data highway is configured to enable communication among the plant, the plant control system, the risk calculation system, and the decision support system.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the decision support system is configured to communicate the decision to the plant control system, and wherein the plant control system is configured to execute an action based on the decision.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the decision support system is configured to use an event rule, a mitigation action algorithm, a recommended action algorithm, a risk calculation algorithm, a failure prediction algorithm, a model updating algorithm, an action scheduling algorithm, or a combination thereof, to derive the decision.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the decision comprises a test equipment protection decision, a test valve operation decision, an instrument calibration decision, an instrument replacement decision, an equipment inspection decision, an equipment maintenance decision, a risk of failure decision, a maintenance of compliance decision, a maintenance of reliability decision, a timing decision, an identification of beneficial upgrades decision, a prioritization of relative values decision, or a combination thereof.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plant control system comprises a distributed control system (DCS), a manufacturing execution system (MES), a supervisor control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, a human machine interface (HMI) system, or a combination thereof.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the plant comprises a power plant, a chemical plant, a refinery, a manufacturing plant, or a combination thereof.

10. A method, comprising:

determining an occurrence of an event based on an event rule and a dynamic input associated with components of a plant; and

responding to the occurrence of the event, if the event occurs, wherein responding comprises;

updating a risk projection based on at least one dynamic input;

updating a risk threshold based on at least one static input;

determining whether the risk projection exceeds the risk threshold;

determining a first action if the risk projection exceeds the risk threshold, wherein determining the first action comprises selecting a mitigation action as the first action if one or more mitigation actions are available, or determining a recommended action as the first action if no mitigation actions are available; and

determining a second action if the risk projection does not exceed the risk threshold, wherein determining the second action comprises calculating a next scheduled action as the second action.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the event comprises an equipment protection system test event, and updating the risk projection comprises updating a risk of rescheduling an equipment testing interval.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the event comprises an instrumentation event, and updating the risk projection comprises at least one of updating a risk of using an uncalibrated instrument or updating a risk of using an instrument having a lower performance.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the event comprises at least one of an equipment operation event, an equipment inspection event, or an equipment maintenance event, wherein updating the risk projection comprises updating a risk of equipment failure.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the event comprises an instrumentation event, and updating the risk projection comprises at least one of updating a risk of rescheduling a calibration for an instrument or updating a risk of rescheduling a replacement for the instrument.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the event comprises at least one of an equipment operation event, an equipment inspection event, an instrumentation event or an equipment maintenance event, wherein updating the risk projection comprises at least one of updating a risk of rescheduling an equipment maintenance or updating a risk of rescheduling an equipment inspection.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the event comprises at least one of an equipment protection system test event, an instrumentation event, an equipment operation event, an equipment inspection event, or an equipment maintenance event, wherein updating the risk projection comprises updating a risk of upgrading a system configuration.

17. The method of claim 10, comprising maintaining a plant reliability level, wherein the static inputs comprise at least one of a reliability model, a failure mode analysis, a design life prediction, an industry failure rate, or an operating configuration.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein updating the risk projection comprises at least one of updating a risk of performing an equipment operation to maintain the plant reliability level, updating a risk of performing an equipment maintenance to maintain the plant reliability level, or updating a risk of performing an equipment replacement to maintain the plant reliability level.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the first action comprises an automatic action, a manual action, or a combination thereof.

20. A system comprising:

a power plant controller configured to receive dynamic inputs and static inputs related to a power plant, wherein the power plant controller is configured to derive a decision impacting power plant operations, the power plant controller is configured to determine when a test of a component of the power plant is recommended based on monitoring the dynamic and static inputs, the power plant controller is configured to identify an occurrence of an event related to the test, and the power plant controller is configured to adjust a test schedule based on a performance of the component during the event.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the component comprises a turbine system configured to provide electrical power, mechanical power, or a combination thereof.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the test comprises a proof test configured to test a suitability of the component in performing plant operations.