ENHANCED SEQUENTIAL METHOD FOR SOLVING PRESSURE/FLOW NETWORK PARAMETERS IN A REAL-TIME DISTRIBUTED INDUSTRIAL PROCESS SIMULATION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A distributed simulation system for simulating the operation of a process network having a set of physical plant elements through which mass flows, comprising:
- a computer network including a plurality of drops and a communication network that communicatively couples the plurality of drops, wherein each of the plurality of drops includes a processor; and
a multiplicity of processor implemented simulation modules, each of the multiplicity of simulation modules including a process model that models the operation of a different one of the physical plant elements, wherein a first one of the simulation modules and a second one of the simulation modules are located in different ones of the plurality of drops;
wherein a plurality of the simulation modules are junction node simulation modules that model the operation of different junction nodes within the process network at which flow within the process network converges or diverges, each of the junction node simulation modules including;
a memory that stores a definition of a grouped set of nodes associated with a base junction node, the base junction node being one of the junction nodes within the process network, the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node being less than all of the nodes of the process network and including the base junction node and one or more further junction nodes and one or more boundary nodes, the boundary nodes being nodes within the process network that are adjacent to the base junction node or one of the one or more further junction nodes; and
a routine that executes on a processor to iteratively solve for the pressure at the base junction node during each of a number of simulation cycles using a set of pressure and flow equations based on the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node, to calculate the pressure at the base junction node.
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Abstract
A pressure and flow calculation technique can be used in a distributed process network simulation system that uses the sequential solving method to perform better or faster simulations of a process flow, especially with respect to process junction nodes at which flow either converges or diverges. The pressure and flow variable determination technique uses a grouped node identification technique that identifies a local set of nodes for each junction node of the process network to use when solving for the pressure at the junction node, a grouped node iteration technique that uses the grouped set of nodes at each junction node to perform iterative pressure calculations at the junction node, and a flow-based pressure calibration technique at each junction node to enable the system to perform highly accurate pressure and flow variable determination at each junction node in real-time.
49 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A distributed simulation system for simulating the operation of a process network having a set of physical plant elements through which mass flows, comprising:
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a computer network including a plurality of drops and a communication network that communicatively couples the plurality of drops, wherein each of the plurality of drops includes a processor; and a multiplicity of processor implemented simulation modules, each of the multiplicity of simulation modules including a process model that models the operation of a different one of the physical plant elements, wherein a first one of the simulation modules and a second one of the simulation modules are located in different ones of the plurality of drops; wherein a plurality of the simulation modules are junction node simulation modules that model the operation of different junction nodes within the process network at which flow within the process network converges or diverges, each of the junction node simulation modules including; a memory that stores a definition of a grouped set of nodes associated with a base junction node, the base junction node being one of the junction nodes within the process network, the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node being less than all of the nodes of the process network and including the base junction node and one or more further junction nodes and one or more boundary nodes, the boundary nodes being nodes within the process network that are adjacent to the base junction node or one of the one or more further junction nodes; and a routine that executes on a processor to iteratively solve for the pressure at the base junction node during each of a number of simulation cycles using a set of pressure and flow equations based on the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node, to calculate the pressure at the base junction node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of simulating the operation of a process network having a set of physical plant elements through which mass flows including a plurality of junction nodes at which mass flow within the process network converges or diverges, comprising:
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using a computer device to determine a grouped set of nodes for each of a plurality of base junction nodes within the process network, wherein a particular grouped set of nodes for a particular base junction node includes a set of selected junction nodes including the particular base junction node and one or more further junction nodes other than the particular base junction node, and a set of boundary nodes including nodes that are adjacent to one or more of the set of selected junction nodes, and wherein the set of selected junction nodes for the grouped set of nodes for the particular base junction node includes less than all of the junction nodes within the process network; using one or more computer devices to iteratively solve for the pressure at each of the base junction nodes during each of a number of simulation cycles using a set of equations based on the grouped set of nodes determined for each base junction node to calculate the pressures at each of the base junction nodes; and using one or more computer devices to determine flows in the process network based on the pressure values determined for the base junction nodes during each simulation cycle. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A simulation system for simulating the operation of a process network having a set of physical plant elements through which mass flows, wherein the process network includes a plurality of junction nodes at which flow converges or diverges, comprising:
a multiplicity of processor implemented simulation modules stored on a computer memory, each of the multiplicity of simulation modules including a process model that models the operation of a different one of the physical plant elements to determine pressures at the different physical plant elements, and including a communication routine that communicates with other simulation modules to communicate the determined pressures, wherein each of the simulation modules includes; a memory that stores a definition of a grouped set of nodes associated with a base junction node, the base junction node being one of the junction nodes within the process network, the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node being less than all of the nodes of the process network and including
1) a selected set of junction nodes including the base junction node and one or more further junction nodes, and
2) one or more boundary nodes, the boundary nodes being nodes within the process network that are adjacent to at least one of the selected set of junction nodes; anda routine that executes on a processor to iteratively solve for the pressure for the base junction node during each of a number of simulation cycles using a set of pressure and flow equations based on the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node to calculate the pressure at the base junction node, wherein, the routine iteratively solves for the pressure for the base junction node during a simulation cycle by performing a multiplicity of iterations, wherein during each iteration the routine sequentially solves for the pressure at each of the selected set of junction nodes of the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node using a previously calculated value for the pressures at the others of the selected set of junction nodes in the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node and using fixed values for the pressures at each of the boundary nodes of the grouped set of nodes for the base junction node, and determines a mass flow balance at one or more of the selected set of junction nodes using the calculated pressures to determine if flow balance is achieved at the one or more of the selected set of junction nodes. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
Specification