SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING ASSETS USING ENERGY INFORMATION DETERMINED WITH AN ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL OF AN INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION SYSTEM

• US 20140277794A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kaufman, Philip J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,842,372 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/291
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

A system may include a processor that may receive structured energy data associated with one or more assets in an automation system such that the structured energy data comprises a logical grouping of assets in the automation system. The processor may also determine energy properties of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping over a period of time, identify one or more idle periods of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping during the period of time based on the energy properties, and send one or more commands to the one or more assets to enter a reduced power consumption mode during the idle periods.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive structured energy data associated with one or more assets in an automation system, wherein the structured energy data comprises a logical grouping of assets in the automation system;

determine energy properties of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping over a period of time; and

identify one or more idle periods of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping during the period of time based on the energy properties; and

send one or more commands to the one or more assets to enter a reduced power consumption mode during the idle periods.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the structured energy data is determined based on energy data received from the assets and an organizational model.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the organizational model data comprises a hierarchical structure of the automation system represented in a functional view.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the assets comprise one or more power meters, one or more drives, one or more motors, one or more capacitor banks, one or more air compressors, one or more refrigerator units, one or more turbines, one or more generators, one or more energy storage devices, one or more photovoltaic cells, one or more robots, one or more reactors, or any combinations thereof.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the commands are configured to coordinate when the one or more assets enter the reduced power consumption mode with respect to the logical grouping.

6. A system, comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive structured energy data associated with one or more assets in an automation system, wherein the structured energy data comprises a logical grouping of assets in the automation system;

determine energy properties of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping over a period of time; and

identify one or more peak demand periods of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping during the period of time based on the energy properties;

determine an asset schedule configured to coordinate one or more operations of the one or more assets according to the logical grouping, wherein the operations are coordinated to reduce an energy demand of the automation system during the one or more peak demand periods; and

send one or more commands to the one or more assets to reduce energy consumption according to the asset schedule.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the commands are configured to shed loads of the assets with respect to the logical grouping, exchange energy between the one or more assets, stagger loads, release stored energy, provide energy back to a grid, or any combination thereof.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the commands are configured to use one or more work-in-progress processes as a battery.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the structured energy data is generated based on an organizational model data comprising the logical grouping of the assets with respect to one or more functionalities of the automation system.

10. A system, comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive structured energy data associated with one or more assets in an automation system, wherein the structured energy data comprises a logical grouping of assets in the automation system;

receive utility energy demand data indicating an energy demand schedule associated with a utility providing energy to the one or more assets;

determine energy properties of the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping over a period of time; and

determine an asset schedule configured to coordinate one or more operations of the one or more assets according to the logical grouping, wherein the operations are coordinated to reduce an energy demand of the automation system according to the utility energy demand data; and

send one or more commands to the one or more assets to reduce energy consumption according to the asset schedule.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to determine the asset scheduling by negotiating expected energy use patterns associated with the automation system with respect to the logical grouping with the utility.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the commands comprise adjusting the operations of at least one of the assets to provide energy to the utility.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one of the assets is a generator, a turbine, or a regenerative drive.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the utility energy demand data comprises a request to reduce energy consumption of the automation system during a period of time.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the utility energy demand data comprises a dynamic pricing schedule for energy consumption.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the asset schedule is determined based on the dynamic pricing schedule, and wherein the operations of the assets are configured to use peak energy during low costs hours.

17. A system, comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive structured energy data associated with one or more assets in an automation system, wherein the structured energy data comprises a logical grouping of assets in the automation system;

determine an expected range of energy associated with the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping over a period of time; and

receive energy data from at least one of the assets in real time; and

send a notification when energy data associated with the one or more assets with respect to the logical grouping falls outside the range.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to predict when the energy data associated with the one or more assets will fall outside the expected range based on the energy data from the at least one of the assets in real time.

19. A system, comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive structured energy data associated with one or more assets in an automation system, wherein the structured energy data comprises a logical grouping of assets in the automation system;

receive an asset schedule associated with one or more operations of the one or more assets over time; and

modify the asset schedule, wherein the modified asset schedule is configured to maintain an energy target for the automation system.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the modified asset schedule is configured to coordinate one or more operations of the one or more assets according to the logical grouping, wherein the operations are coordinated with respect to the logical grouping such that energy associated with the automation system is similar to the energy target.