CLOUD-LEVEL ANALYTICS FOR BOILER NETWORKS

• US 20150276208A1
• Filed: 12/05/2014
• Published: 10/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Maturana, Francisco, Asenjo, Juan L.
• Granted Patent: US 10,208,947 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F22B 35/18 Applications of computers to steam boiler control
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/04 involving the use of models or simulators
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing

Abstract

A boiler control system executing on a cloud platform facilitates remote control system analysis and generation of suitable set point parameters for a given boiler application. The system includes a system interface component, a modeling component and a correlation analytics component. The system interface component collects industrial data associated with a set of boilers and demand data associated with a set of loads. The system interface component also stores the industrial data and the demand data on a cloud platform. The modeling component generates a boiler behavioral model for storage on the cloud platform based on analysis of the industrial data and the demand data. The boiler behavioral model defines at least one correlation between efficiency and capacity associated with the set of boilers. The correlation analytics component determines at least one set point parameter for the set of boilers based on analysis of the boiler behavioral model.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory that stores computer-executable components;

a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, that executes the computer-executable components, the computer-executable components comprising;

a system interface component configured to collect industrial data associated with a set of boilers and demand data associated with a set of loads, and to store the industrial data and the demand data on a cloud platform;

a modeling component configured to generate a boiler behavioral model for storage on the cloud platform based on analysis of the industrial data and the demand data, wherein the boiler behavioral model defines at least one correlation between efficiency and capacity associated with the set of boilers; and

a correlation analytics component configured to determine at least one set point parameter for the set of boilers based on analysis of the boiler behavioral model.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a client interface component configured to send the at least one set point parameter to a client device communicatively connected to the cloud platform.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the correlation analytics component is configured to simulate an operating scenario for the set of boilers represented by initial conditions based on the boiler behavioral model.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the correlation analytics component is configured to determine whether the operating scenario for the set of boilers is associated with a maximum efficiency.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the correlation analytics component is configured to modify the initial conditions in response to a determination that the operating scenario for the set of boilers is not associated with the maximum efficiency.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the correlation analytics component is configured to generate the at least one set point parameter in response to a determination that the operating scenario for the set of boilers is associated with the maximum efficiency.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein the correlation analytics component is configured to apply a set of operational rules for the operating scenario.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system interface component is configured to generate one or more data sets based on the industrial data and the demand data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the system interface component is configured to receive at least a portion of the industrial data as a data packet from a cloud agent device associated with one or more of the set of boilers.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a cloud platform by a system comprising at least one processor, industrial data from one or more boilers of an industrial boiler system and demand data from one or more loads of the industrial boiler system;

creating, by the system, a boiler behavioral model based on analysis of the industrial data and the demand data including storing the boiler behavioral model on cloud storage of the cloud platform, wherein the boiler behavioral model encodes at least one correlation between efficiency and capacity associated with the one or more boilers; and

determining, by the system, at least one set point parameter for the one or more boilers based on an analysis of the boiler behavioral model.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising sending the at least one set point parameter to a client device that has authorization to access the cloud platform.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising simulating an operating scenario for the one or more boilers represented by initial conditions based on the boiler behavioral model.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining whether the operating scenario for the one or more boilers is associated with a maximum efficiency.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising modifying the initial conditions in response to a determination that the operating scenario for the one or more boilers is not associated with the maximum efficiency.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising generating the at least one set point parameter in response to a determination that the operating scenario for the one or more boilers is associated with the maximum efficiency.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising applying a set of operational rules for the operating scenario.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving comprises:

receiving at least a portion of the industrial data as a data packet from a cloud agent device associated with the one or more boilers; and

processing the data packet in accordance with header information included in the data packet.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving, via a cloud platform, industrial data from one or more boilers of an industrial boiler system and demand data from one or more loads of the industrial boiler system;

generating a boiler behavioral model based on analysis of the industrial data and the demand data, wherein the boiler behavioral model defines at least one correlation between efficiency and capacity associated with the one or more boilers;

storing the boiler behavioral model on cloud storage of the cloud platform; and

generating at least one set point parameter for the one or more boilers based on an analysis of the boiler behavioral model.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising initiating a sending of the at least one set point parameter to a client device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising simulating an operating scenario for the one or more boilers represented by initial conditions based on the boiler behavioral model.