Industrial plant equipment, process and maintenance optimization

• US 9,626,634 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Issued: 04/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG (ABB Limited)
• Original Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Schroeder, John P., Mulders, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo, Kenneth M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lopez Alvarez, Olvin
• Application Number:
  US13/611,507
• Publication Number:
  US 20140074260A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,679 Days
• Field of Search: 703 73, 703108
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/00 Adaptive control systems, i.e. systems automatically adjusting themselves to have a performance which is optimum according to some preassigned criterion G05B19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3457 Performance evaluation by simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1016 Performance improvement
• 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: G06Q 10/06393 Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 Management or planning

Abstract

A method includes obtaining at least first, second and third data corresponding to an industrial plant, wherein the first data is indicative of a performance of equipment of the industrial plant, the second data is indicative of a process of the industrial plant, and third data is indicative of a reliability of the industrial plant, analyzing the first, second and third data with respect to predetermined metrics of the industrial plant, and generating a signal indicative of a recommendation for at least one of use of the equipment or implementation of the process based on a result of the analyzing.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining at least first, second and third data corresponding to an industrial plant, wherein the first data is indicative of a performance of equipment of the industrial plant, the second data is indicative of a process of the industrial plant, and the third data is indicative of a reliability of the industrial plant;

analyzing the first, second and third data with respect to a plurality of predetermined metrics of the industrial plant

generating a signal that (1) is indicative of a primary recommendation for at least one of use of the equipment or implementation of the process by one or more configured computer processors based on a result of the analyzing, and (2) compares the primary recommendation and a secondary recommendation to a current state of each of the plurality of predetermined metrics, the primary recommendation having a different impact than the secondary recommendation on at least one metric of the plurality of predetermined metrics;

implementing the primary recommendation or the secondary recommendation to adjust at least one of the use of equipment or the process of the industrial plant.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining fourth data indicative of energy usage of the industrial plant; and

wherein analyzing includes the fourth data with respect to the plurality of predetermined metrics of the industrial plant.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining fifth data indicative of an environmental characteristic of the industrial plant; and

wherein analyzing includes the fifth data with respect to the plurality of predetermined metrics of the industrial plant.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

obtaining sixth data indicative of a safety characteristic of the industrial plant;

wherein analyzing includes the sixth data with respect to the plurality of predetermined metrics of the industrial plant.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data is indicative of a performance of at least one of power supply equipment, power distribution equipment, control equipment and automation equipment of the industrial plant.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second data is indicative of downtime, production rate, control performance or product quality of the industrial plant.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal includes information specific to the industrial plant.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the industrial plant is a mineral mining plant.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

scanning the plant after implementation of the primary recommendation or the secondary recommendation, acquiring post-implementation data;

generating a second signal indicative of a second primary recommendation for at least one of the maintenance of the equipment or the implementation of the process based on a result of analyzing of the post-implementation data;

implementing the second primary recommendation for a least one of the maintenance of the equipment and the implementation of the process.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

tracking the implementation of the second primary recommendation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data is indicative of a performance of at least one of uptime, speed, efficiency, hardware component or a software revision of electrical equipment of the industrial plant.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the primary and secondary recommendations includes maintenance improvement recommendations for at least one of equipment, process performance, or reliability.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the maintenance improvement recommendation for the equipment includes a recommendation for at least one of training, preventive maintenance, emergency maintenance, predictive maintenance, life cycle strategy or support availability.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the maintenance improvement recommendation for the process performance includes a recommendation for at least one of control effectiveness, rate, or downtime.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the maintenance improvement recommendation for the reliability includes a recommendation for at least one of maintenance strategy or maintenance process.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the current state of at least one of use of the equipment or implementation of the process includes an index profile of the industrial plant before implementation of the primary and secondary recommendations and forecasted index profiles of the industrial plant after the implementation of the primary or secondary recommendations.

17. A system, comprising:

a data collector that obtains at least first, second and third data corresponding to an industrial plant, wherein the first data is indicative of a performance of equipment of the industrial plant, the second data is indicative of a process of the industrial plant, and third data is indicative of a reliability of the industrial plant;

a data analyzer that analyzes the first, second and third data with respect to a plurality of predetermined metrics of the industrial plant;

a recommender that includes one or more computer processors configured to generate a report indicating (1) a primary recommendation for at least one of maintenance of the equipment or improvement of the process performance based on a result of the analyzing, and (2) a comparison of the primary recommendation and a secondary recommendation in view of a current state of the plurality of predetermined metrics of the industrial plant, the primary recommendation having a different impact than the secondary recommendation on at least one metric of the plurality of predetermined metrics; and

an output device configured to convey the report from the system to a resource of the industrial plant for selection and implementation to adjust the performance of at least one of the (1) equipment and (2) process of the industrial plant.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the primary recommendation includes results from at least one of the data collector or the data analyzer.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the primary recommendation is for at least one of plant maintenance improvements, plant process improvements, or plant reliability improvements, and wherein the system includes a console that is configured to receive the report and to output the report for at least one of (1) visual display on a display and (2) communication to a processor of at least some of the equipment.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the data collector further collects one or more of data indicative of energy usage of the industrial plant, data indicative of an environmental characteristic of the industrial plant, or data indicative of a safety characteristic of the industrial plant.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the first data is indicative of the performance of power, control and automation equipment of the industrial plant, and the second data is indicative of a downtime of the industrial plant.

22. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a data scanner that scans the plant after implementation of the primary or secondary recommendations, acquiring post-implementation data and generates a second primary signal indicative of a second primary recommendation for at least one of the maintenance of the equipment or the implementation of the process based on a result of analyzing of the post-implementation data.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the current state of at least one of use of the equipment or implementation of the process includes an index profile of the industrial plant before implementation of the primary and secondary recommendations and forecasted index profiles of the industrial plant after the implementation of the primary or secondary recommendations.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the index profile includes at least one of a preventive maintenance strategy index, an emergency maintenance strategy index, a training index, predictive maintenance strategy index, life cycle strategy index, or support availability index by equipment class.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the index profile includes at least one of a preventive maintenance strategy index, an emergency maintenance strategy index, a training index, predictive maintenance strategy index, life cycle strategy index, or support availability index by equipment type.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the index profile provides at least one benchmark across at least one of plants, regions, or industries.

27. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with one or more computer executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor of a computing system, causes the processor to:

obtain at least first, second and third data corresponding to an industrial plant, wherein the first data is indicative of a performance of equipment of the industrial plant which include power supply equipment, power distribution equipment control equipment and automation equipment, the second data is indicative of a process of the industrial plant which processes ore to a product, and third data is indicative of a reliability of the industrial plant;

analyze the first, second and third data with respect to a plurality of predetermined metrics of the industrial plant;

generate a primary recommendation for at least one of the maintenance of the equipment, improvement of the process, or improvement of reliability based on a result of the analyzing;

generate a comparison of the primary recommendation and a secondary recommendation in view of a current state of the plurality of predetermined metrics of the industrial plant, the primary recommendation having a different impact than the secondary recommendation on at least one metric of the plurality of predetermined metrics; and

communicate the plurality of recommendations for selection and implementation to adjust the performance of at least one of the (1) equipment and (2) process of the industrial plant.