JP7466380B2 - Plant monitoring and control system - Google Patents

Description

This application relates to a plant monitoring and control system that supports the smooth operation of plant facilities.

Conventional plant monitoring and control systems that manage the operation of plant facilities such as water supply and sewerage systems monitor the plant facilities, and when an abnormality occurs, identify the cause of the abnormality to some extent and notify the operator, and guide detailed inspection work in a direction that makes it easier to identify the cause of the abnormality when the cause cannot be identified (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In this patent document, sensors periodically collect plant process data, and compare this process data with predetermined reference values. If the process data deviates from the reference values, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the plant, and signal monitoring data for equipment diagnosis and abnormality indication is output. In addition, the cause of the abnormality is identified or narrowed down using a causal tree diagram of the abnormality causes created based on the knowledge and experience of a skilled engineer, and the operator is notified of the abnormality.

JP-A-8-152912 (see Figs. 1 and 11)

Conventional plant monitoring and control systems are configured as described above and detect abnormal conditions in plant equipment at monitored points. However, once an abnormality occurs, it often takes time to recover. Therefore, it is desirable to not only monitor for abnormalities, but also to monitor for signs that may lead to an abnormality before an abnormal condition occurs, and to respond before an abnormal condition occurs.
The present application has been made to solve such problems, and has an object to provide a plant monitoring and control system that accumulates know-how based on the knowledge and experience of plant equipment held by operators, and diagnoses plant equipment taking into consideration the level of monitoring by operators, such as whether the equipment is operating normally (hereinafter, the monitoring level is referred to as normal state), whether it is equipment that may become abnormal in the future and needs to be monitored carefully (hereinafter, the monitoring level is referred to as monitoring required), whether it is equipment that needs to be taken care of before it becomes abnormal (hereinafter, the monitoring level is referred to as response required), or whether it is an abnormal state that requires urgent response (hereinafter, the monitoring level is referred to as urgent response), and notifies the operator of the plant equipment.

The plant monitoring and control system disclosed in the present application is a plant monitoring and control system including a monitoring and control device that obtains data on a plurality of pieces of plant equipment, displays the data on a monitor screen, and controls the plant equipment based on operations on the monitor, and the monitoring and control device includes a history file that stores operation data of the plant equipment, an equipment data file that manages the latest data of the plant equipment, an equipment diagnosis rule file that manages diagnosis rules for the plant equipment, an equipment file that stores information on the plant equipment that has reached a monitoring level of requiring monitoring, requiring action, or urgent action, an operation history file that stores operation information of an operator, and a current data of the history file based on the equipment diagnosis rule file. and a plant diagnosis unit which judges whether or not the plant equipment has a monitoring level requiring a response by comparing the plant equipment with past data in the history file for a predetermined period of time, and which judges whether or not the plant equipment has a monitoring level requiring a response by comparing the plant equipment with past data in the history file for a predetermined period of time, and when the plant diagnosis unit judges whether or not the plant equipment has a sign that may lead to an abnormality before the plant equipment becomes abnormal, the monitoring and control device has a replay function which, when it is judged that the plant equipment is in an abnormal state, replays on the monitor screen past response operations in chronological order together with changes in the plant state based on the operation history file, and further displays abnormality occurrence history information and operation history information as a breakpoint list on the monitor screen .

The plant monitoring and control system disclosed in this application is capable of diagnosing plant equipment taking into account the level of monitoring by operators, monitoring for signs that could lead to abnormalities before they occur, and responding before an abnormality occurs, which is expected to reduce the burden on operators.

1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a plant monitoring and control system according to a first embodiment; 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a monitoring and control device in the plant monitoring and control system according to the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a monitoring and control device according to a first embodiment; 2 is a system flow diagram showing the system flow of the monitoring and control device according to the first embodiment displayed on a monitor screen. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a monitor screen showing characteristics of a main part of a monitoring and control device according to the first embodiment; 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a plant equipment diagnosis rule in the monitoring control device according to the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the plant equipment diagnosis rule in FIG. 6. 2 is a system flow diagram for explaining the operation of the monitoring and control device according to the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 11 is a system flow diagram for explaining the operation of the monitoring and control device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a system flow diagram for explaining the operation of the monitoring and control device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a main part display on a monitor screen in FIG. 9 . 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other examples of main part display on the monitor screen in FIG. 9 .

Embodiment 1.
Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a plant monitoring and control system according to a first embodiment.
In the figure, the plant monitoring and control system 1 is composed of a number of plant equipment 11 that form the infrastructure of water supply and sewerage, such as pumps, valves, and reservoirs, a controller 12 that collects and controls the operating status of each plant equipment 11, a monitoring and control device 20 that issues instructions for monitoring and controlling the plant equipment 11, a control bus 13 that transmits information in both directions between the monitoring and control device 20 and the controller 12, and a number of monitors 14 that display system flow diagrams, measurement values, operating status, alarms, etc. of each plant equipment 11 via the monitoring and control device 20, and are used when specifying and giving control instructions for a specific plant equipment 11.

Here, the plant equipment 11 is provided with various sensing devices, for example, measuring devices for measuring process quantities such as the flow rate of water flowing through the equipment, mechanical devices such as pumps or valves for mechanically adjusting the process quantities, and sound detection devices or signal detection devices for detecting electrical signals to check the operating status of each measuring device and each mechanical device.
The controller 12 also receives measurement data from the measuring instruments in the plant equipment 11, measurement data such as the flow rates of water and sewage from the sensing instruments, and signals indicating the operating states of each piece of mechanical equipment such as operating or stopped, and transmits this received data as plant monitoring data to the monitoring and control device 20 via the control bus 13, and also receives control commands from the operator from the monitor 14 to operate, stop, etc. via the monitoring and control device 20, and directly controls each piece of mechanical equipment. The plant monitoring data also includes abnormality signals such as failures of the plant equipment 11.

The monitoring and control device 20 therefore receives plant monitoring data from the controller 12, processes the received monitoring data, and stores it in the files of each database described below, while outputting a signal to display information such as a system flow diagram, trend screen, and alarm history screen for monitoring the plant status on the screen of the monitor 14. It also makes it possible to transmit control instruction data for the plant equipment 11 to the controller 12 on the system flow diagram screen of the monitor 14.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the monitoring and control device 20 in Figure 1. In the figure, the monitoring and control device 20 includes a display control unit 21 that displays system flow diagrams and the like of each plant equipment 11 on the screen of the monitor 14 and controls the plant equipment 11 by transmitting control signals from the monitor 14, a plant history file 22, a plant equipment data file 23, a plant equipment diagnosis rule file 24, a monitoring equipment file 2A, a response equipment file 2B, an urgent response equipment file 2C, an operation history file 25, a data communication unit 26 that transmits and receives data from the plant equipment 11 via the control bus 13, a plant data input unit 27 and a plant data output unit 28 connected to the data communication unit 26, and a plant diagnosis unit 29 that determines the operating state of the plant based on each data and outputs a control signal.

The plant history file 22 stores plant monitoring data such as the operating status and measurement values of the plant equipment 11 in chronological order. The plant equipment data file 23 manages the latest equipment data for the plant equipment 11. The plant equipment diagnosis rule file 24 manages rule data for diagnosing the plant equipment 11 for each plant equipment 11, and is used to determine the monitoring level of each plant equipment 11, whether normal, requires monitoring, or urgent action, based on these rules.

Furthermore, the monitoring requiring equipment file 2A chronologically stores information on plant equipment 11 determined to be at a monitoring level requiring monitoring. The action requiring equipment file 2B chronologically stores information on plant equipment 11 determined to be at a monitoring level requiring action. The emergency response equipment file 2C chronologically stores information on plant equipment 11 determined to be at a monitoring level requiring emergency response. The operation history file 25 chronologically stores the operations performed by the operator on the plant equipment 11 and comments indicating the reasons or intentions for the operations for each plant equipment 11.
Furthermore, the plant diagnosis unit 29 diagnoses whether the current plant monitoring data obtained from each data file is normal, requires monitoring, requires action, or requires urgent action, and adds information to the equipment file requiring monitoring 2A, the equipment file requiring action 2B, and the equipment file requiring urgent action 2C depending on the state.

As shown in FIG. 3, an example of the hardware configuration of such a monitoring and control device 20 is configured with an input circuit for inputting various data, a memory device (ROM) in which a control program is stored, a volatile memory device (RAM) for temporarily storing data, a central processing unit (CPU) for performing calculations based on the various data, and an output circuit for outputting the results of the calculations.

Figure 4 shows an example of a system flow displayed on the screen of the monitor 14. The system flow diagram screen 30 shows symbols representing plant equipment 11 such as pumps, ponds, valves, etc., connected by lines showing the flow of water, making it possible to identify the plant equipment 11 and the entire path of the water flow. In addition, the operating status of each plant equipment 11 is displayed in a different color depending on the status, such as light blue for operating and red for stopped, and the measured values of each plant equipment 11 are displayed around the symbol of each plant equipment 11.

Furthermore, an operation area for the display control unit 21 is provided to the left of the system flow diagram screen 30, and includes a selection key 21a for selecting a monitoring system, a selection key 21b for selecting the plant equipment 11 to be monitored (in this case, XX Reservoir 2), a trend screen display key 21c for displaying the most recent measurement data and status of the selected plant equipment 11 in chronological order using a graph, an abnormality occurrence/recovery history screen selection key 21d for displaying the history of occurrence/recovery of equipment that has reached an emergency monitoring level among the plant equipment 11 on the screen in chronological order, an operation history screen selection key 21e for displaying the history of operations performed on the plant equipment in chronological order, and a manual display key 21f for displaying a manual that describes the operation procedures, etc.

By operating the trend screen display key 21c, the abnormality occurrence/recovery history screen selection key 21d, and the operation history screen selection key 21e, respectively, the trend screen, the abnormality occurrence/recovery history screen, and the operation history screen as shown in Figures 5(a), (b), and (c), respectively, will be displayed.

Although not shown in FIG. 4, control signals such as operation instructions and stop instructions that are displayed by operating the symbols of each plant equipment 11 on the screen can be output by operating operation buttons or a keyboard, and these are transmitted to the controller 12 via the plant data output unit 28 and the data communication unit 26 to control the plant equipment 11. The details of the operations can be referenced by displaying them on the operation history screen.

The operation of each part of the plant monitoring and control system 1 configured as above will be described.
First, the plant data input unit 27 stores the plant monitoring data received from the controller 12 via the data communication unit 26 in the plant history file 22 .
Next, the plant diagnosis unit 29 reads the plant history file 22 and determines one of three monitoring levels, “normal”, “monitoring required”, or “urgent action required”, for each plant equipment 11 based on the plant equipment diagnosis rule file 24 .

In this plant equipment diagnostic rule file 24, as shown in FIG. 6(a), the knowledge and experience of skilled engineers who have been operating plants for many years is recorded in advance for each piece of plant equipment (1 to N) in the form of the following diagnostic rules.
A) Monitoring level: Classification of "requires monitoring" or "urgent action."
B) Judgment method: Classification of reference value comparison/logical condition formula for judging the monitoring level.
C) Judgment method: In the case of a reference value comparison, a judgment formula is used. In the case of a logical condition formula, a flow chart is used.
D) Parallel monitoring signal: Data to be monitored together with data on occurrence of a monitoring level.
E) Manual: A reference item that describes how to respond when it is determined that monitoring is required or that urgent action is required.
F) Comments: Information to be communicated to operators when a monitoring level occurs.

For example, in the case of the plant equipment 11, as shown in Fig. 6(b), a judgment is made by comparing one piece of data from the plant equipment 11 (1 to N) with a reference value defined in the judgment method. That is, when the water distribution amount of the water distribution equipment 3 exceeds a reference value of 100.0 (water distribution amount > 100.0 ^m3 /h), it is judged as a level requiring monitoring, and when it exceeds a reference value of 150.0 (water distribution amount > 150.0 ^m3 /h), it is judged as a level requiring urgent action. The comparison of reference values in the judgment method can also be made by calculating standard deviation, rate of change, etc.

In addition, the judgment method using logical conditional expressions is made based on multiple signals of the plant equipment, and if the conditions of multiple signals are set in the judgment flow chart and matched, it is judged to be at the monitoring level. For example, in the case of the plant equipment 11, as shown in Fig. 7, when the water distribution amount of the water distribution equipment 3 exceeds 150.0 (water distribution amount > 150.0 ^m3 /h) (step S1), the water level of the XX reservoir 2 is less than 30.0 (water level < 30.0 m) (step S2), and the inflow amount of the XX reservoir 2 is less than 100.0 (inflow amount < 100.0 ^m3 /h) (step S3), it is judged to be at the emergency response monitoring level, and otherwise it is judged to be at the normal monitoring level.

The parallel monitoring signal in Fig. 6 defines the data of the equipment that should be monitored at the same time when the monitoring level indicates that monitoring is required. In other words, when the water level falls below 50.0m, it is considered that there is a high demand for water, so it is not treated as an emergency response, but rather the trend of the inflow and outflow is also urged to be monitored, and the inflow is adjusted as necessary.
Therefore, in the case of the plant equipment 11 that has reached a monitoring level on the screen 30 of the system flow diagram (FIG. 4), the display control unit 21 displays the symbol of the XX reservoir 2 and its inflow and outflow data together with the symbol of the water distribution equipment 3 and its distribution volume data in different colors as equipment requiring monitoring, thereby encouraging monitoring. Also, equipment related to this equipment requiring monitoring, for example, the XX reservoir 1, is displayed in a different color, encouraging parallel monitoring.

FIG. 8 is a system flow diagram showing a screen 30A when the water distribution amount of the water distribution facility 3 reaches a level requiring monitoring.
In the figure, the symbol of the water distribution facility 3 that the plant diagnosis unit 29 judges to be at a monitoring level and the data on the distribution volume are displayed in a color indicating the need for monitoring (e.g., yellow), and an audio warning is issued. Also, the symbol of the XX reservoir 2, which is a parallel monitoring facility, and its inflow and outflow data are simultaneously displayed in a color indicating the need for monitoring, to encourage monitoring.
In addition, a guide screen 30B is displayed below the system flow diagram screen 30A. This guide screen 30B displays a list of equipment and data that require monitoring, as well as data trends, and enables the user to monitor the trends in the measured values of the equipment that requires monitoring and related equipment using graphs.
Furthermore, if it is diagnosed that there is plant equipment 11 that is at an urgent response level or requires monitoring, a manual display key 21f is displayed on the system flow diagram screen 30A, and by operating this manual display key 21f, information such as how to deal with the problem is displayed, enabling the user to take the correct action.

For example, when the water distribution volume of the water distribution facility 3 exceeds the reference value of 100.0 ( ^m3 /h) and is judged to be at a level requiring monitoring, a comment such as "There is a risk that the water level of the XX Reservoir 2 will drop" is displayed in the message area 30C of the system flow diagram screen 30A, thereby making it possible to prompt the user to take action.
If none of the above-mentioned judgment conditions are met, it is judged that the plant equipment 11 is operating normally, and the system flow diagram screen 30A maintains the normal display state as the normal state.

The above describes a form in which three monitoring levels, namely, normal, monitoring required, and urgent response, are determined for each plant equipment 11 based on the plant diagnosis rules. In addition, it is also possible to make a determination by checking whether the state of the plant equipment 11 that has reached the monitoring level of monitoring required is similar to the state when it reached the urgent response level in the past.
That is, when there is data on equipment that has reached a monitoring level requiring monitoring, it is collated with past history data stored in the emergency response equipment file 2C to check whether it matches the state of an emergency response. When there is a history of an emergency response state, the data is collated with past variations stored in the plant history file 22 for a certain period of time, and if they match, the plant equipment 11 and the plant equipment being monitored in parallel are displayed in purple, for example, to urge the equipment to take action as they require action.
The water level, inflow, and distribution amount shown in the embodiment are preset according to the capacity or capability of the facility.

Embodiment 2.
In the above-mentioned first embodiment, a plant monitoring and control system has been described which judges one of four monitoring levels, namely, normal, monitoring required, action required, and urgent action, for each piece of plant equipment 11 based on the plant diagnosis rules. In the second embodiment, however, a replay function is added which can display the operations performed by operators in the past and the operators who performed the operations for events which have reached the urgent action monitoring level, thereby supporting responses to abnormalities.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a system flow displayed on a monitor screen of the operation of the monitoring and control device 20 according to the second embodiment, and a mode switching key 21g is additionally displayed on a system flow diagram screen 40.

In the figure, when the water level of XX Reservoir 2 reaches the emergency response monitoring level, the symbol of XX Reservoir 2 and the pond water level data are displayed in a color (e.g., red) indicating the emergency response monitoring level.
In addition, during normal times when no emergency response monitoring level is occurring, this mode switching key 21g is in the online mode as shown in the figure, and by operating the mode switching key 21g, the mode is switched to the replay mode as shown in Figure 10.
In addition, in FIG. 10, a screen 50A for replay operation, an alarm occurrence history screen 50B at the bottom of the screen 40, an operation history screen 50C, and a trend screen 50D (details of which will be described later) are displayed.

Here, the replay operation screen 50A, as shown in detail in FIG. 11, includes a rewind button 51, a reverse play button 52, a pause button 53, a replay play button 54, a fast forward button 55, and a breakpoint list 56 that displays the operation status.
In other words, when a plant equipment 11 reaches the emergency response monitoring level, signal data of the plant equipment related to the plant equipment 11 that has reached the emergency response monitoring level is extracted in chronological order from the emergency response equipment file 2C and the plant history file 22 to generate replay data. In addition, alarm history and operation history information consisting of the history of all signal abnormality occurrences and recovery histories during the set period are extracted from the emergency response equipment file 2C and the operation history file 25, and these information are added to the replay data and displayed as a breakpoint list 56.

This breakpoint list 56 displays, in chronological order, the occurrence times of alarms and operational events, the events that occurred in the case of an alarm, and the operation details in the case of an operation.
For example, it is possible to refer to the history of alarms that occurred during a specified period and the operations performed by operators, and to move the time to a breakpoint event during replay and use it as a point from which playback begins. In other words, it is a list of playback points that moves the time during playback to an event on the list, and when an alarm event or operation event on the breakpoint list 56 is operated, the plant monitoring data corresponding to that time is read out and played back together with the alarm information or operation information.

Next, when the replay playback button 54 of the replay operation buttons 51 to 55 is operated, replay playback begins, and together with the replay operation screen 50A, an alarm occurrence history screen 50B and an operation history screen 50C are displayed below the system flow diagram screen 40, as shown in detail in FIG. 12.
Here, based on the generated replay data, the states and measurement values of the plant equipment 11 stored on the system flow diagram screen 40 are played back in chronological order, frame by frame at predetermined time intervals.
In addition, when the time of the alarm history or operation history is reached during playback, the contents are added and displayed on the alarm occurrence history screen 50B and the operation history screen 50C, and further, the alarm and operation contents are displayed in a speech bubble on the symbol of the target plant equipment 11 on the system diagram flow chart 40 screen.
The operation history screen 50C displays the operation history for each operator, making it possible to diagnose the operation of each operator. If the response is good, the operation history can be used as a model operation for training or education.

In addition, when in the replay state, operating the pause button 53 stops the replay on the system flow diagram screen 40, the trend screen 50D, the alarm occurrence history screen 50B and the operation history screen 50C, and operating the play button 54 again resumes the replay.
In addition, the reverse play button 52 is operated for reverse play, and the fast forward button 55 is operated for play at a predetermined fast forward time interval. Here, the fast forward time interval is set longer than the playback time interval, and the progress of the replay points is accelerated when, for example, one wishes to see the situation before the alarm occurred.
Furthermore, when the rewind button 51 is operated, the content is played back in reverse at a predetermined rewind time interval, and when the user wishes to see a point again, the rewind to that point is accelerated.
In addition, when an event on the breakpoint list 56 is played back during replay, the display mark is changed and the text on the list is changed in color, allowing the user to recognize the current progress of the replay.
The above-mentioned operations on the screen of the monitor 14 can be easily achieved by the memory device (ROM), the volatile memory device (RAM), the central processing unit (CPU) and the like in the monitor and control device 20.

It should be noted that while the present application describes various exemplary embodiments and examples, the various features, aspects, and functions described in one or more embodiments are not limited to application to a particular embodiment, but may be applied to the embodiments alone or in various combinations.
Therefore, countless modifications not illustrated are conceivable within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present application, including, for example, modifying, adding, or omitting at least one component, and further, extracting at least one component and combining it with a component of another embodiment.

1: Plant monitoring and control system, 11: Plant equipment, 12: Controller,
13: control bus; 14: monitor; 20: monitoring control device; 21: display control unit;
22: Plant history file; 23: Plant equipment data file;
24: Plant equipment diagnosis rule file, 25: Operation history file,
26: data communication unit, 27: plant data input unit, 28: plant data output unit,
29: Plant diagnosis section, 30, 30A to 30C, 40: Monitor screen,
2A: File of equipment requiring monitoring, 2B: File of equipment requiring response,
2C: Urgent response equipment file

Claims (3)

A plant monitoring and control system including a monitoring and control device that acquires data on a plurality of plant facilities, displays the data on a monitor screen, and controls the plant facilities based on operations on the monitor,
the monitoring and control device comprises a history file for storing operation data of the plant equipment, an equipment data file for managing the latest data of the plant equipment, an equipment diagnosis rule file for managing diagnosis rules for the plant equipment, an equipment file for storing information on the plant equipment that has reached a monitoring level of "monitoring required,""actionrequired," or "urgent action required," an operation history file for storing operation information of an operator, and a plant diagnosis unit for determining current data in the history file based on the equipment diagnosis rule file and for determining a monitoring level of "action required" by comparing it with past data in the history file for a predetermined time,
The monitoring and control system is characterized in that, when the plant diagnosis unit determines that there is a sign that the plant equipment has a risk of becoming abnormal before the plant equipment becomes abnormal, the monitoring and control unit displays the equipment on the monitor screen as equipment that requires monitoring as a monitoring level, and, when it determines that the plant equipment is in an abnormal state, the monitoring and control unit has a replay function that replays past corresponding operations in chronological order along with changes in the plant status on the monitor screen based on the operation history file, and further displays abnormality occurrence history information and operation history information as a breakpoint list on the monitor screen. The plant monitoring and control system according to claim 1, characterized in that the plant diagnosis unit determines the operating state and process quantity of the plant equipment based on the conditional expressions recorded in the equipment diagnosis rule file. 2. The plant monitoring and control system according to claim 1, wherein when the monitoring and control device determines that the plant equipment is at a monitoring level requiring monitoring, the monitoring and control device displays on the monitor screen plant equipment and data that are related to the plant equipment requiring monitoring and that should be monitored at the same time.

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