JP2003131728A - Plant monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a high level of functions and efficiency for maintenance, lowering of cost and improving development speed of field gauge. SOLUTION: A plant monitoring system is provided with a communication means to communicate data between a field gauge 100 and a control room (a host computer) 200, and a control computer which inputs the data of the field gauge 100 sampled with an amplitude higher than the amplitude of a sensor signal the field gauge via the communication means and forwards the data to the support center (of which terminal computer) 300. In the system, a plant control room (a host computer) which manages the field gauge 100 is connected to a support center (of a terminal computer) via a network.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a plant monitoring system in a high speed communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to improve the efficiency and efficiency of maintenance such as the deterioration state of products, the estimation of the surrounding environment, the estimation of the cause of troubles, etc., in field instruments, it is necessary to make the field instrument extremely sophisticated. It costs money. In addition, the installation location of the field instrument is often in poor condition, so there is a high possibility of component failure.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and includes a field instrument, a host computer / DCS (distributed processing system) and a terminal of a manufacturer's support center, and further, each of these. The purpose of the present invention is to realize high-performance and high-efficiency maintenance, low cost of field instruments themselves, and improvement of development speed in a high-speed communication network including wireless communication that connects them.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a plant monitoring system in which a control room of a plant for managing field instruments is connected to a support center through a network. At
Communication means for communicating data between the field instrument and the control room, and a control computer for transferring the data to the support center are provided.

Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 1,
Since the sampled data is transferred to the terminal computer of the manufacturer's support center, the number of troubleshooting steps can be greatly reduced, and field instruments, host computers, terminals of the manufacturer's support center, and the connection between them. It becomes possible to realize high-performance and high-efficiency maintenance of a communication network including wireless communication.

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1
In addition to the invention described in 1, the data of the field instrument sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal of the field instrument is input via the communication means.

Therefore, according to the invention of claim 2,
Since the data sampled at high speed is transferred to the terminal computer of the manufacturer's support center, it is possible to realize high-performance and high-efficiency maintenance of a high-speed communication network including wireless communication.

The invention described in claim 3 is the same as claim 1
Alternatively, in addition to the configuration described in claim 2, the communication means is wireless.

Therefore, according to the invention of claim 3,
Since the communication means for communicating data between the field instrument and the control room is wireless, the place where the field instrument is installed is not restricted.

Further, in the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the configuration described in claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, the A / D conversion section in the field instrument converts the data of the field instrument. It is characterized by sampling at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal of the field instrument.

Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 4,
Since the data of the field instrument is sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal, the sampled data can be transferred to the outside of the field instrument, and the data of the field instrument can be stored outside the place where the field instrument is installed. Can be confirmed.

The invention described in claim 5 is the same as claim 1.
5. In addition to the configuration according to any one of claims 4 to 5, further comprising means for plotting data sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal transferred to the support center on a time axis. .

Therefore, according to the invention of claim 5,
Data sampled at a frequency higher than the sensor signal frequency can be plotted on the time axis, making it possible to output a waveform similar to the one drawn on an oscilloscope, facilitating waveform confirmation work. It will be possible.

Further, in the invention described in claim 6, in addition to the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 5, data of the field instrument sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal is added, The feature is that FFT analysis is performed in the support center or the control room.

Therefore, according to the invention of claim 6,
Since the FFT analysis of the data is performed by the terminal computer of the manufacturer's support center, the distributed control system of the control room or the terminal, it is possible to detect whether noise is mixed in the data and improve the accuracy of diagnosis. It will be possible.

The invention described in claim 7 is the same as claim 1.
In addition to the configuration according to any one of claims 6 to 6, the field instrument is configured so that a maintenance support program firmware manual can be downloaded.

Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 7,
Since the maintenance support program, firmware, and manual can be downloaded, the necessary information can be confirmed online, and the maintenance of field instruments can be improved and the analysis time can be shortened.

Further, in the invention described in claim 8, in addition to the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the operation status of the plant including the sensor signal, event and status is included in the support center. It is characterized by comprising means for creating a database, means for diagnosing the field instrument based on the created database, and means for notifying a confirmation item at the time of regular repair based on the diagnosis.

Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 8,
A database of plant operation status is created, field instruments are diagnosed based on the database, and confirmation items for regular repairs are notified, so it is possible to improve the maintenance of field instruments and shorten the analysis time. .

The invention described in claim 9 is the same as claim 1.
In addition to the configuration according to any one of claims 8 to 8, the field instrument or the control room is provided with a timer, and the life of the field instrument is estimated by integrating the usage time of the measurement fluid.

Therefore, according to the invention of claim 9,
Since the timer is provided and the MTBF of the field instrument is estimated from the usage time of the measured fluid, it is possible to maintain the field instrument before it is damaged.

Further, the invention described in claim 10 is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration described in any one of claims 1 to 9, it is possible to change the operating parameter of the field instrument. .

Therefore, according to the tenth aspect of the present invention, since the operating parameter of the field instrument can be changed, it becomes possible to output a more reliable process value.

The invention according to claim 11 is a plant monitoring system including a field instrument for digitizing an output signal of a sensor and transmitting the digitized output signal to an external signal processing device, wherein the field instrument and the external signal processing device are combined. Communication means for communicating data between the field instrument and the data of the field instrument sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal of the field instrument are input through the communication means, and the data is transferred to the external signal processing device. And a control computer that operates.

According to the eleventh aspect of the invention, therefore, the field instrument itself is provided with only the minimum functions necessary for sensing and signal transmission, and the functions such as flow rate calculation and display are the signals of the face part. Since the processing is performed collectively by the processing device, the field instrument itself can be simplified and the cost of the detector can be reduced. Further, by connecting a large number of field instruments to one external signal processing device, it is possible to significantly reduce the total cost of the entire device.

Further, in the invention described in claim 12, in addition to the configuration described in claim 11, the external signal processing device is
It is characterized by comprising a CPU for processing the transferred digitized output signal.

Therefore, according to the twelfth aspect of the invention, since the external signal processing device is provided with the CPU, the processing such as the flow rate calculation and the display of the calculation result can be collectively performed by the external signal processing device. It will be possible.

[0028]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of field instruments 100, DCS (Distributed Processing System) or terminal 200 in the control room,
And terminal computer 3 at the manufacturer's support center
It is composed of 00. Specifically, a plant control system (DCS or terminal) 200 of a plant that manages the field instrument 100 is connected to a support center (terminal computer thereof) 300 via a network to form a plant monitoring system.

The field instrument 100 is a sensor of a field instrument such as a flow meter, a pressure gauge, a vibrometer, a level meter, etc., and includes a sensor 1, an analog amplification / bandwidth limit 2, an A / D converter 3, an arithmetic processing / control circuit. 4 and an output device. As the output device, any one or a plurality of the wireless communication circuit 5, the digital communication circuit 6, or the current output circuit 7 is mounted. The current output circuit 7 outputs the sensor signal of 4 to 20 mA.
Is output after being scaled to, and a digital signal is superimposed on this signal for digital communication.

The control room (DCS or terminal) 200 is
The wireless communication circuit 15, the digital communication circuit 16, and the current output detection circuit 17 are included, and digital communication with the field instrument 100 is performed. In the power output detection circuit 17,
In addition to the sensor signal of 4-20 mA, a digital signal superimposed on this signal is also detected. The Ethernet (registered trademark) or the telephone line 11 is a communication means for performing digital communication with the terminal computer 300 of the manufacturer's support center. Also, the control computer 1
0 is a field instrument 1 for operating the plant.
Information is collected and controlled from 00, and information is transferred and collected from the manufacturer's support center.

The terminal computer 300 of the maker's support center is composed of the Ethernet (registered trademark) or telephone line 21 and the terminal 20, and provides information to the user or diagnoses based on instrument information from the user.

With the configuration shown in FIG. 1, a waveform transfer service, which is a maintenance service, can be provided. The data in the A / D (converter) 3 is sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal. If the result of sampling at this high frequency is plotted on the time axis as it is, the waveform as seen on an oscilloscope can be reproduced. By using a high-speed communication circuit to transfer the raw data sampled at the high frequency to the terminal computer 300 of the manufacturer's support center, you can check the waveform that was being confirmed on-site at the time of the trouble without having to travel. You will be able to respond promptly after trouble occurs. In the troubleshooting up to now, the waveform from the sensor has often been checked to make a judgment, so that the number of steps required for troubleshooting can be significantly reduced by the present embodiment.

The waveform analysis service is performed as follows. In the waveform transfer service, the raw data of the sensor sampled at high frequency is sent to the terminal computer 300 of the manufacturer's support center or D of the control room.
By performing the FFT analysis on the CS or the terminal 200, frequencies other than the signal band are detected, it is detected that noise is mixed, and countermeasures are taken.

For example, in an electromagnetic flow meter, FFT analysis of sampled data is performed, and if 1 / f noise, damping is increased. Also, if noise is mixed in a moment, it will not follow a predetermined flow rate change. In addition, if there is a frequency other than the signal in the Coriolis flow system / vortex flowmeter, it is judged that it is the effect of pipe vibration, and the work of changing the position of the pipe support is instructed to shift the frequency of pipe vibration.

Next, the download service, which is a maintenance service, will be described. The following operations are performed during maintenance (when the plant is operating).

The field instrument 100 notifies the control room DCS or the terminal 200 (upper PC) of the error. Depending on the content of the error, the control room DCS or the terminal 200 transfers the error details and the maintenance support program to the field instrument 100. Control room DCS or terminal 20
0 indicates the details of the error (content as written in the manual) on the display. The user then sees the error details on-site. Run a maintenance support program. Since the maintenance support program clearly indicates the check contents according to the error contents, the user performs the confirmation work according to the instruction. The confirmed result is input by using the key SW on the display. If the cause cannot be found even in the maintenance support program, the confirmation contents and error contents of the user executed according to the maintenance support program are transferred to the control room DCS or the terminal 200 (upper PC). The control room DCS or the terminal 200 notifies the details and confirmation result of the error to the service department of the device manufacturer, which is the terminal computer 300 of the manufacturer support center, by using the modem Ethernet (registered trademark).

For example, the maintenance support program for the electromagnetic flow meter is shown below. The field instrument 100
The control room DCS or the terminal 200 is notified that there is an excessive input of the sensor signal. The control room DCS or the terminal 200 transfers information such as "possibility of erroneous span setting, excessive flow rate value, large noise" and the maintenance support program, which may be the cause. The field instrument 100 displays the error details and executes the maintenance support program.
[CHECK SPAN NOW 1m / s SPAN
? ] [CHECK EMPTY PIPE? ] And other questions come out in turn, in response to [GOOD or BA
D] will be the answer.

Another download service which is a maintenance service will be described. When the plant is not in operation due to periodic repairs, etc., the following operations are performed.

The control room DCS or the terminal 200 recognizes that it is in the regular repair state. The control room DCS or the terminal 200 automatically indicates that "the field instrument 100 is in an operating state and the status is not in error".
Make sure that. The confirmation method is that communication is possible,
Checking the status of the field instrument 100. The control room DCS or the terminal 200 confirms the REV of the device program of the field instrument 100. Then, the REV of the maintenance program / manual contents installed in the control room DCS or the terminal 200 itself is also confirmed.

The control room DCS or the terminal 200 is connected to the server PC of the service department of the equipment maker, which is the terminal computer 300 of the maker support center, by using the modem Ethernet (registered trademark), and the equipment program / maintenance program・ Check the REV of the manual. If the maker's REV is updated, the control room DCS or the terminal 200 automatically downloads.

If the device program has been updated, the control room DCS or the terminal 200 transfers it to the field instrument 100 (providing a write protect function and prohibiting the loading of the latest program). Further, it may be manually downloaded so that it can be displayed on the instrument. In that case, a function of downloading a required manual can be added.

Next, the database support, which is a maintenance service, will be described. First, the field instrument 10
The operating time of 0, the sensor information of the device, and the status information are periodically transferred from the DCS or the terminal 200 in the control room to the terminal computer 300 in the support center of the manufacturer. Then, a database for receiving the information is created in the terminal computer 300 of the manufacturer support center. The status information is used to determine what kind of field instrument should be checked at the next operation stop, and notify the control room DCS or the terminal 200 of the content.

Further, the service life estimation service which is a maintenance service will be described. The field instrument 100 has the following parameters. Upper control room DCS or terminal 2
Whether to receive information from 00 or not, set with the setting device. Since a lot of information is required, it is necessary to receive data from the host PC using high-speed communication such as wireless Ethernet (registered trademark). The field instrument 100, the control room DCS, or the terminal 200 includes a timer.
Then, the usage time of the measurement fluid in question is integrated, and an alarm is issued when MTBF × 0.9, for example.

As an example, the case of an electromagnetic flow meter is shown (MTBF estimation of the lining is performed). In this case, the fluid is HF (permeable fluid), strong acid / strong alkali (corrosive fluid)
To use. Fluid concentration: X% and fluid temperature: X% are externally input or parameters are input. At this time, a plurality of such analog information can be used by using communication. The lining is PFA, urethane, and terry powder, and the usable time is X hours (calculated value). Then, from the table decided in advance, MTBF
To estimate.

As a modified example, the following parameters are set,
The pre-installation diagnosis can be performed, and the pre-installation diagnosis is shown below.

As the gasket to be used, Teflon (registered trademark) rubber is used, and the upstream straight pipe length and the downstream straight pipe length XD are input as parameters. For upstream piping, parameters such as no elbow and double elbow will be selected. Then, the fluid viscosity Xcp is input as a parameter. The diagnostic results are as follows. max er
ror = x% (calculated value), straight pipe length shortage, gasket mismatch, lining, electrode misselection.

Regarding the above-mentioned judgment function, the field instrument 100, the control room DCS, or the host PC such as the terminal 200, etc.
Not only that, the PC of the manufacturer, which is the terminal computer 300 of the manufacturer support center, may be provided with the function.

Next, the parameter changing service during operation, which is a maintenance service, will be described. For example, in the case of an electromagnetic flow meter, control room DCS or terminal 200 (upper PC)
Notifies the field instrument 100 of the following event process values. Then, the electromagnetic flowmeter side receives the information and performs the following checks. In addition, field instrument 1
00, the control room DCS, or the terminal 200, the process value during the event is stored, and the abnormal state is detected by correlating the previous output and the current output.

As the "event notification contents", "Xmin
After that, if there is upstream chemical injection and the upstream pump is stopped, ''
For "changing the operating state", "measure the zero point to apply rate limit (prevent hunting), compare it with the zero value being set, and if there is a large difference, perform zero adjustment in the control room DC.
S or the terminal 200 (upper PC) is notified. "

Further, in the case of "Periodic repair" as "event notification content", as "Operation state change", "Transducer and detector are separated by SW and detector and insulation resistance measuring circuit are connected." Then, the insulation resistance of the detector is automatically measured. "

Further, as "contents of process value notification",
In the case of “output from the temperature sensor”, “change of operating state” is “execution of span / zero correction”.

As an example of the vortex flowmeter, information on valve opening / pump operation can be obtained, and when the signal is zero, it can be determined that the vortex rod portion is clogged. Further, by receiving the vibration information from the maintenance vibration sensor connected for pump maintenance, it is possible to estimate the pipe vibration frequency and determine whether there is a problem with the signal frequency. The determination function may be provided in the field instrument 100, the control room DCS, or the host PC, which is the terminal 200.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The field instrument 400 is a sensor of a field instrument such as a flow meter, a pressure gauge, a vibrometer, a level meter, or the like. Sensor 31,
Analog amplification / bandwidth limitation 32, A / D (converter) 33,
It is composed of a digital communication circuit 36, a power supply 38, and an excitation circuit 39. Unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, complicated functions such as flow rate calculation and display are omitted inside the field instrument 400, and only the output signal of the sensor is simply digitized and transmitted to the outside.

In the external signal processing device 500, based on the data sent from the field instrument 400, a CPU such as PC or DCS (Distributed Processing System) is used to calculate the flow rate and display the output. The external signal processing device 500 is divided into various modules according to purposes, and each circuit or software is incorporated and used. As the concrete calculation processing and control circuit 50, a flow rate calculation module, a pressure calculation module, a flow com as shown in FIG.
A putter module, an output display module, etc. are applicable.

Next, the waveform transfer service, which is a maintenance service, will be described. The data of the A / D (converter) 33 is sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal. The result of sampling at this high frequency
If you plot on the time axis as it is, you can reproduce the waveform that you see on an oscilloscope. The high-speed digital communication circuit 36 is used to transfer the raw data sampled at the high frequency to an external signal processing device. The field instrument 400 does not have a calculation circuit for flow rate, display software, communication software, etc., so that it is very simple.

External signal processing device 50 to which data is sent
At 0, necessary modules such as a flow rate calculation module and an output display module are installed. Also, the dedicated hardware is kept to a minimum, and most are processed as software. By using a machine with high processing capability, it is possible to handle a large number of field instruments simultaneously with one external signal processing device. It is also possible to use a commercially available PC with high cost performance.

[0058]

According to the invention described in claims 1 to 4, the field instrument, the host computer / DCS (distributed control system), the terminal of the manufacturer's support center, and the wireless communication connecting them are provided. Including high-speed communication networks, it is possible to realize high-performance maintenance and high-efficiency, and to transfer the signal waveforms that were previously seen directly to the manufacturer's support center, greatly reducing the number of troubleshooting steps. can do.

According to the invention described in claim 5, it is possible to make a diagnosis by a complicated arithmetic function, and it is possible to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis.

According to the invention described in claim 6, necessary information can be confirmed on-line at the time of maintenance, so that the maintainability of the field instrument can be improved. Further, since the confirmation item at the time of maintenance can be easily known, the analysis time on the manufacturer side can be shortened.

According to the invention described in claim 7, since the field instrument can be diagnosed from the database based on the operating state of the plant, the diagnostic accuracy of the field instrument can be improved.

According to the invention described in claim 8, since the MTBF of the field instrument becomes clear, the field instrument can be maintained before the device is damaged. In addition, the pre-installation diagnostic function can determine whether the field instrument can be measured.

According to the invention described in claim 9, the field instrument can grasp the operating state of the plant. Then, by changing the operating state (signal processing method, etc.) according to the operating state, it is possible to realize a field instrument capable of outputting a more reliable process value.

According to the tenth and eleventh aspects of the present invention, the field instrument alone can be simplified and the cost of the detector can be reduced. Further, by connecting a large number of field instruments with one external signal processing device, the total cost can be significantly reduced. Since various signal processing is performed by software, it is not necessary to develop new hardware and perform various evaluations accompanying it. Further, it is possible to easily add a software module as needed, and it is possible to speed up development.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 31 Sensor 2, 32 Analog amplification band limitation 3, 33 A / D 4, 50 Arithmetic processing / control circuit 5 Wireless communication circuit 6, 36 Digital communication circuit 7 Current output circuit 8, 38 Power supply 10 Control computer 11, 21 Ethernet (Registered trademark) or telephone line 15 wireless communication circuit 16, 40 digital communication circuit 17 current output detection circuit 20 terminal 100, 400 field instrument 200 control room DCS or terminal 300 terminal computer of manufacturer support center

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5B089 GA01 GA21 GB02 HA11 JA34                       JA35 JB07 KA12 KC30 MC02                       MC11                 5H223 AA01 BB01 CC01 CC08 DD03                       DD07 DD09 EE02

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A plant monitoring system in which a control room of a plant that manages field instruments is connected to a support center via a network, and communication means for communicating data between the field instruments and the control room, A plant monitoring system, comprising: a control computer that transfers data to the support center. 2. The plant monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the field instrument data sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal of the field instrument is input via the communication means. 3. The plant monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the communication means is wireless. 4. An A / D converter in the field instrument,
4. The plant monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the data of the field instrument is sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal of the field instrument. 5. A means for plotting data sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal transferred to the support center on a time axis, according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Crab plant monitoring system. 6. The FFT analysis according to claim 1, wherein data of the field instrument sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal is subjected to FFT analysis in a support center or a control room. Crab plant monitoring system. 7. The field instrument according to claim 1, wherein a maintenance support program firmware manual can be downloaded.
The plant monitoring system according to any one of 1. 8. A means for creating a database of plant operating states including sensor signals, events, and status in the support center, and means for diagnosing the field instrument based on the created database, A means for notifying a confirmation item at the time of regular repair based on the diagnosis, and the plant monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 9. The field instrument or the control room is provided with a timer, and the life of the field instrument is estimated by integrating the usage time of the measurement fluid.
9. The plant monitoring system according to claim 8. 10. The plant monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the operating parameter of the field instrument can be changed. 11. A plant monitoring system including a field instrument for digitizing an output signal of a sensor and transmitting the digitized signal to an external signal processing device, comprising: communication means for communicating data between the field instrument and the external signal processing device. A control computer for inputting via the communication means data of the field instrument sampled at a frequency higher than the frequency of the sensor signal of the field instrument and transferring the data to the external signal processing device. Plant monitoring system characterized by. 12. The plant monitoring system according to claim 11, wherein the external signal processing device includes a CPU for processing the transferred digitized output signal.