JP2013225188A - Training system for decentralized control system and training control state setting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a training system and a training method for easily generating training initial state information to be used for training.SOLUTION: Since a training system 200 is communicably connected to a controller 2a for an actual plant of a decentralized control system 100 having an actual plant 1, a training initial state file is easily generated by acquiring information on a control state of the actual plant 1 from the controller 2a for the actual plant by processing in steps S2-S3. Furthermore, even when the actual plant 1 is modified, since information on a control state of the actual plant 1 acquired from the controller 2a for the actual plant already becomes information including the modification content, the training initial state file is easily generated.

Description

  The present invention relates to a training system used to train the operation of a distributed control system.

  Many measurement control systems in the field of process automation employ a distributed control system. In a plant equipped with a distributed control system, control is automated. However, when a plant abnormality is discovered, an operator may need to operate the plant in order to maintain plant reliability. In other words, since the operator is required to have a highly reliable operation technology, a training system for training the operator is required.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method of defining a characteristic of each component of a plant as an equipment module and virtually representing a process model by connecting the equipment modules. When this process model is used in a training system, when a trainee performs an operation, a predetermined calculation is performed by the process model, and an output is generated so that the plant is virtually controlled. . (See paragraphs 0007-0011)

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-110005

  In the training system, training is started by creating training initial state information indicating the setting value of the initial state of the training system for each training course, and setting the initial state setting value in each device constituting the training system. Can do. However, since the initial training state information is generated by trial and error using the training system, it is necessary to prepare multiple training courses and multiple training patterns for each training course as a training curriculum. It takes time and effort.

  In addition, the distributed control system is refurbished while being used for many years. In that case, it is necessary to change the process model used in the training system in accordance with the contents of the modification, and to recreate the initial training state information. For this reason, an operator department that is familiar with the process and a department that is familiar with the distributed control system are mobilized to recreate the initial training state information.

Although the technique of Patent Document 1 can easily change the process model, there is a problem in that the number of steps and labor can not be reduced in the process of generating the initial training state information.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a training system and a training method capable of easily generating training initial state information used for training.

  In order to solve the above problems, a training system of the present invention includes a plant simulation device that simulates a plant, a training controller that outputs an operation signal to the plant simulation device, the training controller, and a plant that is actually operated. An apparatus for training and development that is communicably connected to a controller for an actual plant that outputs an operation signal to the equipment that constitutes the apparatus, and the apparatus for training and development includes a control state of the plant from the controller for the actual plant Is acquired and stored in the first training initial state information, the control state information stored in the first training initial state information is set in the plant simulation device, and the process processing is executed in a pseudo manner Storing the information of the control state acquired by causing it to be associated with the training course name in the training regeneration information, The training start request and the training course name are received, and the training start request and the training course name are transmitted to the training controller via the training development device, and the training controller includes the training start request and the training course name. When a training course name is received, the control regeneration information associated with the training course name is acquired with reference to the training regeneration information, and set to itself.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the training system and training method which can produce | generate the training initial state information used for training easily can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of a distributed control system. It is a figure showing an example of composition of a training system in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function example of the apparatus for training development. It is a figure which shows an example of an automatic regeneration file. It is a figure which shows the function example of the controller for real plants in a training system. It is a figure which shows the example of a flow which sets a training control state to a training system.

  Next, a mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “the present embodiment”) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate.

First, a configuration example of a general distributed control system will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the distributed control system 100 includes an actual plant 1, an actual plant controller 2, a monitoring control device 3, and a development device 4.
In FIG. 1, the actual plant 1 is an example of a gas production plant, for example, and includes a plurality of devices to be controlled such as valves, electric motors, and pumps constituting the plant. The monitoring control device 3, the development device 4, and the actual plant controller 2 are connected to the network 101. Further, a signal line 102 capable of transmitting and receiving information is provided between the actual plant controller 2 and the actual plant 1, and an operation signal is transmitted from the actual plant controller 2 to the devices constituting the actual plant 1, The control state information is transmitted from 1 to the actual plant controller 2.

  The actual plant controller 2 is a programmable controller, for example, and has a function of receiving various setting signals from the monitoring control device 3 and outputting an operation signal to the equipment constituting the actual plant 1. Further, the actual plant controller 2 has a function of transmitting the control state information acquired from the actual plant 1 to the monitoring control device 3. In general, the actual plant controller 2 is provided with functions distributed appropriately in units of processes in order to deal with a plurality of processes when a final product is manufactured from raw materials.

  The monitoring control device 3 is, for example, a computer including an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard and a display device such as a display. The monitoring control device 3 has a function of displaying information on the control state of the actual plant 1 acquired via the actual plant controller 2 on the display device, and various operations input by an operator who monitors the display. It has a function of receiving a setting signal and transmitting it to the actual plant 1.

  The development device 4 is, for example, a computer including an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard and a display device such as a display. The development device 4 changes the program of the actual plant controller 2 or the application program of the monitoring control device 3 when the configuration of the distributed control system 100 is changed in hardware and / or software. Used to do.

  In FIG. 1, three monitoring control devices 3, one development device 4, and two actual plant controllers 2 are shown, but the number is not limited to these and is necessary. Accordingly, the number of units may be determined as appropriate.

Next, a configuration example of the training system in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 (see FIG. 1 as appropriate).
As shown in FIG. 2, the training system 200 includes a training control device 31, a training development device 41, a training controller 21, and a plant simulation device 11.
Each of the training control device 31 and the training controller 21 has the same functions as the monitoring control device 3 and the actual plant controller 2 in the distributed control system 100 (see FIG. 1).

  The plant simulation device 11 is, for example, a computer that simulates a virtual plant. When an operation signal is input from the training controller 21, the plant simulation device 11 executes a predetermined calculation based on the characteristics of the virtual plant and outputs the calculation result. It has a function of outputting as control state information. Moreover, the plant simulation apparatus 11 has a function of accepting an input by an operator from an input device (not shown). The input by the operator is, for example, a storage request for storing the control state, a training start request for starting training, a training course name, or the like.

  The plant simulation device 11 has a function of calculating control state information to be set in the training controller 21 and the plant simulation device 11 at the start of training in the training course. Details of the function of the training development device 41 will be described later.

  The training control device 31, the training controller 21, and the training development device 41 are connected to the network 101 used in the distributed control system 100. Further, the training controller 21 and the plant simulation apparatus 11 are connected by a network 103 different from the network 101.

  Further, the actual plant controller 2a temporarily stores the current control state information when receiving a save request indicating a request to save the current control state information of the actual plant 1 from the plant simulation apparatus 11. It differs from the actual plant controller 2 shown in FIG. 1 in that it has a function. Details of the functions of the actual plant controller 2a will be described later.

  In FIG. 2, three training control devices 31, one training development device 41, and two training controllers 21 are shown, but the number is not limited to these, and is necessary. Accordingly, the number of units may be determined as appropriate.

Next, a function example of the training development device 41 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the training development apparatus 41 includes a processing unit 41a, a communication unit 41b, and a storage unit 41c.
The processing unit 41a includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a main memory (not shown), and the function of the processing unit 41a is realized by developing an application program (DCS software 41d) stored in the storage unit 41c in the main memory. Is done. DCS is an abbreviation for Distributed Control System.

  The communication unit 41 b is a communication interface and executes transmission / reception of information via the network 101.

  The storage unit 41c is configured by a storage medium capable of storing information. The storage unit 41c stores DCS software 41d, an initial training state file 41e, and an automatic regeneration file 41f.

  The DCS software 41d is a program of the distributed control system 100 in each operation state from the start of the actual plant 1 through the normal operation to the stop.

  The training initial state file (first training initial state information) 41e is information on the control state of the actual plant 1 acquired from the actual plant controller 2a. Here, the control state information specifically includes TAG information, sequence information, and terminal information. Details of TAG information, sequence information, and terminal information will be described later.

  The automatic regeneration file (training regeneration information) 41f is control state information generated from the information in the training initial state file 41e. More specifically, the training development device 41 uses the information in the training initial state file 41e as an initial value, sets the initial value in the training controller 21, and operates the plant simulation device 11 to recalculate the measurement value. Then, information on the control state that causes the training system 200 to operate stably is generated and stored in the automatic regeneration file 41f. That is, the control state information stored in the automatic regeneration file 41f is TAG information, sequence information, and terminal information as in the case of the training initial state file 41e.

Details of the automatic regeneration file 41f will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the automatic regeneration file 41 f stores a training course name 401, a storage location 402, TAG information 403, sequence information 404, and terminal information 405 in association with each other.

The training course name 401 represents a training course name and is designated by the operator from the plant simulation apparatus 11.
The file name 402 is generated for each training course and is stored in association with the training course name 401. When the training course name 401 also serves as the file name 402, the file name 402 is not necessary.

  The TAG information 403 is unique identification information given to each device (operation target device or measuring device) constituting the plant and information representing the process state of each device. Specifically, the process state is a cascade state of an advanced loop of process control in a plant, a mode of a measurement TAG (predetermined period or arbitrary designation), a PID of a regulator (P: proportional, I: integral, D : Differentiation) tuning parameter value, information on TAG status (normal or abnormal), and the like.

The sequence information 404 is information indicating where the sequence process being executed by the controller (the training controller 21 or the actual plant controller 2a) is located in a series of processes.
The terminal information 405 is information for identifying the terminal used when acquiring the control state information from the plant.

  That is, by combining the TAG information 403, the sequence information 404, and the terminal information 405, in response to the process state acquired from the plant and the process state, the operator gives what operation instruction to which device, As a result, it is expressed how the process amount has changed and what action the operator has taken in response to the change.

Next, an example of functions of the actual plant controller 2a in the training system 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 5 (see FIG. 2 as appropriate).
The actual plant controller 2a includes a processing unit 2b, a communication unit 2c, and a storage unit 2d.
The processing unit 2b is configured by a microcomputer or the like, and can operate in a programmable manner by reading an application program (not shown) stored in the storage unit 2d. The processing unit 2 b receives various setting signals from the monitoring control device 3, and generates and outputs an operation signal to the equipment constituting the actual plant 1.

  The communication unit 2 c is a communication interface and executes transmission / reception of information via the network 101.

  The storage unit 2d is configured by a storage medium capable of storing information. In the storage unit 2d, an actual plant state temporary file 2e is stored in addition to an application program (not shown) that embodies the function of the processing unit 2b. The actual plant state temporary file 2e stores information on the control state of the actual plant 1 at the time when the processing unit 2b receives a storage request output from the plant simulation apparatus 11. However, when the network 101 is disconnected between the actual plant controller 2a and the training system 200, the information stored in the training initial state temporary file 2e is automatically deleted.

  Next, an example of a flow for setting the training control state in the training system 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 6 (see FIGS. 3 and 5 as appropriate).

  In step S1, the plant simulation apparatus 11 accepts a storage request input by an operator. Then, the plant simulation device 11 transmits the received storage request to the training development device 41.

  In step S2, the actual plant controller 2a stores information on the control state of the actual plant 1 at the time when the save request is received in the training initial state temporary file 2e.

  In step S3, the training development device 41 acquires the control state information stored in the training initial state temporary file 2e of the actual plant controller 2a and stores it in the training initial state file 41e.

  In step S4, the training development device 41 accepts the save request and creates the automatic regeneration file 41f from the control state information stored in the training initial state file 41e. More specifically, the training development device 41 uses the information in the training initial state file 41e as an initial value, sets the initial value in the training controller 21, and operates the plant simulation device 11 to recalculate the measurement value. Then, information on the control state that causes the training system 200 to operate stably is generated and stored in the automatic regeneration file 41f.

  The reason why the information of the automatic regeneration file 41f is created from the information of the training initial state file 41e is that the information of the training initial state file 41e is the information of the actual plant 1, and the measured value is the calculation result of the plant simulation device 11. This is to avoid a situation where the training system 200 does not always operate stably.

  In step S5, the plant simulation apparatus 11 receives the training start request and the training course name input by the operator. The plant simulation device 11 transmits the training start request and the training course name to the training controller 21.

  In step S <b> 6, the training controller 21 refers to the automatic regeneration file 41 f of the training development device 41, acquires the control state information corresponding to the received training course name, and sets it in itself. The plant simulation apparatus 11 also refers to the automatic regeneration file 41f of the training development apparatus 41, acquires information on the control state corresponding to the training course name, and sets it in itself.

  Through the processing in steps S1 to S6, the training system 200 can easily set the training control state. That is, since the initial training state file 41e uses information on the control state acquired from the actual plant 1, the training development device 41 reduces the effort and labor generated by trial and error using the plant simulation device 11. can do.

  As described above, the training system 200 is communicably connected to the actual plant controller 2a of the distributed control system 100 having the actual plant 1, so that the actual plant is obtained by the processing in steps S2 to S3 shown in FIG. By acquiring information on the control state of the actual plant 1 from the controller 2a, the training initial state file 41e can be easily generated. Further, even when the actual plant 1 is renovated, the information on the control state of the actual plant 1 acquired from the actual plant controller 2a is already information including the renovation contents, so that the initial training state The file 41e can be generated easily.

  In the present embodiment, the training initial state file 41e has been described as being stored in the training development device 41. However, an intermediate process during training is stored in the plant simulation device 11 as second training initial state information. If stored, the control state can be easily set when training is resumed from the middle of training.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of the embodiment.
The functions of the processing units 41a and 2b may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them with an integrated circuit, for example. Information such as programs and files for realizing each function is stored in a memory, a hard disk, a recording device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), an IC (Integrated Circuit) card, an SD card, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), etc. Can be placed on a recording medium.
In addition, in the training and development apparatus 41 (see FIG. 3) and the actual plant controller 2a (see FIG. 5), the control lines and information lines are omitted, but in practice, almost all the configurations are mutually connected. You may think that it is connected to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Actual plant 2, 2a Actual plant controller 2d Storage part 2e Actual plant state temporary file 11 Plant simulation device 21 Training controller 31 Training control device 41 Training development device 41c Storage unit 41e Training initial state file (first training Initial state information)
41f Automatic regeneration file (training regeneration information)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Distributed control system 101 Network 200 Training system 401 Training course name 402 Storage location 403 TAG information 404 Sequence information 405 Terminal information

Claims (5)

A plant simulation device for simulating a plant;
A training controller that outputs an operation signal to the plant simulation device;
A training development apparatus communicably connected to the actual plant controller that outputs operation signals to the training controller and the equipment constituting the actually operated plant;
With
The training development device acquires information on the control state of the plant from the actual plant controller, stores the information in first training initial state information, and stores the control state stored in the first training initial state information. Information is set in the plant simulation device, information on the control state acquired by performing the process processing in a pseudo manner is stored in the training regeneration information in association with the training course name,
The plant simulation device receives a training start request and the training course name, and transmits the training start request and the training course name to the training controller via the training development device.
When the training controller receives the training start request and the training course name, the training controller refers to the training regeneration information, acquires the control state information associated with the training course name, and sets it to itself A training system for a distributed control system. The said plant simulation apparatus associates the information of the said control state in the middle of training after training start with the said training course name, and memorize | stores in the 2nd training initial state information which self has. Training system for distributed control systems. The control state information includes unique identification information given to the equipment constituting the plant, TAG information indicating the process state of the equipment, sequence information indicating a process step position, and information on the control state from the plant. 3. The training system for a distributed control system according to claim 1, wherein the training information is a terminal information indicating information for identifying a terminal used when acquiring the terminal. A training control state setting method used in a training system for a distributed control system,
The training system includes:
A plant simulation device for simulating a plant;
A training controller that outputs an operation signal to the plant simulation device;
A training development apparatus communicably connected to the actual plant controller that outputs operation signals to the training controller and the equipment constituting the actually operated plant;
With
The training development device acquires information on the control state of the plant from the actual plant controller, stores the information in first training initial state information, and stores the control state stored in the first training initial state information. Set information in the plant simulation device, execute the step of storing the information of the control state acquired by causing the process process to be executed in a pseudo manner in association with the training course name in the training regeneration information,
The plant simulation device receives a training start request and the training course name, and transmits the training start request and the training course name to the training controller via the training development device,
When each of the training controller and the plant simulation apparatus receives the training start request and the training course name, the training controller and the plant simulation apparatus refer to the training regeneration information and obtain information on the control state associated with the training course name. The training control state setting method characterized by performing the step which acquires and sets to itself. The plant simulation apparatus further executes a step of storing information on the control state during training after the start of training in association with the training course name in second training initial state information possessed by itself. The training control state setting method according to claim 4.

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