JP2022017874A - Alarm information management system of plant - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technology capable of automatically analyzing to what extent each control hierarchy has affected a failure that may suspend a whole plant.SOLUTION: An alarm information management system includes an upper-level control hierarchy, a middle-level control hierarchy, a lower-level control hierarchy, and an analyzer. The analyzer performs analysis processing on upper-level hierarchical information, middle-level hierarchical information, and lower-level hierarchical information. The pieces of upper-level, middle-level, and lower-level hierarchical information represent pieces of alarm information sent from the upper-level, middle-level, and lower-level control hierarchies, respectively. In the analysis processing, an alarm period representing a total time during which the alarm information concerning suspension of a manufacturing process is outputted is calculated for each control hierarchy on the basis of the pieces of upper-level, middle-level, and lower-level hierarchical information. A suspension period of the manufacturing process is calculated based on plant suspension information. Based on the alarm period and suspension period, a degree of affection on suspension of the manufacturing process is calculated for each control hierarchy.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

The present invention relates to a system for managing alarm information in a plant where a metal material processing process is performed.

In a plant where a metal material processing process is performed, it is common to collect alarm information (fault information). Examples of the alarm information include those indicating an abnormality in the computer that manages the entire processing process, those indicating an abnormality in the processing equipment that performs the processing process, and those indicating an abnormality in the sensor installed in the processing line.

As a prior art for collecting alarm information, the system described in International Publication No. 2016/132479 is exemplified. This conventional system includes the above-mentioned computer, a controller for controlling the above-mentioned processing equipment, and an alarm management device for collecting alarm information from the computer and the controller. If the data formats of the alarm information handled by the computer and the controller are different, it takes time and effort to analyze them. Therefore, in this conventional system, the alarm management device applies a common format to the alarm information and extracts the information necessary for analysis.

International Publication No. 2016/132479

When looking at the entire plant, the sources of alarm information are roughly divided into three control hierarchies. As the first control layer, a layer including the above-mentioned computer is exemplified. As the second control layer, a layer including the above-mentioned controller is exemplified. As the third control layer, a processing facility controlled by the above-mentioned controller and a layer including the above-mentioned sensor are exemplified.

If the source of the alarm information is divided by the control hierarchy, when the alarm information of the entire plant is collected, the analysis focusing on the control hierarchy becomes possible. However, the conventional analysis of alarm information is focused exclusively on identifying the cause of the alarm information, and from the viewpoint of how much each control hierarchy has affected the failure that causes the entire plant to stop. No analysis was performed. Therefore, it can be said that there is a demand for the development of technology that enables evaluation from a different point of view than before.

One object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of automatically analyzing how much each control hierarchy has affected a failure that causes the entire plant to stop.

The present invention is an alarm information management system for a plant in which a metal material processing process is performed, and has the following features.
The alarm information management system includes an upper control hierarchy, a middle control hierarchy, a lower control hierarchy, and an analysis device.
The upper control hierarchy manages the entire machining process. The upper control layer outputs plant stop information when the machining process is stopped.
The middle control hierarchy is connected to the higher control hierarchy. The middle control hierarchy controls the processing equipment that constitutes the plant.
The lower control hierarchy is directly connected to the upper control hierarchy or indirectly via the middle control hierarchy. The lower control layer is provided on the machining line where the machining process is performed.
The analyzer is connected to the upper, middle and lower control layers. The analysis device performs analysis processing of upper layer information, middle layer information, and lower layer information. The upper layer information indicates alarm information from the upper control layer. The median layer information indicates the alarm information from the median control layer. The lower layer information indicates the alarm information from the lower control layer.
The analysis device is used in the analysis process.
Based on the upper layer, middle layer and lower layer information, the alarm period indicating the total time during which the alarm information related to the stop of the machining process is output is calculated for each control layer.
Based on the plant shutdown information, the shutdown period of the machining process is calculated.
Based on the alarm period and the stop period, the degree of influence on the stop of the machining process is calculated for each control layer.

According to the present invention, the analysis process is performed in the analysis device. In the analysis process, the alarm period for each control layer is calculated based on the upper layer, middle layer, and lower layer information. In addition, the shutdown period of the machining process is calculated based on the plant shutdown information. Further, the degree of influence on the stoppage of the machining process is calculated based on the alarm period and the stoppage period for each control layer. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically analyze how much each control hierarchy has affected a failure that causes the entire plant to stop.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the management system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the information flow while the whole plant is operating normally. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of information when a failure occurs in an actuator group. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of information when a failure occurs in a group of special instrumentation equipment. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of information when a failure occurs in the middle control hierarchy. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of information when a failure occurs in the upper control hierarchy. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which is performed periodically in an analysis apparatus. It is a figure explaining the calculation example of an alarm period and a stop period. It is a figure which shows the display example in the display device. It is a figure which shows another display example in a display device.

Hereinafter, the alarm information management system (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “management system”) of the plant according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1. 1. Configuration Example of Alarm Information Management System FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the management system 1 has an upper control layer 2 (LV2), an intermediate control layer 3 (LV1), an actuator group 4, a special instrumentation group 5, an analysis device 6, and the like. It includes a display device 7 and storage devices 8a to 8e.

The upper control layer 2 includes a group of computers that manage the entire machining process performed in the plant and their peripheral devices. Databases and routers are exemplified as peripheral devices of the computer group. The database stores information related to the machining process (for example, information on the metal material, information on the processing conditions of the metal material). A medium control layer 3, an actuator group 4, a special instrumentation group 5, and an analysis device 6 are connected to the router. Peripheral devices of the computer group also include a storage device 8a. In the storage device 8a, various information output to the outside by the upper control layer 2 during the machining process or input from the outside to the upper control layer 2 is stored.

The intermediate control layer 3 includes a controller group that controls the processing equipment constituting the plant and its peripheral equipment. Examples of processing equipment include reheating furnaces, scale breakers, rough rolling mills, coil boxes, crop cutting machines, finish rolling mills, runout tables, winders and conveyors. A storage device 8b is exemplified as a peripheral device of the controller group. The storage device 8b stores various information output to the outside by the intermediate control layer 3 during the machining process or input from the outside to the intermediate control layer 3.

The actuator group 4 (ACT) is a drive device such as a motor, a valve, and a power supply device for driving the processing equipment. The special instrumentation group 5 (SI) is a sensor or other instrumentation product provided on the processing line. The actuator group 4 and the special instrumentation group 5 are connected to a control LAN common to both. This common control LAN is different from the control LAN connected to the upper control layer 2 and the control LAN connected to the middle control layer 3. The actuator group 4 and the special instrumentation group 5 are classified into the "lower control hierarchy (LV0)".

The actuator group 4 has a storage device 8c. The special instrumentation group 5 has a storage device 8d. The storage device 8c stores various information output to the outside by the actuator group 4 during the machining process or input to the actuator group 4 from the outside. The function of the storage device 8d is the same as that of the storage device 8c. The storage devices 8c and 8d may be omitted. That is, the actuator group 4 may not have the storage device 8c, and the special instrumentation group 5 may not have the storage device 8d.

The analysis device 6 is connected to the upper control layer 2, the middle control layer 3, and the lower control layer via the control LAN of each control layer. The analysis device 6 appropriately receives various information output by these control layers via the control LAN and stores the information in the storage device 8e. Further, the analysis device 6 periodically performs an analysis process using various information stored in the storage device 8e. The analysis device 6 further performs a process for displaying the result of the analysis process on the display device 7. Details of the processing periodically performed by the analyzer 6 will be described later.

As various information received by the analysis device 6 from the control hierarchy of the above-mentioned three divisions, alarm information and plant stop information are exemplified. The alarm information is information about a failure output from any of these control layers. Alarm information ranges from minor to critical, such as shutting down the entire plant. The plant stop information is information output from the upper control layer 2 when the entire plant is stopped.

The display device 7 is connected to the analysis device 6. The connection method between the display device 7 and the analysis device 6 may be wired or wireless. When both devices are wirelessly connected, for example, the analysis device 6 is installed in the vicinity of the plant, and the display device 7 is installed in the control room away from the plant. For example, a remote worker of a plant and a quality manager of a product are stationed in this control room. The display device 7 displays the result of the analysis process performed by the analysis device 6.

2. 2. Flow of Information in Management System Next, in the above-mentioned configuration example of the management system, the flow of various information exchanged between the control hierarchy or between the control hierarchy and the analysis device will be described.

2-1. During normal operation FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of information flow while the entire plant is operating normally. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the machining command FPI is output from the upper control layer 2 to the middle control layer 3. The machining command FPI is information generated based on the information related to the machining process. The intermediate control layer 3 generates a control command CTI for the actuator of each machining facility based on the machining command FPI. The control command CTI is output from the intermediate control layer 3 to the actuator group 4.

While the plant is in operation, the special instrumentation group 5 detects the status of the machining process. The actual information HSD of the machining process detected by the special instrumentation group 5 is output to the middle control layer 3 and the upper control layer 2. The actual information HSD output to the intermediate control layer 3 is appropriately stored in the storage device 8b, and is used for calculations in feedback control and sequence control executed by the controller group. The actual information HSD output to the upper control layer 2 is appropriately stored in the storage device 8a and used for the management of the entire plant by the computer group.

2-2. At the time of failure 2-2-1. At the time of failure of the lower control hierarchy FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of information when a failure occurs in the actuator group 4. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the alarm information ALM4 is output from the actuator group 4 to the intermediate control layer 3. The alarm information ALM4 is information regarding the failure of the actuator group 4. The generation and output of the alarm information ALM4 is performed in the actuator which is the source of the failure. The timing at which the alarm information ALM4 is generated may be the same as the timing at which the occurrence of the failure is detected, or the timing at which the operation of the actuator as the source is stopped.

The intermediate control layer 3 outputs the alarm information ALM4 received from the actuator group 4 to the upper control layer 2. The intermediate control layer 3 may output only a part of the alarm information ALM4 received from the actuator group 4 to the upper control layer 2.

The actuator group 4 also outputs the alarm information ALM 4 to the analysis device 6. The analysis device 6 appropriately stores the alarm information ALM4 in the storage device 8e. When the alarm information ALM4 contains important information such as stopping the entire plant, the upper control layer 2 generates the plant stop information ALP and outputs it to the analysis device 6. The analysis device 6 appropriately stores the plant stop information ALP received from the upper control layer 2 in the storage device 8e. That is, when the alarm information ALM4 is information related to the shutdown of the plant, the alarm information ALM4 and the plant shutdown information ALP are stored in the storage device 8e. Otherwise, only the alarm information ALM4 is stored in the storage device 8e.

The generation and output of the alarm information ALM4 may be performed in the middle control layer 3. In this case, the intermediate control layer 3 detects the failure of the actuator group 4 based on the actual information HSD. When the intermediate control layer 3 generates the alarm information ALM4, the intermediate control layer 3 outputs this to the upper control layer 2 and the analysis device 6. The operation example of the upper control layer 2 and the analysis device 6 that received the alarm information ALM4 is the same as the example described immediately before.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of information when a failure occurs in the special instrumentation group 5. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the alarm information ALM5 is output from the special instrumentation group 5 to the intermediate control layer 3. The alarm information ALM5 is information regarding a failure of the special instrumentation group 5. The generation and output of the alarm information ALM5 is performed in the special instrumentation that is the source of the failure. The timing at which the alarm information ALM5 is generated may be the same as the timing at which the occurrence of the failure is detected, or the timing at which the operation of the special instrumentation as the source is stopped.

The intermediate control layer 3 outputs the alarm information ALM5 received from the special instrumentation group 5 to the upper control layer 2. Only a part of the alarm information ALM5 received from the special instrumentation group 5 may be output to the upper control layer 2. The explanation so far is the same as the example shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the alarm information ALM5 is further output directly from the special instrumentation group 5 to the upper control layer 2. That is, in this example, the alarm information ALM5 is output directly or indirectly from the special instrumentation group 5 to the upper control layer 2.

The special instrumentation group 5 also outputs the alarm information ALM 5 to the analysis device 6. The analysis device 6 appropriately stores the alarm information ALM 5 in the storage device 8e. When the alarm information ALM5 contains important information such as stopping the entire plant, the upper control layer 2 generates the plant stop information ALP and outputs it to the analysis device 6. The analysis device 6 appropriately stores the plant stop information ALP received from the upper control layer 2 in the storage device 8e. As described above, when the alarm information ALM5 is information related to the shutdown of the plant, the alarm information ALM5 and the plant shutdown information ALP are stored in the storage device 8e.

The generation and output of the alarm information ALM 5 may be performed in the middle control layer 3. In this case, the intermediate control layer 3 detects the failure of the special instrumentation group 5 based on the actual information HSD. When the intermediate control layer 3 generates the alarm information ALM5, the intermediate control layer 3 outputs this to the upper control layer 2 and the analysis device 6. The operation example of the upper control layer 2 and the analysis device 6 that received the alarm information ALM5 is the same as the example described immediately before.

2-2-2. At the time of failure of the middle control layer FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of information when a failure occurs in the middle control layer 3. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the alarm information ALM3 is output from the middle control layer 3 to the upper control layer 2. The alarm information ALM3 is information regarding a failure of the intermediate control layer 3. The generation and output of the alarm information ALM3 may be performed by the controller that is the source of the failure, or may be performed by another controller connected to the source via the control LAN. The timing at which the alarm information ALM5 is generated may be the same as the timing at which the occurrence of the failure is detected, or the timing at which the operation of the controller as the source is stopped.

The intermediate control layer 3 also outputs the alarm information ALM 3 to the analysis device 6. The analysis device 6 appropriately stores the alarm information ALM3 in the storage device 8e. When the alarm information ALM3 contains important information such as stopping the entire plant, the upper control layer 2 generates the plant stop information ALP and outputs it to the analysis device 6. The analysis device 6 appropriately stores the plant stop information ALP received from the upper control layer 2 in the storage device 8e. As described above, when the alarm information ALM3 is information related to the shutdown of the plant, the alarm information ALM3 and the plant shutdown information ALP are stored in the storage device 8e.

2-2-3. At the time of failure of the upper control layer FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of information when a failure occurs in the upper control layer 2. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the alarm information ALM2 is generated and output in the upper control layer 2. The alarm information ALM2 is information regarding a failure of the upper control layer 2. The generation and output of the alarm information ALM2 may be performed on the computer that is the source of the failure, or on another computer (for example, a backup computer) connected to the source via the control LAN. You may be broken. The timing at which the alarm information ALM2 is generated is the same as the timing at which the occurrence of a failure is detected.

The upper control layer 2 also outputs the alarm information ALM2 to the analysis device 6. The analysis device 6 appropriately stores the alarm information ALM2 in the storage device 8e. When the alarm information ALM2 contains important information such as stopping the entire plant, the upper control layer 2 generates the plant stop information ALP and outputs it to the analysis device 6. The analysis device 6 appropriately stores the plant stop information ALP received from the upper control layer 2 in the storage device 8e. As described above, when the alarm information ALM2 is information related to the shutdown of the plant, the storage device 8e stores the alarm information ALM2 and the plant shutdown information ALP.

3. 3. Processing performed by the analysis device Next, processing (analysis processing and display processing) periodically performed by the analysis device 6 will be described.

The analysis process is performed using the alarm information ALM2 to ALM5 stored in the storage device 8e and the plant stop information ALP. The analysis target period (that is, the period for extracting the alarm information and the plant stop information) is set in advance. The display process is performed in association with the execution of the analysis process. The display process is a process for displaying the result of the analysis process on the display device 7. Recording processing is exemplified as another processing performed in association with the execution of analysis processing. The recording process is a process of storing the result of the analysis process in the storage device 8e.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing periodically performed in the analysis device 6. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, first, the alarm information ALMn (n = 2 to 5) in the analysis target period and the plant stop information ALP are read out (step S1).

Following step S1, the alarm period APn (n = 2-5) is calculated (step S2). Here, the alarm period APn is a period during which the important alarm information ALMn for stopping the entire plant is issued. The calculation of the alarm period APn is performed using the alarm information ALMn read in step S1.

Following step S2, the outage period PDT for the entire plant is calculated (step S3). The calculation of the stop period PDT is performed using the plant stop information ALP read in step S1.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a calculation example of the alarm period APn and the stop period PDT. In the upper part of FIG. 8, the states of the three controllers PLCa to PLCc constituting the middle control hierarchy (LV1) are drawn. "NML" indicates a normal state, and "BKDN" indicates a failure state. That is, FIG. 8 shows that the controller PLCa was in a failed state during the period from time t1 to time t2. It also indicates that the controller PLCb was in a faulty state during the period from time t3 to time t4, and the controller PLCc was in a faulty state during the period from time t5 to time t6.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that the failure states of the controllers PLCa to PLCc are all serious enough to stop the entire plant. Then, the period from the time t3 to the time t6 is calculated as the alarm period AP3 for the middle control layer 3 as a whole. If the period from time t3 to time t6 includes a time zone in which the failure states of the controllers PLCC to PLCc are not serious failure states, the time zone is excluded from the alarm period AP3.

The calculation method of the alarm period AP3 is applied to the calculation of the alarm period in another control hierarchy. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the alarm period AP2 in the entire upper control layer 2 is calculated as the period from the time t7 to the time t8. Further, the alarm period AP4 for the entire actuator group 4 is calculated as a period from time t9 to time t10. Further, the alarm period AP5 for the entire special instrumentation group 5 is calculated by adding the period from time t13 to time t14 to the period from time t11 to time t12.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, the stop period PDT is calculated as a period from time t3 to time t15. Time t15 is the time when the plant has returned from the stopped state. The reason why the time t10 and the time t15 do not match is that it took time to restart the plant.

Returning to FIG. 7, the description of the flow of processing performed by the analyzer 6 will be continued. Following step S3, the degree of influence IRn (n = 2 to 5) is calculated (step S4). The degree of influence IRn is the ratio of the alarm period APn to the stop period PDT, and is calculated for each control hierarchy (that is, IRn = APn / PDT). The series of processes in steps S2 to S4 corresponds to "analysis process".

Following step S4, the analysis result is recorded and displayed (step S5). The process of step S5 corresponds to "recording process" and "display process". FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example in the display device 7. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the degree of influence IRn is displayed as a pie chart as an analysis result. Further, below the pie chart, a time chart showing details of the alarm period AP and the stop period PDT is displayed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another display example in the display device 7. In the example shown in FIG. 10, a bar graph is displayed below the pie chart. This bar graph subdivides the analysis target period (specifically, divides into 12), and shows the total of the alarm period APn for each unit period UP1 to UP12 for each control layer. Examples of the unit period UP include days, weeks, months, and years.

4. Effect According to the management system according to the embodiment described above, the alarm information ALM2 to ALM25 for each control layer and the plant stop information ALP are integrated in the analysis device 6. Then, by performing the analysis process in the analysis device 6, the influence degree IRn of the control hierarchy on the failure that stops the entire plant is automatically calculated. Therefore, using this impact degree IRn, it is possible to evaluate from a new perspective, such as which control hierarchy should be prioritized to suppress the occurrence of failures in order to suppress the occurrence of failures that stop the entire plant. It becomes. Further, by displaying the influence degree IRn on the display device 7, it is possible to improve the convenience of the operator and the quality manager who perform the evaluation.

1 Alarm management device system 2 Upper control hierarchy 3 Intermediate control hierarchy 4 Actuator group 5 Special instrumentation group 6 Analytical device 7 Display device 8a to 8e Storage device ALM2 to ALM5 Alarm information ALP Plant stop information AP1, AP2, APA, APS Alarm period APP stop period CTI control command FPI machining command HSD performance information

Claims (3)

An alarm information management system for plants where metal processing processes are carried out.
A higher control hierarchy that manages the entire machining process and outputs plant stop information when the machining process is stopped.
A middle control hierarchy that is connected to the upper control hierarchy and controls the processing equipment that constitutes the plant, and
A lower control hierarchy that is directly connected to the upper control hierarchy or indirectly via the middle control hierarchy and is provided on the machining line where the machining process is performed.
Upper layer information connected to the upper, middle and lower control layers and showing alarm information from the upper control layer, middle layer information indicating the alarm information from the middle control layer, and the lower control layer. An analysis device that performs analysis processing of lower layer information indicating the alarm information from
Equipped with
The analysis device is used in the analysis process.
Based on the upper layer, middle layer and lower layer information, the alarm period indicating the total time during which the alarm information related to the stop of the machining process is output is calculated for each control layer.
Based on the plant shutdown information, the shutdown period of the machining process is calculated.
A plant alarm information management system characterized in that the degree of influence on the stoppage of the machining process is calculated for each control hierarchy based on the alarm period and the stoppage period. The plant alarm information management system according to claim 1.
Further equipped with a display device connected to the analysis device,
The analysis device is a plant alarm information management system, which further performs display processing for displaying the result of the analysis processing including the influence degree on the display device. The plant alarm information management system according to claim 1 or 2.
An alarm information management system for a plant, wherein the degree of influence is the ratio of the alarm period to the outage period by control hierarchy.

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