JPH07225603A - Decentralized control unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manage various histories, etc., in a process wherein products of various brands are produced both by equipments and by product brands. CONSTITUTION:This decentralized control unit is provided with management information adding means 13 which adds equipment information specifying respective equipments and devices performing sequence control to the equipments and devices, brand information specifying products produced under the sequence control to the products, and equipment information and brand information specifying the equipment and brand information to signals that the respective equipments performing the sequence control handle, and an operation monitor device IS is provided with a brand management means 22 which manages signals sent from a control unit FC on the basis of at least the brand information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises an operation monitoring device for controlling and operating a plant, and a control device connected to this operation monitoring device through a communication bus for sequence control to produce a plurality of products. The present invention relates to a distributed control device, and more specifically, to a distributed control device that is effective when applied to batch process control for high-mix low-volume production.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a distributed control device for controlling and monitoring a plant by using a CRT display device.
In such a device, various functional blocks (internal instruments) configured in the control device have a function of monitoring signals such as process amount and control output handled by the instrument, and their values are preset. When the set alarm value is exceeded, an alarm notification is given for each function block.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the concept of plant monitoring in such a conventional apparatus. In this figure, a reactor plant is assumed, and a temperature controller C for controlling the temperature of the heating fluid supplied to the outer pot for controlling the temperature of the pot.
1, a flow rate controller C2, a flow rate controller C3 that controls the discharge flow rate of the product in the kettle, and a liquid level controller C4 that controls the liquid level in the kettle. Plant control configured in this way
The monitoring device focuses on each control device such as each of the controllers C1 to C4 and identifies the control devices as shown in FIG.
IC2001 ”tag name (tag number)
When a signal handled by each control device falls within a predetermined alarm range, for example, an alarm is output, or a message notifying that an event has occurred is output.

[0004]

The method of controlling and monitoring the plant by paying attention to each control device as described above is convenient when detecting a defect in each control device. However, in batch process control that involves complicated process rearrangement and quality switching, there is a demand for monitoring and managing the control status of each brand. It was not possible to meet such a demand.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and various history (alarm occurrence, event occurrence, etc.) in the process of producing products of various brands is recorded for each control device and each product brand. It is an object of the present invention to provide a distributed control device that can store, retrieve, and manage each and every aspect.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention which achieves such an object includes an operation monitoring device for controlling the operation of a plant,
In a distributed control device that is connected to this operation monitoring device through a communication bus and that performs a sequence control to produce a product, a distributed control device is provided with each device or device that performs the sequence control. Along with the equipment information to be specified, the brand information for specifying the product is attached to the product produced by the sequence control, and the equipment is specified to the control device as a signal handled by each equipment performing the sequence control. A management information adding unit for adding device information and the brand information is provided, and the operation monitoring device,
The distributed control device is characterized in that a brand management means for managing a signal transmitted from the control device side based on at least the brand information is provided.

[0007]

The operation / monitoring device for operating / monitoring the plant has a display device, and displays various screens convenient for monitoring the operation and status of the plant on its screen. The control device transmits / receives various data handled by each control device (functional block or internal instrument) to / from the operation / monitoring device side at regular intervals or as necessary via a communication bus.

The management information adding means adds, to each signal handled by each device for performing sequence control, device information of the device involved in generating the signal and product brand information. The brand management means on the operation monitoring device side manages the signal transmitted from the control device side based on the brand information added to the signal.

As a result, a plurality of control devices can
It is possible to grasp history information such as alarms and messages corresponding to the brands of products produced through a plurality of sequence controls.

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, PLT is a general representation of the plant, in which various sensors, actuators such as valves, etc. are installed. FC is a control device for controlling the plant PLT, which inputs signals from various sensors and outputs a control output to an actuator such as a valve. Although only one control device FC is shown here, a plurality of control devices FC are used according to the scale of the plant to be controlled, and they are distributed over the communication bus BS.

In this control unit FC, U1, U
2, U3 ... are unit meters for realizing basic sequence control such as charging, heating, and reaction. Each unit meter has a plurality of functional blocks (which function as control equipment, It is also called a measuring instrument). In the functional blocks constituting each unit instrument, as information for identifying the device, “FIC-100”, as in the case shown in FIG. 7,
Tag names for identifying devices such as "FIC-200" and "FIC-300" are attached.

As the functional blocks, for example, a control instrument having a feedback control function, a control instrument having a sequence control function, an instrument having a switch function, and the like are prepared in large numbers, and these functional blocks are adapted to the purpose of control. Each unit instrument will be configured by appropriately combining. Reference numeral 11 denotes a communication interface, which has a function of exchanging data with the operation monitoring device IS or another control device based on a communication protocol determined for the communication bus BS. Reference numeral 12 is a block conceptually showing a database constructed by various signals handled by each unit instrument. Reference numeral 13 is a management information adding means, which adds, to each signal handled by a functional block (control device) in each unit instrument, device information (tag name) of the device involved in generating the signal and product brand information. Have a function. As a result, each signal stored in the database 12 can be saved and managed by adding these pieces of information.

Here, the control unit FC is the operation monitoring unit I.
The control operation is started by the command from the S side, but it always holds information about which process the sequence control is progressing to and which product brand is performing the sequence control, and manages it. The information adding means 13 can add device information and product brand information to the signals stored in the database 12 based on these information.

In the operation monitoring device IS, a communication interface 21 has a function of exchanging data with each control device or another operation monitoring device based on a communication protocol determined for the communication bus BS. ing. Reference numeral 22 is a brand management means, which is a control device F via the communication interface 21.
The function of managing the signal received from the C side based on the device information and product brand information added to the signal is generally shown. The brand management unit 22 has a function of displaying alarm information and an event message for each product brand.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between each unit instrument and the sequence control performed by the unit instrument on the control device FC side. Here, sequence control (charge A or charge
B) is a sequence control in which the valves V1 and V2 are opened and the product raw material is injected into the stirring vessel to a certain level, respectively, and the unit meters U1 and U10 implement this. Unit meters U1 and U1 for performing such sequence control
As for 0, the valves V1, V2, etc. are set to the level sensor LVL
It is configured by combining a switch instrument, a feedback control device, and the like for controlling and turning on and off according to the signal from the device and the flow rate of the raw material flowing therethrough.

The unit meter U2 executes a sequence control (mixing) in which the mixer MX is started and the raw material injected into the stirring vessel is stirred for a certain period of time. In addition, the unit meter U3 activates the pump PUMP to perform sequence control (discharging) for discharging all the agitated products.
Perform e). Using each of these unit instruments, for example, a product specified by the brand "BA100" is produced by sequentially activating the unit instruments U1, U10, U2, U3. Similarly, another product as identified by brand "BA200" uses a unit instrument that controls a valve to inject other product ingredients, and after activating this, the unit instrument U2, U3 previously described. Is produced by launching.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the unit instrument U1. The unit instrument U1 is assumed to perform the sequence control of “charge A” shown in FIG. 2, and is a flow rate control device for controlling the flow rate such that the valve V1 is the operation end (tag name for identifying this device). Is represented by "FIC100") and the level sensor LV
A signal from L is input, and its output is applied to the flow rate control device. Cascaded level control device (the tag name that identifies this device is represented by "LIC100").
It consists of and.

Each of these control devices (internal instruments or functional blocks) is provided with a function of monitoring signals handled by the device, for example, the input signal PV and the operation signal MV, and the values of these signals are set. For example, an alarm signal, a message, or a guidance is output when the preset upper and lower limits are exceeded. In addition, for each signal handled by each of these control devices, the above-mentioned alarm signal, and message, the brand of the product controlled by that device is specified in addition to the tag name of the device that handled the signal and the time of occurrence. The brand information is added by the management information adding means 13 and stored in the database 12.

The operation of the apparatus thus constructed will be described below. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of process transition assuming a case where a product specified by the brand “BA100” is produced.
First, the initializing step “initial” is performed, in which, for example, the stirring pot is washed.
Next, the unit measuring instrument U10 is started and the brand "BA10
Perform the step "charge B" of pouring the raw material of the product as specified in "0" into a stirring pot. Then, start the unit instrument U1 and execute "chargeA",
Pour other ingredients into the stirrer. Similarly, the unit instrument U2 and the unit instrument U3 are sequentially activated in the same manner,
A product as specified by the brand "BA100" is produced through each process of "mixing" and "discharge".

In each of these production steps, for example, the signal handled by the flow control instrument FIC100 and the alarm signal generated there are tag names "FIC" attached to the equipment.
100 ”, information of“ BA100 ”that specifies the product (brand), and the time of occurrence are added and stored in the database 12. Similarly, in the case of producing another product as specified by the brand "BA200", unit instruments suitable for it are sequentially used, and the products are produced through the respective steps. In this case, in each process, a signal handled by each control device and an alarm signal generated there are a tag name attached to the control device and information of "BA200" for identifying a product (brand), The time of occurrence is added and stored in the database 12.

Each data stored in the database 12 is sent to the operation / monitoring device IS side through the communication interface 11 by, for example, scan communication of a fixed cycle performed using the communication bus BS. Here, each signal transmitted via the communication bus BS is added with a tag name attached to the control device, brand information such as "BA100" for identifying a product (brand), and an occurrence time. There is.

FIG. 5 is a structural conceptual diagram showing an example of a communication frame of a signal sent via the communication bus BS. In the figure, DA is the destination (address) of the operation monitoring device IS,
SA is an address (address of the control device) indicating the transmission source of the communication frame, LG is information indicating the length of the communication frame,
CTL is information indicating the type of communication frame, and here,
It is shown to be a frame for data transmission. I
FO is a data section, which contains information such as signal size, tag name, brand information for identifying the brand, and generation time. FCS is a frame check sequence and contains a signal for frame check.

The signal sent on such a communication frame is stored and saved in the memory or the like in the operation monitoring device IS together with the tag name, brand information and time of occurrence information added thereto. Since the brand management means 22 adds the tag name indicating the device that handled the signal and the brand information to the sent signal, it is possible to manage each signal based on the tag name and brand information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an alarm summary displayed on a screen such as a CRT by the brand management means 22. In this example, the brand "BA100" is shown, and the latest alarms are displayed in the top column. Below, the alarms are sequentially arranged in order of time when the alarms occurred, the date and time, the tag name indicating the device, comments, etc. It is shown.
Further, an icon ICN for expanding the corresponding operation screen or the like based on the alarm information is provided at the right end portion of the screen.

Therefore, the brand "BA
It is possible to easily recognize what kind of alarm is generated in the process of producing "100". In addition, it is possible to easily expand to an appropriate screen. In this display, for example, an important alarm occurrence location may be displayed by changing the color or blinking.

[0026]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, various histories (alarm occurrences, event occurrences, etc.) in the process of producing products of various brands can be obtained for each device and each product. It can be managed from both sides of each brand.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between each unit instrument and the sequence control performed by the unit instrument on the control device FC side.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a unit instrument U1.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a process transition assuming a case where a product specified by a brand “BA100” is produced.

FIG. 5 is a structural conceptual diagram showing an example of a communication frame of a signal transmitted via a communication bus BS.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an alarm summary displayed on a screen such as a CRT by the brand management means 22.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a concept of plant monitoring in a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 PLT plant FC control device IS operation monitoring device U1, U2, U3 Unit instrument 11, 21 Communication interface 12 Database 13 Management information adding means 22 Brand management means

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A distributed control device comprising an operation monitoring device for controlling operation of a plant, and a control device connected to the operation monitoring device via a communication bus for performing sequence control to produce a product, Along with attaching device information that identifies the device or device to each device or device that performs the sequence control, attach brand information that identifies the product to the product produced by the sequence control, to the control device, the sequence A management information adding means for adding device information specifying the device and the brand information to a signal handled by each device that performs control is provided, and at least the signal transmitted from the control device side to the operation monitoring device is provided to the brand. A decentralized control device characterized by comprising a brand management means for managing based on information.