JPH11110005A - Process simulator for distributed control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the burden of an operator for the tuning of a simulator and also to shorten a simulator development period by changing and storing the characteristic data while executing the simulation in a parameter tuning mode. SOLUTION: Receiving a data request, a communication control circuit 211 gains access to a controller 2 to acquire the control data contained in the controller 2 (S202). Then the circuit 211 sends the acquired control data to a process model 231 (S203). Thus, the model 231 uses the received control data to calculate a process (S204). Then the model 231 sends a write request to the circuit 211 for the calculation result (S205). Receiving the write request, the circuit 211 writes the calculation result of the model 231 into the controller 2 (S206). In such a way, the simulation is carried out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distributed control system for controlling a plant, and more particularly to a process simulator for training operators.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Measurement and control systems in the field of process automation are currently known as distributed control systems (DC).
It is common to use S). In a plant equipped with this distributed control system, although control is automated, operation of the plant by operators is also required to maintain reliability. Therefore, highly reliable operation techniques are also required for operators. To that end, it is essential to train operators' skills.

It is desirable to train operators by controlling the actual plant. However, in practice, such training is difficult. I can't do it at all. Therefore, although the actual plant is not controlled, it is general to perform a virtual simulation using an actual control device (operator's console) for controlling the plant.

As such a simulator, for example, there is a system as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-36302.

FIG. 8 schematically shows a distributed control system including the functions of a conventional simulator.

The configuration shown in FIG. 8 is a general configuration as a distributed control system. In a normal control state, the plant is controlled by an operator's console 1 and a controller 2. Although not shown here, each component (mainly a detection end such as a sensor or an operation end such as a valve) in the plant is connected to the controller 2, and data is taken from the detection end, and according to predetermined conditions. Control such as sending operation data to the operation end is performed. The operator's console 1 monitors the control status of the controller and performs operations such as changing various set values as needed. In such a conventional system,
A process model of a plant to be simulated is set and programmed in advance by the simulation computer 3, and the trainee operates from the operator's console 1 in accordance with the characteristics of the set process model.

More specifically, as shown in the image diagram of FIG. 5, the characteristics of each component of the plant (devices forming a system in the plant, such as boilers and valves) are defined as device modules. Here, the device module is
In order to obtain an output variable unique to the component with respect to an input variable such as a temperature or a flow rate, a parameter unique to each element is quantified. In this device module, an output variable is obtained by an arithmetic expression of OUT = f (IN, K) K: parameter variable. In the above equation, f
(•) varies depending on the device module.

[0008] Then, a necessary system can be defined by combining such equipment modules. FIG. 6 shows an example in which device modules are connected.

As described above, a process model is virtually represented by combining necessary equipment modules, and all input / output states in the plant can be digitized and operated. FIG. 7 shows an example of the combined process model.

[0010] Such a process model is constructed, programmed and compiled by the simulation computer 3 and then operated as a series of program modules.

When the trainee operates from the operator's console 1, predetermined operations are performed by a process model converted as a series of program modules, and the plant is virtually controlled on a display screen. The output is as follows.

Also, from the simulation computer 3,
Instructors can monitor and operate,
By arbitrarily performing a setting operation for a situation such as a disturbance, a trainee can be trained in an emergency.

[0013]

In the simulator as described above, the process model itself of the simulator is not changed. However, when it is desired to increase the execution speed of the simulation or to perform a simulation of various variations, each of the constituent elements is required. It is necessary to change the characteristics.
For example, there is a case where it is desired to make a change such as changing the capacity of the boiler or changing the diameter of the valve.

When the characteristics of each component are changed, that is, when tuning is performed, the parameter data of the equipment module of the component must be changed. In such a case, in the above-described conventional technique, the work of stopping the simulation once, changing the parameters in the program off-line, performing the programming again, and compiling the program is required each time.

To perform the characteristic tuning, (number of parameters) × (the number of changes required for tuning one parameter) is required. Each time further tuning is performed, “stop simulation” / “change program”
-It was necessary to perform "simulation start" and "judgment result determination". For this reason, there has been a problem that it takes an enormous amount of time to tune the parameters, which places a great burden on the operator.

An object of the present invention is to change and save characteristic data while performing a simulation without performing the above-mentioned operation of stopping the simulation and changing the program at the time of parameter tuning, thereby achieving a simulator tuning. An object of the present invention is to provide a process simulator capable of reducing a burden on an operator and shortening a simulator development period.

[0017]

To achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized by monitoring / operating means for monitoring and operating the condition of the plant, and control for controlling the process of the plant based on preset values. Means, and a simulation execution means for performing a simulation by calculating an operation state of a virtual process model including a plurality of predefined devices, wherein the simulation execution means includes a predefined An operation execution unit for performing a control operation of the process model; a characteristic data storage unit for storing characteristic data for each device constituting the process model; and a characteristic data updating unit for arbitrarily changing characteristic data in the characteristic data storage unit Wherein the operation execution unit performs the operation with reference to the data in the characteristic data storage unit. A. According to the above configuration, tuning can be performed by changing parameters during the simulation. Thereby, the simulation is stopped every time one parameter is tuned, and the operation of changing the program is eliminated.

[0018]

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a distributed control system according to the present invention. Although the basic system configuration is the same as the conventional one, as a unique configuration of the present invention, the development / instructor computer 10 is provided on the same transmission path as the simulation computer 3.

The main purpose of the development / instructor computer 10 is to allow the instructor to monitor the trainee's operation status performed on the operator's console 1 by using this computer, or to perform a specific operation to execute the simulation. This is to input an emergency situation such as disturbance. Also, an operation of creating a process model for performing the simulation is performed here. The constructed process model is programmed and operated as the process model 231 by the simulation computer 3. still,
In this embodiment, one computer for the development and one computer for the instructor are realized, but there is no problem if they are individually arranged.

Next, the basic data flow of the simulation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

First, data is requested from the process model 231 stored in the simulation computer 3 to the communication control circuit 211 in the operator's console 1 (201).

Next, the communication control circuit 21 receiving the request
1 accesses the controller 2 and obtains control data existing on the controller 2 (202).

The communication control circuit 211 transmits the obtained control data to the process model 231 (203).

Upon receiving the control data, the process model 231 performs a process operation using the received data (204).

Thereafter, the process model 231 issues a request for writing the operation result to the communication control circuit 211 (205).

The communication control circuit 211 having received the above request,
The result calculated by the process model 231 is stored in the controller 2
(206).

As described above, a simulation is performed by repeating the processing from 201 to 206.

In the present invention, as described above, the development / instructor computer 10 is arranged as shown in FIG. 1, and the characteristic data of the process model 231 constructed in the simulation computer 3 is simulated using this computer 10. The feature is that it can be changed online during execution. Hereinafter, the mechanism will be specifically described.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of a system configuration of the computer 3 for simulation and the computer 10 for development / instructor.

Hereinafter, each function realized by the system configuration of FIG. 3 will be described.

First, the operation at the time of simulation will be described.

When the simulation is started, data of a parameter file (IC) 21 which is an initial value data file storing data used as initial values is set in the parameter table 16. Here, the data stored in the parameter file (IC) 21 is a parameter of each device module in the process model in which the simulation is performed.

When this process is completed, the process model 2
Numeral 31 refers to the parameter table 16 by 29 and executes an operation at regular intervals (that is, at each round of the simulation processing procedure). In the process model 231, it is set so that an operation is performed using data set at an address of the parameter table 16 defined in advance. Therefore, the parameter table 16
If there is no change in the data set in (1) (no tuning is performed), the simulation proceeds with the initially set process characteristics.

Next, the tuning function will be described.

The simulation computer 3 is provided with a tuning shell command 18 for rewriting arbitrary data at an address designated for each device module in the parameter table 16 shown in the parameter table 16.

Then, when actually tuning,
The tuning program 26 stored in the development / instructor computer 10 is started, and the operator
Enter the parameters of the device module you want to rewrite.
Then, using the remote shell 39 from the tuning program 26, the tuning shell command 1 is used.
8 is activated. The tuning program 26 passes the changed parameter and the address of the parameter table 16 corresponding to the device module to be rewritten to the tuning shell command 18.
As a result, the tuning shell command 18 changes the data at a predetermined address in the parameter table 16 by the processing of 35.

As described above, the process model 231 performs an operation by referring to the parameter table 16 at regular intervals in the process of 29. For this reason, if the process model 231 refers to the parameter table 16 by the processing of 29 after the tuning shell command 18 rewrites the data at the address specified by the tuning program 26, the characteristic data different from the previously referred characteristic data is obtained. Is set, it means that the characteristics of the process have been changed. With the above operation, the characteristics of the process model 231 are tuned while the simulation is being executed.

Next, the function of storing the tuning result will be described.

The simulation computer 3 stores the data of the parameter table 16 in a parameter file (SV).
22 is provided with a save shell command 19 set to be saved. Where the parameter file
The structure of the (SV) 22 is the same as the structure of the parameter file (IC) 21.

When the tuning result is to be stored, for example, when the tuning is completed or when the tuning operation is temporarily interrupted, the operator activates the storage program 27 from the development / instructor computer 10,
Further, the storage shell command 19 is started by the remote shell 40. As a result, the current data set in the parameter table 16 is stored in the parameter file (SV) 22 by the process of 36.

Next, the function of rewriting the parameter file will be described.

This function is performed by the parameter file (IC) 21
By replacing the name of the parameter file (SV) 22 with the name of the parameter file (SV) 22, it is as if the files 21 and 22 were rewritten.

The simulation computer 3 has a parameter file (IC) 21 and a parameter file (SV) 2
Shell command 2 for rewriting the name of 2
0 is provided.

When the data in the parameter file (SV) 22 saved by the above-mentioned saving function is to be used as an initial value thereafter, the operator sends the rewriting program 28 from the development / instructor computer 10.
And the remote shell 41 starts the rewriting shell command 20. As a result, the parameter file (I
C) 21 and the name of the parameter file (SV) 22 are replaced, and at the next start of the simulation, the data stored in the parameter file (SV) 22 before the name is rewritten is set in the parameter table as initial value data. It will be.

When the parameter table 16 is stored next time, the data of the current parameter table 16 is overwritten on the file registered under the name of the parameter file (IC) 21 until then.

Finally, the function of displaying the contents of the parameter table 16 will be described.

In the simulation computer 3, the display shell command 17 in which processing of storing the data of the parameter table 16 in the display file 23 and then transferring the data to the development / instructor computer 10 by the remote copy 42 is set. Is provided.

When confirming the data in the parameter table 16, the operator activates the display program 25 from the development / instructor computer 10 and executes the remote shell 38.
Starts the display shell command 17. As a result, the contents of the display file 23 in which the current values of the parameter table 16 are stored are transferred to the development / instructor computer 10 as the display file 24. Then, in the process of 43 of the display program 25, the display CR is executed.
A predetermined display format is displayed at T45.

Although the computer 10 for development / instructor is described separately from the computer 3 for simulation, the computer 10 for development / instructor is described here.
Even if the simulation computer 3 and the simulation computer 3 are configured by the same computer, only the part of the remote command is changed, and the above-described function can be similarly realized.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a display screen of the development / instructor computer 10. 48, 49, 50,
Each area 51 is a computer for development / instructor 10
This is a designation button for starting an associated program by designating with a cursor (not shown) which is freely movably displayed on the screen using a pointing device or the like attached to the device.

The "change" area 48 is for the tuning program 26, the "save" area 49 is for the save program 27, the "redisplay" area 50 is for the display program 25, and the "file rewrite" area 51 is for rewrite. Program 28 is associated therewith.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, without stopping the simulation or changing the program,
Simulator tuning can be easily performed, and the operability of tuning can be improved by the functions of saving data, rewriting files, and displaying data.

As a result, the burden on the operator required for tuning the simulator can be reduced, and simulations of various variations can be easily performed, so that very efficient training can be performed.

If the simulator according to the present invention is used as a simulator at the time of plant development, the development period can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation at the time of simulation according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a system configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a display screen of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an image diagram showing a device module.

FIG. 6 is an image diagram when a device module is connected.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a process model.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional system configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 7: Operator console, 2, 8: Controller, 3, 9: Computer for simulation, 10: Computer for development / instructor, 16: Parameter table, 17: Shell command for display, 18: Shell command for tuning, 19 … Shell command for storage, 20
... shell command for rewriting, 21 ... parameter file (IC), 22 ... parameter file (SV), 23,
24 ... display file, 25 ... display program, 26
.. Tuning program, 27... Storage program, 28... Rewriting program, 37... Parameter file name rewriting activation process, 45. Monitor, 211... Communication control circuit, 231.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Go Kono 7-1-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Within Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Monitoring / monitoring for monitoring and operating the condition of a plant
Operating means, control means for controlling a process of a plant based on a preset set value, and simulation executing means for performing a simulation by calculating an operating state of a virtual process model including a plurality of predefined devices In the distributed control system having: a simulation execution unit configured to perform a control operation of a predefined process model; and a characteristic data storage unit configured to store characteristic data for each device constituting the process model. A characteristic data updating unit for arbitrarily changing characteristic data in the characteristic data storage means, wherein the operation execution unit performs an operation with reference to the data in the characteristic data storage unit. System process simulator. 2. The process simulator according to claim 1, wherein the updating of the characteristic data by the characteristic data updating unit can be performed even while the operation execution unit is executing the operation. . 3. The process simulator of a distributed control system according to claim 1, wherein said simulation executing means comprises a simulation computer and an instructor computer. 4. The process simulator according to claim 3, wherein said instructor computer changes characteristic data in said characteristic data storage means.