System and method for representing a cause and effect matrix as a set of numerical representations

A system for defining a cause and effect matrix (CEM) within a process control system for a process plant, comprising:

• a memory configured to store (i) a set of computer-executable instructions, and (ii) a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein each of the set of causes represents a condition within the process plant and each of the set of effects represents an effect to be performed within the process plant, and wherein at least some of the set of causes and the set of effects are related as cause-effect pairs whereby the corresponding effect activates in response to an occurrence of the corresponding condition;
• and
• a processor interfaced with the memory, and configured to execute the set of computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to:
• access the CEM from the memory,
• for each of the set of effects:
• identify a subset of the set of causes according to a corresponding set of the cause-effect pairs corresponding to the effect of the set of effects,
• define the subset of the set of causes as a single-dimension matrix, and
• automatically calculate a numerical representation for the single-dimension matrix, and
• configure a set of function blocks for the process control system according to the set of numerical representations.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors in a machine, cause the machine to:

• access a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein each of the set of causes represents a condition within a process plant and each of the set of effects represents an effect to be performed within the process plant, and wherein at least some of the set of causes and the set of effects are related as cause-effect pairs whereby the corresponding effect activates in response to an occurrence of the corresponding condition;
• for each of the set of effects:
• identify a subset of the set of causes according to a corresponding set of the cause-effect pairs corresponding to the effect of the set of effects,
• define the subset of the set of causes as a single-dimension matrix, and
• automatically calculate a numerical representation for the single-dimension matrix;
• and
• configure a set of function blocks for the process control system according to the set of numerical representations.