Performance monitoring of advanced process control systems
AssigneeL'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploration des Procédés Georges Claude
InventorsAmogh Vishwanath Prabhu, Geraldine Carlos
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Abstract
Techniques are described for monitoring the performance of advanced process control (APC) systems used to control complex industrial processes. By correlating an alarm status of the APC system with an alarm status associated with the service factor (or service factor thresholds), a plant operator can understand how well the APC system performs over time, as well as identify when operator intervention may be required (or alternatively, may be the source of poor plant performance). Accordingly, embodiments of the invention can significantly impact both the reliability and efficiency of complex industrial process, e.g., the production of industrial gases using air separation units (ASUs) and steam methane reformer (SMR) furnaces.
Claims19
A computer-implemented method for monitoring the performance of an advanced process control (APC) system having a plurality of system variables used to control an industrial process, the method comprising:
- determining a count of performance metrics associated with the industrial process in an alarm state;
- determining, based on the count, whether the APC system is in an alarm state;
- determining a service factor for the APC system, wherein the service factor is determined as a ratio of a number of the system variables then currently being manipulated to control the performance metrics to a total number of the system variables of the industrial process available to be manipulated;
- and
- correlating the alarm state of the APC system and an alarm state of the service factor in order to generate a recommendation for controlling the industrial process using the APC system.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing a program, which, when executed on a processor, performs an operation for monitoring the performance of an advanced process control (APC) system having a plurality of system variables used to control an industrial process, the operation comprising:
- determining a count of performance metrics associated with the industrial process in an alarm state;
- determining, based on the count, whether the APC system is in an alarm state;
- determining a service factor for the APC system, wherein the service factor is determined as a ratio of a number of the system variables then currently being manipulated to control the performance metrics to a total number of the system variables of the industrial process available to be manipulated;
- and
- correlating the alarm state of the APC system and an alarm state of the service factor in order to generate a recommendation for controlling the industrial process using the APC system.
A system, comprising:
- a processor;
- and a memory storing a monitoring application, which, when executed by the processor, performs an operation for monitoring the performance of an advanced process control (APC) system having a plurality of system variables used to control an industrial process, the operation comprising:
- determining a count of performance metrics associated with the industrial process in an alarm state,
- determining, based on the count, whether the APC system is in an alarm state,
- determining a service factor for the APC system, wherein the service factor is determined as a ratio of a number of the system variables then currently being manipulated to control the performance metrics to a total number of the system variables of the industrial process available to be manipulated, and
- correlating the alarm state of the APC system and an alarm state of the service factor in order to generate a recommendation for controlling the industrial process using the APC system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.