Plant Management
Fig. 1. Defects Finder automatically identifies ‘genetic defects’ or configuration errors.
As the process automation environment becomes increasingly complex, capturing and contextualising both the explicit and implicit knowledge embedded in it is a major challenge. Sean Ottewell reports on one novel solution that is already reaping rewards for its users.
Je komplizierter das Prozessautomatisierungsumfeld wird, desto problematischer wird es, die expliziten und impliziten technischen Zusammenhänge zu erfassen und darzustellen. Sean Ottewell berichtet über eine neuartige Lösung, die bei den Nutzern bereits begeistert umjubelt wird.
Alors que l’environnement d’automatisation des procédés gagne en complexité, la capture et la contextualisation des connaissances explicites et implicites qu’il recèle représentent un défi majeur. Sean Ottewell présente la solution novatrice qui apporte déjà des avantages à ses utilisateurs.
Making the most of process automation knowledge
I
n the 1960s, the early days of process control, a plant might have 5000 measurement points to achieve the basic regulatory control demanded. Since then this number has grown in order to match demands for advanced process control,
real-time optimisation, supply chain management, asset management and business control. Today a typical refinery, for example, might have 150 000 measurement points. The systems managing and controlling today’s
process plants are a closely integrated blend of ‘traditional’ measurement and control with applied IT. So much so that many of the distinctions between the two and between the plant floor and the enterprise are blurring or even disappearing entirely. Up until now, however, the tools available to manage this sophisticated environment have focused on its individual components while largely ignoring their interdependencies and overall context. All this at a time when not only is complexity is growing exponentially, but also resources, both in terms of finance and personnel, are becoming ever more constrained. An additional challenge here is that the
installation and implementation of these assets involves an engineering investment many times greater than their original cost but, even then, their true value to the enterprise may only become apparent after an incident or when the empirical
knowledge associated with them walks off the plant as experienced personnel leave or, more likely, retire. One leading US refiner recently reported losing
2500 man-years of operator experience through retirement at a single site in one year, while a major chemical company said that it expected to lose 75 per cent of the operating staff at one of its largest plants through retirement by the end of the decade. Arguably the most important aspect of that
‘added value’ is the production knowledge which is embedded in a plant’s automation assets as a result of their configuration and operation. It’s a challenge which has been likened to
mapping the human genome, with the added complexity that the ‘Automation Genome’ is continually changing as a result of integration and interaction. However, a new solution from Texas- based company Process Automation Solutions (PAS) is rising to the challenge. “We contend that it is untenable to manage plant
automation without some help,” says PAS president Chris Lyden. This help comes in the form of Integrity from
PAS. Integrity builds on earlier generations of automated documentation systems developed by PAS including the widely accepted DOC 3000 and DOC 4000 systems for Honeywell DCSs. However, rather than being specific to one particular vendor or one class of systems, Integrity can capture data from any
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