EP-4345705-B1 - ASSET MANAGEMENT IN A PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM

EP4345705B1EP 4345705 B1EP4345705 B1EP 4345705B1EP-4345705-B1

Inventors

MARTIN, PETER G.
CUSWORTH, Trevor

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20160320

Claims (15)

System for improving production of a process control system comprising: a processor; one or more sensors coupled to the processor, said sensors gathering process data from one or more assets in a process control system; one or more human-machine interfaces coupled to the processor and the process; a storage memory coupled to the processor, said storage memory storing data gathered by the one or more sensors and processor-executable instructions, said processor-executable instructions for: receiving process data from the one or more sensors; determining an input cost of the one or more assets based on the received process data from the one or more sensors; determining an output value of the one or more assets based on the received process data from the one or more sensors; providing a net production value of the one or more assets based on comparing the determined input cost and determined output value; storing the determined input cost, determined output value, and net production value in the storage memory; determining an opportunity cost of the one or more assets based on the received process data from the one or more sensors; providing the determined input cost, determined output value, net production value and opportunity cost to a user via the one or more human-machine interfaces; automatically changing, based on at least one of the determined input cost, determined output value, and net production value, the behavior of the one or more assets in such a way that the net production value increases, wherein automatically changing the behavior of the one or more assets comprises automatically triggering maintenance when the opportunity cost exceeds a pre-determined threshold.
System according to claim 1, wherein the opportunity cost is calculated as a difference between a potential asset value and an actual asset value of the one or more assets.
System according to claim 2, comprising at least one of the following features: wherein the actual asset value is the net production value of the one or more assets at a current production of the one or more assets; wherein the potential asset value is the net production value of the one or more assets at maximum potential production of the one or more assets.
System according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the pre-determined threshold is the cost of the required maintenance and the opportunity cost is integrated over the time period required for the required maintenance.
System according to any of the preceding claims, comprising at least one of the following features: wherein the input cost comprises an energy cost and a material cost; wherein the output value is determined by multiplying the number of produced products by the selling price of a single product; wherein the system further comprises a business system coupled to the processor, said business system providing business data regarding current price of inputs and outputs of the one or more assets, wherein the input cost and the output value are determined based in part on the provided business data.
System according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the input cost, output value, and net production value are calculated in real-time as the sensor data is received .
System according to claim 6 comprising at least one of the following features: a historian database coupled to the storage memory wherein the input cost, output value and net production value are stored in a historian database as they are calculated; instructions for displaying changes in at least one of input cost, output value and net production value in the form of a trend graph on the one or more human-machine interfaces; instructions for automatically changing the behavior of the one or more assets in such a way that the net production value increases.
System according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising instructions for determining an asset performance value of the one or more assets based on the received process data.
Method for improving production of a process control system comprising: gathering process data by one or more sensors from one or more assets in the process control system; determining an input cost of the one or more assets based on the gathered process data from the one or more sensors; determining an output value of the one or more assets based on the gathered process data from the one or more sensors; providing a net production value of the one or more assets based on comparing the determined input cost and determined output value; storing the determined input cost, determined output value, and net production value in a storage memory; determining an opportunity cost of the one or more assets based on the received process data from the one or more sensors; providing the determined input cost, determined output value, net production value and opportunity cost to a user via one or more human-machine interfaces; automatically changing, based on at least one of the determined input cost, determined output value and net production value, the behavior of the one or more assets in such a way that the net production value increases, wherein automatically changing the behavior of the one or more assets comprises automatically triggering maintenance when the opportunity cost exceeds a pre-determined threshold.
Method according to claim 9, wherein the opportunity cost is calculated as a difference between a potential asset value and an actual asset value of the one or more assets.
Method according to claim 10, comprising at least one of the following features: wherein the actual asset value is the net production value of the one or more assets at a current production of the one or more assets; wherein the potential asset value is the net production value of the one or more assets at maximum potential production of the one or more assets.
Method according to any of claims 9 to 11, wherein the pre-determined threshold is the cost of the required maintenance and/or the opportunity cost is integrated over the time period required for the required maintenance.
Method according to any of claims 9 to 12, comprising at least one of the following features: wherein the input cost comprises an energy cost and a material cost; wherein the output value is determined by multiplying the number of produced products by the selling price of a single product; wherein the net production value is the difference between the output value and the input cost; further comprising receiving business data regarding current price of inputs into the process from a business system, wherein the input cost and the output value are determined based in part on the received business data; further comprising instructions for determining an asset performance value of the one or more assets based on the received process data.
Method according to any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the input cost, output value and net production value are calculated in real-time as the sensor data is gathered.
Method according to claim 14, comprising at least one of the following features: wherein the input cost, output value and net production value are stored in a historian database as they are calculated; further comprising displaying changes in at least one of input cost, output value and net production value in the form of a trend graph on the one or more human-machine interfaces; further comprising automatically changing the behavior of the one or more assets in such a way that the net production value increases.

Description

BACKGROUND A maintenance team is often responsible for keeping assets in an industrial process operational while an operations team is responsible for operating the assets. The maintenance and operations teams work on common assets and these two organizational functions need to work in very close collaboration to maximize the performance of the industrial assets. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In many industrial organizations, the two teams do not collaborate and appear to compete with each other. This leads to suboptimal performance of industrial operations. A primary reason behind the conflict between operations and maintenance is that the primary performance measures for each team tend to oppose one another. The primary performance measure for the maintenance team is typically asset availability, while the primary performance measure of operations is typically asset utilization. Asset availability means keeping the assets available to the operation by maximizing their "up time". Asset utilization means maximizing the throughput of the assets. One of the key drivers in maximizing asset availability of industrial asset is to not operate them aggressively. However, the operations team is often required to operate the assets as aggressively as possible to meet production requirements. This implies that asset availability and asset utilization have an inverse relationship and that the conflict between operations and maintenance is a direct consequence of this inverse relationship. A system that automatically generates a performance measure of an industrial process in real time that takes into account the goals of both the maintenance and operations teams in the factory and automatically initiates process activities such as maintenance based on the performance measure would ensure that the close cooperation between the teams, improved productivity during up time, and minimized interruption from down time. US2004/0153437A1 discloses a system and a method for improving production of a process control system, wherein the system comprises: a processor, one or more sensors coupled to the processor, said sensors gathering process data from one or more assets in a process control system, one or more human-machine interfaces coupled to the processor and the process and a storage memory coupled to the processor. SUMMARY Briefly, aspects of the present invention permit management or control of assets in a process control system. The system described herein calculates asset performance measures for a plurality of assets within a process control system and initiates process activities such as asset maintenance or operations throughput rates based on the calculated asset performance measures. The asset performance measures comprise data about the cost to run the assets, the cost of the raw materials being used by the assets, and the value of the products produced by the assets. In one form, a system for improving production of a process control system is described. The system comprises a processor, sensors connected to one or more assets in the process control system, human-machine interfaces, and a storage memory storing both asset information and instructions for execution on the processor. The system receives process data via the sensors and determines an input cost of the one or more assets and an output value of the one or more assets. The system provides a net production value of the one or more assets based on the determined input cost and output value. The system stores the input cost, output value, and net production value on a storage memory and provides the input cost, output value, and net production value to a user via the human-machine interfaces. The system enables a user to change the behavior of the one or more assets in such a way that the net production value increases via the human-machine interfaces. In another form, software instructions are stored on one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media and are executable by a processor. In another form, a processor executable method is provided. Other features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a process control system embodying aspects of the invention.FIG. 2 is a block diagram of various modules that are present in an exemplary controller of the process control system of FIG. 1.FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a process of gathering data, calculating asset performance, and altering the system of FIG. 1 based on the calculated performance according to an embodiment of the invention.FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating various modules that make up an asset performance measurement system according to an embodiment of the invention.FIG. 5 is an exemplary graph of the relationship between asset availability and asset utilization according to an embodiment of the invention.FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of a basic indust