Parsing intelligent P&IDs - Finding process paths - Linking topology and causal signal analysis - Decision support tools - Plant-wide control design - models from P&IDs

Modern intelligent P&IDs show items of equipment and the links between them (the process topology), and also store the information in a data model.

We use this information to capture and manipulate electronic plant topology information. Linking topology information with results from signal-based analysis makes it possible to do greatly enhanced monitoring and diagnosis of processes, controllers and equipment.

These ideas are inspired by what control engineers do when they are troubleshooting a process. The natural first step is to open up the folder of paper P&IDs (which is usually huge and heavy with many pages) to find the locations of disturbed measurements in the drawings and then to trace paths through the plant. We aim to automate this procedure.

References

• Di Geronimo Gil,G.J., Alabi, D.B., Iyun, O.E., and Thornhill, N.F., 2011, Merging process models and plant topology, Proceedings of the 2011 4th International Symposium on Advanced Control of Industrial Processes, Thousand Islands Lake, Hangzhou, P.R. China, May 23-26, 2011, 15-21.
• Thambirajah, J., Benabbas, L., Bauer, M., and Thornhill, N.F., 2008, Cause and effect analysis in chemical processes utilizing XML, plant connectivity and quantitative process history, Computers & Chemical Engineering, 33, 503-512.
• Yim, S.Y., Ananthakumar, H.G., Benabbas, L., Horch, A., Drath, R., and Thornhill, N.F., 2006, Using process topology in plant-wide control loop performance assessment, Computers & Chemical Engineering, 31, 86-99.
• Yim, S.Y., Ananthakumar, H.G., Benabbas, L., Horch, A., Drath, R., and Thornhill, N.F., 2006, Using the process schematic in plant-wide disturbance analysis, Proc. ESCAPE-16 & PSE-2006, July 10-14, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.