Plant inspection support system and plant inspection support method

Abstract

To allow discovering minor abnormalities that would previously have been overlooked in plant inspection work, and enabling early detection of abnormalities that could lead to serious system malfunctions.SOLUTION: A plant inspection support system includes: an inspection data acquisition terminal (2) that acquires, over time from an inspection target device (1), operating status information relating to the operating status of at least one of the inspection target device and devices constituting the inspection target device; and an inspection data analysis server (4) that compares the operating status information acquired from the inspection data acquisition terminal with pre-registered operating status reference information to evaluate the soundness of the operating status of the inspection target device and transmits the evaluation results to the inspection data acquisition terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a plant inspection support system and a plant inspection support method. [Background technology]

[0002] In conventional inspection work, maintenance contractors and others visit the site and visually check the operating status of the control panels and other devices being inspected, such as measuring values ​​and lamp displays, and checking the operating status for detected errors and the presence of abnormal sounds and odors. In order to support the work of inspection workers in the above-mentioned inspection work environment, prior art documents disclose methods such as providing the work site with data required to support the inspection work from a parts drawing database and an inspection record database, etc., in response to image data of the equipment to be inspected and inquiry information from the work site, reducing the labor required for creating inspection reports, and providing support for creating inspection work plan lists. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-15889 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In conventional inspection support systems, when it comes to computer-based monitoring devices (HMI: Human Machine Interface) and monitoring and control devices using PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), it is not possible to confirm the detailed status of each device by diagnosing only from image data or component data of the monitoring and control devices being inspected, and in many cases, the device is recorded as normal unless an abnormality that would cause the equipment to stop is detected, making it difficult to detect minor malfunctions that could lead to serious system abnormalities.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a plant inspection support system that enables early detection of abnormalities that could lead to serious system malfunctions by acquiring chronological information related to the operating status of an inspection target device, such as a monitoring device or control device, and at least one of the devices that constitute the inspection target device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The plant inspection support system disclosed herein is a plant inspection support system used when inspecting inspection target equipment including at least one of a monitoring device and a control device that monitors and controls the plant, and includes an inspection data acquisition terminal that acquires operating status information relating to the operating status of the inspection target equipment and at least one of the pieces of equipment that make up the inspection target equipment over time from the inspection target equipment, and an inspection data analysis server that compares the operating status information acquired from the inspection data acquisition terminal with pre-registered operating status reference information to evaluate the soundness of the operating status of the inspection target equipment and transmits the evaluation results to the inspection data acquisition terminal. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the plant inspection support system disclosed herein, the inspection data acquisition terminal acquires operating status information over time relating to the operating status of the inspection target device and at least one of the pieces of equipment that make up the inspection target device, and the inspection data analysis server compares this information with pre-registered operating status reference information to evaluate the health of the device. This makes it possible to discover minor abnormalities that would previously have been overlooked, and enables early detection of abnormalities that could lead to serious system malfunctions. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of a plant inspection support system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a block diagram of an inspection data acquisition terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 3]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an inspection data analysis server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 3 is an operation flow diagram of the plant inspection support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an inspection data analysis server according to the second embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of an abnormality countermeasure database according to the second embodiment. [Figure 7] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of an inspection data acquisition terminal, an inspection data analysis server, and an inspection user terminal 6 according to the first and second embodiments. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a plant inspection support system according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals are used to designate the same contents and corresponding parts, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0010] Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a plant inspection support system according to a first embodiment. In FIG. 1, a monitoring device (HMI) and a control device (PLC) for monitoring and controlling the plant correspond to the inspection target device 1. In this embodiment, an inspection data acquisition terminal 2 is individually connected to each inspection target device 1. However, the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 may be connected to multiple inspection target devices 1. In this embodiment, the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 and the inspection target device 1 are connected by a dedicated line provided separately from the control network 3. However, it is also possible to connect the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 to the control network 3 and configure the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 to communicate with each inspection target device 1 via this control network 3. Of course, connecting the inspection target device 1 and the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 using a dedicated line has the advantage of not increasing the communication load on the control network 3, thereby not affecting the actual plant control, and also of allowing data to be collected from each inspection target device 1 to the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 at high speed.

[0011] In this embodiment, the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 monitors the state of the inspection target device 1 and acquires data of each inspection target device 1 at regular intervals from the inspection target device 1. The acquired data is stored in the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 and also stored in the inspection data analysis server 4 at regular intervals, such as once a day. In this embodiment, communication between the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 and the inspection data analysis server 4 is carried out via a dedicated inspection network 5, but as mentioned above, communication can also be carried out using the control network 3. In this embodiment, data is acquired from each inspection target device 1 to the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 at regular intervals, but data acquisition does not necessarily have to be at regular intervals, as long as data of each inspection target device 1 can be acquired over time.

[0012] The data acquired by the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 from each inspection target device 1 can be viewed using the inspection user terminal 6 via the inspection network 5. In addition, by providing a display unit 25 on the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 as described below, it is also possible to check the data acquired from each inspection target device 1 on the inspection data acquisition terminal 2. The inspection user terminal 6 can provide images and videos in addition to text information by using a notebook PC, tablet terminal, or other wearable terminal.

[0013] 2 is a block diagram of the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 according to this embodiment. It is connected to the inspection target device 1, which is the object of inspection, via an equipment connection unit 21, and to the inspection network 5 via a network connection unit 22. It also includes a data processing unit 23 that processes acquired data, a data storage unit 24 that stores the acquired data, and a display unit 25 that displays the stored data.

[0014] 3 is a block diagram of the inspection data analysis server 4 according to this embodiment. The server is connected to the inspection network 5 via a network connection unit 41, and includes a data processing unit 42 that processes acquired data, and a data storage unit 43 that stores the acquired data.

[0015] Next, the operation will be described according to the flow chart shown in FIG. The inspection data acquisition terminal 2 is connected to the inspection target device 1 via the device connection unit 21 of the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 (step 101), and the inspection target device 1 periodically monitors the CPU operating status, power supply, fan, etc., and collects operating status information such as the operating status and monitoring of the equipment that makes up the control device, error information for the control device itself, and the execution status of the programs running inside it, from the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 (step 102).

[0016] The inspection data acquisition terminal 2 stores the acquired operating status information in the data storage unit 24 via the data processing unit 23 of the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 (step 103), and also stores the operating status information in the inspection data analysis server 4 via the inspection network 5 at a periodic interval, such as once a day (step 104).

[0017] The inspection data analysis server 4 stores the stored operating state information in chronological order of acquisition date and time, and compares the stored operating state information with pre-registered operating state reference information to evaluate the system health, etc. (step 105). The health evaluation results are transmitted again via the inspection network 5 to the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 (step 106). The transmitted data may be in the form of text data, image data, video data, etc. When transmitted to the inspection data acquisition terminal 2, the health evaluation results are added as additional information to the operating state information stored in the data storage unit 24 and displayed on the display unit 25, allowing the inspection worker to check the operating state of the inspection target device 1. Furthermore, the operating state information and health evaluation results stored in the data storage unit 24 of the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 can be read using the inspection user terminal 6.

[0018] Here, the operating state reference information refers to information on reference values ​​that define a range of values ​​that are considered normal when the operating state information of the inspection target device 1 and its constituent devices is expressed numerically (for example, CPU load factor, power supply voltage or current, fan rotation speed, etc.), and the range within which the system is defined as healthy is determined using an upper limit, a lower limit, or both upper and lower limits depending on the characteristics of each parameter. On the other hand, when operating state information is defined as a binary value, normal or abnormal, such as error information of the monitoring and control device itself and the execution status of the program running internally, the system can be defined as healthy depending on which of these values ​​it corresponds to.

[0019] As described above, according to this embodiment, during various inspection work such as daily inspections and periodic inspections, the inspection worker can perform the inspection work of the inspection target device 1 simply by referring to the display unit 25 of the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 or by using the inspection user terminal 6 to refer to the current operating state of the inspection target device 1 and the soundness evaluation results stored in the data storage unit 24. This makes it possible to discover minor abnormalities that would have been overlooked in the past, and enables early detection of abnormalities that could lead to serious system abnormalities.

[0020] Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, only the configuration and operation of the inspection data analysis server 4 differs from that of the first embodiment, and the configurations and operations of other devices are the same as those of the first embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0021] 5, the inspection data analysis server 7 according to this embodiment is configured by adding an abnormality countermeasure database 74 to the inspection data analysis server 4 according to embodiment 1. 71, 72, and 73 perform the same functions as the network connection unit 41, data processing unit 42, and data storage unit 43 according to embodiment 1, respectively. Inside the abnormality countermeasure database 74, for the contents of an abnormality that occurs in the inspection target device 1 and the inspection target device 1 and the devices that constitute it, potential causes of the abnormality and response procedures for resolving the abnormality are registered in list form (see FIG. 6).

[0022] As shown in the first embodiment, if the current operating state is determined to be abnormal as a result of comparing and analyzing the operating state information of the inspection target device 1 with the operating state reference information registered in the inspection data analysis server 7 to evaluate the soundness, the inspection data analysis server 7 extracts the abnormal device and potential causes according to the abnormality content, which are registered in advance in the abnormality countermeasure database 74, as well as response procedures according to the potential causes, and displays them on the inspection data acquisition terminal 2 via the inspection network 5.

[0023] As described in the first embodiment, when the operating status information is expressed as a numerical value, the abnormality indicates a state that is not within the range defined as normal by the operating status reference information, such as a CPU overload, a state in which the power supply voltage or current is higher or lower than a specified value, a drop in the fan rotation speed, etc. On the other hand, when the operating status information is defined as a binary value of normal or abnormal, such as error information of the monitoring and control device itself and the execution status of a program running inside, possible abnormalities include a monitoring device abnormality, a control device abnormality, and a program execution status abnormality.

[0024] As described above, according to this embodiment, in response to the abnormality that has occurred in the inspection target device 1, the inspection data analysis server 7 displays the possible causes and response procedures on the inspection data acquisition terminal 2, which has the advantage that the inspection worker can quickly provide recovery support when a system abnormality is detected, thereby reducing system downtime.

[0025] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the inspection data acquisition terminal 2, the inspection data analysis servers 4 and 7, and the inspection user terminal 6. The inspection data acquisition terminal 2 is configured with one or more processors 201 and one or more storage devices 202. Although not shown, the storage device 202 includes a volatile storage device such as a random access memory and a nonvolatile auxiliary storage device such as a flash memory. A hard disk auxiliary storage device may be used instead of the flash memory. The processor 201 executes the above-described flow (FIG. 4) using a program input from the storage device 202. In this case, the program is input from the auxiliary storage device to the processor 201 via the volatile storage device. The processor 201 may output data such as calculation results to the volatile storage device of the storage device 202, or may store the data in the auxiliary storage device via the volatile storage device.

[0026] The device connection unit 21, network connection units 22, 41, 71, and data processing units 23, 42, 72 may be implemented as functions by programs, and each may have a separate processor 201 and storage device 202, and may be connected by a transmission / reception circuit 203.

[0027] Although the present disclosure describes exemplary embodiments, the various features, aspects, and functions described in the embodiments are not limited to application to a particular embodiment, but may be applied to the embodiments alone or in various combinations. Therefore, countless variations not illustrated are contemplated within the scope of the technology disclosed in this specification, including, for example, the modification, addition, or omission of at least one component. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1: Equipment to be inspected, 2: Inspection data acquisition terminal, 3: Control network, 4: Inspection data analysis server, 5: Inspection network, 6: Inspection user terminal, 7: Inspection data analysis server, 74: Abnormality countermeasure database

Claims

1. A plant inspection support system used when inspecting an inspection target device including at least one of a monitoring device and a control device that monitors and controls a plant, an inspection data acquisition terminal that acquires operating status information relating to the operating status of the inspection target device and at least one of the devices that constitute the inspection target device over time from the inspection target device; a server for analyzing inspection data that compares the operational status information acquired from the inspection data acquisition terminal with pre-registered standard operational status information to evaluate the soundness of the operational status of the equipment to be inspected and transmits the evaluation results to the inspection data acquisition terminal.

2. the inspection data analysis server is provided with an anomaly countermeasure database in which, corresponding to the inspection target device and anomaly contents occurring in the inspection target device, candidate causes of the anomaly contents and response procedures for resolving the anomaly contents are registered in a list format; 2. The plant inspection support system according to claim 1, wherein, when it is determined that the operating status of the inspection target equipment is abnormal, candidate causes according to the abnormality content registered in the abnormality countermeasure database and response procedures according to the candidate causes are extracted and transmitted to the inspection data acquisition terminal.

3. 3. The plant inspection support system according to claim 1, wherein the inspection target device and the inspection data acquisition terminal are connected by a dedicated line, and the inspection data acquisition terminal and the inspection data analysis server communicate with each other via an inspection network that is set up separately from a control network used to monitor and control the plant.

4. A plant inspection support method used when inspecting an inspection target device including at least one of a monitoring device and a control device that monitors and controls a plant, comprising: a step of acquiring operational status information relating to the operational status of at least one of the inspection target device and the devices constituting the inspection target device over time; A plant inspection support method comprising a step of evaluating the soundness of the operating state of the inspection target equipment by comparing the operating state information with pre-registered operating state reference information, and transmitting the evaluation results to an inspection data acquisition terminal.

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