Support device, display device, support method, and support program

Abstract

An assist device (10) is for grasping the operating state of a plant, and is provided with a data acquisition unit (21) for acquiring process data for the plant; a summarization unit (23) for summarizing the dimensionality of the process data acquired by the data acquisition unit (21); and a display unit (26) for displaying the summarized data summarized by the summarization unit (23).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a support device, a display device, a support method, and a support program for understanding the operating status of a plant. [Background technology]

[0002] Plant operators are typically required to understand various parameters from multiple angles, such as trend changes in time-series data of multiple indicators or multiple sensors arranged on a physical map, and the interoperability between sensors. Conventionally, devices for supporting understanding of plant operating conditions are known, such as those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. Patent Document 1 describes calculating index values ​​indicating maintenance priorities for each of multiple pieces of equipment of different types using a common scale. Patent Document 2 discloses supporting plant operation by calculating estimated values ​​and predicted values ​​from process data in the plant. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-87867 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-112903 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the past, the operating status of a plant could only be understood by understanding the various parameters placed on a physical map from multiple perspectives, which placed an excessive burden on workers and could make it difficult for unskilled workers to properly understand the operating status of the plant.

[0005] In this regard, the device of Patent Document 1 merely calculates the maintenance priority order and is not sufficient to grasp the operating status of the plant. In addition, since the device of Patent Document 2 involves the calculation of estimated values ​​and predicted values, there is a need to grasp the operating status of the plant with a simpler configuration.

[0006] An exemplary object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide an assistance device, a display device, an assistance method, and an assistance program that can easily grasp the operating status of a plant with a simple configuration. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, one embodiment of the support device of the present invention is a support device for understanding the operating status of a plant, and includes a data acquisition unit that acquires process data of the plant, a summarization unit that summarizes dimensions of the process data acquired by the data acquisition unit, and a display unit that displays the summary data summarized by the summarization unit.

[0008] According to the above aspect, the summarizing unit summarizes the dimensions of the process data, and the display unit displays the summarized data summarized by the summarizing unit. This allows the display of summarized data in which the dimensions of the process data are summarized, which makes it possible to easily grasp the operating status of a plant without placing an excessive burden on an operator, compared to, for example, displaying multidimensional process data. Furthermore, because the display is based on summarized data, even an unskilled worker can grasp the operating status of the plant. Furthermore, because the display uses summarized data in which the dimensions of the process data are summarized, it is possible to assist in grasping the operating status of a plant with a simple configuration.

[0009] Another aspect of the present invention is a display device for understanding the operating status of a plant, which displays summary data that summarizes dimensions of process data of the plant and past summary data that combines registered events related to the plant in a manner that allows comparison.

[0010] Yet another aspect of the present invention is a support method for understanding an operating status of a plant, the support method including acquiring process data of the plant by a data acquisition unit, summarizing dimensions of the process data acquired by the data acquisition unit by a summarization unit, and displaying the summarized data summarized by the summarization unit by a display unit.

[0011] Yet another aspect of the present invention is an assistance program that is executed by a computer to grasp the operating status of a plant, and causes the computer to acquire process data of the plant, summarize dimensions of the acquired process data, and display the summarized data.

[0012] Yet another aspect of the present invention is a plant including: a data acquisition unit that acquires process data from sensors provided in the plant and a control device that controls the plant; a summarization unit that summarizes dimensions of the process data acquired by the data acquisition unit; and a display unit that displays the summarized data summarized by the summarization unit.

[0013] In addition, any combination of the above components or mutual substitution of the components or expressions of the present invention between methods, devices, systems, computer programs, data structures, recording media, etc. are also valid aspects of the present invention. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention, the operating status of a plant can be easily grasped with a simple configuration. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a support device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a support device 10. FIG. [Figure 3]1 is a flowchart showing an example of a support method by the support device 10. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart showing an example of a support method by the support device 10. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram for explaining a support method using the support device 10. FIG. [Figure 6] 1 is a diagram for explaining a support method using the support device 10. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention. The same or equivalent components, parts, and processes shown in each drawing will be given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted as appropriate.

[0017] Figures 1 to 6 are diagrams for explaining a support device and a support method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a support device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the support device 10. Also, Figures 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing an example of a support method using the support device 10, and Figures 5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining an example of the support method.

[0018] The support device 10 is used to grasp the operating status of a plant. Examples of plants include a power generation plant, an incineration plant, and a chemical plant. The plant is equipped with a processing device (not shown) that performs predetermined processing (e.g., power generation processing, incineration processing, chemical processing, etc.). The plant uses arbitrary process data. The process data is data on process values ​​such as temperature, pressure, air volume, concentration, or composition. Specifically, the process values ​​of the process data can include measured values ​​detected by sensors installed in the plant and manipulated variables based on the difference between set values ​​and measured values ​​for points detected by the sensors. The process data obtained from the plant is multidimensional data of which there are hundreds of types.

[0019] The support device 10 includes a dimension summarization mechanism 20 and a storage unit 30. The dimension summarization mechanism 20 is connected to a plurality of sensors (not shown) installed in the plant and a control device (not shown) that controls the plant, and acquires process data acquired from the sensors and the control device, summarizes the acquired process data, and displays the summarized data. The storage unit 30 stores various data related to the plant, as well as various data calculated or acquired by the dimension summarization mechanism 20.

[0020] The assistance device 10 is pre-installed with a predetermined program required to execute the assistance method according to this embodiment, and an example of its hardware configuration is shown in Fig. 2. Specifically, the assistance device 10 can be a general-purpose or dedicated computer equipped with a CPU 101, ROM 102, RAM 103, external storage device 104, user interface 105, display 106, printer 107, and communication interface 108. The CPU 101 performs calculations based on information input by the worker via the user interface 105 and outputs the calculation results to the display 106 and printer 107, allowing the worker to input necessary information to the assistance device 10 via the user interface 105 while viewing the output.

[0021] The assistance device 10 may be configured as a single computer or as a plurality of computers distributed over a network. The assistance device 10 can function as various functional blocks or steps described below by, for example, a CPU executing a predetermined program (a program defining the assistance method according to this embodiment) stored in the above-mentioned ROM, RAM, external storage device, etc. or downloaded via a communication network.

[0022] The following describes various functional blocks of the dimension summarization mechanism 20 and the storage unit 30 in the support device 10.

[0023] The dimension summarization mechanism 20 includes a data acquisition unit 21, a rule generation unit 22, a summarization unit 23, an event registration unit 24, a data combination unit 25, and a display unit 26. The storage unit 30 includes a process data storage unit 31, a dimension summarization rule storage unit 32, and a summary data storage unit 33.

[0024] The data acquisition unit 21 acquires process data of the plant. The process data is, for example, data that indicates changes in process values ​​over time. In this case, the process data may be continuous changes in process values ​​at predetermined time intervals. The process data is multidimensional data. The process data acquired by the data acquisition unit 21 is stored in the process data storage unit 31 together with information about the time of the plant.

[0025] The rule generation unit 22 generates dimension summarization rules for summarizing the dimensions of the process data stored in the process data storage unit 31 into a smaller number of dimensions. The dimension summarization rules generated by the rule generation unit 22 are stored in the dimension summarization rule storage unit 32 together with information on the time period of the plant.

[0026] The dimension summarization algorithm is not particularly limited, and for example, principal component analysis can be applied. In this case, the dimension summarization rule determines the first to n-th (n is an integer equal to or greater than 2) principal components for the process data stored in the process data storage unit 31. The rule generation unit 22 may generate dimension summarization rules periodically, or may generate (or update) dimension summarization rules for the process data stored in the process data storage unit 31 each time the dimension summarization mechanism 20 performs dimension summarization on the process data to grasp the operating status of the plant. The number of principal components in the dimension summarization rule is not limited, and may be, for example, two, the first principal component and the second principal component, or three, the first to third principal components. Reducing the number of principal components makes it possible to more easily display the operating status of the plant.

[0027] The summarization unit 23 summarizes the dimensions of the process data acquired by the data acquisition unit 21. For example, the summarization unit 23 summarizes the dimensions of the process data based on the dimension summarization rules generated by the rule generation unit 22. In this way, summarized data with fewer dimensions than the process data is generated. The process data summarized by the summarization unit 23 is process data for a predetermined period from which the operating status of the plant is desired to be understood. For example, the summarization unit 23 may generate current summarized data from current process data. The summarized data generated in this way is stored in the summary data storage unit 33. Furthermore, the summarized data can be displayed in a coordinate system with each principal component as a coordinate axis. For example, two-dimensional summarized data consisting of the first principal component and the second principal component can be displayed in a two-dimensional coordinate system.

[0028] The event registration unit 24 registers events related to the plant. The event registration unit 24 registers events, for example, by receiving input from an operator via the user interface 105. The contents of events vary depending on the operating status of the plant and can generally be classified as either good or bad for the plant's operation. Specific contents of events may include, for example, a test run of the plant (good state), operation immediately after a periodic inspection (good state), a fault state (bad state), a state in which the actual operation of the plant deviates from a set value (bad state), and operation upon restarting the plant (bad state). The event registration unit 24 may, for example, register events in association with good or bad information on the operating status of the plant. The good or bad information is not limited to marks indicating good or bad, but may be information that allows an operator to recognize the content and determine whether the plant's operation is good or bad. Note that the events registered by the event registration unit 24 are not limited to those belonging to either good or bad states for the plant's operation, but may also belong to other unknown states.

[0029] The data combining unit 25 combines the events registered by the event registration unit 24 with the summary data summarized by the summarizing unit 23. The summary data combined with the events is stored in the summary data storage unit 33. Furthermore, the embodiment is not limited to combining all of the summary data summarized by the summarizing unit 23 with the events, and for example, only summary data for a predetermined time period may be combined with the events that occurred at the predetermined time period.

[0030] The display unit 26 (an example of a display device) displays the summary data summarized by the summarizing unit 23. For example, if the summary data is two-dimensionally summarized from the first and second principal components, the display unit 26 can display the summary data in a two-dimensional coordinate system. The display unit 26 can also display summary data at a predetermined time point from which the operating status of the plant is to be grasped, in comparison with earlier summary data. In this case, the earlier summary data may be displayed together with the contents of events linked to it (and pass / fail information, if necessary). The display unit 26 may also display changes in the summary data when an action is performed on the plant. This change in the summary data is achieved, for example, by displaying information based on the coordinates of the summary data before and after the action in the coordinate system.

[0031] The specific operations of the various components of the dimension summarization mechanism 20 and the storage unit 30 will be described in more detail in the support method described later.

[0032] An example of an operation using the support device 10 will be described below with reference to Figs. 3 to 6 as a support method according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 shows an example of the entire support method according to this embodiment. Fig. 4 shows an example of a method for combining events and summary data. Figs. 5 and 6 show examples of display modes by the display unit 26 before and after an action on a plant is performed.

[0033] The following method describes an example of a method for comparing current summary data with past summary data (good conditions during test operation), setting the past summary data, which was in a good condition, as a target, and operating the plant so as to approach that target. Note that the following describes an example in which principal component analysis is applied as an algorithm for dimensional summarization.

[0034] 3, first, the data acquiring unit 21 acquires current process data of the plant (S10). The current process data acquired by the data acquiring unit 21 is stored in the process data storage unit 31. In addition to the current process data, past process data over a predetermined period is accumulated in the process data storage unit 31. The data acquiring unit 21 may acquire the process data by receiving an input from an operator via the user interface 105.

[0035] Next, the summarization unit 23 summarizes the dimensions of the current process data (S11). Specifically, the summarization unit 23 performs dimensional summarization on the current process data read from the process data storage unit 31 based on the dimension summarization rules generated by the rule generation unit 22, thereby generating current summary data. The dimension summarization rules are generated for the current and past process data stored in the process data storage unit 31, and include, for example, determining the content of each principal component. The summarization unit 23 then calculates the principal component scores of each principal component determined by the rule generation unit 22 and generates this as summary data. The summary data generated in this manner is stored in the summary data storage unit 33.

[0036] Next, the current summary data and the past summary data to which the event is combined are displayed in a comparative manner by the display unit 26 (S12). The display by the display unit 26 may be triggered by an input via the user interface 105.

[0037] An example of a method for combining events and summary data will now be described with reference to FIG. 4. First, an event is registered by the event registration unit 24 (S20). An event is registered by an operator inputting the details of the event via the user interface 105. The event registration unit 24 may register various anticipated events in advance, or may register events when they occur in accordance with the operating status of the plant. Furthermore, the event may be registered in association with pass / fail information on the operating status of the plant. The data of the registered events is stored in the storage unit 30.

[0038] Next, the data combining unit 25 combines the registered event with the summary data (S21). Step S21 may be triggered by an input by an operator via the user interface 105. For example, if the summary data was generated during a trial run of a plant, the summary data is associated with an event called "trial run" and stored in the summary data storage unit 33 (S22).

[0039] The past summary data stored in the summary data storage unit 33 can be displayed by the display unit 26 together with the events linked to it (S23), and is displayed together with the current summary data (S12 in FIG. 3).

[0040] 5 is a diagram showing an example of the display mode of the display unit 26 in step S12. Display area 40 in FIG. 5 displays the current summarized data summarized by the summarizing unit 23 (the current date in FIG. 5 is December 3, 2018) as the target data, in comparison with summarized data from the earlier period, from January 1 to December 2, 2018. Display area 40 includes display area 50 that displays a coordinate system corresponding to the dimensions of the summarized data summarized by the summarizing unit 23, and display areas 70, 80, and 90 that display information related to the summarized data.

[0041] The display area 50 shows a coordinate system with the first principal component 52 and the second principal component 54 as two-dimensional coordinate axes. In the coordinate system of the display area 50, multiple summary data 60 are plotted according to the principal component scores of each principal component. The multiple summary data 60 include current summary data 62a and target summary data 64 (in FIG. 5, past summary data other than the summary data 62a and 64 are indicated by dots). Each of the multiple summary data 60 is associated with a predetermined event 56 and events 58a, 58b, and 58c. In this example, the event 56 including the target summary data 64 is an event called "trial run," and the events 58a, 58b, and 58c are events called "fault conditions" with different causes of failure. The event 56 is an event in which the plant is recognized as being in a good condition, and the events 58a, 58b, and 58c are events in which the plant is recognized as being in a deteriorated condition.

[0042] Display area 70 displays information on current summary data 62a and target summary data 64. Display area 80 displays information on at least one past summary data item that is similar to current summary data 62a. Display area 90 displays information on at least one past summary data item that is dissimilar to current summary data 62a.

[0043] Display area 70 displays the degree of similarity between current summary data 62a and target summary data 64 (70% in the example of FIG. 5). Display areas 80 and 90 display past summary data that are similar or dissimilar to current summary data 62a in a ranking format. Display areas 70 to 90 also display support information for understanding the plant operation period of the summary data and the plant operation status. Support information includes, for example, information related to events associated with the summary data, the plant operation status at that time, the content of actions performed at that time and the results of the actions, and various process data that are the source data of the summary data. Such support information may be used to support the determination of actions to be performed on the plant.

[0044] 5, the operator determines whether the current summary data 62a is similar to the target past summary data 64 (S13). In the example of FIG. 5, the target past summary data 64 is associated with the event 56 of "trial run," which indicates that the plant is in a good condition. Therefore, the operator operates the plant to bring the current summary data 62a closer to the target past summary data 64.

[0045] In the example shown in FIG. 5, the current summary data 62a is displayed with a similarity of "70%" to the target summary data 64. When the worker visually checks the display area 40 of the display unit 26 and determines that the current summary data 62a is not similar to the target summary data 64 (NO in S13), a predetermined action is executed on the plant in response to an input by the worker via the user interface 105 (S14). In this case, the predetermined action is executed on the plant, taking into consideration, for example, support information displayed by the display unit 26. Specifically, when the worker executes the predetermined action on the plant, the worker visually checks the display area 80 of the display unit 26 and can consider support information (e.g., what event the current summary data 62a is associated with, the action executed, and its result) of at least one piece of past summary data that is highly similar to the current summary data 62a.

[0046] After the action is executed, the process returns to step S12, and the display unit 26 again displays the current summary data and the past summary data to which the event is combined so that they can be compared (S12).

[0047] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the display mode of the display unit 26 after the action on the plant is executed in step S14. In the display area 40 in FIG. 6, the current summary data summarized by the summarizing unit 23 is dated December 4, 2018, the day after the date in FIG. 5. The coordinate system in the display area 50 also displays the direction in which the current summary data 62b has changed from the previous day's summary data 62a, allowing for comparison of how the positional relationship of the current summary data 62b to the target past summary data 64 has changed. As a result of the action executed in step S14, the current summary data 62b is displayed with a similarity of "80%" to the target past summary data. This indicates that the current summary data 62b has approached the target past summary data, and therefore confirms that the direction of the action executed in step S14 was correct. Steps S12 to S14 are repeated until it is determined that the current summary data is similar to the target past summary data.

[0048] If it is determined that the data is similar to the target past summary data (good condition) (YES in S13), the process ends.

[0049] As described above, in the support device according to this embodiment, the summarizing unit summarizes the dimensions of the process data, and the display unit displays the summarized data summarized by the summarizing unit. This allows the display of summarized data in which the dimensions of the process data are summarized, which makes it possible to easily grasp the operating status of a plant without placing an excessive burden on the worker, compared to, for example, displaying multidimensional process data. Furthermore, because the display is based on summarized data, even an unskilled worker can grasp the operating status of the plant. Furthermore, because the support device handles summarized data in which the dimensions of the process data are summarized, it is possible to support the understanding of the operating status of a plant with a simple configuration.

[0050] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be modified in various ways. In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which two-dimensionally summarized data consisting of a first principal component and a second principal component was generated. However, the number of principal components is not limited to this. For example, three-dimensionally summarized data consisting of a first principal component, a second principal component, and a third principal component may be generated. In this case, a three-dimensional coordinate system is displayed in the display area 50 of FIGS. 5 and 6. The dimensional summarization algorithm is not limited to principal component analysis, and other statistical methods may also be used.

[0051] Furthermore, the operation of the assistance device 10 is not limited to being entirely automated by computer processing, but may also include at least a portion of the operation being performed manually by an operator. In addition, the display modes of the display unit in Figures 5 and 6 in the above embodiment are merely examples, and are not limited to these.

[0052] Furthermore, the support device 10 shown in the above embodiment may be a device separate from the plant, or may be a device incorporated into the plant itself. In the case of a device incorporated into the plant itself, the plant includes a processing device that performs predetermined processing, a control device that controls the processing device, and further includes a configuration of various functional blocks of the dimension summarization mechanism 20 and the memory unit 30 in the support device 10 shown in the above embodiment.

[0053] The embodiments described through the above embodiments of the invention can be combined, modified, or improved as appropriate depending on the application, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. It is clear from the claims that such combinations, modifications, or improvements are also included within the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 10...Support device, 20...Dimension summarization mechanism, 21...Data acquisition unit, 22...Rule generation unit, 23...Summarization unit, 24...Event registration unit, 25...Data combination unit, 26...Display unit, 30...Memory unit, 31...Process data memory unit, 32...Dimension summarization rule memory unit, 33...Summarization data memory unit

Claims

1. A support device for grasping the operating status of a plant, a data acquisition unit for acquiring process data of the plant; a summarization unit that summarizes dimensions of the process data acquired by the data acquisition unit; a display unit that displays the summary data summarized by the summarizing unit and the past summary data combined with registered events related to the plant so as to be comparable using a coordinate system including two-dimensional coordinate axes consisting of a first principal component and a second principal component that were used when creating the summary data, and further displays the similarity between the summary data and the past summary data, support information including information about actions executed in the past summary data, target summary data in the past summary data, and coordinate changes with respect to the target summary data before and after the execution of an action in the summary data when an action is executed on the plant based on the support information; An assistance device comprising:

2. a rule generation unit that generates a dimension summarization rule for summarizing the dimensions of the process data into a smaller number of dimensions; The support device according to claim 1 , wherein the summarizing unit summarizes the dimensions of the process data based on the dimension summarization rules.

3. an event registration unit in which events related to the plant are registered; a data combining unit that combines the event registered by the event registering unit with the summary data summarized by the summarizing unit; a storage unit that stores the summary data combined with the event by the data combining unit; The assistance device according to claim 1 or 2, comprising:

4. The support device according to claim 3 , wherein the event registration unit registers the event in association with good / bad information on the operating status of the plant.

5. The support device according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit displays a coordinate system corresponding to a dimension of the summary data.

6. The support device according to claim 1 , wherein the process data is data indicating a change over time.

7. A display device for grasping the operating status of a plant, Summary data summarizing the dimensions of the plant's process data; the historical summary data combined with registered events relating to the plant; and displaying the data in a comparable manner using a coordinate system including two-dimensional coordinate axes consisting of the first and second principal components used when creating the summary data. The display device further displays the similarity between the summary data and the past summary data, and a change in the summary data when an action is performed on the plant.

8. A support method for understanding the operating status of a plant, comprising: acquiring process data of the plant by a data acquisition unit; Summarizing dimensions of the process data acquired by the data acquisition unit by a summarization unit; and a display unit that displays the summary data summarized by the summarizing unit and the past summary data combined with the registered events related to the plant in a comparative manner using a coordinate system including two-dimensional coordinate axes consisting of a first principal component and a second principal component that were used when creating the summary data, and further displays the similarity between the summary data and the past summary data, support information including information about an action executed in the past summary data, target summary data in the past summary data, and coordinate changes with respect to the target summary data before and after the execution of the action in the summary data when an action is executed on the plant based on the support information. and how to help.

9. A support program executed by a computer to grasp the operating status of a plant, The computer, Acquiring process data of the plant; Summarizing dimensions of the acquired process data; and The summarized data and the past summarized data combined with the registered events related to the plant are displayed in a comparative manner using a coordinate system including two-dimensional coordinate axes consisting of a first principal component and a second principal component that were used when creating the summarized data, and further displaying the similarity between the summarized data and the past summarized data, support information including information on an action executed in the past summarized data, target summarized data in the past summarized data, and coordinate changes with respect to the target summarized data before and after the execution of the action in the summarized data when an action is executed on the plant based on the support information. A support program to help implement this.

10. A plant, a data acquisition unit that acquires process data from sensors provided in the plant and a control device that controls the plant; a summarization unit that summarizes dimensions of the process data acquired by the data acquisition unit; a display unit that displays the summary data summarized by the summarizing unit and the past summary data combined with registered events related to the plant so as to be comparable using a coordinate system including two-dimensional coordinate axes consisting of a first principal component and a second principal component that were used when creating the summary data, and further displays the similarity between the summary data and the past summary data, support information including information about actions executed in the past summary data, target summary data in the past summary data, and coordinate changes with respect to the target summary data before and after the execution of an action in the summary data when an action is executed on the plant based on the support information; A plant comprising:

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