Display device, control device, control method, and computer program

Abstract

Provided is a display device (32) that displays an index related to operation of a plant (1), in which the display device (32) displays an operation ratio related to the operation of the plant (1) as the index in a selected period. The most suitable drawing: FIG. 5.

Description

Display device, control device, control method, and computer program

[0001] The present invention relates to a display device, a control device, a control method, and a computer program for displaying indicators related to plant operation.

[0002] Conventionally, sensors are installed in a plant, and the operating status of the plant is monitored based on the measurement values ​​of the sensors. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that when an object on a display screen is selected, information from the sensor relating to the object is displayed so that an operator can intuitively understand the detection target and detection results of the sensor. Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses that a plurality of alarm messages are displayed on an alarm monitoring screen, and when an operator presses a graph display on the display screen, graph information of the corresponding alarm message is displayed.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-308895 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-115195

[0004] In these conventional configurations, it is possible to monitor data from sensors installed in the plant, but it is difficult to confirm the availability rate related to the operation of the plant over a predetermined period in the past.

[0005] An exemplary object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a display device, a control device, a control method, and a computer program that can show an availability rate related to plant operation to an operator.

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, a display device according to one aspect of the present invention is a display device that displays an index related to plant operation, and displays an availability rate related to plant operation as an index for a selected period.

[0007] According to the above aspect, the availability rate related to the operation of the plant can be displayed to the operator.

[0008] Another aspect of the control device of the present invention is a control device that controls a display device that displays indicators related to the operation of a plant, and includes an acquisition unit that acquires process data of the plant, a calculation unit that calculates an availability rate related to the operation of the plant as an indicator related to the operation of the plant based on the acquired process data, and a display control unit that causes the display device to display the calculated availability rate.

[0009] According to the above aspect, it is possible to show the operator the availability rate of the plant operation calculated based on the acquired process data of the plant.

[0010] Another aspect of the control method of the present invention is a control method for controlling a display device that displays an index related to the operation of a plant, and includes an acquisition step of acquiring process data of the plant, a calculation step of calculating an availability rate related to the operation of the plant as an index related to the operation of the plant based on the acquired process data, and a display step of displaying the calculated availability rate on the display device.

[0011] According to the above aspect, it is possible to show the operator the availability rate of the plant operation calculated based on the acquired process data of the plant.

[0012] A computer program according to another aspect of the present invention causes a computer to execute an acquisition step of acquiring process data of a plant, a calculation step of calculating an availability rate related to the operation of the plant as an index related to the operation of the plant based on the acquired process data, and a display step of displaying the calculated availability rate on a display device.

[0013] According to the above aspect, it is possible to show the operator the availability rate of the plant operation calculated based on the acquired process data of the plant.

[0014] 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.

[0015] According to the present invention, the availability rate of the plant operation can be displayed to the operator.

[0016] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a plant according to the present embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks of a system according to the present embodiment; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the physical configuration of a system according to the present embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing transitions of various display screens according to the present embodiment; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an availability display screen according to the present embodiment; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an area for adding a planned downtime period according to the present embodiment; FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of operation processing related to display of an availability according to the present embodiment; FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a dashboard display screen according to the present embodiment; FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of operation processing related to display of efficiency according to the present embodiment.

[0017] 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.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a plant according to this embodiment. First, the configuration of a plant 1, which is a target of this embodiment, will be described using FIG. 1 . The plant 1 is, for example, a power generation plant (incineration plant) including a circulating fluidized bed boiler (circulating fluidized bed type), and is equipped with a boiler that generates steam by burning fuel while circulating a circulating material such as high-temperature fluidized silica sand. As fuel for the plant 1, in addition to fossil fuels such as coal, non-fossil fuels (woody biomass, waste tires, waste plastic, sludge, etc.) can be used. The steam generated in the plant 1 is used to drive a turbine 100. Note that the target plant of this embodiment is not limited to power generation plants and incineration plants that include boilers, but may be any plant from which process data can be acquired, such as a chemical plant or a wastewater treatment plant.

[0019] The plant 1 is configured to combust fuel in a furnace 2, separate circulating material from exhaust gas using a cyclone 3 that functions as a solid-gas separator, and return the separated circulating material to the furnace 2 for circulation. The separated circulating material is returned to the bottom of the furnace 2 via a circulating material recovery pipe 4 connected below the cyclone 3. The bottom of the circulating material recovery pipe 4 is connected to the bottom of the furnace 2 via a loop seal 4a with a narrowed flow path. This leaves a predetermined amount of circulating material stored in the bottom of the circulating material recovery pipe 4. The exhaust gas from which the circulating material has been removed by the cyclone 3 is supplied to a rear flue 5 via an exhaust gas flow path 3a.

[0020] The boiler includes a furnace 2 for burning fuel and a heat exchanger for generating steam and the like using heat obtained by the combustion. A fuel supply port 2a for supplying fuel is provided in the middle of the furnace 2, and a gas outlet 2b for discharging combustion gas is provided in the upper part of the furnace 2. Fuel supplied to the furnace 2 from a fuel supply device (not shown) is supplied into the furnace 2 through the fuel supply port 2a. In addition, a furnace wall tube 6 for heating boiler feedwater is provided on the furnace wall of the furnace 2. The boiler feedwater flowing through the furnace wall tube 6 is heated by combustion in the furnace 2.

[0021] Within the furnace 2, the solids containing the fuel supplied from the fuel supply port 2a are fluidized by combustion and fluidization air introduced from the lower air supply line 2c, and the fuel burns at, for example, about 800 to 900°C while flowing. The combustion gas generated in the furnace 2 is introduced into the cyclone 3, accompanied by the circulating material. The cyclone 3 separates the circulating material from the gas by centrifugal separation, and returns the separated circulating material to the furnace 2 via the circulating material recovery pipe 4, while sending the combustion gas from which the circulating material has been removed through the exhaust gas flow path 3a to the rear flue 5.

[0022] In the furnace 2, a portion of the circulating material, called the in-furnace bed material, accumulates at the bottom. This bed material may contain coarse-grained bed material or exhaust combustion impurities that are unsuitable for circulating flow. These unsuitable bed materials can cause poor flow. Therefore, to prevent poor flow, the in-furnace bed material is continuously or intermittently discharged to the outside from a discharge port 2d at the bottom of the furnace 2. After removing unsuitable materials such as metals and coarse grains from the discharged bed material on a circulation line (not shown), the discharged bed material is either resupplied to the furnace 2 or disposed of as is. The circulating material in the furnace 2 circulates within a circulation system consisting of the furnace 2, the cyclone 3, and the circulating material recovery pipe 4.

[0023] The rear flue 5 has a flow path for flowing the gas discharged from the cyclone 3 to a subsequent stage. The rear flue 5 has a superheater 10 that generates superheated steam and an economizer 12 that preheats boiler feedwater as an exhaust heat recovery section that recovers heat from the exhaust gas. The exhaust gas flowing through the rear flue 5 is cooled by heat exchange with the steam and boiler feedwater flowing through the superheater 10 and the economizer 12. The rear flue 5 also has a steam drum 8 that stores the boiler feedwater that has passed through the economizer 12, and the steam drum 8 is also connected to the furnace wall tubes 6.

[0024] The economizer 12 transfers heat from the exhaust gas to the boiler feed water to preheat the boiler feed water. The economizer 12 is connected to the pump 7 by a pipe 21 and to the steam drum 8 by a pipe 22. The boiler feed water is supplied from the pump 7 via the pipe 21 to the economizer 12 and preheated by the economizer 12, and is then supplied to the steam drum 8 via the pipe 22.

[0025] A downcomer pipe 8a and a furnace wall pipe 6 are connected to the steam drum 8. The boiler feedwater in the steam drum 8 flows down the downcomer pipe 8a, is introduced into the furnace wall pipe 6 at the bottom of the furnace 2, and flows toward the steam drum 8. The boiler feedwater in the furnace wall pipe 6 is heated by the combustion heat generated in the furnace 2, and evaporates into steam in the steam drum 8.

[0026] A saturated steam pipe 8b that discharges the steam inside is connected to the steam drum 8. The saturated steam pipe 8b connects the steam drum 8 and a superheater 10. The steam inside the steam drum 8 is supplied to the superheater 10 via the saturated steam pipe 8b. The superheater 10 superheats the steam using the heat of the exhaust gas to generate superheated steam. The superheated steam passes through a pipe 10a and is supplied to a turbine 100 outside the plant 1 to be used for power generation.

[0027] The pressure and temperature of the steam discharged from the turbine 100 are lower than the pressure and temperature of the steam discharged from the superheater 10. Although not particularly limited, the pressure of the steam supplied to the turbine 100 is approximately 10 to 17 MPa, and the temperature is approximately 530 to 570°C. The pressure of the steam discharged from the turbine 100 is approximately 3 to 5 MPa, and the temperature is approximately 350 to 400°C.

[0028] A condenser 102 is provided downstream of the turbine 100. The steam discharged from the turbine 100 is supplied to the condenser 102, where it is condensed and returned to saturated water, and then supplied to the pump 7. A generator is connected to the turbine 100, which converts kinetic energy obtained by the rotation of the turbine 100 into electrical energy.

[0029] The pump 7a supplies makeup water so as to maintain a constant water level in the condenser 102. Fig. 1 shows a flow rate u1 of makeup water supplied by the pump 7a (an example of "process data").

[0030] The process data (data related to the operation of the plant 1) handled in this embodiment may be any data related to the plant 1, for example, data obtained by measuring the state of the plant 1 with a sensor (an example of "process data"), and more specifically, may include measured values ​​of the temperature, pressure, flow rate, and the like of the plant 1. FIG. 1 shows a boiler feedwater flow rate u2 (an example of "process data") supplied from the pump 7 to the economizer 12. FIG. 1 also shows a boiler outlet steam flow rate u3 (an example of "process data") supplied from the superheater 10 to the turbine 100, and a saturated steam flow rate u4 supplied from the steam drum 8 to the superheater 10. The make-up water flow rate u1 may be controlled to follow the saturated steam flow rate u4. The boiler feedwater flow rate u2 may be controlled to follow the adjustment while monitoring both the boiler outlet steam flow rate u3 (or the superheated steam flow rate) and the liquid level in the steam drum 8.

[0031] If a hole occurs in the pipe system that constitutes the plant 1, the makeup water flow rate u1 increases, or the flow rate difference between the boiler feedwater flow rate u2 and the boiler outlet steam flow rate u3 increases. A DCS (Distributed Control System) 20 receives process data of the plant 1, such as the makeup water flow rate u1, the boiler feedwater flow rate u2, the boiler outlet steam flow rate u3, and the saturated steam flow rate u4, from the plant 1, grasps the operating status, including the availability rates, of the boilers and turbines 100 that constitute the plant 1, and monitors whether any abnormalities have occurred in the plant 1.

[0032] Although the makeup water flow rate u1, the boiler feedwater flow rate u2, the boiler outlet steam flow rate u3, and the saturated steam flow rate u4 are exemplified as process data, other data may be used as the process data for the plant 1. The process data for the plant 1 may be other data such as temperature and pressure, or data calculated based on a plurality of process data, or may be uncalculated data acquired from a sensor or the like.

[0033] Next, the system 30 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 is a diagram showing functional blocks of the system 30 according to this embodiment. Figure 3 is a diagram showing the physical configuration of the system 30 according to this embodiment.

[0034] The DCS 20 is a distributed control system for controlling the plant 1, and as shown in FIG. 2, acquires process data from sensors and the like installed in the plant 1, and supplies control signals to the plant 1 for controlling the plant 1 based on the process data.

[0035] The system 30 includes a control unit 31 and a display device 32. The control unit 31 includes, for example, a process data acquisition unit 311, an index calculation unit 312, a reception unit 313, and a display control unit 314.

[0036] The process data acquisition unit 311 acquires the process data from, for example, the DCS 20. The process data acquisition unit 311 sequentially acquires the process data from the DCS 20 while the plant 1 is operating.

[0037] Based on the process data, the index calculation unit 312 calculates various indexes related to the operation of the plant 1. The indexes calculated by the index calculation unit 312 may be any index related to the operation of the plant 1, and may include, for example, an availability rate related to the operation of the plant 1 and an efficiency related to the operation of the plant 1.

[0038] The index calculation unit 312 calculates, for example, an availability rate related to the operation of the plant 1 at any predetermined timing (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). Here, the availability rate related to the operation of the plant 1 may include the availability rate of the entire plant 1 as well as the availability rates of various components included in the plant 1. Specifically, for example, the availability rate related to the operation of the plant 1 may include a boiler availability rate which is the availability rate of a boiler included in the plant 1, a turbine availability rate which is the availability rate of a turbine included in the plant 1, and a plant availability rate which is the availability rate of the entire plant 1.

[0039] The availability rate for the operation of the plant 1 may be calculated, for example, as a value obtained by dividing the total time during which at least some components of the plant 1 are operating by the availability calculation period. The "total time during which the target components are operating" may be calculated based on any efficiency of the target components. Specifically, the value obtained by multiplying a unit time divided by any period by the operating efficiency of the component for that unit time (e.g., load efficiency in the case of a boiler) may be summed (integrated, summed, etc.) for the availability calculation period. Furthermore, the index calculation unit 312 may calculate the availability rate using, for example, a counting period selected on the availability display screen DP1 described below.

[0040] Furthermore, when calculating the availability, the index calculation unit 312 may exclude planned outage periods registered by the operator from the availability calculation period. Here, the planned outage period is a period during which the operation of the plant 1 is planned to be stopped, and may include, for example, a period during which the operation of the plant 1 is stopped for inspections such as periodic inspections or interim inspections of the plant 1. Therefore, the index calculation unit 312 can calculate both the availability excluding the planned outage period and the availability including the planned outage period. The availability excluding the planned outage period is calculated based on the planned operation period (the period during which the operation of the plant 1 was planned), which is the period obtained by excluding the planned outage period from the availability calculation period, and the operation period during which the plant 1 was operating. Specifically, the availability excluding the planned outage period is calculated as the ratio of the operation period to the planned operation period. In this way, the availability excluding the planned outage period can be said to represent the net availability during the period during which the operation of the plant 1 was planned.

[0041] Furthermore, the efficiency related to the operation of the plant 1 may be, for example, any efficiency of at least some components of the plant 1. For example, the efficiency related to the operation of the plant 1 may be a boiler efficiency η ｂ , the turbine chamber efficiency η, which is the efficiency of the turbine included in plant 1 ｔ , and the power generating efficiency η ｎ may include:

[0042] Boiler efficiency η ｂ (%) is η ｂ = (1 - L / (H + Q)) x 100, where L is the total heat loss (kJ / kg), H is the calorific value of the fuel (kJ / kg), and Q is the total heat input other than fuel (kJ / kg).

[0043] Turbine chamber efficiency η ｔ (%) is η ｔ =P ｇ × 3.6 / {Z × (h ｓ -h ｗ )}×100, where P ｇ is the power output (kW), Z is the water / steam flow rate (kg / h), and h ｓ is the steam enthalpy (kg / h), and h ｗ is the feedwater enthalpy (kg / h).

[0044] Power generating efficiency η ｎ (%) is η ｎ =η ｂ ×η Ｐ / 100×η ｔ / 100, where η Ｐ is the main pipe transmission efficiency (%).

[0045] The reception unit 313 receives inputs, instructions, selections, etc. of various information in response to operations by the operator. For example, the reception unit 313 receives instructions for transitioning display screens, designation, input, and selection of planned shutdown periods, selection of availability calculation periods and aggregation cycles, and selection of display of indicators related to the operation of the plant 1.

[0046] The display control unit 314 generates display data based on the acquired process data and various indicators (operation rate, efficiency, etc.) calculated based on the process data, and displays a display screen based on the display data on the display device 32.

[0047] The display device 32 displays various display screens including information related to the operation of the plant 1 based on the display data supplied by the display control unit 314. The various display screens displayed by the display device 32 will be described later.

[0048] As shown in Fig. 3, the system 30 physically includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 30a, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 30b, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30c, a communication unit 30d, an input unit 30e, and a display unit 30f, and these components are connected via a bus so as to be able to transmit and receive data to and from each other. Each functional block of the system 30 shown in Fig. 2 is realized by the physical configuration shown in Fig. 3.

[0049] Although the present embodiment describes a case in which the system 30 is configured with a single computer, the system 30 may be realized by combining multiple computers. For example, in addition to the display unit 30f, a display constituting a different display unit for displaying other information may be provided. The system 30 may also be configured with a tablet terminal. By configuring the system 30 with a tablet terminal, the system 30 can be carried around and used, for example, while patrolling the plant 1. The configuration shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and the system 30 may have other configurations or may not have some of these configurations. Furthermore, some of the configurations may be provided in a remote location. For example, the control unit 31 including the CPU 30a may be provided in a remote location. In this case, the display device 32 including the display unit 30f may be configured to receive control signals generated by the control unit 31 provided in the remote location via a network.

[0050] The CPU 30a is a calculation unit that controls the execution of programs stored in the RAM 30b or the ROM 30c and calculates and processes data. The CPU 30a is a calculation unit that executes a program (monitoring program) that displays graphs and descriptions of process data of the plant 1. The CPU 30a receives various data from the input unit 30e and the communication unit 30d, and displays the calculation results of the data on the display unit 30f or stores them in the RAM 30b.

[0051] The RAM 30b is a rewritable storage device among the storage units, and may be configured with a semiconductor storage element such as a DRAM or an SRAM. The RAM 30b may store data such as programs executed by the CPU 30a and process data of the plant 1. Note that these are merely examples, and the RAM 30b may store data other than these, or may not store some of these data.

[0052] The ROM 30c is a memory from which data can be read, and may be configured, for example, as a semiconductor memory element such as a flash memory or an HDD. The ROM 30c may store, for example, computer programs for executing various processes described in this embodiment and data that is not to be rewritten. The data that is not to be rewritten includes, for example, information regarding the plant 1 and specifications of components of the plant 1. The ROM 30c may also store, for example, process data of the plant 1, indicators related to the operation of the plant 1 (such as availability and efficiency), and data such as planned shutdown periods.

[0053] The communication unit 30d is an interface that connects the system 30 to other devices, and may be connected to a communication network such as the Internet.

[0054] The input unit 30e receives data input in response to operations by an operator, and may include, for example, a keyboard and a touch panel.

[0055] The display unit 30f has a screen that visually displays the results of calculations performed by the CPU 30a, and may be configured, for example, by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The display unit 30f may display graphs of process data and explanatory text. The display unit 30f may also be configured so that a single screen is configured by connecting multiple displays.

[0056] A computer program for executing the various processes described in this embodiment may be provided by being stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as the ROM 30c, or may be provided via a communication network connected by the communication unit 30d. In the system 30, the CPU 30a executes the monitoring program to realize various operations included in this embodiment. Note that these physical configurations are merely examples and do not necessarily have to be independent configurations. For example, the system 30 may include an LSI (Large-Scale Integration) in which the CPU 30a and the RAM 30b or the ROM 30c are integrated.

[0057] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing transitions between various display screens according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the display device 32 displays a login display screen DP0, an availability display screen DP1, and a dashboard display screen DP2. The arrows between the display screens shown in FIG. 4 indicate transitions between the display screens based on instructions from the operator. That is, in the system 30, transitions from the login display screen DP0 to the availability display screen DP1 and the dashboard display screen DP2 are possible based on instructions from the operator. Note that when transitions occur between display screens in the system 30, the previous display screen may be replaced with the next display screen, or the previous display screen may remain and the next display screen may be displayed at the same time. Note that the above-described display screens are merely examples, and the display device 32 may display display screens other than these display screens.

[0058] The login display screen DP0 displays information necessary for the operator to log in to the system 30. The information necessary for logging in includes, for example, the operator's user ID and password. The login display screen DP0 accepts input of the user ID and password from the operator. From the login display screen DP0, transitions to a dashboard display screen DP2, an availability display screen DP1, and the like are possible.

[0059] The availability display screen DP1 displays the availability related to the operation of the plant 1 over a predetermined period in the past. Here, the availability related to the operation of the plant 1 may include the availability of the entire plant 1 as well as the availability of various components included in the plant 1. The availability display screen DP1 displays, for example, the boiler availability, turbine availability, and plant availability included in a selected availability calculation period. The availability display screen DP1 also displays, for example, each availability calculated according to a selected calculation cycle. The availability display screen DP1 also allows the addition or deletion of planned outage periods. The availability display screen DP1 can display the availability excluding planned outage periods registered by the operator, as well as the availability including the planned outage periods.

[0060] The dashboard display screen DP2 displays various indicators related to the operation of the plant 1 in real time. In other words, the dashboard display screen DP2 displays the latest various indicators related to the operation of the plant 1 at predetermined time intervals. The dashboard display screen DP2 displays, for example, trend graphs and the like based on various indicators related to the operation of the plant 1. The dashboard display screen DP2 also displays, for example, an abnormality display indicating the occurrence or possibility of an abnormality that may result in the shutdown of the plant 1, and a warning display indicating the occurrence or possibility of a warning when process data related to the plant 1 reaches a predetermined state. The dashboard display screen DP2 also displays, for example, the number of alarms and the time of occurrence.

[0061] Next, an example of the availability display screen DP1 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. The availability display screen DP1 includes areas R10 to R16 and a calculation display 50.

[0062] Region R10 is displayed, for example, at the top of the availability display screen DP1. Region R10 displays "Availability Calculation" as the status of the current screen. The display of region R10 makes it easy to understand which system and which status the current screen is in.

[0063] Region R11 is displayed, for example, in the upper left corner of the availability display screen DP1. Region R11 accepts input of the period (availability calculation period) for which the availability rate is calculated or displayed. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the start and end points of the availability calculation period can be input. In the example shown in FIG. 5, both the start and end points are specified by year and month, but they may also be specified by date or time. Region R11 also displays a time that can be selected as the end point of the availability calculation period. In the example shown in FIG. 5, region R11 displays "Calculation possible month: up to 2020-05" as a time that can be selected as the end point of the availability calculation period. This indicates that availability rates up to May 2020 can be calculated or displayed. This allows the operator to input the time up to the time shown in the display as the start and end points of the availability calculation period.

[0064] Region R12 is displayed, for example, below region R11 on the availability display screen DP1. Region R12 accepts input of the aggregation period. Here, the aggregation period is a period used to divide the period over which data is aggregated in order to calculate one availability rate. In other words, the availability rate is calculated or displayed using the period indicated in the aggregation period as a single unit. The length of the aggregation period is not particularly limited, but in the example shown in FIG. 5, it includes "MONTH," which indicates that the aggregation period is in months, and "YEAR," which indicates that the aggregation period is in years.

[0065] Area R13 is displayed, for example, below area R12 on the availability display screen DP1. Area R13 includes various displays related to planned downtime periods. Area R13 may also display planned downtime periods that have already been registered. Area R13 includes a latest data update display 51, a planned downtime addition display 52, and a deletion display 53.

[0066] When the latest data update display 51 is selected, processing that reflects the latest planned downtime period is executed in region R13. For example, the latest registered planned downtime period may be displayed in region R13. This allows the operator to understand the period that is registered as a planned downtime period. Furthermore, for example, the index calculation unit 312 may calculate an availability rate that reflects the latest planned downtime period and store the calculated availability rate in a storage unit such as the ROM 30c.

[0067] When the planned downtime addition display 52 is selected, an area R131 for adding a planned downtime period, as shown in FIG. 6, is displayed. As shown in FIG. 6, the area R131 is displayed in the form of a pop-up on the availability display screen DP1. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the start and end points of the planned downtime period can be input. When the "Add" display included in the area R131 is selected, the input period is added as a new planned downtime period. When the "Close" display is selected, the operation to add the planned downtime period is aborted, and the display of the area R131 disappears.

[0068] Referring again to Figure 5, when the delete indicator 53 is selected, the registration of any planned downtime period selected from among the registered planned downtime periods is deleted. For example, the operator can delete the registration of the planned downtime period for the selected period by selecting the period to be deleted from the registered planned downtime periods displayed by selecting the latest data update indicator 51 and then selecting the delete indicator 53.

[0069] When the calculation display 50 is selected, the availability of the plant 1 is displayed, for example, to the right of the regions R10-13 on the availability display screen DP1. In the example shown in FIG. 5 , three regions R14-16 each display various availability rates for the availability calculation period, February, March, and April 2020, in the form of a bar graph. For example, region R14 displays the boiler availability rate, while regions R15 and R16 display the plant availability rate. Note that region R15 displays the availability rate including planned shutdown periods, while region R16 displays the availability rate excluding planned shutdown periods (the availability rate as a percentage of the operating period relative to the planned operating period). The shaded area at the top of each bar graph indicates the percentage of the period during which the target component was not operating. The number of availability display regions included in the availability display screen DP1 is not particularly limited, and may be three, as shown in FIG. 5 , or one, two, four, or more. Furthermore, the display format of the operation rate is not limited to a bar graph, and may be any format such as a line graph, a pie chart, a scatter plot, or a histogram.

[0070] The availability display screen DP1 displays the availability including planned downtime periods and the availability excluding planned downtime periods. Furthermore, these availability rates are displayed side by side on the availability display screen DP1. This allows the operator to easily understand the impact of planned downtime periods on the availability rate.

[0071] Next, the operational process for displaying the availability rate according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operational process. Note that the content and order of the steps shown below are merely examples, and the operational process is not limited to these.

[0072] First, during operation of the plant 1, the process data acquisition unit 311 acquires process data of the plant 1 from the DCS 20 (S10). The process data acquisition unit 311 may store the process data sequentially supplied from the DCS 20 in the ROM 30c or the like.

[0073] Thereafter, the index calculation unit 312 calculates the availability rate under preset conditions at any preset timing (S11). For example, the index calculation unit 312 calculates, for each month, the availability rate of the plant 1 and / or the availability rates of various components included in the plant 1 (boiler availability rate, turbine availability rate, etc.). At this time, if planned outage periods are registered, the index calculation unit 312 may calculate the availability rate including the planned outage periods and / or the availability rate excluding the planned outage periods. The index calculation unit 312 stores the calculated availability rates in a storage unit such as the ROM 30c.

[0074] When the operator performs an operation to register a planned downtime period, the reception unit 313 accepts the registration of the planned downtime period (S12). Specifically, the operator selects the planned downtime addition display 52 in area R13 of the availability display screen DP1, which causes area R131 to be displayed, and the planned downtime period is registered in area R131. Then, for example, the reception unit 313 stores the planned downtime period in a storage unit such as the ROM 30c. At this time, in response to, for example, the selection of the latest data update display 51 in area R13 of the availability display screen DP2, the index calculation unit 312 may newly calculate an availability rate that reflects the latest planned downtime period and store this in a storage unit such as the ROM 30c.

[0075] When the operator selects various conditions related to the availability display, the accepting unit 313 accepts the selection (S13). For example, the accepting unit 313 accepts the selection of an availability calculation period in response to the operator's operation in area R11 of the availability display screen DP2. The accepting unit 313 also accepts the selection of an aggregation period in response to the operator's operation in area R12 of the availability display screen DP2. Note that the index calculation unit 312 may calculate an availability under the new conditions in response to these operations and store the calculated availability in a storage unit such as the ROM 30c.

[0076] When the operator selects the calculation display 50 on the availability display screen DP2, the display control unit 314 displays the availability rates for the selected conditions (availability calculation period, aggregation period, etc.) on the availability display screen DP2 (S14). For example, the display control unit 314 displays regions R14 to R16, etc., shown in FIG. 5, on the availability display screen DP2. Note that if the availability rates for the selected conditions (availability calculation period, aggregation period, etc.) are not stored in a storage unit such as ROM 30c, the index calculation unit 312 may calculate a new availability rate for the selected conditions and store it in a storage unit such as ROM 30c. The display control unit 314 then displays the new availability rate on the availability display screen DP2. This completes the process.

[0077] Next, an example of the dashboard display screen DP2 will be described with reference to Fig. 8. The dashboard display screen DP2 includes areas R20 to R25 and a calculation display 80.

[0078] Region R20 displays "Dashboard" as the status of the current screen. The display in region R20 makes it easy to understand the status of the current screen.

[0079] An area R21 in the upper left of the dashboard display screen DP2 displays information indicating the occurrence of an abnormality that may result in the shutdown of the plant 1 and time information at which the abnormality occurred. In FIG. 8 , the information "Blowout" is displayed in large letters as an example of information indicating the occurrence of an abnormality that may result in the shutdown of the plant 1. Below that, current time information, "YYYY / MM / DD hh:mm:ss," is displayed. This current time information is automatically updated, for example, every predetermined time (e.g., every minute). Alternatively, it may be manually updated by an operator. The information displayed in this area R21 allows the operator of the plant 1 to recognize that a serious abnormality, namely a blowout, that may result in the shutdown of the plant 1, occurred at the current time of YYYY year, MM month, DD day, hh hour, mm minute, ss second. As a variant, the time information immediately below the information "Blowout" may be the time at which the abnormality occurred.

[0080] In the lower left region R22 of the dashboard display screen DP2, a warning display indicating the occurrence of a warning when process data related to the plant reaches a predetermined state is displayed as "latest alarm information." The warning display indicates a predetermined state of process data that affects the operating efficiency of the plant 1. For example, a warning display indicates a state that does not result in the shutdown of the plant 1, such as a blowout, but that reduces the operating efficiency of the plant 1. In region R22, the history of warning displays is displayed, arranged in chronological order, with time information indicating the time of the display and information indicating its content. For example, at the top of region R22, time information such as "YYYY / MM / DD hh:mm:ss" is displayed in association with information indicating the content of the warning, "Alarm A." From the information displayed in region R22, the operator of the plant 1 can recognize that Alarm A occurred at year YYYY, month MM, day DD, hh:mm:ss. Similarly, the operator of the plant 1 can recognize the history of time information indicating the occurrence of a predetermined state of other process data that affects the operating efficiency of the plant 1 and information indicating its content.

[0081] An area R23 is provided in the space between the areas R21 and R22 in the center left side of the dashboard display screen DP2. In the area R23, a plurality of components that make up the plant 1 are displayed as "by equipment / component" information. In addition, components for which a warning that may affect the operating efficiency may have occurred are displayed in a different manner from the other components.

[0082] Specifically, the components of the plant 1 are displayed as "plant," "boiler," "turbine," "generator," and "auxiliary equipment." The "boiler" corresponds to a component of a boiler, such as the furnace 2. The "turbine" corresponds to a component of a turbine, such as the turbine 100. The "auxiliary equipment" corresponds to a component that is not a major component of a boiler, such as the pump 7 and the pump 7a. Furthermore, a component of the plant 1 that is likely to generate an alert, such as the "generator," may be appropriately set as a component. Furthermore, the system is configured to identify process data that may cause an alert that affects the operating efficiency, and based on this, display components for which an alert is currently being generated (e.g., the "boiler" and "generator") with, for example, a red background, components for which an alert is not being generated (e.g., the "plant" and "turbine") with, for example, a green background, and display components for which no evaluation item is set (e.g., the "auxiliary equipment") in gray. Furthermore, an alarm that is still in warning may be displayed in red in region R22, and the component corresponding to that alarm may be displayed in region R23 with a red background, making it possible to easily identify the component that is causing the warning that affects operating efficiency.

[0083] The area R25 at the bottom right of the dashboard display screen DP2 displays the history of abnormalities, with the number of times that data acquired by the sensors showed abnormal values ​​sorted for each sensor. Specifically, the "DCS alarm summary" information displays a Pareto chart in which the number of abnormalities detected by the DCS 20 within a predetermined time period, e.g., the past 24 hours, is summarized for each sensor and sorted in descending order. Note that "Alarm 1," "Alarm 2," and the like in FIG. 8 may be configured to display identification information for specific sensors. For example, Alarm 1 may display identification information for an AE sensor installed at a specific location. Furthermore, Alarm 1 may display the name of an item detected by a specific sensor. For example, Alarm 1 may display information identifying the makeup water flow rate u1.

[0084] Indicators such as efficiency related to the operation of the plant 1 are displayed in real time in the region R24 in the upper right corner of the dashboard display screen DP2. Here, displaying indicators in real time may mean displaying indicators such as efficiency related to the operation of the plant 1 for a predetermined period before a predetermined time has elapsed since the predetermined period. The length of the predetermined period is not particularly limited and may be in units of seconds, such as 1 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, or 30 seconds, or in units of minutes, such as 1 minute or 2 minutes. However, a shorter length of the predetermined period is preferable because it improves the real-time nature of the information displayed on the dashboard display screen DP2. The length of the predetermined period may be arbitrarily set by an operator or the like.

[0085] For example, region R24 displays one or more trend graphs with the vertical axis representing indicators important for stable operation of plant 1 and the horizontal axis representing time. In FIG. 8 , for example, trend graphs for indicators 1 and 2 are displayed superimposed on the upper side, and trend graphs for indicators 3 and 4 are displayed superimposed on the lower side. The times at the rightmost ends of these trend graphs are the most recent times at which these indicators were calculated. Note that the current time, which is year YYYY, month MM, day DD, hour hh, mm, minute ss, is within the predetermined time period described above from the most recent time at the rightmost end.

[0086] As described above, indicators 1 and 2 are displayed superimposed on the upper side of region R24. For example, indicator 1 may be boiler efficiency, and indicator 2 may be gross thermal efficiency. In this way, the boiler efficiency (indicator 1) and the gross thermal efficiency (indicator 2) are displayed with their vertical axes superimposed. This makes it possible to easily grasp the correlation between boiler efficiency and gross thermal efficiency, and in particular, makes it possible to visually and intuitively grasp the extent to which the boiler efficiency of the boiler, which is an important component of plant 1, affects the gross thermal efficiency, which is the efficiency of the entire plant 1. Note that the indicators displayed in region R24 are not particularly limited as long as they are indicators related to the operation of plant 1, and can be arbitrarily selected by the operator.

[0087] Next, an operational process related to the display of efficiency according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operational process. Note that the content and order of the steps shown below are merely examples and are not limited to these. In the following, it is assumed that the plant 1 is in operation and the process data acquisition unit 311 is sequentially acquiring process data of the plant 1 via the DCS 20.

[0088] The index calculation unit 312 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed (S20). Here, the length of the predetermined time is not particularly limited and may be in units of seconds, such as 1 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, or 30 seconds, or in units of minutes, such as 1 minute or 2 minutes. However, a shorter predetermined period is preferable because it improves the real-time nature of the information displayed on the dashboard display screen DP2. The length of the predetermined time may be arbitrarily set by the operator or the like. The index calculation unit 312 repeats step S20 until it determines that the predetermined time has elapsed.

[0089] If it is determined that the predetermined period has elapsed (S20; Yes), the index calculation unit 312 calculates various efficiencies and other indexes related to the operation of the plant 1 based on the process data acquired by the process data acquisition unit 311 via the DCS 20. In particular, the index calculation unit 312 calculates efficiencies and other indexes that are set in advance to be displayed on the dashboard display screen DP2. The efficiency related to the operation of the plant 1 calculated by the index calculation unit 312 is, for example, the boiler efficiency η ｂ , the turbine chamber efficiency η, which is the efficiency of the turbine included in plant 1 ｔ , and the power generating efficiency η ｎ It may include at least one of the above.

[0090] Next, the display control unit 314 updates the display of the dashboard display screen DP2 based on the efficiency and other indices calculated by the index calculation unit 312 (S22). In the example shown in FIG. 8 , for example, the time axis (horizontal axis) of each trend graph in region R24 is updated to indicate the latest time, and the efficiency and other indices calculated by the index calculation unit 312 are added to and displayed in the trend graph. Thereafter, the process returns to step S20, and steps S20 to S22 are repeated. This allows the operator to check the efficiency and other indices related to the operation of the plant 1 in real time.

[0091] As described above, according to this embodiment, when an abnormality occurs in the plant 1, the state of the plant 1 that the operator should understand can be displayed in a step-by-step and sequential manner, so that the state of the plant can be shown to the operator in an easy-to-understand manner. In particular, since a plant has a large number of events and parameters that must be monitored, when a change occurs in the state of the plant, it is necessary to efficiently and quickly notify the operator of this. The system and method according to this embodiment make it possible to confirm a method for optimizing the state of the plant, and to quickly understand what kind of response is required.

[0092] The embodiments described in the above embodiments 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.

[0093] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...plant, 2...furnace, 2a...fuel supply port, 2b...gas outlet, 2c...air supply line, 2d...discharge port, 3...cyclone, 3a...exhaust gas flow path, 4...circulating material recovery pipe, 4a...loop seal section, 5...rear flue, 6...furnace wall pipe, 7...pump, 7a...pump, 8...steam drum, 8a...downcomer pipe, 8b...saturated steam pipe, 10...superheater, 10a...pipe, 12...economiser, 21...pipe, 22...pipe, 30...system, 30a...CPU, 30d...communication section, 30e...input section, 30f...display section, 31...control section, 32...display device, 100...turbine, 102...condenser, 311...process data acquisition section, 312...index calculation section, 313...reception section, 314...display control section

Claims

1. A display device that displays an index related to the operation of a plant, the display device displaying an availability rate related to the operation of the plant as the index for a selected period.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the operation rate is an operation rate calculated for each selected period.

3. A display device as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the availability rate is calculated based on an operating period during which the plant was operating and a planned operating period during which the plant was scheduled to operate.

4. A display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the availability includes at least one of a boiler availability, which is the availability of a boiler included in the plant, a turbine availability, which is the availability of a turbine included in the plant, and a plant availability, which is the availability of the entire plant.

5. The display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further displaying efficiency of the plant operation in real time as an index of the plant operation.

6. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the display device displays the efficiency for a predetermined period before a predetermined time has elapsed since the predetermined period.

7. A display device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the efficiency includes at least one of boiler efficiency, which is the efficiency of a boiler included in the plant, turbine room efficiency, which is the efficiency of a turbine included in the plant, and power generating efficiency, which is the efficiency of the entire plant.

8. A display device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the display device displays a plurality of the efficiencies.

9. The display device according to claim 8, wherein the display device displays the multiple efficiencies with axes superimposed on each other.

10. A control device that controls a display device that displays an index related to the operation of a plant, the control device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires process data of the plant; a calculation unit that calculates an availability rate related to the operation of the plant as an index related to the operation of the plant based on the acquired process data; and a display control unit that displays the calculated availability rate on the display device.

11. The control device according to claim 10, further comprising a reception unit that receives a selection of a period, wherein the display control unit causes the display device to display the operating rate for the selected period.

12. A control method for controlling a display device that displays an index related to the operation of a plant, the control method comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring process data of the plant; a calculation step of calculating an availability rate related to the operation of the plant as an index related to the operation of the plant based on the acquired process data; and a display step of displaying the calculated availability rate on the display device.

13. A control method according to claim 12, further comprising a receiving step of receiving a selection of a period, wherein the display step causes the display device to display the operating rate for the selected period.

14. A computer program causing a computer to execute the following steps: an acquisition step of acquiring process data of a plant; a calculation step of calculating an availability rate related to the operation of the plant as an index related to the operation of the plant based on the acquired process data; and a display step of displaying the calculated availability rate on a display device.