Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Data
Collection
Data
Storage
Analysis
DecisionMaking
Reporting
FIG. 1.5a
Basic functions of a data collection system.
80
TABLE 1.5b
IS/IS NOT Analysis for a Sample Mill
IS
IS NOT
Financial
Daily reporting
Monthly reporting
Trending, reporting
Download to DCS
Continuous data
Batch data
Data
from
DCS
Time-Stamped
Tank Level PVs
and Flow Totalizers
Manually
Entered Time-Stamped
Quality Tank Level PVs
Data and Flow Totalizers
FIG. 1.5c
Sample data flow diagram.
Process
Records
Quality
Records
Section 1.6 provides a great deal of detail about the integration of maintenance functions with data historians. Only a small
summary is presented here. Some process data are particularly valuable for maintenance operations. For example,
hours of use of large equipment are often needed to plan
maintenance schedules. To meet the needs of maintenance,
the following should be considered:
1. How is maintenance work planned? How is it scheduled? Is there an existing electronic scheduling system?
2. Is the right process data being measured for maintenance needs? For example, are oil temperatures, or
vibration levels, being measured and recorded online?
If so, this can be very useful data for maintenance.
3. How will the maintenance personnel gain access to
the data? Will they have physical access to a computer
or terminal in their workspace? Or will they work from
printed reports?
Integration with Management
The management team is another key customer of the data
system. In fact, many information systems are justified based
on the value of the data to the management team. To meet
the needs of the management team, consider the following:
1. What types of routine reports are needed? Daily and
monthly reports are the most commonly requested.
Daily
24 h
Production
Summary
Query
8 h of
Prodn Info
Finished
Product
Quality Query
This Shifts
Quality Data
Daily
Production
Report
On-Demand
Quality
Report
Event Data
Any process event can also trigger the collection of data. For
example, the lifting of a safety relief valve may trigger the
collection of information about vessel pressure, level, and
contents. In fact, each alarm can be considered an event.
In batch systems, the collection of event data takes on
even more significance. As each significant step of the batch
process passes, records of material use, time, energy use, and
processing steps are recorded. These data can be used later
to reconstruct the manufacture of each batch of product.
Event data are often collected on a triggered, or interrupt
basis, rather than at a fixed collection frequency.
For anything more complicated than simple logging, collecting event data requires advance planning to define the
event record. Each piece of data is placed into a field in a
data record. Figure 1.5d represents a typical data record.
One type of event that is very important to track is operator activity. By tracking the actions of the operator, it is possible
to reconstruct events after the fact. Typically, the following
Date
Time
1-Apr-01
6:10:13am
FIC1234.PV
FIC1234.OP
TIC1276.PV
TIC1276.OP
TIC1276.MODE
1313.01
83.91
524.06
91.93
AUTO
FIG. 1.5d
Sample data record.
81
82
Wiring from
Instruments
A/D
C
o
n
v
e
r
t
e
r
Processor
Memory
Comm
Port
To
Computer
Power
Supply
FIG. 1.5f
Data logger.
FIG. 1.5e
Chart recorder.
For troubleshooting event-type data, it is not the collection frequency, but the precision of the time stamp that is of
concern. Some DCS systems, such as Foxboro I/A, timestamp the data at the input/output (I/O) level, providing excellent resolution. Others pass the data along at a given collec100
Sha
nno
10
nL
imi
t, S
low
Re
com
me
est
nde
dC
Pos
sib
le C
olle
olle
ctio
nR
ate
ctio
nR
ate
0.1
100
10
1
Period of Highest Frequency Problem, s (Log Scale)
FIG. 1.5g
Sample rate vs. problem frequency.
Analysis
Station
Analysis
Station
Office Network
Report
Printer
Data
Historian
DCS/PLC
Server
DCS or PLC Network
FIG. 1.5h
Typical architecture.
Recorded Signal
Time
FIG. 1.5i
Diagram of deadband reporting.
83
84
Analysis
Station
Analysis
Station
Office Network
Report
Printer
Data
Historian
Gateway
Device
DCS/PLC
Server
DCS or PLC Network
FIG. 1.5j
Diagram of a gateway device.
DATA STORAGE
Data must be stored somewhere, usually on a server hard
disk. There are many considerations, including the format of
data storage, the ease of retrieval and exporting, and a variety
of security issues.
Because large amounts of data are being collected, it is
easy to consume disk storage space. Traditional databases
and simple flat-file techniques are simple to use, but consume
a large amount of space. In the past, this was a problem,
because of the cost of storage media. Many varieties of data
compression techniques were developed and employed to
reduce the cost of storage.
As the cost of storage media has dropped dramatically in
recent years, the cost of storage has become quite small. Unless
one is archiving thousands of data points at rates greater than
once per second, storage costs should be only a minor concern.
85
Date,Time,FIC1234.PV,FIC1234.OP,TIC1276.PV,TIC1276.OP,TIC1276.MODE
1-Apr-01,6:10:13am,1313.01,83.91,524.06,91.93,AUTO
1-Apr-01,6:11:13am,1313.27,83.52,524.87,91.81,AUTO
1-Apr-01,6:12:13am,1313.39,83.13,524.62,91.67,AUTO
1-Apr-01,6:13:13am,1312.87,84.06,524.67,90.31,AUTO
1-Apr-01,6:14:13am,1312.31,83.87,523.06,91.11,MAN
1-Apr-01,6:15:13am,1311.76,84.11,522.17,91.11,MAN
1-Apr-01,6:16:13am,1310.02,84.22,523.44,91.11,MAN
FIG. 1.5k
Sample flat file.
Table :Products
Table :Operators
Product ID:
Description:
Min Density:
Max Density:
Target Density:
Tech ID:
Last Name:
First Name:
Date of Hire:
Operating Team:
FIG. 1.5l
Relational database design for a simple batch system.
86
Recorded Signal
Time
FIG. 1.5m
Swinging door data storage algorithm.
Analysis
Station
Analysis
Station
Plant LAN
Data
Historian
Power User
Station
Network
Printer
Quality
Station
FIG. 1.5n
Diagram of recommended network arrangement.
Data Compression
Some of the algorithms mentioned above are used for data
compression. That is, data compression reduces the amount
of data storage required, thereby reducing network load and
hard disk storage requirements.
Meta-Data
Meta-data can be defined as data about the data. For example, many DCS systems include meta-data about the quality
of a process variable signal. The signal may be out of range,
good, manually substituted, or questionable.
Drive 1:
1010 1111
Drive 2:
1010 0011
Drive 3:
0100 1000
Drive 4:
1110 0001
Parity Drive:
1010 0101
FIG. 1.5o
Diagram of parity-checking scheme.
87
Drive 1:
1010 1111
Drive 2:
1010 0011
Drive 3:
0100 1000
Drive 4:
LOST DATA
Parity Drive:
1010 0101
Recovered Data:
1110 0001
88
FIG. 1.5p
Sample production report.
527.3
506.3
126.6
269.5
110.2
21.0
Raw Materials
Ingredient A:
Ingredient B:
Ingredient C:
Gas:
433.1
66.1
32.3
1276.3
Time Analysis
Product A:
Product B:
Product C:
ChangeOver:
Maintenance:
5:21
12:17
4:41
0:41
1:00
tons
tons
tons
MCF
89
50.0
PV
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
17:33
17:34
17:35
17:36
17:37
Time
FIG. 1.5q
Diagram of a simple trend.
90
Bibliography
Eckes, G., General Electrics Six-Sigma Revolution, New York: John Wiley
& Sons, 2000.
Hitz, P., Historical Data in Todays Plant Environment, Research Triangle
Park, NC: ISA Press, 1998.
Johnson, J. H., Build Your Own Low-Cost Data Acquisition and Display
Devices, 1993.
Liptk, B., Optimization of Unit Operations, Radnor, PA: Chilton, 1987.
Liu, D. H. F., Statistical Process Control, in Process Control (Instrument
Engineers Handbook), 3rd ed., Radnor, PA: Chilton, 1995, pp. 138143.