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{Title of the Invention}
PLANT MONITORING CONTROLLER
{Background of the Invention}
{Technical Field}
5 The present invention relates to a plant monitoring
controller, and more particularly to a plant monitoring
controller that uses plant history data.
{Background Art}
Conventionally, if an abnormality occurs in a plant, an
10 observer takes action by making a decision from currently
displayed information as well as previously displayed
alarms and other information displayed on a monitor as
results. Accordingly, it has been sometimes very difficult
to identify the cause of the abnormality because, for
15 example, know-how of skilled persons is required or an
accurate cause cannot be identified.
Regarding this, since the capacities of storage media
have been largely increased and data has been transmitted
and received at higher speed in recent years, the idea has
20 been spread that by storing histories of plant states, the
stored histories can be used to find the cause of an
abnormality or display a screen or message specified in
advance for current plant operation.
To implement this idea, a plant monitoring controller
25 is required that can store process information that has
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5
20
15
10
been changed due to manipulations by an observer or
answerbacks from the plant in a database along with time
information and can reproduce a plant state at a desired
time by using a reproduction function called "playback".
Another plant monitoring controller is also required that
has a "guidance function" that gives a display according to
the importance of a process failure in the plant or its
sign.
As for these points, if an abnormality occurs in a
plant, it is possible in the Patent Literature 1 to clarify
changes in the states of units and a process that led to
the abnormality by a playback function that stores values
of process information about the states of the units as
history data and reproduces a previous state.
Thus, a plant state at the occurrence of an abnormality
can be more clearly obtained than in a previous
investigation method, enabling the cause of the abnormality
to be easily identified.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent No. 3602482
{Summary of the Invention}
In the method described above, however, in which only
values of process information about the plant are stored in
a database as histories and the stored values are used to
investigate the cause of an abnormality, sufficient action
25 cannot be taken to identify the cause of an abnormality in
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cases described below.
A first case is that an abnormality occurred but an
accident was avoided because a skilled observer made an
operation before an accident occurs. Since no accident has
5 occurred, this situation is not analyzed.
A second case is that process information that does not
change leads to a direct cause. An example is a mistaken
manipulation caused by an observer. Although the process
information can be thought to change due to the mistaken
10 manipulation, it is not possible in the above method to
find the reason why the process information has changed.
A third case is that the cause of an abnormality can be
displayed only in a predetermined format. In many existing
known examples in which a guidance is displayed for the
15 current plant operation on the basis of history data, the
display function can only display a predetermined guidance
that has been input in advance. Accordingly, it is not
possible to display a guidance that is more directly
represented for a particular situation at present.
20 A fourth case is that although process information can
be restored, a screen has to be selected that is viewed to
identify the cause of an abnormality from the restored
process information; after all, whether the cause of the
abnormality can be identified may depend on the experience
25 of the investigator.
5
15
10
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Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to
provide a plant monitoring controller that is improved in
the identification of the cause of an abnormality.
To addresses the problems described above, a plant
monitoring controller of the present invention, provided
with a monitor, that obtains process information from a
plant and provides an operation signal to the plant,
characterized in that; the plant monitoring controller
comprising: a process information database in which process
information about the plant is recorded and accumulated; an
operation video information database in which operation
video information, which is video information displayed on
a screen on the monitor, is recorded and accumulated as
history information; and a history information database in
which manipulation histories of the manipulable devices
displayed on a screen on the monitor are accumulated as
manipulation history information; and a history information
database in which manipulation histories of the manipulable
devices displayed on a screen on the monitor are
20 accumulated as manipulation history information; wherein
manipulable devices are displayed by being distinguished
with each other on a screen given on the monitor; the
process information, the operation video information, and
the manipulation history information are recorded along
25 with time information; and an operation video screen is
5
15
10
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provided as a screen displayed on the monitor, the
operation video screen displaying a change from previous
operation video information, read from the operation video
information database, along with the time information.
A manipulation state of a manipulable device on the
screen displayed on the monitor may be compared with
previous manipulation histories recorded in the history
information database, and if there is a matching
manipulation history and the matching manipulation history
indicates that a problem caused in the past, the operation
video screen may be called and displayed.
In correspondence to the previous operation video
screen which was called and displayed to indicate
information at a previous time, information about the
previous time may be displayed.
The operation video screen may include a video display
area, a video manipulation area, a time scroll bar, and a
date and time selection area, and a change between observer
manipulation screens in a specified period may be displayed.
20 According to the present invention, a mistaken
manipulation caused by an observer can also be found by
using an operation video function rather than from changes
in process information. A screen at the time of the
occurrence of an abnormality can be displayed without
25 alteration, so the cause of the abnormality can be
10
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investigated without know-how of an investigator. An auto
operation guidance function prevents the recurrence of the
accident and avoids the accident in advance.
{Brief Description of the Drawings}
5 {Fig. I} FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a plant
monitoring controller according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
{Fig. 2} FIG. 2 illustrates an example of process
information stored in a process information database DB1.
{Fig. 3} FIG. 3 illustrates an example of operation
15
20
25
video information recorded in an operation video
information database DB2.
{Fig. 4} FIG. 4 illustrates an example of history
information recorded in a history information database DB3.
{Fig. 5} FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a display
given on a screen 90 on a monitor M, on which operation
video information is handled.
{Fig. 6} FIG. 6 illustrates each computers CPU that
function to create databases.
{Fig. 7} FIG. 7 illustrates processing to store process
information 82 in the process information database DB1.
{Fig. 8} FIG. 8 illustrates processing to store
operation video information OV in the operation video
information database DB2.
{Fig. 9} FIG. 9 illustrates processing to store history
15
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information in the history information database DB3.
{Fig. 10} FIG. 10 illustrates functions executed by a
human-machine device 7 and an operation assisting computer
CPU3 to implement an auto guidance message function.
5 {Fig. 11} FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a monitor
screen on which an auto guidance message is displayed.
{Fig. 12} FIG. 12 illustrates a specific example of an
auto guidance message window W3.
{Fig. 13} FIG. 13 illustrates a specific example of a
10 mistaken manipulation setting window W4.
{Fig. 14} FIG. 14 illustrates functions executed by the
human-machine device 7 and operation assisting computer
CPU3 to implement a mistaken manipulation setting
processing function.
{Fig. 15} FIG. 15 illustrates a specific example of a
mistaken manipulation setting window W4, which is displayed
after a series of mistaken manipulation setting processing
has been completed.
{Fig. 16} FIG. 16 illustrates the position of the
20 present invention in an entire flow in a normal operation,
at the occurrence of a trip, and in the clarification of
the cause of the trip.
{Detailed Description of the Invention}
An embodiment of plant monitoring controller in the
25 present invention will be described below with reference to
20
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the drawings.
{Embodiment}
FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of a plant monitoring
controller according to an embodiment of the present
5 invention.
The plant monitoring controller 2 in FIG. 1 includes a
control computer CPU1 that obtains a process signal 82 from
a plant (or plant unit) 1 and sends a control signal 81 to
the plant 1 and also has a human-machine device 7, which
10 displays, for example, the operation state of the plant 1
on a monitor and gives various settings, manipulation
commands, and the like.
The plant monitoring controller 2 also includes three
types of databases DB in which various types of data used
15 in analysis and investigation of a cause is stored. A first
database is a process information database DB1 in which the
state of the plant 1 is stored as process information. The
process information database DB1 is managed by a plant
history computer CPU2.
A second database is an operation video information
database DB2 in which video information about a monitor
screen itself (the video information will be referred to
below as operation video information) is stored as history
information. The third database is a history information
25 database DB3 in which manipulation histories of the plant 1
5
10
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are accumulated as history information. The operation video
information database DB2 and history information database
DB3 are managed by an operation assisting computer CPU3.
The human-machine device 7 accesses the operation
assisting computer CPU3 and plant history computer CPU2
through the control computer CPU1. When the operation
assisting computer CPU3 is accessed, it accesses the
operation video information database DB2 and obtains the
operation video information. The operation assisting
computer CPU3 also accesses the history information
database DB3 and compares the current manipulation with
previous manipulation histories.
The plant history computer CPU2 accesses the process
information database OBI and obtains the process history
15 information of the plant 1. Information obtained from the
databases DB described above is used to display a screen on
a monitor (not illustrated) of the human-machine device 7.
A keyboard, mouse, and other manipulation devices (not
illustrated) of the human-machine device 7 are operated to
20 give prescribed commands to each computer cpu.
FIGs. 2 to 4 each illustrate an example of specific
contents of the relevant database DB. In the process
information database OBI in FIG. 2, for a process 10 (101),
which is defined as VOOI, and a process name (102), which
25 is defined as "shutoff valve (A) opening", process values
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(103) are recorded sequentially along with date and time
information (104), as process information. Similar
recording is also performed for other information in the
plant 1.
5 The example of recording in FIG. 2 indicates that the
value of "shutoff valve (A) opening" was 40 (%) at 10:51:10
on September 29, 2011 but the value was changed to 41 (%)
at 10:51:15. This recording is preferably performed only
when a change occurred in the process information, as
10 described later.
In the operation video information database DB2 in FIG.
3, the file names (203) of files in which operation videos
including video information about the monitor screen itself
are stored are recorded along with time information from a
15 start time (201) to an end time (202), as process
information. In the example in FIG. 3, a file is created on
a daily basis. Since a plurality of monitors are usually
mounted, operation video information is created for each
monitor and stored in an appropriate unit.
20 Since the operation video information is recorded, the
video information about the monitor screen itself of the
human-machine device 7 is recorded in time series. Since
the operation video information is recorded along with the
time information, changes between the monitor screens can
25 be visually identified with reference to the time
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information during analysis and investigation of a cause on
a later day.
In the example in FIG. 3, operation video information
on September 28, 2011 is stored in a storage area in drive
5 C under file name "C:¥OPV¥2011-9-28.opv", and operation
video information on September 29, 2011 is stored in a
storage area in drive C under a file name "C:¥OPV¥2011-929.
opv".
FIG. 4 illustrates an example of history information
10 recorded in the history information database OB3. The
history information is records of manipulations performed
by an observer while the observer was viewing the monitor
of the human-machine device 7. A screen 10 (302) that
identifies a screen under observation, a button 10 (303) of
15 a button manipulated on the screen, and a list 10 (304)
that indicates a recording place are recorded along with
date and time information (301). The record at the top in
FIG. 4 indicates that the fact that the observer
manipulated a button 46 on a screen indentified by a screen
20 10 of 42 at 10:50:30 on September 29, 2011 was stored in a
list 00001. Accordingly, the history information is
information created by the observer.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a display given on a
screen 90 on a monitor M, on which operation video
25 information is handled, operation video information being
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one of various types of data in the plant monitoring
controller 2. An operation video screen window W1 and a
date specifying window W2 are displayed on the screen 90,
on which operation video information is handled.
5 The operation video screen window W1 displayed on the
monitor M includes a video display area 20, a reproduction
button 22, a fast forward button 23, a rewind button 24, a
halt button 25, and a screen closing button 26, as seen on
an ordinary moving picture player. The operation video
10 screen window W1 also includes a date and time scroll bar
21 and a date selection button 28 as special functions. The
date and time of an operation video to be displayed can be
freely adjusted by moving an adjustment control 27 on the
date and time scroll bar 21 to the right or left.
15 The reproduction button 22, fast forward button 23,
rewind button 24, and halt button 25 are corresponding to a
video manipulation area.
When the date selection button 28 is clicked, the date
specifying window W2 is displayed on the screen. The date
20 specifying window W2 includes a date input form 31 into
which a date can be entered, a setting button 32 that
displays a setting on the operation video screen window W1,
and a cancel button 33 that cancels the setting and returns
the observer to the operation video screen window W1. The
25 operation video screen window W1 and date specifying window
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W2 may be displayed on the same screen or may be displayed
on different screens.
The operation video screen window W1 in FIG. 5 can be
used to call operation video information on a specified
5 previous date from the operation video information database
DB2 and display the called operation video information
about the operation video screen window W1. Accordingly, a
change from the called previous operation video information
can be reproduced on the operation video screen window W1
10 on the monitor screen.
FIG. 6 illustrates computers CPU that function to
create databases DB described above. The control computer
CPU1 in the drawing collects process information S2 from
the plant unit 1 at fixed intervals and sends the collected
15 process information S2 to the plant history computer CPU2.
The plant history computer CPU2 receives the process
information S2 and stores it in the process information
database DB1 in time series.
FIG. 7 extremely simply illustrates processing executed
20 by the control computer CPU1 and plant history computer
CPU2 to store the process information S2 about the plant 1
in the process information database DB1. In process step
S101 in this processing, all process amounts are input at
fixed intervals and are monitored. Since a vast amount of
25 data is collected as a result of receiving a plurality of
5
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process information items at the fixed intervals, the
process information is recorded only when it changes
instead of recording all process information items.
Specifically, whether a change is found in the process
information is determined in process step S102, and only
when a change is found, the process information is recorded
in the process information database DB1 in process step
S103.
In FIG. 7, the processing enclosed by the bold lines is
10 executed by the plant history computer CPU2 and other
processing is executed by the control computer CPU1.
Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the process ID
101, process name 102, and process value 103 are recorded
along with the date and time information 104 at the time
15 when a change was found. In this case, these information
items are recorded along with the time information five
seconds later, at which "shutoff valve (A) opening" changed
from 40 to 41. Therefore, the value of "shutoff valve (A)
opening" at an intermediate point during this period is
20 taken as 40 in subsequent processing in the plant
monitoring controller 2.
In FIG. 6, the operation assisting computer CPU3
collects screen information 43 on the monitor M of the
human-machine device 7 and stores the collected screen
25 information 43 in the operation video information database
5
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OB2 as operation video data OV.
FIG. 8 illustrates processing executed by the humanmachine
device 7 and operation assisting computer CPU3 to
store the operation video data OV in the operation video
information database OB2.
In process step S201 in the drawing, operation video
information displayed on the monitor screen of the humanmachine
device 7 is monitored and stored successively.
Specifically, the operation video information is
10 temporarily stored in, for example, a storage memory (not
illustrated) used to display videos and is also displayed
on the monitor M of the human-machine device 7.
Processing of the operation video information is
normally awaited until a storage time elapses in process
15 step S203, after which the operation video information is
transferred to the operation video information database OB2
and is stored therein as the operation video data OV in
process step S204. In the example in FIG. 3, the storage
time in process step S203 is usually updated on a daily
20 basis. If, for example, an abnormality occurs in the plant
1, however, an error is detected in process step S202 and
the operation video data OV before and after the error is
stored; this is advantageous in analysis and investigation
in a later day.
25 In FIG. 8, the processing enclosed by the bold lines is
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executed by the operation assisting computer CPU3 and other
processing is executed by the human-machine device 7.
Referring again to FIG. 6, the operation assisting
computer CPU3 collects data 44 of the 10 (button 10 303) of
5 a part, manipulated by the observer, on the human-machine
device 7 and "year, month, day hours:minutes:seconds" (date
and time information 301) and stores the collected data 44
in the history information database DB3 as manipulation
data OP.
10 In this example, it is assumed as a prerequisite in the
accumulation of manipulation data that all pushbuttons and
other parts on the human-machine device 7 have an 10. This
assumption will be described with reference to FIGs. 4 and
5. For example, the monitor screen in FIG. 5 is defined as
15 42, which is a screen 10 in FIG. 4. The manipulable devices
(such as buttons) denoted 21 to 28 and 31 to 33 on the
monitor screen are individually assigned a button 10 in FIG.
4. This correspondence is applied to all screens displayed
on the monitor M and the manipulable devices.
20 Under the above assumption, FIG. 9 extremely simply
illustrates processing executed by the human-machine device
7 and operation assisting computer CPU3 to store history
information in the history information database DB3.
In process step 8301 in FIG. 9, the monitor M is being
25 monitored by the observer. In process step 8302,
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manipulations carried out by the observer are obtained and
stored in the history information database DB3. FIG. 4
illustrates an example of this processing; a screen 10
(302) and a button 10 (303) are successively stored as
5 paired information at each date and time (301) at which a
manipulation was made.
Usually, all manipulations made on the human-machine
device 7 are sent to the operation assisting computer CPU3
and are stored in the history information database DB3 as
10 manipulation data, as described above. In process step 8303,
however, whether an abnormality has occurred in the plant 1
or whether an accident has been avoided by an experienced
observer is determined.
If an abnormality has occurred in the plant 1 or an
15 accident has been avoided by an experienced observer in
process step 8304, manipulation data is automatically
listed as mistaken manipulation data until a fixed time
before the occurrence of the abnormality, and the list is
stored in the history information database DB3 in process
20 step 8304. As for manipulations carried out by an
experienced observer to avoid accidents as well, which are
not normal manipulations, the operation assisting computer
CPU3 collects manipulation data in the same way as when an
accident has occurred in the plant 1, lists the collected
25 manipulation data as avoidance manipulation data, and
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stores the list in the history information database DB3.
Thus, in addition to manipulation histories in normal
states, if an abnormality occurs, manipulation histories in
a predetermined period are stored in the history
5 information database DB3. Furthermore, manipulations
carried out by an experienced observer to avoid accidents
are also stored in the history information database DB3 as
avoidance manipulation data.
In FIG. 9, the processing enclosed by the bold lines is
10 executed by the operation assisting computer CPU3 and other
processing is executed by the human-machine device 7.
The specific contents of the databases DB and the
methods of creating the databases DB have been described.
Next, auto guidance processing, which is one of the
15 processing carried out by using data stored in the
databases DB, will be described.
The auto guidance is a function that determines whether
the current state of the plant 1 or its manipulation state
matches a previous abnormal experience and then notifies
20 the observer of some message. The previous abnormal
experience is embodied in the mistaken manipulation data
stored in process step 8304 in FIG. 9, so the mistaken
manipulation data is referenced.
To implement this function, while the observer is
25 manipulating the human-machine device 7, the operation
5
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assisting computer CPU3 is constantly communicating with
the human-machine device 7 and makes a comparison with a
previous manipulation history retrieved from the history
information database OB3. If the comparison result is a
complete match with a case in which an abnormality was
previously found, the auto guidance message window W3 in
FIG. 11 is automatically displayed on the monitor M of the
human-machine device 7.
If, for example, an abnormality is experienced as a
10 result of a series of manipulations from manipulation 1 to
manipulation 10 in a previous case (mistaken manipulation
data) and it is confirmed that manipulations up to
manipulation 5 are the same as in the previous case, the
observer is notified of an auto guidance message to
15 indicate that the observer is proceeding toward a dangerous
situation.
FIG. 10 illustrates processing executed by the humanmachine
device 7 and operation assisting computer CPU3 to
implement the auto guidance message function. In the first
20 process step 8401 in FIG. 10, a manipulation on the humanmachine
device 7 is compared with the history information
stored in the history information database OB3 in FIG. 4.
Focusing particularly on the mistaken manipulation data in
the history information, a comparison is made to see
25 whether there is a button 10, in the mistaken manipulation
25
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data, that matches the 10 of the last button manipulated by
the observer.
In process step 8402, comparisons are made until a
match is found. If a match is found, it is decided in
5 process step 8403 whether a series of manipulations has
proceeded to a point at which a guidance is required. In
the example above, if the same manipulations as before have
been executed up to manipulation 5 in the series of
manipulations, it is decided that a guidance point has been
10 reached.
In process step 8404, date and time information is
extracted that corresponds to the button 10 obtained at the
time when it was decided that a guidance point has been
reached. If the button 10 is, for example, the button 10 33
15 on the third line from the top in the DB3 in FIG. 4, the
operation video information database DB2 in FIG. 3 is
referenced by using the date and time information (301)
corresponding to the button 10 33 as a key.
As a result, it is found that operation video
20 information, in FIG. 3, that has time information in which
the time information (301) "2011, 9, 29 10:51:10" is
included is stored under a file name (203) "C:¥OPV¥2011-929.
opv". The operation video information is extracted and
is used in an auto guidance message in a next stage.
When the process information database DB1 in FIG. 2 is
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similarly referenced by using the date and time information
(301) as a key, a situation in which the value of the
process name "shutoff valve (A) opening", the process 10 of
which is V001, was changed from 40% to 41% can be obtained
5 as the process information 82 at the date and time. This
process information 82 is also extracted and is used in an
auto guidance message in a next stage.
In FIG. la, the processing enclosed by the bold lines
is constantly executed by the operation assisting computer
10 CPU3.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example of the monitor screen on
which the auto guidance message described above is
displayed. The auto guidance message window W3 includes a
simple information display bar 50, an operation screen
15 display area 51, a detailed message display area 52, a link
53 to an operation video screen displayed in the detailed
message display area 52, and a close button 54. When the
close button 54 is clicked, the auto guidance message
window W3 disappears from the human-machine device 7.
20 FIG. 12 illustrates a specific example of the auto
guidance message window W3. In the operation screen display
area 51, a screen that is currently manipulated by the
observer is displayed. Amounts of various processes are
displayed in the upper part, and amounts by which the
25 observer has manipulated and manipulation signals (up and
5
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down buttons) are displayed in the lower part. In the
operation screen display area 51, a detailed image is
displayed showing what kind of manipulation causes an
abnormality if it is performed next, out of similar
manipulations in previous manipulation histories.
In the detailed message display area 52, detailed
information about the screen to be displayed in the
operation screen display area 51 and a link to the
operation video screen are displayed as messages. For
10 example, the area 01 links to the process information
database OB1 and indicates a situation in which the value
of the process information 82 (opening), the process 10 of
which is Vaal, has changed from 40% to 41%, as the process
information 82 at that time. The area 02 links to the
15 operation video information database OB2 and indicates the
name of a file in which the operation video at that time is
stored.
When the area 02 linking to the operation video screen
is clicked, the operation video screen window W1 is called
20 and displayed, on which the operation video screen, in FIG.
12, obtained at the time of the occurrence of a previous
accident or abnormality.
Next, the mistaken manipulation setting processing,
which is one of the processing carried out by using data
25 stored in the databases described above, will be described.
- 23 -
In the mistaken manipulation setting processing, when a
previous plant manipulation is eventually found to be wrong,
data that led to a mistaken manipulation is identified from
data accumulated in the databases so that the data does not
5 affect the subsequent use of other data.
FIG. 13 illustrates the structure of a mistaken
manipulation setting window W4. The mistaken manipulation
setting window W4 is one of the functions called from the
human-machine device 7. The mistaken manipulation setting
10 window W4 includes a manipulation data display window 70, a
date and time range specifying box 71, a mistaken operation
range specifying box 72, a manipulation data deletion
button 73, a display button 74, and an decision button 75.
In the manipulation data display window 70, an
15 operation 10, the 10 of a part, date and time information
and the like are displayed as manipulation data of the
human-machine device 7. The date and time range specifying
box 71 accepts information that specifies a range of
manipulation data to be displayed in the manipulation data
20 display window 70. The mistaken operation range specifying
box 72 accepts information that specifies a range of a
mistaken manipulation. The manipulation data deletion
button 73 deletes the manipulation data selected from the
manipulation data display window 70. When the display
25 button 74 is clicked, the manipulation data in the
- 24 -
specified date and time range is displayed in the
manipulation data display window 70. When the decision
button 75 is clicked, the manipulation data in the mistaken
manipulation range is stored as mistaken manipulation
5 information.
FIG. 14 illustrates functions executed by the humanmachine
device 7 and operation assisting computer CPU3 to
implement a mistaken manipulation setting processing
function. FIG. 15 illustrates a specific example of the
10 mistaken manipulation setting window W4 on which a series
of mistaken manipulation setting processing has been
completed.
In the first process step S501 in FIG. 14, the observer
sets up the mistaken manipulation setting window W4 on the
15 human-machine device 7, after which the observer enters
manipulation data into the date and time range specifying
box 71 in the mistaken manipulation setting window W4 in
process step S502. FIG. 15 indicates that 20 seconds from
September 29, 2011 10:51:00 to September 29, 2011 10:51:20
20 has been specified in the date and time range specifying
box 71 as a date and time range.
Next, the operation assisting computer CPU3 reads
manipulation data from the history information database DB3
in process step S503 in FIG. 14 and displays the called
25 manipulation data in the manipulation data display window
25
- 25 -
70 in the mistaken manipulation setting window W4 in
process step S504. In the manipulation data display window
70 in FIG. 15, the data of the date and time (301), the
screen 10 (302), the button 10 (303), the list 10 (304) of
5 the last two lines of the manipulation data in FIG. 4 are
indicated as manipulation data. In the example in FIG. 15,
42 and 33 are displayed as the screen 10 and button 10,
respectively, in the period of 20 seconds from September 29,
2011 10:51:00 to September 29, 2011 10:51:20
10 Next, mistaken manipulation information is edited in
process step S505 in FIG. 14. For example, in the mistaken
manipulation setting window W4, manipulations that are not
directly relevant to an abnormality are deleted by the
manipulation data deletion button 73, and a range of a
15 mistaken manipulation is specified in the mistaken
operation range specifying box 72 in process step S505.
In process step S507, the operation assisting computer
CPU3 lists mistaken manipulation data in a period specified
in the mistaken operation range specifying box 72 and
20 stores the list in the history information database 083.
Thus, the manipulation data in this period is handled as
mistaken manipulation data in subsequent processing and is
differentiated from other manipulation data at normal times
or abnormal times.
In FIG. 14, processing enclosed by double lines is
- 26 -
executed by the human-machine device 7 and other processing
is executed by the operation assisting computer CPU3.
Finally, the position of the present invention in an
entire flow in a normal operation, at the occurrence of a
5 trip, and in the clarification of the cause of the trip
will be described with reference to FIG. 16.
In process step 8601 in FIG. 16, a normal operation is
being carried out in the plant 1. At this stage, input
processing to the databases DB is being continuously
10 executed and the computers CPU and human-machine device 7
are executing the processing in FIGs. 7, 8, and 9 in
cooperation.
Particularly, in process step 8602, the processing in
FIG. 10 is executed to see whether the last manipulation
15 carried out by the observer matches a previous manipulation
example in the history information database DB3. In process
step 8603, if there is no matching previous manipulation
example, a series of monitoring processing is continuously
repeated.
20 In process step 8604, if there is a matching previous
manipulation example, guidance processing is executed.
An abnormality occurred in the plant 1 while this state
was continuing. In process step 8605, the plant 1 was
tripped.
25 After the plant 1 was tripped, the cause to the trip is
5
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sought. In this case, since the date and time at which the
plant 1 was tripped is clear, data before the trip is used
to start the seeking of the cause of the trip. In normal
processing, process information stored in the process
information database DB1 is referenced as the data before
the trip in process step 8606.
Furthermore, in the present invention, operation video
information recorded in the operation video information
database DB2 is referenced in process step 8607. History
10 information recorded in the history information database
DB3 is also referenced. A link between these information
items can be used to, for example, check correspondence
referenced in the date and time information.
If the cause of the trip is determined in process step
15 8607, a restoration manipulation is performed, after which
the plant 1 moves to a normal operation in process step
8608.
According to the plant monitoring controller, described
above, in the present invention, a plant monitoring
20 controller that is improved in the identification of the
cause of an abnormality can be provided. The plant
monitoring controller in the present invention has an
operation video function that accumulates video information,
which is screens themselves, as history information,
25 besides plant history information, and also has an auto
5
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operation guidance function that links process information
and operation video information together, accumulates the
linked information as guidance information, and
automatically performs a guidance. Therefore, advantageous
effects are obtained as described below.
First, specific conventional practice is such that when
a skilled observer performs a pre-manipulation to avoid an
accident, the manipulation is not analyzed because no
accident has occurred. In the present invention, however, a
10 manipulation to avoid an accident is also recorded in a
history as illustrated in FIG. 9; when recorded as
operation video information, the manipulation can be used.
A second effect is concerned with a mistaken
manipulation caused by an observer, which is an example of
15 a case in which a direct cause is that process information
does not change. In the present invention, however, a
previous mistaken manipulation caused by an observer is
recorded as operation video information, so it can be used
in the future.
20 As a third effect, the problem that the cause of the
abnormality can be displayed only in a predetermined format
has been solved. In the present invention, a previous
manipulation example that has led to an accident as a
result of the same manipulation as the current manipulation
25 is extracted from the operation video information, so a
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guidance that matches the actual state is possible.
As a fourth effect, the problem that although process
information can be restored, the restored process
information has to be used to select a screen that is
5 viewed to identify the cause of the abnormality has been
solved. In the present invention, a screen of a previous
manipulation example is directly displayed.
As described above, the plant monitoring controller in
the present invention has a mechanism that handles the
10 state of a plant as process information and accumulates the
process information, an operation video function that
reproduces a screen manipulated by an observer on a humanmachine
device without alteration, and an auto operation
guidance function that uses difference information about
15 plant manipulations and operation video information and
records a history at the occurrence of an abnormality as an
image and a message so that when a similar operation is
carried out, the image and message are automatically
displayed on the human-machine device as a guidance window.

20
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{Claims}
{Claim 1}
A plant monitoring controller, provided with a monitor,
that obtains process information from a plant and provides
5 an operation signal to the plant, characterized in that;
the plant monitoring controller comprising:
a process information database in which process
information about the plant is recorded and accumulated;
an operation video information database in which
10 operation video information, which is video information
displayed on a screen on the monitor, is recorded and
accumulated as history information; and
a history information database in which manipulation
histories of the manipulable devices displayed on a screen
15 on the monitor are accumulated as manipulation history
information;
wherein manipulable devices are displayed by being
distinguished with each other on a screen given on the
monitor;
the process information, the operation video
information, and the manipulation history information are
recorded along with time information; and
an operation video screen is provided as a screen
displayed on the monitor, the operation video screen
25 displaying a change from previous operation video
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information, read from the operation video information
database, along with the time information.
{Claim 2}
The plant monitoring controller according to claim 1,
5 wherein a manipulation state of a manipulable device on the
screen displayed on the monitor is compared with previous
manipulation histories recorded in the history information
database, and if there is a matching manipulation history
and the matching manipulation history indicates a problem
10 caused in the past, the operation video screen is called
and displayed.
{Claim 3}
The plant monitoring controller according to claim 2,
wherein in correspondence to the operation video screen
15 which has been called and displayed to indicate information
at a previous time, information about the previous time is
displayed.
{Claim 4}
The plant monitoring controller according to claim 1,
20 wherein:
the operation video screen includes a video display
area, a video manipulation area, a time scroll bar, and a
date and time selection area; and
a change between observer manipulation screens in a
25 specified period is displayed.
5. A plant monitoring controller, provided with a monitor,
substantially as herein described with reference to
accompanying drawings and example.