WO2015169681A1

WO2015169681A1 - Method for operating a control system and graphical user interface

Info

Publication number: WO2015169681A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/059469
Authority: WO
Inventors: Elisabeth BURGHART; Hans-Christian OSTERTAG; Alexander Politiadis-Behrens; Thomas Schoch
Original assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 2014-05-09
Filing date: 2015-04-30
Publication date: 2015-11-12

Abstract

The subject invention is a method for operating a control system and a graphical user interface (12) provided for employing the method, wherein the graphical user interface (12) integrates multiple applications, information functions and control functions (14-16; 14' -16')/ each pertaining to an entity or a subsystem of a technical plant, for example a power plant, wherein the graphical user interface (12) comprises a button (28) for indicating a critical state of the plant requiring an immediate action of an operator and wherein said button (28) is adapted to show a predefined configuration (32) of project-specific engineered scenarios with instructions for the operator for fixing said critical state when clicking the button (28).

Description

Method for operating a control system and graphical user in^¬ terface

The subject invention concerns a method for operating a con^¬ trol system and a graphical user interface for the control system. The control system is a control system for operating and monitoring an industrial process in a technical plant, for example a power plant.

The subsequent specification will continue on the basis of a power plant as one example for a technical plant. However, the use of a power plant as an example for any technical plant must not be construed as limiting the scope of the pre^¬ sent invention. Moreover, each subsequent mention of a power plant is to be read in the sense of a power plant or any oth^¬ er technical plant. It is well known that the operation of a power plant requires a full and concise overview over a multitude of systems, sub^¬ systems and functions comprised in the relevant plant or as^¬ sociated therewith. Only the most thorough overview allows an operator to access the relevant information and/or operation guidelines necessary for operating the plant and/or for addressing or mending any issues, such as critical states of the plant.

When a critical state of a power plant occurs, the predomi- nant objective is to safely start-up or shut-down or continue to operate the relevant generating unit, depending on the op^¬ erating stage of the plant and/or the relevant unit, i.e. continuing start-up when in start-up phase, continuing shut^¬ down when in shut-down phase, or continuing operation when in operating phase. However, an operator is often presented with numerous data stemming from the aforementioned systems, sub^¬ systems and functions. Moreover, particularly where the plant is a multi-unit plant, the operator is often required to deal with different systems and/or varying operating philosophy approaches which render obtaining critical information cumbersome, time-consuming and error-prone. Accordingly, up to now, the overview of the status of the plant is not optimal and a comprehensive overview is not easy and often not suffi- ciently swift to be had.

On the other hand, consolidated operation and monitoring is increasingly important. It saves costs and it uses the opera^¬ tor's skill more efficiently. Furthermore, it improves the deployment of increasingly rare human resources.

Therefore there is a need for a method and a system, namely a graphical user interface and a computer system for implement^¬ ing said user interface, which will better aid a plant opera- tor, more particularly a method and a system allowing to supervise a single unit and multiple units as well as status data and potential alarm messages from each unit simultane^¬ ously. One aspect of the present invention is a graphical user in^¬ terface capable of integrating the various applications and data necessary for operating the plant. Another aspect of the present invention is a method for operating a control system for the plant, wherein the method involves the use of said graphical user interface.

The said graphical user interface for a control system for operating and monitoring an industrial process in a technical plant is adapted to integrate multiple applications, infor- mation and control functions in one common display, wherein each application, information function and control function is communicatively and operatively connected with an entity or a subsystem of the plant. The said graphical user inter^¬ face further comprises a button for indicating a critical state of the plant, for example a state of the plant which requires an immediate action of an operator. The said button is adapted to show a predefined configuration of project- specific engineered scenarios with instructions for the oper^¬ ator for fixing said critical state when clicking the button. Said button being adapted to show a predefined configuration of project-specific engineered scenarios is to be read as and to be understood as said button being associated with a func^¬ tion, which when called results in said predefined configura- tion of project-specific engineered scenarios being dis^¬ played. Calling any such function normally occurs when said button is pressed, clicked or when a similar user-action is performed on the button. The counterpart method for operating a control system, which is provided for operating and monitoring an industrial pro^¬ cess in a technical plant, comprises the steps of providing access functions via an integrated workbench program, indi^¬ cating a critical state of the plant and displaying a prede- fined configuration for fixing said critical state. The said step of providing access functions via an integrated work^¬ bench program comprises providing functions for a fast and easy access to multiple applications, information and control functions, wherein each application, information function and control function is on the one hand communicatively and oper- atively connected with an entity or a subsystem of the plant and on the other hand integrated into the workbench of the control system. The said step of indicating a critical state of the plant involves indicating a state requiring an immedi- ate action of an operator (critical state) whenever such state occurs. The said step of displaying a predefined con^¬ figuration for fixing a critical state comprises displaying a predefined configuration of project-specific engineered sce^¬ narios together with instructions for the operator for fixing said critical state.

A preferred embodiment of the graphical user interface pro^¬ vides a workbench program, comprising interfaces for integrating said applications, information functions and control functions into the graphical user interface, and the graph^¬ ical user interface provides access to said integrated appli^¬ cations, information functions and control functions. In a preferred embodiment of the method for operating a con^¬ trol system the step of indicating a critical state of the plant requiring an immediate action of an operator involves visually highlighting a button on the graphical user interface and the step of displaying a predefined configuration of project-specific engineered scenarios is automatically in^¬ voked by activating the button.

Further aspects, features and advantages of the present in^¬ vention will become apparent from the drawings and detailed description of the following preferred embodiments.

The above-mentioned and other concepts of the present inven^¬ tion will therefore now be addressed with reference to the drawings of the preferred embodiments of the present inven^¬ tion. The shown embodiments are intended to illustrate, but not to limit the invention. The drawings contain the follow^¬ ing figures, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout the description and drawings and wherein##:

FIG 1 an integrated workbench program,

FIG 2 a graphical user interface displayed by the integrat^¬ ed workbench program,

FIG 3 a database comprising a predefined configuration of project-specific engineered scenarios for addressing a critical alarm (trip relevant alarm) and

FIG 4 an alarm section displayed by the graphical user in^¬ terface .

FIG 1 shows a schematic diagram of an integrated workbench program 10 forming the material basis of the graphical user interface 12 (FIG 2) here proposed. The integrated workbench program 10 functions as a comprehensive framework for pre^¬ sent, future and legacy control systems or distributed con^¬ trol systems 14, 15, 16 and the relevant human machine inter^¬ faces (HMI) 14', 15', 16'. The integrated workbench program 10 allows the integration of multiple applications, e.g. HMIs 14' -16' as mentioned above, in one common screen. The integrated workbench program 10 is an autonomous application - hereinafter termed workbench 10 in short form - and comprises interfaces 18 for receiving da^¬ ta from and/or sending data to applications 14' -16' allocated to the said workbench 10 or integrated into said workbench 10. The said interface 18 or interfaces 18 can range from parser-like interfaces, capable of processing formatted and/or tokenized data, such as XML-data or the like, to soft- coded interfaces capable of processing data sent or received in a predefined format.

The integration of multiple applications into the workbench 10 or the association of such applications with the workbench 10 can be perceived as overlaying such applications with the workbench 10, wherein the workbench 10 functions as topmost layer allowing access to applications in overlaid layers (lower layers, underlying layers) . Consequently, when refer- ring to said applications integrated into or associated with the workbench 10, these applications are thus termed as over^¬ laid applications.

The integrated workbench 10, by means of employing the rele- vant input-interfaces 18, is capable of e.g. displaying data which else would have been displayed by the overlaid human machine interface 14' -16' or of displaying a soft copy of any view generated by the overlaid human machine interface 14'- 16' . The integrated workbench 10 is furthermore capable, by means of employing the relevant output-interfaces 18, of sending data entered via the integrated workbench 10 to at least one of the overlaid human machine interfaces 14' -16'. That is, the integrated workbench 10 can incorporate data re^¬ ceived from multiple applications 14-16 in one view or in multiple views 20 (FIG 2) and the integrated workbench 10 can alternatively visualize displays 20 (FIG 2) and content from multiple human machine interfaces 14' -16'. The display gener^¬ ated by the integrated workbench 10 is the aforementioned graphical user interface 12 proposed here and FIG 2 shows a b simplified exemplary form of the graphical user interface 12, comprising multiple displays 20 "inherited" from overlaid hu^¬ man machine interfaces 14' -16'. The graphical user interface 12 functions as the control hub for operating and monitoring the relevant industrial plant. The content of the graphical user interface 12 is configurable, that is, the size and the position of each display 20 can be adjusted and furthermore, the number of displays 20 and the arrangement of the displays 20 can be adapted, too.

As shown in FIG 2 the freely arrangeable displays 20 are framed by other elements of the graphical user interface 12, although these elements, some of them being described with further details below, must not necessarily take on border positions in the graphical user interface 12 and can be posi^¬ tioned anywhere on the graphical user interface 12. However, the specification will continue on the basis of the exemplary arrangement shown in FIG 2, where a headline portion of the graphical user interface 12 comprises an alarm section 22.

The alarm section 22 is always visible and is preferably lo^¬ cated at the top of the display of the graphical user inter^¬ face 12. The alarm section 22 can show multiple alarms noti^¬ fied to the workbench 10 by any one of the overlaid human ma- chine interfaces 14' -16'. A multitude of alarms can be visu^¬ alized in a predefined order, e.g. depending on the applica^¬ tion 14-16 where the alarm originates, or in an order re^¬ flecting the relevance of each alarm, wherein the most criti^¬ cal alarm will be displayed in the first position.

The integrated workbench 10 is thus capable of displaying alarms notified by any one of the overlaid human machine in^¬ terfaces 14' -16' and furthermore able to aggregate alarms from multiple systems 12-18. Accordingly, the integrated workbench 10 provides both a consistent and a reliable alarm notification mechanism including alarm acknowledgement and optionally a means for fast and easy navigation to the alarm source . A side area 24 of the graphical user interface 12 and a footline section 26 are available for e.g. placing icons pro^¬ vided for invoking functions of the graphical user interface 12 or applications within the graphical user interface 12 or interfacing with the graphical user interface 12. Any such icon is freely positionable according to the operator' s pref^¬ erences and provides a short-cut for quickly and easily ac^¬ cessing any function or application made available via the graphical user interface 12. Additionally or alternatively the side area 24 and/or the footline section 26 can accommo^¬ date message windows for displaying information provided from any one of the underlying human machine interfaces 14' -16'.

In combination the displays 20, the alarm section 22, the side area 24 and the footline section 26 provide a fast and reliable means for monitoring and accessing all the data re^¬ quired for power plant operations. Important functions can be invoked with a single user-action or very few user-actions, such as a single mouse-click or very few mouse-clicks. Im- portant data is either always visible or can be called to the front with a single user-action or very few user-actions. Moreover, elements of the graphical user interface 12, par^¬ ticularly one of the displays 20, can be moved from one screen to another screen showing basically the same graphical user interface 12 as the originating screen. The graphical user interface 12 can be a distributed graphical user inter^¬ face 12 dispersed over two or more screens, wherein one screen can be a large screen, e.g. allowing each display 20 to be shown in the size that results when the overlaid human machine interfaces 14' -16' outputs the relevant display on a single screen. Whenever an element of the graphical user in^¬ terface 12 - collectively termed as a tile - is moved to an^¬ other screen or another area of the originating screen, the relevant tile is automatically adjusted to the size of the target tile, i.e. a tile can be moved to e.g. the side area 24 or the footline section 26 and is automatically iconized and an iconized display is automatically enlarged when moved to the center of the graphical user interface 12. Next to the alarm section 22 the graphical user interface 12 provides a button 28 for indicating a critical state of the plant. Said critical state of the plant is a status of the plant that requires an immediate action of an operator. As mentioned before, the alarm section 22 is always visible on the graphical user interface 12 and cannot be removed from the graphical user interface 12 or overlaid with other ele^¬ ments of the graphical user interface 12. The same applies to the said button 28 and the button 28 is accordingly always visible on the graphical user interface 12, too.

The button 28 functions as a trip stop indicator. A trip stop is the technical term which generally means an immediate emergency shutdown of the plant or a plant unit. Accordingly the trip stop indicator is provided by the workbench 10 and in the graphical user interface 12 for supporting the opera^¬ tor with a view to avoid trip stops.

The button 28 (the trip stop indicator) is visually empha- sized, e.g. highlighted and/or flashing, in case of any trip relevant alarm 30 (FIG 3) occurring and when actions 32

(FIG 3) are defined to avoid a plant trip. In such a case the button may be further visually emphasized by showing the text "Trip Stop" or the like. A single user action pertaining to the button 28, e.g. clicking the button 28, suffices for a predefined configuration 32 of one or more tiles automatical^¬ ly being opened on the graphical user interface 12 overlaying or substituting some or all previously displayed tiles. The predefined configuration 32 is one example for the aforemen- tioned actions 32 defined for avoiding a plant trip. Thus the terms action 32 and predefined configuration 32 or configura^¬ tion 32 are used synonymously.

The predefined configuration 32 shows a predefined scenario with instructions for the operator how to address the situa^¬ tion and/or how to avoid the unit/plant trip. The aforementioned instructions may include but are not limited to infor^¬ mation from instruction manuals, electronic based procedures, live footage or recorded footage or images of the plant com- ponent concerned, function diagrams in engineering mode or trend curves. Optionally, the predefined configuration 32 can be complemented by pulling other displays in the control room into the configuration 32 and showing the relevant display in a separate tile.

FIG 3 is a simplified view of multiple predefined configura^¬ tions 32 stored in a database comprised by the workbench 10 or at least accessible for the workbench 10. The said prede- fined configurations 32 comprise some or all of the aforemen^¬ tioned data and each configuration 32 is provided for a single trip relevant alarm 30, as shown - for visualization purposes only - by the individual contours of both the graphical representative for the trip relevant alarm 30 and the prede- fined configurations 32. The workbench 10, more particularly an alarm engine comprised by the workbench 10, functions as a means for finding the relevant predefined configuration 32 for any trip relevant alarm 30. The function performed for this may involve a look-up table (LUT) or the like, where da- ta characterizing the trip relevant alarm 30, such as e.g. a cardinal number, is used for accessing the relevant line to the LUT and where the thus identified line comprises a refer^¬ ence, e.g. a pointer, to the predefined configuration 32, as^¬ sociated with the trip relevant alarm 30. Once the predefined configuration 32 pertaining to the pending trip relevant alarm 30 has been identified, the workbench 10 shows the tiles and/or the information as defined therein for aiding the operator with addressing the trip relevant alarm 30. FIG 4 shows an exemplary view of the alarm section 22 with multiple alarm tabs, wherein each tab represents an individu^¬ al alarm category. The relevant alarm category is displayed in textual or abbreviated form on each tab for ease of refer^¬ ence and a counter indicates the number of pending alarms in each category. Whenever a new alarm occurs the operator is prompted by a visual indication, e.g. the relevant tab being displayed in a different color and/or being displayed in a flashing mode. The alarms shown in the alarm section 22 are an aggregation of alarms from different sources, e.g. the overlaid human ma^¬ chine interfaces 14' -16' or the foundation applications 14- 16. Visualization of alarms stemming from hierarchically sub- ordinate applications 14-16, 14' -16' via the integrated work^¬ bench 10 is enabled by means of the aforementioned interfaces 18 provided for exchanging data to and from the integrated workbench 10. More information on the alarms in each category and each alarm individually is available for the operator via a single user-action, e.g. by clicking on the relevant alarm tab, or very few user-actions. Clicking on an alarm tab may for example results in a list of all alarms or the n most recent alarms in the relevant category being displayed. An order of the alarm display can be based on the time at which the alarm occurred with the most recent alarms being displayed on top of the list and/or the relevance of the alarm. Within any such list each alarm is normally displayed in a shorted form with an emphasis on the most relevant details in a single line or only a few lines. Each alarm is selectable by means of a user-action, e.g. by clicking on the relevant line. Any such selection of an alarm will result in further details concerning the alarm being displayed via the graphical user interface 12. Displaying such information may require that the integrated workbench 10 actively pulls data from the un^¬ derlying application 14-16, 14' -16' by means of the relevant interfaces 18. Any such further detail may comprise infor^¬ mation on the cause of the alarm and/or suggested measures, e.g. repair or maintenance. Any such suggested measure is given in a textual or any other appropriate form and the text or the data is predefined on the basis of expert knowledge and associated with the relevant alarm. Additionally or al^¬ ternatively an expert system can output the suggested

measures in textual or any other appropriate form based on input data received from the application 14-16 in whose realm the alarm occurs. In a preferred embodiment selecting (click^¬ ing) a specific alarm results in the related tile automati^¬ cally being opened in the graphical user interface 12. A generic alarm tab (captioned as "ASD" in FIG 4) is provided for quickly and easily accessing every pending alarm concerning the plant. The alarms will be sorted by occurrence, time and/or priority.

In a preferred embodiment the workbench 10 allows for certain alarms, e.g. critical alarms, to be processed similarly to what has been described above regarding the trip stop button 28, that is, certain alarms are associated with a predefined configuration of one or more tiles to be displayed via the graphical user interface 12. Whenever the operator selects an alarm associated with such a predefined configuration, the latter is shown via the graphical user interface 12 for aid^¬ ing the operator when addressing the alarm.

In case of multiple such alarms, the text of the first alarm is shown with the relevant information as short text. When selecting the alarm, a reduced alarm sequence display ASD will be opened showing findings pertaining to the alarm. Upon selecting one of those findings a predefined configuration of one or more tiles will automatically open in the graphical user interface 12, showing a project-specific engineered sce^¬ nario with instructions aimed at aiding the operator when fixing the situation.

A basic function area 34 (FIG 2) of the graphical user inter^¬ face 12 may comprise buttons for acknowledging an alarm and/or for accessing predefined screen settings, etc. An acknowledged button can be configured according to the appli- cable philosophy for acknowledging an alarm. A view button allows the operator to access and to toggle between multiple predefined screen settings for applications on the control hub. A menu button allows accessing a freely configurable menu, for example a menu for accessing support information, including e.g. contact information to a hotline, a link to a customer portal or sending an email for issuing a service request . Summarizing the above, this application proposes a method for operating a control system and a graphical user interface 12 provided for employing the method, wherein the graphical user interface 12 integrates multiple applications, information functions and control functions 14-16; 14' -16', each pertain^¬ ing to an entity or a subsystem of a technical plant, for ex^¬ ample a power plant, wherein the graphical user interface 12 comprises a button 28 for indicating a critical state of the plant, requiring an immediate action of an operator and wherein said button 28 is adapted to show a predefined con^¬ figuration 32 of project-specific engineered scenarios with instructions for the operator for fixing said critical state when clicking the button 28.

Reference numerals

10 integrated workbench program / workbench

12 graphical user interface

14-16 control system / application

14' -16' human machine interface (HMI)

18 interface

20 view / display

22 alarm section (of the graphical user interface) 24 side area (of the graphical user interface)

26 footline section (of the graphical user interface)

28 button

30 trip relevant alarm

32 predefined configuration / action

34 basic function area (of the graphical user inter^¬ face)

Claims

1. Graphical user interface (12) for a control system for op^¬ erating and monitoring an industrial process in a technical plant,

said user interface (12) being adapted to integrate multi^¬ ple applications (14-16), information and control functions (14' -16') in one common display, wherein each application, information function and control function (14-16; 14' -16') is communicatively and operatively connected with an entity or a subsystem of the plant,

wherein said display comprises a button (28) for indicat^¬ ing a critical state of the plant, requiring an immediate ac^¬ tion of an operator and

wherein said button (28) is adapted to show a predefined configuration (32) of project-specific engineered scenarios with instructions for the operator for fixing said critical state when clicking the button (28) .

2. The graphical user interface (12) of claim 1, wherein a workbench program (10) comprises interfaces (18) for inte^¬ grating said applications, information functions and control functions (14-16; 14' -16') and wherein the graphical user in^¬ terface (12) provides access to said integrated applications, information functions and control functions (14-16; 14' -16').

3. Method for operating a control system, said control system being provided for operating and monitoring an industrial process in a technical plant,

said method comprising the steps of

providing functions for an access to multiple applica^¬ tions, information and control functions (14-16; 14' -16'), wherein each application, information function and control function (14-16; 14' -16') is communicatively and operatively connected with an entity or a subsystem of the plant and in^¬ tegrated into a graphical user interface (12) for the control system,

indicating a critical state of the plant, requiring an im^¬ mediate action of an operator, and displaying a predefined configuration (32) of project- specific engineered scenarios with instructions for the oper^¬ ator for fixing said critical state.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the step of indi^¬ cating a critical state of the plant requiring an immediate action of an operator involves visually highlighting a button (28) on the graphical user interface (12) and wherein the step of displaying a predefined configuration (32) of pro- j ect-specific engineered scenarios is automatically invoked by activating the button (28) .