System and method for configuring separated monitor and effect blocks of a process control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10809689-B2
Application number	US-201615766892-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2016
Priority date	Oct 9, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

A system and method for managing function blocks within a process control system for a process plant includes accessing an initial cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects. The system and method may then define a set of related groups within the initial CEM including: (i) accessing a set of rules associated with the set of related groups, (ii) identifying a portion of the set of causes that are related to a portion of the set of effects according to the set of rules and based on at least a portion of the corresponding cause-effect pairs, and (iii) rearranging the portion of the set of causes and the portion of the set of effects such that the portion of the corresponding cause-effect pairs are rearranged.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A computer-implemented method of managing safety logic within a process control system for a process plant, the method comprising:
enabling a user to access an initial cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein each of the set of causes represents a condition within the process plant and each of the set of effects represents an effect to be performed within the process plant, and wherein at least some of the set of causes and the set of effects are related as cause-effect pairs whereby the corresponding effect is intended to activate in response to an occurrence of one or more corresponding causes; and
defining a set of related groups within the initial CEM including, for each related group of the set of related groups:
accessing a set of rules associated with the set of related groups,
identifying a portion of the set of causes that are related to a portion of the set of effects according to the set of rules and based on at least a portion of the corresponding cause-effect pairs,
rearranging, based on the set of related groups, the portion of the set of causes and the portion of the set of effects such that the portion of the corresponding cause-effect pairs are rearranged; and
determining one of the set of related groups as a subset of the set of causes and a subset of the set of effects, wherein the subset of the set of causes or the subset of the set of effects of the one of the related groups is less than all of the set of causes or all of the set of effects; and

creating one or more logic blocks to implement each of the determined defined sets of related groups.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein creating one or more logic blocks comprises:
configuring one or more function blocks for the process control system according to the one or more logic blocks of each one of the sets of related groups.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a rule of the set of rules specifies that a specified portion of the set of effects must be within the same related group, and wherein identifying the portion of the set of causes that are related to the portion of the set of effects comprises:
identifying the portion of the set of causes as those having the portion of the corresponding cause-effect pairs with the specified portion of the set of effects.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a rule of the set of rules specifies that the portion of the set of causes must number a certain amount.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a rule of the set of rules specifies that each cause of the set of causes and each effect of the set of effects can only belong to a single related group of the set of related groups.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
for each related group of the set of related groups, automatically calculating at least one numerical representation for the related group according to the rearranged cause-effect pairs.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein automatically calculating the numerical representation for the related group comprises:
automatically calculating a hexadecimal representation for the related group according to the rearranged cause-effect pairs.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:
generating an overall cause and effect matrix (CEM) based on the numerical representation for each related group of the set of related groups.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:
configuring one or more function blocks for the process control system according to the numerical representation of each of the set of related groups.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:
for each of the set of related groups, comparing the numerical representation to a stored numerical representation; and
based on the comparing, determining whether a set of discrepancies exists.

11. A system for managing safety logic within a process control system for a process plant, comprising:
a memory configured to store (i) an initial cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein each of the set of causes represents a condition within the process plant and each of the set of effects represents an effect to be performed within the process plant, and wherein at least some of the set of causes and the set of effects are related as cause-effect pairs whereby the corresponding effect activates in response to an occurrence of one or more corresponding causes, and (ii) a set of rules; and
an analysis module executed by a processor and configured to:
access the initial CEM from the memory, and
define a set of related groups within the initial CEM including, for each related group of the set of related groups:
access, from the memory, the set of rules,
identify a portion of the set of causes that are related to a portion of the set of effects according to the set of rules and based on at least a portion of the corresponding cause-effect pairs, and
rearrange, based on the set of related groups, the portion of the set of causes and the portion of the set of effects such that the portion of the corresponding cause-effect pairs are rearranged, and
determine one of the set of related groups as a subset of the set of causes and a subset of the set of effects, wherein the subset of the set of causes or the subset of the set of effects of the one of the related groups is less than all of the set of causes or all of the set of effects; and

create one or more logic blocks to implement each of the determined defined sets of related groups.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a control system configuration module configured to configure one or more function blocks for the process control system according to the set of related groups.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein a rule of the set of rules specifies that a specified portion of the set of effects must be within the same related group, and wherein to identify the portion of the set of causes that are related to the portion of the set of effects, the analysis module is configured to:
identify the portion of the set of causes as those having the portion of the corresponding cause-effect pairs with the specified portion of the set of effects.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein a rule of the set of rules specifies that the portion of the set of causes must number a certain amount, and wherein to identify the portion of the set of causes that are related to the portion of the set of effects, the analysis module is configured to:
identify the portion of the set of causes that are related to the portion of the set of effects until the portion of the set of causes numbers the certain amount.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein a rule of the set of rules specifies that each cause of the set of causes and each effect of the set of effects can only belong to a single related group of the set of related groups.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the analysis module is further configured to:
for each related group of the set of related groups, automatically calculate a numerical representation for the related group according to the rearranged cause-effect pairs.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein to automatically calculate the numerical representation for the related group, the analysis module is configured to:
automatically calculate a hexadecimal representation for the related group according to the rearranged cause-effect

Assignees

• Fisher Rosemount Systems Inc

Inventors

• Law Gary K
• Diaz Sergio
• Sherriff Godfrey R

Classifications

• G05B23/0248 Primary

  Causal models, e.g. fault tree; digraphs; qualitative physics · CPC title

• G05B19/052

  Linking several PLC's · CPC title

• G05B2219/24024

  Safety, surveillance · CPC title

• G05B19/0428 Primary

  Safety, monitoring (G05B19/0423 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G05B19/056 Primary

  Programming the PLC · CPC title