System and method for providing interlinked user interfaces corresponding to safety logic of a process control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11709472-B2
Application number	US-201615766904-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2016
Priority date	Oct 9, 2015
Publication date	Jul 25, 2023
Grant date	Jul 25, 2023

Abstract

A system and method for enabling access to information included in a safety requirement specification (SRS) for a process plant, the process plant controlled by a process control system including displaying, in a user interface, a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of elements including 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 the corresponding condition. The system and method further including receiving, via the user interface, a selection of an element of the set of elements, and, in response to receiving the selection: (i) accessing, from the SRS, a set of information associated with the element of the set of elements, and (ii) displaying the set of information in the user interface.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A computer-implemented method of enabling access to information included in a safety requirement specification (SRS) for a process plant, the process plant controlled by a process control system, the method comprising:
displaying, in a user interface, a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of elements including 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, 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 of the corresponding conditions, and wherein the set of elements includes at least one associated SRS;
receiving, via the user interface, a selection of an element of the set of elements;
in response to receiving the selection of the element of the set of elements:
displaying a menu including a set of display options, each of the set of display options indicating a format for displaying data corresponding to the selected element,

wherein the set of display options includes a logic block configuration and at least one of a portion of a process plant diagram corresponding to the selected element, or safety protocol information corresponding to the selected element, wherein the logic block configuration indicates a safety logic corresponding to the selected element of the cause and effect matrix,
receiving a selection of a first display option from the set of display options,
in response to receiving the selection of the first display option:
accessing, from the SRS, a set of information associated with the element of the set of elements based on the first display option, and
displaying the set of information in the user interface based on the first display option.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , where receiving, via the user interface, the selection of the element of the set of elements comprises:
receiving, via the user interface, the selection of a cause of the set of causes;

and wherein accessing, from the SRS, the set of information comprises:
accessing, from the SRS, the set of information associated with the cause of the set of causes.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , where receiving, via the user interface, the selection of the element of the set of elements comprises:
receiving, via the user interface, the selection of an effect of the set of effects;

and wherein accessing, from the SRS, the set of information comprises:
accessing, from the SRS, the set of information associated with the effect of the set of effects.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein accessing, from the SRS, the set of information comprises:
accessing, from the SRS, at least one of (i) a piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) associated with the element of the set of elements, and (ii) a safety instrumented function (SIF) description associated with the element of the set of elements.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to receiving the selection:
initiating an application configured to display, via the user interface, safety logic associated with the element of the set of elements.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via the user interface, an additional selection of a portion of the set of information displayed in the user interface;
accessing, from the SRS, an additional set of information associated with the portion of the set of information; and
displaying the additional set of information in the user interface.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via the user interface, an additional selection of a portion of the set of information displayed in the user interface, the portion of the set of information corresponding to an additional element of the set of elements of the cause and effect matrix (CEM); and
displaying, in the user interface, the CEM and an indication of the additional element.

8. A system for enabling access to information included in a safety requirement specification (SRS) for a process plant, the process plant controlled by a process control system, comprising:
a user interface;
a memory configured to store (i) a set of computer-executable instructions, (ii) the SRS, and (iii) a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of elements including 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, 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 of the corresponding conditions, and wherein the set of elements includes at least one associated SRS; and
a processor interfaced with the user interface and the memory, and configured to execute the set of computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to:
cause the user interface to display the CEM,
receive, via the user interface, a selection of an element of the set of elements,
in response to receiving the selection of the element of the set of elements:
display a menu including a set of display options, each of the set of display options indicating a format for displaying data corresponding to the selected element, wherein the set of display options includes a logic block configuration and at least one of a portion of a process plant diagram corresponding to the selected element, or safety protocol information corresponding to the selected element, wherein the logic block configuration indicates a safety logic corresponding to the selected element of the cause and effect matrix,
receive a selection of a first display option of the set of display options,
in response to receiving the selection of the first display option:
access, from the SRS, a set of information associated with the element of the set of elements based on the first display option, and
cause the user interface to display the set of information in the user interface based on the first display option.

9. The system of claim 8 , where the processor receives, via the user interface, the selection of a cause of the set of causes,
and wherein the processor accesses, from the SRS, the set of information associated with the cause of the set of causes.

10. The system of claim 8 , where the processor receives, via the user interface, the selection of an effect of the set of effects,
and wherein the processor accesses, from the SRS, the set of information associated with the effect of the set of effects.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor accesses, from the SRS, at least one of (i) a piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) associated with the element of the set of elements, and (ii) a safety instrumented function (SIF) description associated with the element of the set of elements.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to, in response to receiving the selection:
initiate an application configured to cause the user interface to display safety logic associated with the element of the set of elements.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive, via the user interface, an additional selection of a portion of the set of information displayed in the user interface,
access, from the SRS, an additiona

Assignees

• Fisher Rosemount Systems Inc

Inventors

• Law Gary K
• Diaz Sergio
• Colclazier Deborah R

Classifications

• G05B19/05 Primary

  Programmable logic controllers, e.g. simulating logic interconnections of signals according to ladder diagrams or function charts · CPC title

• G05B19/042

  using digital processors (G05B19/05 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G05B19/0426

  Programming the control sequence · CPC title

• G05B19/0428 Primary

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

• G05B19/056 Primary

  Programming the PLC · CPC title