Software graphically highlights plant interactions.December 23, 2008 -
Designed to monitor all plant control loops and instruments in real-time, PlantTriage includes browser-based Interaction Hot Spots tool, which graphically highlights plant interactions. Green indicates no interaction, while yellow indicates some interaction, and red indicates strong interaction. Users can click on graphical hot spot to start detailed investigation, displaying real-time process variable trends and process interaction map, and establishing root cause of interaction problem.
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Original Press release
ExperTune, Inc.
1020 James Dr., Suite A
Hartland, WI, 53029
USA
Software Quickly Pinpoints Plant Interactions
ExperTune's PlantTriage software includes a new tool that graphically highlights plant interactions. Using the new "Interaction Hot Spots", engineers can quickly pinpoint the root cause of process interactions. Engineers can resolve these upsets to improve quality, energy, production rate, and process uptime.
The browser-based "Interaction Hot Spots" tool is now included with PlantTriage, control loop monitor. PlantTriage monitors all plant control loops and instruments in real-time. Interactions between control loops appear as colored blocks on the Interaction Hot Spots display. Stronger interactions are indicated by stronger colors.
Following PlantTriage's intuitive color scheme, green indicates no interaction, yellow indicates some interaction, and red indicates strong interaction. On a single web page, users can see all of the significant interactions in the entire plant. As impressive as it is to have a complete picture of interactions, pinpointing the interactions is just the starting point.
The Hot Spots display is interactive. Using a slider, users can filter the display to show only the most significant interactions. Simple drop-down menus allow the user to narrow the scope of an effort, and focus, for example, on just a few unit operations.
John Gerry, President of ExperTune says, "Many plants have huge real-time databases, but they haven't been getting the value from them. Now we have the software and computing power to extract meaningful information, and present it in simple, graphical displays. Leveraging this information, engineers can solve problems in minutes, rather than weeks."
Users can click on a graphical hot spot to start a detailed investigation. This launches a context-sensitive drill-down into the relevant data from the interacting loops. This includes display of real-time process variable trends and a process interaction map. Using this information, users can establish the root cause of interaction problems in a matter of minutes.
There are many uses for the Interaction Hot Spots. George Buckbee, Vice President of Product Development at ExperTune says: "Advanced control projects get a boost from the Interaction Hot Spots because it can quickly identify the appropriate scope of the APC project. When coupled with PlantTriage's ability to get the existing regulatory loops
under control, this is a very powerful combination."
PlantTriage users are already reporting successes from using interaction tools. One plant in Alabama is now saving over $1 million per year, after solving an interaction problem that started in the utilities area. Buckbee adds, "These tools are showing us that many process problems start upstream. By resolving interactions at the source, engineers are leveraging their capabilities like never before."
The Interaction Hot Spots tool is available as a standard feature in PlantTriage.
About PlantTriage and ExperTune
For 22 years, ExperTune has created award-winning optimization software that runs in thousands of plants world-wide.
ExperTune's PlantTriage®, Control Loop Monitor, oversees the optimization of an entire plant. PlantTriage® optimizes the entire process, including equipment, operations, and controls. The PlantTriage suite of optimization tools are designed to increase the efficiency of processes. The tools include swing or oscillation detection and elimination, interaction analysis, modeling, robustness, linearization, valve wear analysis, pH linearization, time series analysis, MPC performance improvement, 6-sigma, frequency response, and PID tuning tools. ExperTune is a member of the OPC Foundation. For more information, set your browser to www.expertune.com
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