The Process Interaction Map finds the Root Cause of process upsets. The map:

IdentifiestheRootCauseofUpsets QuantifiestheImpactofImprovements SolvesInteractingLoopProblems ProvidesIn-depthProcessInsight TuneOver60LoopsaDay

How the Interaction Map Works

TheProcessInteractionMapisagraphicaldisplayofthecorrelationsbetweenprocessvariables.Thestrengthofthecor-relationisshownbythestrengthofthecoloronthechart.Bothpositive(red)andnegative(blue)correlationsareshown.

Sortbystrengthofcorrelation,andyoucanimmediatelyseewhichprocessvariableshavethestrongestinfluence.

NewUnitoperationassessmentsonProcessInteractionMap.TheProcessInteractionMapwillnowshowthecorrelationsbetweenloopProcessVariablesandUnitOperationAssessments.ThesearetheOPCinputsyouhaveassignedforaunit

operation’senergycost,materialcost,quality,reliabilityorthroughput.

Find the Root Cause

Time-ShiftShowsCauseandEffect

ProcessInteractionMapexcelsatfindingtherootcauseofinteractionproblems.Youcanquicklyidentifyrootcausesbylookingforthestrongestcolors,furthesttotheright.

LeftandRightShowsLagandLeadOntheInteractionMap,leftandrightrepresentthetimeaxis.Strongcolorsontheleftshowlikely“effects”,becausethesevariableslagbehindthereferenceloop.Strongcolorsontherightareleadingindicators,sothesearelikelycauses.

TheInteractionMapallowsyoutounderstandcorrelationsbetween:

ControlLoops Valves Disturbances ProcessConditions AmbientTemperature Don’twastetime.Gostraighttotherootcausewith ProcessInteractionMaps.

Fix One, Solve Many

Quiteoften,therootcauseisfoundupstream,oftenintheutilitiesareaoftheplant.Whenyouidentifythesinglerootcauseoftheproblem,youoftenstabilizemanypartsofthedownstreamprocess.

Find The Root Cause of Process Upsets

Quantify the Impact of Improvements

Whenyoumakeanimprovementtotheprocessandcontrols,thereisa“rippleeffect”ofbenefits.Quiteoften,themajoreconomicsavingsoccursdownstream,awayfromtheloopyoutuned.Todocumentthetruevalue,youneedtoknowwheretolook.

TheProcessInteractionMapmakesiteasyforyoutoidentifyaffectedcontrolloops.Solvingalevelcontrolproblemmightactualbereducingyourenergycosts!Youjustneedtoknowwheretolook.

Solve Interacting Loop Problems

Somecommontypesofinteractingloopsinclude:

CascadeControls RatioControls FeedforwardControls RecycleStreams HeatIntegration UpstreamorDownstreamProcessUnlessyouknowwheretolook,youcan’tsolvetheseproblems.TheProcessInteractionMappointsyouintherightdirec-tion,soyoualwaysknowwhichloopshavethestrongestinteractions.

PlantTriagealsoincludesthetoolsyouneedtosolveinteractionproblems.Withthesetools,youcanTuneCascadeLoopseasily,andsolveinteractionproblems.

Incredible Process Insights

ProcessengineersareoftenthemostimpressedwiththeProcessInteractionMap.Thisisbecauseitoffersincredibleinsightsintotheperformanceoftheprocess.Youcananswerquestionslikethese:

Whichprocesssetpointshaveanimpactonfinishedproductquality? Whatistheeffectofproductmixonenergyconsumption? Whenwechangerawmaterials,howlongbeforethefinishingunitisaffected? Doesthereactortemperatureaffecttheproductquality?Byhowmuch? Whatisthegreatestsourceofprocessvariability?

Get the Big Picture with Interaction Hot Spots

InteractionHotSpotsgraphicallyhighlightinteractionsfromacrosstheplant.Usingthistool,engineerscanquicklyfindtherootcauseofprocessinteractions.Upsetstoquality,energyandshutdownsareeasilyseen.

InteractionHotSpotsisalsoveryusefulasatoolfordevelopingthescopeofMPCprojects.