A software architecture for configuration and usage of process simulation models : software component technology and XML-based approach

Increased use of process simulation in different phases of the process and automation life cycle makes the information management related to model configuration and usage more important. Information management increases the requirements for more efficient model customisation and reuse, improved configurational co-use between different simulators, more generic extensibility of the simulation tools and more flexible run-time connectivity between the simulators and other applications. In this thesis, the emphasis is on large-scale dynamic process simulation of continuous processes in the power, pulp and paper industries. The main research problem is how to apply current information technologies, such as software component technology and XML, to facilitate the use of process simulation and to enhance the benefits gained from using it. As a development task this means developing a new software architecture that takes into account the requirements of improved information management in process simulation. As a research objective it means analysing whether it is possible to meet the new requirements in one software architecture using open specifications developed in information and automation technologies. Process simulation is analysed from the points of view of standardisation, current process simulation systems and simulation research. A new architectural solution is designed and implemented. The degree of meeting the new requirements is experimentally verified by testing the alleged features using examples and industrial cases. The main result of this thesis is the design, description and implementation of a new integration architecture for the configuration and usage of process simulation models. The original features of the proposed architecture are its openness, general distribution concept and distributed extensibility features.reviewe

Requirement verification in simulation-based automation testing

The emergence of the Industrial Internet results in an increasing number of complicated temporal interdependencies between automation systems and the processes to be controlled. There is a need for verification methods that scale better than formal verification methods and which are more exact than testing. Simulation-based runtime verification is proposed as such a method, and an application of Metric temporal logic is presented as a contribution. The practical scalability of the proposed approach is validated against a production process designed by an industrial partner, resulting in the discovery of requirement violations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Added IEEE copyright notic

Applying graph matching techniques to enhance reuse of plant design information

This article investigates how graph matching can be applied to process plant design data in order to support the reuse of previous designs. A literature review of existing graph matching algorithms is performed, and a group of algorithms is chosen for further testing. A use case from early phase plant design is presented. A methodology for addressing the use case is proposed, including graph simplification algorithms and node similarity measures, so that existing graph matching algorithms can be applied in the process plant domain. The proposed methodology is evaluated empirically on an industrial case consisting of design data from several pulp and paper plants

Applying Modelica Tools to System Dynamics Based Learning Games: Project Management Game

Learning simulation games are interactive simulations with game characteristics. This paper presents a learning simulation game for EPCM (engineering, procurement, and construction management) project management training. The simulation model utilises system dynamics, which is a methodology for understanding the behaviour of dynamic complex systems of different domains using modelling and simulation. The system dynamics model in turn uses the equation-based Modelica modelling language: a system dynamics model created with the graphical user interface is converted to a pure Modelica model. Two Modelica environments, namely, OpenModelica and the custom Modelica solver, have been used to simulate the generated Modelica model. The focus of this article is on how generic systems modelling and simulation platforms such as Modelica based environments can be utilised in developing a learning simulation game: what benefits do they bring and what disadvantages do they have? On the one hand, it is evaluated how the Modelica language as such is suitable for being used in a learning game development. On the other hand, the suitability of the selected implementation environments, that is, OpenModelica, the custom Modelica solver, Simantics, and Simupedia, is evaluated. The paper also shortly presents how the project management game was received by its players