Computer-aided operation engineering (CAPE-Oper): System architecture

Plant operation is engineered during process / plant design stage, while continuously matured and tuned during plant operation. The operation engineering term is used to refer to the different activities that are required to define and validate operation for the underlying plant process, which includes operating procedures synthesis, operation controls, and execution mechanisms. This paper proposes computer-aided operation engineering environment, which manages all activities of operation engineering, as integrated with other modules process / plant design environment. The proposed environment is used to synthesize operating procedures in different hierarchical levels including process operation and production chain levels. The concept of operation control is illustrated where process constraints and control rules are classified and synthesized in generic form and plant specific form. Operation visualization and validation functions are realized within the proposed solution.