Mathias Oppelt

Re-use of existing simulation models for DCS engineering via the Functional Mock-up Interface

The Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) is the result of a research program initiated by Daimler AG, further industrial companies, and several institutes, with the aim of enabling the exchange of dynamic simulation models between different simulation tools as well as their co-simulation. The upcoming release of the second version of this standard in 2014 is the motivation for the current investigation into possible uses in the process industry. The standard is therefore presented and discussed in general, but with focus on the needs of the process industry. This article also illustrates how a Functional Mock-up Unit (FMU) can be coupled to widely-used simulation tools and presents a concept for its coupling and implementation. The concept uses the open and well-defined Shared-Memory-Gateway provided by the SIMIT Simulation Framework.

Integrated virtual commissioning an essential activity in the automation engineering process: From virtual commissioning to simulation supported engineering

Production plants within manufacturing and process industries are becoming more and more complex systems. For a safe and demand sufficient production the automation system of a production plant is mission critical. Therefore the correct functioning and engineering of the automation system is essential. Nowadays the use of a virtual commissioning step before deploying the automation software on the real production plant is used more often. Within the virtual commissioning the automation software is tested against a virtual plant model, sufficient to check out the correct functioning of the automation system. Usually virtual commissioning is used as a step at the end of the automation engineering, as proposed by VDI 4499. Within this paper an integrated virtual commissioning is proposed, where the automation software is continuously tested against a virtual plant model during the overall engineering phase. The virtual plant is growing together with the automation software and thus enables simulation supported automation engineering. Benefits of the proposed workflow are that errors can be detected immediately after the implementation and the use of the virtual plant model could be extended to various stages of the engineering workflow.

Towards an integrated use of simulation within the life-cycle of a process plant

Modern process plants are becoming more and more complex with high demands placed on design, engineering and operation. Throughout the life-cycle of process plants there is always the typical conflict involving costs, time and quality. One way of resolving this conflict is to employ simulation technology as it can be used to answer questions relating to engineering and operation earlier and with lower risks. In 2014, the authors conducted a global online survey investigating the current and future role of simulation within the life-cycle of a process plant. Based on the responses of more than 200 participants, fields of action and requirements have been drawn up to help reach the goal of continuously using simulation in the future. A first prototypical implementation towards concurrently using simulation within the life-cycle of a process plant is presented in this paper. This prototype uses tools for simulation, plant design and process automation that are available today and focuses on the engineering and operational phase of the life-cycle.

Approach for integrated simulation based on plant engineering data

Digital information management is becoming more and more important to increase the plant efficiency over the complete plant life cycle. In future a plant will be described fully electronically. With the help of simulation, this virtual plant can be made to behave realistically. Today, no single tool can handle the multi-domain simulation aspects of a process plant. On the other hand, creating simulation models is expensive. This paper shows an approach on how to automatically create plant simulation models by reusing plant engineering data and couple different simulation tools in a dynamic co-simulation framework. A case study shows the feasibility and efficiency of this simulation approach.

Capability-analysis of co-simulation approaches for process industries

Today simulation is playing an important role at multiple steps within the life-cycle of a process plant. For the future it is expected that simulation will be integrated in the plant life-cycle and the backbone of an integrated engineering process. To simulate the different aspects of a plant multiple domains are necessary. Usually each domain requires specific simulation capabilities, thus multiple specialized tools are used along the life-cycle. Reusing simulation models throughout the life-cycle would be very beneficial. This paper investigates existing approaches for model reuse and co-simulation and motivates the creation of a standard for co-simulation from a process industry perspective.

Co-simulation with OPC UA

Engineering projects are driven by cost and time constraints. Furthermore, the increasing complexity of these projects makes it necessary to expose specification, implementation and conceptual errors as early as possible. Therefore, a well-established method is to carry out simulation experiments. This paper presents a concept for coupling already existing (domain-specific) simulation models that allow the integration of individual models in a co-simulation environment. A complete system simulation can take place in this environment. Therefore, the contribution of OPC UA as a generic middleware technology — a candidate for Industrie 4.0 scenarios that is being intensively discussed — is analysed. Through a prototypical implementation based on open62541, we can show a proof of concept by coupling different simulations (SIMIT and FMI instances). It also shows that our concept can be easily extended regarding the integration of new simulators.

Life Cycle Simulation for a Process Plant based on a Two-Dimensional Co-Simulation Approach

Abstract Simulation plays an important role at multiple stages within the life cycle of a process plant. We expect that in the future, simulation will be integrated into the plant life cycle and will form the backbone of a more integrated engineering process. Engineering creates a virtual plant capable of simulating different aspects and domains. As each specific domain usually requires certain simulation capabilities, multiple specialized simulation tools are used along the life cycle. The ability to reuse existing simulation models throughout the life cycle would be very beneficial. This paper investigates the existing standards for model reuse and co-simulation and describes a basic implementation for co-simulation based on OPC, shared memory and .NET technology.