11-3323.pdf

© 2013 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech®, aspenONE®, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-3225-0413

Jump Start: Plant View in Aspen Plus®

A Brief Tutorial (and supplement to training and online documentation)

Vidya Mantrala, Product Management, Aspen Technology, Inc.Shelby Hegy, Product Marketing, Aspen Technology, Inc.



Table of ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Activating Plant View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Interpreting the Flowsheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Stream Color & Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Customizable Stream Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Composition Pie Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Hierarchy Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Stream Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Configuring the Plant Data Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Viewing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Mapping Plant Data to Stream Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Data View Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Plant Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Flowsheet Data Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Stream Data Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Time Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Data Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

High Performance Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Importing & Exporting Data Maps to Microsoft Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Use Case Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Additional Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13



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IntroductionPlant View is a tool in Aspen Plus that enables users the ability to view plant data side by side with model results in the

simulation environment. View real-time, time-averaged, or historical data side-by-side with predicted stream data. Plant

View gives process engineers the ability to facilitate better, smarter operational decisions by promoting the use of

simulation results in operations. This Jump Start Guide is a brief tutorial to help users get started with Plant View in less

time.

This is not meant to be used as a stand-alone reference document. AspenTech recommends that a range of other

resources referenced to give the new user a comprehensive view of how to use Plant View in Aspen Plus. These may

include:

• AspenTech support website (support.aspentech.com)

• AspenTech courseware available in on-line and in-person versions

• AspenTech business consultants

• Additional Jump Start Guides—available on a variety of related topics

This document covers mapping specific plant data tags against selected model stream variables in Aspen Plus. It assumes

that the user has Aspen Plus V8, a data historian such as IP.21, IP.21 Process Browser V8.0 or higher, and Internet Explorer

9 or higher. Note: Internet Explorer 8 is also compatible; however, the Google Chrome Frame must also be installed and

High Performance Trends will not be supported with Internet Explorer 8.

Activating Plant View Prior to activating Plant View, it is essential that the model has converged and simulation results are present. Once this is

complete, Plant View can be activated by pressing the Plant View button in the Show group on the View Ribbon.

Figure 1: The Plant View button is located in the Show group on the View ribbon.

Clicking the Plant View button will create a new Plant View contextual ribbon and open a Plant View Flowsheet. The Plant

View Flowsheet will be similar to the Main Flowsheet; however, it will contain stream animations, a table of mappings, and

a reference key.


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Figure 2: The Plant View Flowsheet

Interpreting the FlowsheetStream Color & Animations

The Plant View flowsheet (Fig. 2) is unique in that it uses colors and animations to represent stream properties. The color

of the stream indicates the phase of the stream and the animation represents the relative flow rate. On the right side of

the flow sheet, there is a Stream Animation Legend, shown below.

Figure 3: The Stream Animation Legend

Customizable Stream Tables

Stream tables can be activated by right clicking on the stream label and selecting Stream Table. Quickly and easily manage

which stream variables are displayed in the stream table with the Stream Results group in the Plant View tab or by right

clicking anywhere on the flowsheet, highlighting views with the cursor, and then selecting “Filter Data Views”. Selecting

“Filter Data Views” will open the Stream Data View Filter form.



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Figure 4: Stream Data View Filter Form

Composition Pie Charts

Composition pie charts provide a quick visual representation of the predicted stream composition. Composition pie charts

can be accessed via the Stream Data View Filter form (accessing this form is outlined in the Stream Tables section). In this

dialogue box, users can specify the location of the pie chart and also either a molar or mass basis. Each colored piece of

the pie chart represents the presence of a different component. The key for the composition colors is located above the

stream animation legend on the right side of the flowsheet.

Figure 5: Stream table with the corresponding composition pie chart

Hierarchy Blocks

The Plant View flowsheet incorporates the same Hierarchy Block functionality as the Main Flowsheet; therefore, users can

move into hierarchy block environments using a hierarchy browser (Figure 6). Users can also enter a hierarchy block by

left-clicking on the block itself (Figure 7).


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Figure 6: Using the Hierarchy Browser in Plant View

Figure 7: Clicking into the Hierarchy Block

Stream Tables

To view a stream table, right click on the stream label of choice and select the Stream Table option. The variables that

appear in the stream table can be customized via one of two ways. The first option is to right click anywhere on the flow

sheet and then highlight Views, then select Filter Data Views. The second option is to select or unselect variables in the

Stream Results group on the Plant View Ribbon.

Figure 8: Customize Stream Tables via the Stream Results group on the Plant View ribbon

Figure 9: Filter Data Views



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Configuring the Plant Data ServerIn order to view plant data in the Plant View environment, the plant data source must be specified. Prior to mapping the

data, IP.21 Process Browser must be installed on a separate server where it will point to a plant data server. Once this step

is complete, specify the Plant Data Source by clicking on the Source button in the Plant Data group on the Plant View

ribbon. See below:

Figure 10: The Source button in the Plant Data group of the Plant View ribbon

This will open the Plant Data Source form where the web21 URL of the data server should be entered. Once the URL is

specified, the data source name can also be specified. In this example, the data server is “plantdata” and the data source is

also named PLANTDATA.

Figure11: Aspen Search: Plant Data Source form

Note: The general form of the web21 URL for the plant data source is:

http://<servername>/web21/processdata/atprocessdatarest.dll

This is a web server that can be connected to plant data from a different server.


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Viewing Data Mapping Plant Data to Stream Variables

In order to view plant data side-by-side with simulation results, it is necessary to map plant data tags to the stream

variables. Right click on the stream of interest, and select “Tag Mapping”. This will open the “Steam Variable to Plant Tag

Mapping” form below.

Figure 12: Aspen Search: Stream Variable to Plant Tag Mapping form

The dialogue box is powered by Aspen Search which enables users to search for tags based on their name, unit of

measure, tag ID, type, or description. Aspen Search also automatically filters by variable type. For example, when

searching for a temperature it will automatically filter to show only data sources measured with units of temperature.

Figure 13: Search results for the temperature Simulation Variable

Once the tags are mapped, select OK and return to the flowsheet.



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The next step is to activate plant data views in the Plant View Flowsheet by checking the Stream Data Viewer, Flowsheet

Data Viewer, and/or Plant Data boxes in the Display Options group on the Plant View ribbon.

Figure 14: Plant Data on the Display Options group of the Plant View tab

Data View Options

Plant Data

The Plant Data Viewer attaches a plant data column to stream tables enabling a side by side comparison of plant data and

simulation results.

Figure 15: Plant Data option toggle button

Figure 16: Plant Data column added to stream table

Flowsheet Data Viewer

The Flowsheet Data Viewer provides a table of every mapped variable in the flowsheet in one place. The Flowsheet Data

Viewer allows for easy navigation of mapped variables in the Plant View environment.

Figure 17: Flowsheet Data Viewer toggle button


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Figure 18: Flowsheet Data Viewer

Stream Data Viewer

The Stream Data Viewer option enables users to either activate or deactivate all of their stream tables.

Figure19: Stream Data Viewer box

Time Filters

Once the Plant Data Tags are mapped, the data can be manipulated by different time filters. Real time data is the actual

data that is being written to the IP.21 database. Historical averaged data is viewed over a specified range of time, such as

the past three months. Time averaged data is viewed over a specified time period, such as the past thirty minutes. All

three data views are accessible via the Average Range button in the Plant Data group of the Plant View Ribbon.

Figure 20: The Average Range button for applying Time Filters

Figure 21: Plant Data Averaging Range Settings form



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Data Plots

Plant View enables users to view previews of IP.21 trends. To view, simply hover over the desired variable in the Flowsheet

Data Viewer or Plant Data Viewer attached to the stream table.

High Performance Trends

Plant View V8.2 and higher provides users access to IP.21 Process Browser High Performance Trends from within the

common shell of Aspen Plus. High Performance Trends enables access to more historical data for each tag through IP.21

Process Browser Web Plots. You can also view multiple tags concurrently. This allows for more detailed views of the plant

data, a larger range of data, and the ability to see the behavior of multiple tags with respect to other tags.

To plot multiple tags you must first activate the toggle buttons next to the tags you want to plot in the Flowsheet Data

Viewer.

Figure 23: Selecting multiple tags

Clicking the “Plant Trends” button in the Plant View Ribbon will open an IP.21 Process Browser Web Plots in a new tab. You

may be prompted for authentication from the plant data server if there are additional security restrictions set by your IT

Administrator. Use the login information for the Plant Data Server, not the client machine.

Figure 24: Plant Trends Button in Ribbon

Figure 22: IP.21 trend plot


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Figure 25: Plant Trends Browser Tab

The plot range is highlighted with sliders that adjust the range of the data based on the period of time selected. Clicking

and dragging the plot in either direction allows you to scroll backwards and forwards in time to see historical plant trends

(Figure 25).

To export a summary of tag information to Excel, click on “Tag Summary”.

Figure 26: Tag Summary Button in Plant Trends Browser Window

The exported summary includes the tags included on the plot, number of points in the range, the minimum and maximum

values for each tag, the average value of the range, and the standard deviation. This data is time stamped and references

the tag names and the plant data server where the tags originated. When the plots are supported with this information,

the user can visually judge how noisy the plant data is in this time period.



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Figure 27: Tag Summary Excel Worksheet

To view trends for a single plant data tag, simply map the tag to the desired stream and then select the stream variable of

interest by left clicking on the tag value in the Stream Table.

Figure 28: Selecting Tags from Stream Table

This will open up a Plant Trends Browser Window for that single tag. All other functionalities within the browser window

will remain the same.

Figure 29: Plant Trends Browser Window for a single plant data tag


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Importing & Exporting Data Maps to Microsoft® ExcelPlant View enables users to compare multiple sets of plant data tags to one model by saving the data maps. Plant Data

maps show up on the Flowsheet Data Viewer table.

Figure 30: IP.21 Flowsheet Data Viewer table

There are two different ways to export maps from excel. The first type is time stamped and does not include the plant data

tags. The second type includes plant data tags. Exporting without the tags is the best option for creating data fits in Excel.

To export time-stamped maps, click on the Excel icon near the upper right hand corner of the Flowsheet Data Viewer

table.

Figure 31: Excel export button

The exported map will look like this:

Figure 32: Time stamped file exported into Excel

This can be saved and imported back into Plant View. This feature is convenient because it allows users to capture

behaviors of the plant data at specific times.

To export a map with tags, click on the Export Map to Excel Button in the plant data group on the Plant View tab.

Figure 33: Export Map button in the Plant Data group of the Plant View ribbon



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Figure 34: Excel file with Plant Data Maps

As shown in Figure 27, this map points to the data server; therefore, when the file is imported into Plant View, the data

tags are live. By saving data maps and tags in this fashion, multiple tags can be mapped to the same models and vice versa

which allows for case comparison and troubleshooting.

Use Case ScenariosPlant View gives users the ability to view plant data by simulation results—a technological first in the process modeling

industry. Another innovation is the ability to view and compare multiple plant data tags on the same plot (V8.2 and

higher). These breakthroughs can be applied to several different use case scenarios in plant operations.

Plant View promotes informed decision making by reducing the hassle and time required to compare simulation results

with actual plant data. By using simulation results in conjunction with live plant data, process engineers can employ what-

if studies prior to altering operating conditions in the plant resulting in better, more informed decisions.

Plant View can also aid in troubleshooting previous plant operational problems. View plant data corresponding to the

incident, and then modify the model until the simulation results match the plant data. Once the simulation converges to

match the plant data, process engineers can find the origin of the problem and avoid such problems in the future.

Additional ResourcesOn-Demand Short Videoshttps://www.brainshark.com/aspentech1/Intro_Plant_View_Aspen_Plus/

AspenTech YouTube Channelhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr-ZAaPknSU

About AspenTech

AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimizes process manufacturing—for energy, chemicals,

engineering and construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a

chemical process. With integrated aspenONE® solutions, process manufacturers can implement best

practices for optimizing their engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain operations. As a result,

AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve margins, reduce costs, and become

more energy efficient. To see how the world’s leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to

achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com.

© 2013 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech®, aspenONE®, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of AspenTechnology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-3323-0413

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activating plant view

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