Implementation of process surety improvements at the ICPP through the Process Monitoring Computer System

摘要

The Process Monitoring Computer System (PMCS) at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) is a system of data acquisition devices which acquire and transmit process data to a computer system for processing and storage. These signals are in the form of analog (continuous) and digital (discrete) data from the existing process instrumentation and specialty sensors installed on the plant equipment. This system, initially an experiment in the remote Safeguards analysis of an operating facility, was a retrofit installation to the plant which was constructed in the 1950's. The PMCS monitors the ICPP Fuel Process Operations which consist of various headend dissolutions, three solvent extraction cycles, and a fluidized bed denitration process. While the interactive analysis of the process data is an important and demonstrably useful feature of the system, several important operating concerns are addressed through the use of advisory programs which act on the process data to provide information to the process operators. These programs have all been designed to increase the operational surety of the ICPP and to take full advantage of the power of a modern digital computer system for the placement of maximum process information in the hands of the process operator. The use of process computer technology at the ICPP has shown that when such information becomes routinely available, it is possible to construct meaningful, useful systems on the computers to alleviate operating concerns such as inadvertent transfers, offer valid process operating advice, and aid in attempts to eliminate unneeded process shutdowns due to lack of feedstocks and misinterpretation of the process data. (ERA citation 17:027693)