1. j5 System
2. Typical Processes
3. Detection and Registration of the Trip
4. Operator Actions
5. Registration of the Return to Normal
6. Additional Comments after the Return to Normal
7. Statistics and Calculations
8. Site Data Queries
9. Site to Corporate Data Rollup
10. Corporate Statistics Queries and Reports

j5 System

For more information on the j5 system, please see the St James Software Web Site at http://www.sjsoft.com.

j5 is an Enterprise Application Interface (EAN) that addresses the needs of multi-site Power Utilities in the area of critical data capture and analysis. The application is the market leader in Industrial Control Room Logbooks and is offered by many process control engineers such as Invensys and Aspen Technology and is used by hundreds of companies worldwide like Calpine Power Corporation (California), Siemens and GWF (USA).

Typical Processes

This section covers the typical scenarion expected when a site experiences a trip. It is arranged in chronological order. This description is carried out in technical terms. To simplify the description, a specific example has been chosen.

Detection and Registration of the Trip

• In this example, a trip occurs when the PLC detects an alarm temperature in the stator of a turbine and it initiates the trip sequence.
• The j5 System’s OPC connection registers the trip and activates the trip interrogation script.
• The script reads significant information from the PLC such as:
• The register that holds the tag name that caused the trip,
• The exact time of the trip,
• Any other relevant information.
• The script then inserts a log into the j5 Logbook. The details of the log include:
• The Log Type (in this case Shutdown resulting from a Trip Condition),
• The setting of Priorities, Start Time of the Trip, the equipment information causing the trip and any other information programmed into the script.
• The script also gathers information from a tag database. For example, the tagname could be T3267.PH. The tag database would show this as Unit 2, Generator Stator Winding Sensor 3267 Overtemperature Alarm. This information is also inserted in the Logbook.
• J5 Automatically colours the various fields within the Log.
• The status of the log is marked active. (When the system returns to on-line, this status is automatically reset to inactive.)
• A unique human readable id is also added to the log. The is a serial number which can be referenced from other logs.
  
  

Operator Actions

• An operator will notice that there is a new log in the logbook. (The relevant tab will change colours indicating a new log has been added.)
• The new log will be shown in aggressive colors indicating he/she must address this log.
• The operator completes the required information in the log. (See the diagram below.) (The different fields will be discussed in more detail later.)
  

• The operator will add general comments and information that the plc will not have known.
• In some cases, there are “drill down combos” which enable an operator to locate the specific cause or piece of equipment quickly without having to choose from a large list of options.
• The operator can also add attachments to further add information to the log. (For example, a jpg graphic, a Word or Excel document etc.)
• The operator can also link this log to a log in the same logbook or in a different logbook via the Cross Reference ID. (Or in fact to any web page.)
• Once the operator has completed the entries, the Save link is clicked and the log is added to the database.

• The system calculates the duration of the event and shows this in the duration field.

• An email (or sms) is sent to the recipients that have subscribed to these events indicating the nature of the trip and all the details added by the system and the operator.
• The information is also captured in the audit log and is available for viewing by any of the users authorized to do so.
• Once the changes have been made, a less aggressive colour is used to indicate that the information has now been added to the log.
  
  

Registration of the Return to Normal

When the system returns to normal (i.e. the utility starts up again), the j5 system will:

• Detect the startup via the OPC interface to the PLC
• Set the event end time in the logbook and calculate the duration of the event.
• Set the status to inactive
• Sends an email with all the relevant statistics to the recipients that have subscribed to the event.
• Updates the availability statistics database tables. The tables provide information
  
  

Additional Comments after the Return to Normal

At any stage, the operators or supervisors can add additional comments and make adjustments to the log. For example, if the reason for the trip only becomes clear later, then the operator can add to the information. Whenever a modification occurs, the system will:

• Add the information to the audit log, making a note of who made the change and at what time the change was made,
• Send an updated email to the users that have subscribed to the event.

Note that some information may not be modified. For example, the information provided by the PLC. The system’s authorization management system will take care of this.

Statistics and Calculations

In addition to the logs that are stored for every event, there are statistics that are stored periodically.

• These statistics are typically stored on a shift basis and record such things as the total uptime, number of trips, trips associated with particular causes etc. The statistics are updated with every trip as well as updated at the end of the shift.
• The statistics are attached to the handover log and there are also fields where operators can add summmary information such as information relating to the number of open work orders, ongoing maintenance and operating activities etc.
• The statistics are also available from the perspective of the effected users (via the sector), the affected euipment and also the cause of the events.
• Since the data is recorded against specific times, charts may be created showing trends against any of the different factors.
• Additionally, the MTTR/MTBF figures are also calculated against various variables such as the equipment or group of equipment (e.g. a power train)
• Statistics on any of the devices can also be pulled up using the filtering mechanism.
• Finally, the statistics for each of the consumer groups based on the sector are maintained and held.
• Preformatted reports may be scheduled with the in-built j5 data scheduler and these reports may be printed or emailed in spreadsheet, pdf or html format.
• The reports are also available on line and in a repository with an active index for retrieving them.
  
  

Site Data Queries

A manager, supervisor or operator can make queries on the logs and statistics at any time. The user may:

• Use the predefined filter buttons to get a filtered view of the logs. (See diagram below.)
  
  

• Use the Ad Hoc filter mechanism to find specific logs of interest. (See diagram below.)
  
  

• Use the database viewer application to look directly at the data.
• Use the database query program (we support Oracle, MySQL, SQLServer, Access, SQLite and PostgreSQL.)
• Set up specific queries in the in-built scripting language.
• On finding the information, the user may print the information directly to the screen or printer, may save the information into a spreadsheet or pdf file directly from the logbook screen.
  
  

Site to Corporate Data Rollup

The preceding information all relates to information that is stored on a single site. This information is of course (via any browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer) available to any user in the corporate head office. In addition to this, on any event or at the end of the shift, the information is sent up to the corporate data warehouse.database. This database contains cumulative information from all the sites. This occurs as follows:

• When a record is added or modified on any site, the j5 system connects to the corporate server via a j5 SOAP server and the record is pushed into the server database.
• Likewise, when the statistics and handover information is modified or updated, the information is also pushed into the j5 server at the corporate head office.
• Each record in the data warehouse contains a field which defines the site and sector from which the log originates.
• There are also maintenance facilities to monitor the progress and efficacy of the data rollup facility.
  
  

Corporate Statistics Queries and Reports

• Since the corporate data warehouse contains all the logs and statistics from all the sites, updated in near real-time, the corporate user can query the information and compare the information from the different sites. For example, the user may want to get a summary of the total percentage uptime of all the sites for the last week.
• Once the information has been displayed, the user can then drill down to the individual site log level to find out the cause of specific downtime.
• Corporate dashboard displays are also available showing the relative performance of each of the sites relative to each other.
• Reports showing corporate wide information may be emailed in spreadsheet or pdf format to the registered users.