Method and apparatus for chemical data repository

Abstract

The invention provides a method of efficiently determining the effectiveness of managing a chemical or industrial facility. The method involves identifying various industrial site assets and recording various specs of those assets over time. The various assets are grouped according to some hierarchy such as location, problem to be solved, or just asset type. The specs are compared to acceptable ranges and are scored positively or negatively. The system allows a user to determine trends by asset type, spec type, or by position within the hierarchy. This system allows both small scale and large-scale perspective, and can be used for both reactive and preemptive decision making.

1 . A method for efficiently observing the effectiveness of an industrial facility, the method comprising:
 inputting one or more specs from one or more data sources relating to the physical attributes of two or more assets into a computer,   organizing the assets according to a hierarchy,   displaying the data in a format allowing the user to compare the specs by asset type, spec type, or position within the hierarchy.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the spec is selected from the list consisting of: pH, temperature, voltage, age, viscosity, density, weight, salinity, concentration of a particular composition of matter, or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the hierarchy is selected from the list consisting of: asset category, geographic location, unit of ownership, time of operation, cost of operation, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of scoring at least one spec by determining if they fall within an acceptable range of values. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising the step of aggregating at least some of the specs of at least one asset and determining if the aggregate spec falls within an acceptable range of values 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of providing an unequal weight to certain specs. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of determining an overall rating by aggregating the specs of multiple assets. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  in which the operation of at least one asset involves at least two specs, altering the value of each spec directly causes a specific change in the cost of operating or maintaining the asset, and altering one spec mitigates the costs associated with altering another spec, wherein the method further comprises the step of displaying the associated costs of various possible alterations of one or more of the specs. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising the step of operating the asset in accordance with the maintenance of the specs in conformance with the lowest possible cost combination. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  in which at least one asset is selected from the list consisting of: boilers, heat exchangers, cooling towers, conduit pipes, crude oil refinery units, reaction vessels, mills, storage tanks, mixing tanks, pumps, valves, water treatment facilities, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  in which one changes in the costs of operating or maintaining the asset is the change in cost of an item selected from the list consisting of: energy, feedwater, industrial chemicals, scale control chemicals, corrosion mitigating chemicals, waste consuming microorganisms, time offline, repair costs, component replacement costs, lost sales, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising displaying the revenue to be earned from operating at least one asset according to the displayed specs. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising implementing at least two specs in at least one asset based on rationally selecting a desired ratio of costs to revenue. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  in which the implementation is accomplished according to one selected from the list consisting of: a manual human operation, an automated response by process control equipment receiving the data, and any combination thereof.