Method and apparatus for chemical data repository

Abstract

Methods for chemical management, observing the effectiveness of an industrial facility, or of organizing the assets of a business organization. The method is computerized and may involve receiving specification data for pieces of equipment and organizing the equipment into data structures of templates. The templates may be organized in a hierarchical structure where the lowest levels correspond to templates for a single piece of equipment and higher levels correspond to categories of pieces of equipment.

1 . A computer-implemented chemical management method comprising:
 receiving, by a computer, specification data collected from a plurality of assets associated with a business organization, wherein each asset of the plurality of assets is a piece of equipment;   inputting for each asset of the plurality of assets, by the computer, received specification data into a data structure of a template, wherein templates for the plurality of assets are organized into a hierarchy, the hierarchy including templates for single assets at a lowest level of the hierarchy and templates for categories of assets at a higher level of the hierarchy, wherein different templates at the lowest level of the hierarchy are defined for different types of equipment; and   determining, by the computer, an aggregate specification value for a category of assets associated with a template at a higher level of the hierarchy, the aggregate specification value being based on specification values for individual assets within the category of assets for the template at the higher level of the hierarchy.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the business organization is a corporation having multiple oil refineries. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of assets include a plurality of distillation columns. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein a single asset at the lowest level of the hierarchy is a distillation column at one particular oil refinery and a category of assets at the higher level of the hierarchy includes multiple distillation columns at multiple oil refineries. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of assets include one or more of a boiler, a heat exchanger, a cooling tower, a conduit pipe, a reaction vessel, a mill, a storage tank, a mixing tank, a pump, and a valve. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the specification data include one or more of temperature, pressure, pH, voltage, density, viscosity, and concentration of one or more materials of interest. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the hierarchy is selected from the group consisting of asset category, geographic location, unit of ownership, time of operation, cost of operation, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the computer, a score for each asset of the plurality of assets based on specification data collected from each asset. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-implemented method for observing the effectiveness of an industrial facility, the method comprising:
 providing, by a computer, a plurality of templates arranged in a hierarchy, wherein the plurality of templates include a plurality of templates at a lowest level of the hierarchy and a plurality of templates at a higher level of the hierarchy, wherein the plurality of templates at the lowest level of the hierarchy define data structures receiving specification data collected from a plurality of assets associated with a business organization, each asset of the plurality of assets being a piece of equipment, and wherein the plurality of templates at the higher level of the hierarchy define data structures for categories of assets;   receiving, by the computer, specification data collected from the plurality of assets so as to provide collected specification data;   inputting, by the computer, the collected specification data into the plurality of templates at the lowest level of the hierarchy;   determining, by the computer, an aggregate specification value for a category of assets associated with the plurality of templates at the higher level of the hierarchy, the aggregate specification value being based on collected specification data for individual assets within the category of assets for a template at the higher level of the hierarchy; and   displaying, by the computer, data associated with the plurality of assets in the hierarchy so that a user can compare data at different levels of the hierarchy.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of assets include a plurality of distillation columns. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein a single asset at the lowest level of the hierarchy is a distillation column at one particular oil refinery and a category of assets at the higher level of the hierarchy includes multiple distillation columns at multiple oil refineries. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of assets include one or more of a boiler, a heat exchanger, a cooling tower, a conduit pipe, a reaction vessel, a mill, a storage tank, a mixing tank, a pump, and a valve. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the collected specification data include one or more of temperature, pressure, pH, voltage, density, viscosity, and concentration of one or more materials of interest. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein receiving specification data comprises receiving specification data from a process historian. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the hierarchy is selected from the group consisting of asset category, geographic location, unit of ownership, time of operation, cost of operation, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         16 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 identifying a plurality of assets associated with a business organization, wherein each asset of the plurality of assets is a piece of equipment from which specification data is collected;   providing a plurality of lower-hierarchy templates, each lower-hierarchy template defining a data structure for a given type of asset, the data structure being configured to receive data that includes specification data collected from the given type of asset;   providing a plurality of higher-hierarchy templates, each higher-hierarchy template defining a data structure for a given category of assets; and   organizing, by a computer, the plurality of lower-hierarchy templates and the plurality of higher-hierarchy templates into a hierarchy for the plurality of assets associated with the business organization, wherein the hierarchy defines a sequential relationship from a smaller unit of organization to a larger unit of organization for the plurality of assets of the business organization.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of lower-hierarchy templates are configured to determine a score for the given type of asset, the score indicating whether specification data collected from an assets is within an acceptable margin. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of higher-hierarchy templates are configured to determine a composite specification, the composite specification being a weighted valuation of multiple specification data collected from the plurality of assets. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the hierarchy is selected from the group consisting of asset category, geographic location, unit of ownership, time of operation, cost of operation, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of assets include one or more of a boiler, a heat exchanger, a cooling tower, a conduit pipe, a reaction vessel, a mill, a storage tank, a mixing tank, a pump, and a valve.