Modeling and response time analysis of the Level 2 system for a continuous steel casting process

Abstract

When a process control system (PCS) is designed or improved, it is very desirable to check in advance whether it responds within time constraints because correcting a system after implementation requires time and effort. A PCS processes bursty messages from programmable logic controllers. The response time to each individual message is different from one another, so it must be evaluated. This paper presents a modeling method to set up an analytic model of a PCS for the response time analysis using Colored Generalized Stochastic Petri Net. The model is analyzed using transient queueing analysis and simulation. A test bed system is built that is identical to a part of a PCS in a continuous casting plant, and is used to measure response times. The approach is validated by showing that simulations using the analytic model match the measured values well. The approach is applied to the whole PCS in the same plant to estimate the response times, which are presented and discussed in the paper. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.