Intention-based engineering for the early design phases and the automation of modular process plants

The modularization of process plants and their modular automation are innovative concepts to meet increasing demands for flexibility in plant operation. However, previous approaches to support the engineering of such modular plants do not focus on the early phases of requirements elicitation and concept design, although these early phases are crucial for the economic efficiency of the later plant. This paper presents a method for the formalized description of intentions in the early engineering phases of modular process plants. According to this method, plant operators create a formalized model of their intentions and provide it to the module manufacturers in a modularized form. This allows a reduction of effort in the planning and development of the plant. The approach is demonstrated using an oil, gas and water separation process performed by a modular process plant.