Patent Document ID: 10018997
Application ID: 13931341
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A system for use in analyzing an operation of process plant control equipment within a process plant while the process plant control equipment is operating on-line within the process plant to implement an industrial process, comprising: a data collection device, coupled to the process plant control equipment via a communication network, configured to collect process variable data from the process plant control equipment as determined or measured within the industrial process while the industrial process is operating on-line by performing read-only operations on the communication network without performing any write operations on the communication network; a process logic engine, communicatively coupled to the data collection device, configured to operate on a computer processor to simulate a portion of the operation of the industrial process in parallel with on-line operation of the industrial process in accordance with one or more process simulation models using the collected process variable data, and to produce one or more further process variable values based upon the portion of the operation of the industrial process that is simulated in accordance with the one or more process simulation models, such that the one or more further process variable values are generated while the industrial process is operating on-line using the one or more process simulation models and are not directly based upon data that is generated within the industrial process while the industrial process is operating on-line; and a data analytics engine communicatively coupled to the process logic engine, the data analytics engine including: one or more stored data analytic models that statistically model the operation of the industrial process; and a data analytics execution engine configured to execute a data analytic routine using the one or more data analytic models while the industrial process is operating on-line to determine a predicted process variable for the industrial process using, as inputs to the data analytics execution engine, (i) some of the collected process variable data, and (ii) the one or more further process variable values produced by the process logic engine while the industrial process is operating on-line, wherein the one or more process simulation models are different than the one or more stored data analytic models.