An Extensible Modeling Language for the Representation of Work Processes in the Chemical and Process Industries

Expressive models of the work processes performed in the chemical and process industries provide a basis for diverse applications like work process documentation, analysis, and enactment. In this contribution, we present a generic modeling language for different types of work processes to allow for their integrated representation in the life cycle of a chemical plant. Further, the generic language allows for extensions specific to certain types of work processes. For two important types – design and operational processes – such extensions have been elaborated. These extensions enable the adequate representation of the context of a work process that strongly depends on the process type: for instance, the specification of a chemical plant is a product of a design process, whereas the plant takes the role of a resource during an operational process. This contribution also briefly introduces a modeling tool developed by our group for applying the modeling language in industrial practice.