Method and chromatograph to acquire and display real-time chromatogram using time-stamped messages

1. A method of acquiring and displaying a cycle-based real-time chromatogram for process gas chromatographs, the method comprising:

generating the cycle-based real-time chromatogram of a sample;

acquiring segments of the chromatogram in real-time; annotating in real-time the segments of the chromatogram with timing stamps of cycle events of an analysis cycle;

sending the time-stamped chromatogram segments and cycle events using messages;

receiving the messages asynchronously;

processing the messages, assembling and storing the information for display;

displaying all the cycle events of the analysis cycle and all the segments of data points of the chromatogram in a display module as it is being received in real-time;

overlaying a previously acquired reference chromatogram in the display module to visually compare the data of the cycle events received in real-time against the previously acquired reference data.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

publishing in real-time all the cycle events of the analysis cycle and all the segments of data points of the chromatogram as a message stamped with an event time or a data acquisition time to an asynchronous messaging system.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

registering a non-real-time software display module as a message listener to the asynchronous messaging system.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving the message asynchronously at the non-real-time software display module.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

processing all the cycle events of the analysis cycle and all the segments of data points of the chromatogram for displaying a partial data points of the segments of data points of the chromatogram.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

displaying the partial data points of the segments of data points of the chromatogram as soon as they are being acquired such that cycle event timings in a chromatographic method be changed, as needed, to prepare for a next analysis cycle.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

using time-stamped asynchronous messages for acquiring and displaying the chromatogram and for acquiring and displaying other types of real-time data such as at least one of real-time temperature and real-time pressure profiles.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

overlaying real-time data of the at least one of the temperature and pressure profiles with real-time data of the chromatogram to provide additional information for optimizing a chromatographic method such as temperature and pressure programming.

9. A chromatograph for gas chromatographic analysis of a sample, comprising:

a separating device having a downstream detector, the sample being conveyed by a carrier gas through the separating device, the detector delivering a chromatogram of the sample; and

an evaluation device coupled to the detector, the evaluation device having a chromatographic software module including a real-time software module for a data acquisition system coupled to an asynchronous messaging system and a non-real-time software module for a chromatogram display,

wherein the data acquisition system is configured for acquiring segments of data points of the chromatogram in real-time and the real-time software module is configured for annotating in real-time the segments of data points of the chromatogram with timing stamps of cycle events of an analysis cycle,

wherein the real-time software module is configured for sending in real-time each cycle event of the cycle events of the analysis cycle and each segment of the segments of data points of the chromatogram as a message stamped with an event time or a data acquisition time to the asynchronous messaging system, the non-real-time software module is registered to receive the asynchronous messages, and

wherein the non-real-time software module processes the asynchronous messages as they are received, assembling and storing the chromatogram and cycle events information received so that it can be displayed, and

wherein the non-real-time software module retrieves the information received and displays the chromatogram and cycle event information reflecting the current state of a partial cycle in progress, and

wherein the non-real-time software module presents a previously acquired reference chromatogram as an overlay, used to visually compare the data of the cycle in progress against the previous data such that cycle event timings in a chromatographic method can be changed, to prepare for a next analysis cycle.

10. The chromatograph of claim 9 , wherein the non-real-time software module to receive the message asynchronously.

11. The chromatograph of claim 9 , wherein the non-real-time software module to process the each cycle event of the cycle events of the analysis cycle and each segment of the segments of data points of the chromatogram for displaying the partial data points of the segments of data points of the chromatogram.

12. The chromatograph of claim 9 , wherein the evaluation device is configured to use time-stamped asynchronous messages for acquiring and displaying the chromatogram and for acquiring and displaying other types of real-time data such as at least one of real-time temperature and real-time pressure profiles.

13. The chromatograph of claim 12 , wherein the evaluation device is configured to overlay real-time data of the at least one of the temperature and pressure profiles with real-time data of the chromatogram to provide additional information for optimizing a chromatographic method such as temperature and pressure programming.

14. The chromatograph of claim 9 , wherein the non-real-time software module is a local Human Machine Interface (HMI).

15. The chromatograph of claim 9 , wherein the non-real-time software module is a remote Human Machine Interface (HMI).

16. A chromatograph for gas chromatographic analysis of a sample, comprising:

a real-time software module for a data acquisition system coupled to an asynchronous messaging system, wherein the data acquisition system is configured for acquiring segments of data points of a chromatogram in real-time and wherein the real-time software module is configured for annotating in real-time the segments of data points of the chromatogram with timing stamps of cycle events of an analysis cycle using time-stamped messages; and

a non-real-time software module being a display module, wherein the non-real-time software module is configured to receive the time-stamped event messages asynchronously from the asynchronous messaging system, process the time-stamped messages as they are received, assemble and store the information, to be used by the display module,

wherein the display module is configured for displaying each cycle event of the cycle events of the analysis cycle and each segment of the segments of data points of the chromatogram in the display as a partial data points of the segments of data points of the chromatogram in real-time as they are received, and

wherein the cycle event and a partial chromatogram are further overlayed to a previously acquired reference chromatogram, providing a visual point of comparison for preparing optimization of a next analysis cycle.

17. The chromatograph of claim 16 , wherein the non-real-time software module is registered as a message listener to the asynchronous messaging system.

18. The chromatograph of claim 16 , wherein the real-time software module is configured for publishing in real-time the each cycle event of the cycle events of the analysis cycle and the each segment of the segments of data points of the chromatogram as a message stamped with an event time or a data acquisition time to the asynchronous messaging system.

19. The chromatograph of claim 18 , wherein the real-time software module is configured for communicating the each cycle event of the cycle events of the analysis cycle and the each segment of the segments of data points of the chromatogram as the message to the non-real-time software module.

20. The chromatograph of claim 16 , wherein the non-real-time software module to enable the display to display the partial data points of the segments of data points of the chromatogram as soon as they are being acquired such that cycle event timings in a chromatographic method be changed, as needed, to prepare for a next analysis cycle.