Valve Phase Matrix

The Valve Phase Matrix provides a comprehensive grid view of all valve states and equipment module configurations across every step in a process. It is a powerful editing and analysis tool that lets you see and modify the complete state picture at a glance.

Access: Open a module → Module Ribbon → Live Edit panel → Matrix button.

🔎 Overview

The matrix displays a grid where:

• Rows represent engineering items (Engineering Item (Valves), Equipment Modules)

• Columns represent steps (phases) in the active Process

• Cells show the assigned State for each valve in each step, or the active configuration for each Equipment Module

The matrix updates live — any changes made in the drawing, ribbon, or other editors are immediately reflected in the grid.

🧩 Cell Types

There are two kinds of cells in the matrix:

🎨 Color Coding

The matrix uses background colors to highlight important information about each cell. Colors are applied with a clear priority hierarchy:

Warning: Color coding requires the highlight toggles to be enabled in the toolbar (see Highlighting section below).

🏆 Color Priority (Highest to Lowest)

🏭 Pharma Example: CIP Process Valve Matrix

This example shows how the Valve Phase Matrix looks for a typical CIP (Clean-In-Place) process with 10 valves across 6 phases. This is a common view when reviewing or configuring a CIP recipe in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

📋 Process: CIP Skid — Tank TK-101

Phases: Idle, Pre-Rinse, Caustic Wash, Intermediate Rinse, Acid Wash, Final Rinse

🔍 Reading the Matrix

With highlighting enabled, here is what you would observe:

• Transition from Idle to Pre-Rinse: V-101, V-102, V-106 change from Closed to Open (highlighted in orange as state-changing). V-109 and V-110 change from Open to Closed (also orange). Since V-101, V-102, and V-106 are now fluid-allowing AND state-changing, they appear in yellow-green (dual highlight).

• Transition from Pre-Rinse to Caustic Wash: Only V-104 changes (Closed to Open), highlighted in orange. V-104 is also now fluid-allowing, so it gets the yellow-green dual highlight.

• Transition from Caustic Wash to Intermediate Rinse: Only V-104 changes back (Open to Closed), highlighted in orange. All other valves remain unchanged.

• Transition from Intermediate Rinse to Acid Wash: Only V-105 changes (Closed to Open), highlighted in orange and yellow-green (dual).

• Product isolation: V-107 and V-108 remain Closed throughout — these are product-side block valves that must stay shut during CIP to prevent cross-contamination.

Tip: Use the "Filter Changing from Previous" filter to quickly see only the valves that change in each phase transition. This is invaluable during CIP recipe review to confirm that only the intended valves are actuated at each step.

🔦 Highlighting Options

Two toggle buttons in the matrix toolbar control which highlights are visible:

Both toggles can be active simultaneously. When both are ON and a cell matches both conditions, it receives the Yellow-Green dual highlight color.

🖥️ Cell Display Options

The matrix toolbar provides controls for how cell content is displayed:

🏷️ Custom Nicknames

You can define custom short nicknames for common states to keep the matrix compact:

📐 Column Orientation

🔍 Filtering

The matrix provides extensive filtering to help you focus on the items that matter:

👁️ Row Visibility Filters

⚡ Active-Step Relative Filters

These three filters are mutually exclusive — only one can be active at a time. They filter rows based on their behavior in the currently active step:

🔎 Search and Type Filters

🔄 Transposed View

The matrix supports a transposed view that swaps rows and columns:

Toggle between views using the Transposed button in the toolbar.

When to use transposed view:

• When you have many steps but few valves, transposed view gives a better aspect ratio

• When you want to compare how different valves behave in each step

• When grouping by step order is more intuitive for your analysis

Note: Row grouping (by valve type) is only available in the normal (non-transposed) view.

📋 Paste Preview

When you paste valve state data from the clipboard, the matrix enters a paste preview mode:

1. Cells that will be affected by the paste are highlighted in Gold

2. You can review exactly which cells will change before committing

3. Confirm the paste to apply, or cancel to discard

This prevents accidental overwrites and gives you full control over bulk state assignments.

🔄 Live Updates

The Valve Phase Matrix is a live viewer that automatically refreshes when any of these events occur:

All settings (filters, highlights, transpose state, nicknames) are persisted and automatically restored when you reopen the matrix.

📁 Row Grouping

In the normal (non-transposed) view, rows can be grouped by type:

• Valves are grouped by their valve class (e.g., "Gate Valve", "Ball Valve", "Pneumatic Valve")

• Equipment Module rows appear in their own group with the pale yellow background

• Groups are collapsible for managing large matrices

📋 How To: Use the Valve Phase Matrix for Process Review

Follow this workflow to review and validate valve states across a complete process using the matrix.

Step 1 — Open the Matrix
Navigate to the Module Ribbon → Live Edit panel → Matrix button.

Step 2 — Select the process to review
Ensure the correct Process is active. The matrix will load all steps (columns) and all valves/equipment modules (rows) for that process.

Step 3 — Enable highlighting
Turn on both Highlight Fluid Allowing (green) and Highlight Changing Valves (orange) toggles. This gives you immediate visual feedback on which valves are active and which are changing at each step transition.

Step 4 — Review step-by-step transitions
Click through each step column header to make it the active step. For each transition, use the "Filter Changing from Previous" filter to see only the valves that change. Verify that:

• Only the intended valves change state at each transition

• No unexpected valves are being actuated

• Block valves and isolation valves remain in their required positions

Step 5 — Check fluid-allowing consistency
With the Highlight Fluid Allowing toggle enabled, scan across each row to verify fluid paths are correct:

• Inlet and outlet valves should be open during active processing steps

• Chemical dosing valves should only be open during their specific wash phases

• Product isolation valves should remain closed during CIP

Step 6 — Verify Equipment Module configurations
Scroll to the Equipment Module rows (pale yellow background). Confirm that each Equipment Module has the correct configuration for each step (e.g., pump running during active phases, idle during drain).

Step 7 — Use the type filter for focused review
If your process has many valves, use the Type Filter dropdown to review one valve class at a time (e.g., review all butterfly valves, then all ball valves, then all diaphragm valves).

Step 8 — Export or document findings
Use the matrix as a reference during design reviews. The transposed view can be useful for presenting the matrix in documents where step-by-step progression is the primary axis.

Tip: Combine the matrix review with the SFC Editor (GRAFCET) to see both the valve states and the transition logic simultaneously. The SFC shows when transitions happen; the matrix shows what changes at each transition.

📚 Related Pages

• Module Ribbon — Access the Matrix from the Live Edit panel

• Process Design — Process and step management

• Engineering Item — Engineering item data model

• State — State definitions and custom values

• Equipment Modules — Equipment Module management

• Engineering Item (Valves) — Valve configuration

• Fluid Stream Visualization — Fluid flow analysis that powers the "fluid allowing" highlights

• SFC Editor (GRAFCET) — Complementary graphical view of step transitions

• Symbol Editor — Symbol definition editor