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How Does Loop Monitoring Help with Root-Cause Analysis?

By Control Guru | May 2, 2017

For most individuals, a house is the most expensive asset that they’ll ever purchase. And while living there a homeowner can expect a significant problem or two to arise whether that problem involves a leaky roof, termite damage, or some other costly issue. A downside of such problems is that the damage is typically and irrevocably done before the homeowner encounters the first visible signs that the issue even existed.

What Relationship Exists Between Loop Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance?

By Control Guru | April 25, 2017

Let’s say you take your car in for an oil change. The oil you select is rated for traveling a distance of 5,000 miles. In all likelihood the technician places a stickeron the car’s front window – a simple reminder of when the oil will be due for another change. In roughly 4 months this routine will be repeated.

What Value is Hidden in a Plant’s Process Data

By Control Guru | April 6, 2017

While a typical Distributed Control System (DCS) keeps a watchful eye on production and scheduling there are other important details that a DCS simply overlooks. To be clear, a DCS consumes process data in order to measure and regulate the flow of material through a plant. It interprets sensor data and orchestrates adjustments to Final Control Elements in order to maintain Set Points.

Who Should Use Feed Forward Control? What applications are best for Feed Forward?

By Control Guru | March 27, 2017

It’s not uncommon for process control discussions to focus on use of the PID to improve a loop’s ability to track Set Point. Oftentimes tweaks to controller tuning parameters either seek incremental reduction in Settling Time or strive to limit Overshoot. Indeed, many PID tuning courses position optimization of a control loop’s Set Point Tracking as the ultimate goal. Such a bias overlooks the value of other strategies like Feed Forward Control.