How Does Loop Monitoring Help with Root-Cause Analysis?

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. Read More

What Relationship Exists Between Loop Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance?

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. Read More

What Value is Hidden in a Plant’s Process Data

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. Read More

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

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. Read More

What Methods are Available for Accessing OSIsoft’s PI Server?

When someone jumps into a project without thinking things through we’ll often say that he or she took the “hard way”. While the easy way usually involves a little more thought at the start, it typically results in a faster and more satisfactory finish. Racing into a project often results in delays, cost overruns, and general dissatisfaction. This is especially true in the world of software application development. Most every software technology firm can share stories to corroborate the value of a well-planned project versus the hazards of a poorly planned effort. Read More

The Benefits of Feed Forward Control

By nature most people are reactive when it comes to dealing with life’s big expenditures. Think of happy occasions such as graduations and weddings. Then consider more somber milestones like retirement. By most accounts the average worker is wholly unprepared to absorb the costs linked to these and other of life’s events. Even though the timing and amount of those costs can be forecasted, the typical approach to saving for the future isn’t up to the task. Face it: As a species we’re wired to be reactive! Read More

What is Feed Forward Control?

To no practitioner’s surprise, process control exists as a discipline because manufacturing is complex. It’s erratic and occasionally unpredictable. At many facilities it is highly hazardous. Variability – whether localized to a single process or reverberated throughout a plant – can transform production from a well-managed operation to a highly turbulent task. Variability is a key reason why manufacturing is difficult. So it’s no wonder that process engineers focus their efforts on controlling disturbances – those unplanned upsets which drive variability from one process to the next. Read More

What is Process Simulation? How Does Process Simulation Help With Optimization?

Imagine it’s your first time flying in an airplane and the pilot casually asks you to take the control wheel during landing. While that scenario might make a blockbuster movie script, it’s not a practical recipe for success in industry. In fact, it’s a recipe for disaster which is why many manufacturers rely on process simulation tools to both train their staff and optimize their production processes. Read More