Success Stories
Basic Materials: Maximizing the Value of Plant Automation
The results are in – operating PIDs in automatic mode proved again to enhance production and save money…
Read MoreFood & Beverage: Avoiding Premature Failure of Production Assets
As simple as that – retuning a single oscillatory control loop improved process performance, eliminated unnecessary wear and-tear, and nearly doubled the associated valve’s life…
Read MoreOptimizing Control for More Profitable Operation
Professionals in the process control world understand that “less” can often mean more. That is especially true when referring to reduced cycling within a given production process. Reducing oscillations and otherwise tightening constraints around the control objective can present a significant challenge. It also presents an opportunity to dramatically improve a plant’s profitability.
Read MoreFeed Your Way to Consistent Product Quality!
Typically Mill Feeders aren’t the first thing that come to mind when looking for performance improvements at a cement mill, especially at one with annual capacity of four million tons. But it was one area where engineers at Holcim’s Ste. Genevieve Mill looked when digging deep for productivity enhancements. The Feeders are located at the start of the mill’s production process – usually a good place to start.
Read MoreAre Oscillations Making Your Process All Wet?
It’s said that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. A leading oil and gas producer learned that too much variability in their gas pre-heater was negatively impacting the platform’s profitability. Unable to consistently control the process’ moisture content, this producer was forced to absorb the higher costs or be at risk of raising the moisture level to a point where downstream combustion processes failed.
Read MoreCan Your Process Handle the Pressure?
Phenol is a vital raw material in the production of high-impact resins that are used in the construction, transportation and other industries. Located along the Ohio River, Haverhill Chemicals produces a broad range of chemicals in technologically advanced operations. The plant includes operations of both phenol and bis-phenol A production units.
Read MoreModeling the Dynamics of Highly Oscillatory Processes
Optimizing heat rate is a critical success factor for most coal-fired power plants. Too little heat and the plant wastes the energy produced from bituminous coal and other costly production inputs. Too much heat and safety is put at risk – both the safety of production staff and of the plant’s production assets. Although optimizing a power plant’s injection water systems does not result in obvious financial gains, it plays an important role.
Read MoreIs Poor Control Wearing You Out?
In the power industry, the cost of replacing a single pump can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in terms of new equipment cost, manpower, and system downtime. Changes to certain processes – if abrupt – can shave years off the expected life of valuable power production equipment. Even small variances in process stability shorten the Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) for most process instrumentation.
Read MoreCan You Cope With the Pressure?
As global demand for oil continues to rise upstream energy producers find themselves under increasing pressure to retrieve crude from existing, proved reserves. Traditional subsurface oil recovery methods that are most effective at first “tap” become less productive over time. Retrieval rates drop as wells are depleted, and producers are consistently tasked with finding new ways to reach deeper – such as water injection. But bringing crude up from the depths using water presents challenges.
Read MoreA Stable Desuperheater Is Super Profitable!
Basin Electric Power Cooperative is a regional power generation and transmission company that services nine of the US’s plain states. As a consumer-owned cooperative, Basin Electric provides critical utility services to small communities too numerous to count. Like others in the power sector, Basin Electric is constantly on the watch for innovative ways of making a profit. In one of their more recent moves, Basin Electric looked to Control Station’s process optimization technologies and seized an opportunity to improve key production processes.
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