Automating Control and Reducing the Cost of Manual Intervention
The best time to visit the local zoo is early in the morning around feeding time. That’s when the animals are out and about, and it’s when they showcase their
Watering Down Production for Increased Profits
Tightening control around Set Point will improve the performance and profitability of most every production process. This is especially true of drying processes applied by ethanol manufacturers to control moisture
Are Your Tunings Refined?
ConocoPhillips, a recognized leader in the petrochemicals industry, faced a dilemma at their Bayway Refinery. Oscillation in a critical steam flow loop persisted in spite of relentless efforts to stabilize
Maximizing Production and Profits Through Improved Process Control
Magnesium Elektron’s (MEI) profits were being heavily impacted by an inability to control a critical production process. Excessive oscillation in the Chiller at their Flemington, New Jersey production site had
Improving Control Can Be So Sweet!
Chocolate is a nearly $100 Billion global business. As may be expected the process of transforming raw cacao beans into its many tasty confectionery forms is complex. In particular, the
FEBRUARY 2009 – BATCH CONTROL GETS EASIER
Loop tuning package doesn’t demand steady-state operation. The nonlinear dynamics of most exothermic and endothermic batch reactions require expert attention to assure quality production. For instance, introducing reactants often results
FEBRUARY 2011 – PID TUNING FOR ALLEN-BRADLEY PLCS
A best-practices approach to understanding and tuning PID controllers. In the Forward to his “PID Tuning Guide,” Control Station’s Dr. Robert Rice notes that the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is here
NOVEMBER 2011 – A POWERFUL MIGRATION OPTION FOR PID TUNING
Now that Rockwell Automation no longer offers RSTune and RSLoop Optimizer, customers have a compelling option through the company’s partner program. The Rockwell Automation Encompass’s Product Partner program offers a
JUNE 2016 – CLPM: DELIVERING ON THE PROMISE OF PLANT-WIDE OPTIMIZATION
Petrochemical manufacturers experience unique challenges when it comes to maintaining effective regulatory control. As practitioners know, the dynamics of petrochemical processes are complex. From the volatility of batch reactions and
AUGUST 2016 – HOW TO TUNE PID LOOPS: TEMPERATURE CONTROL CHALLENGES
Temperature control applications can be broken into two main categories—fully continuous and semi-continuous (or batch). An example of a fully continuous temperature controller is a shell-and-tube heat exchanger. In this