PROCESS CONTROL ENGINEERING

APPLICATION TECHNIQUES

COURSE DESCRIPTION

             The objective of this course is to equip process and control engineers with skills which will enable them to implement control systems which will have a definite economic benefit for process operations.  This practical course explains process control concepts, starting with basic feedback control and extending through such topics as ratio, cascade, feed forward, override and decoupling control.  The emphasis is on how to select appropriate applications, then design and tune the techniques.  Actual examples from the process industries are included.

             An optional additional day presents an overview of model-based control, including model predictive control as implemented by several vendors serving the processing industries

            Computers, running a realistic control loop simulation program, are used in the classroom to illustrate all of the concepts presented, including controller tuning and the behavior advanced regulatory control techniques loops.  This visualization and hands-on practice enhances both the understanding and the retention of the topics.

INTENDED FOR

q       Control systems engineers interested in increasing their knowledge of the behavior, implementation and tuning of both basic and advanced regulatory control

q       Process engineers and managers interested in acquiring or increasing their knowledge of process control and its potential for improving process operations.

q       Senior level instrumentation technicians may also benefit from this course.

             This course is a practical level course, rather than a theoretical course, therefore no prior process control courses or experience is required.  A familiarity with process characteristics, fundamental measurement techniques and signal transmission principles will be helpful. A minimal amount of mathematical concepts are used in the course; there will be a brief refresher of all the math needed.

  COURSE OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE

“PROCESS CONTROL ENGINEERING APPLICATION  TECHNIQUES”

DAY 1             INTRODUCTION

            Control diagrams, symbols and terminology

            Brief mathematical review

 PROCESS AND CONTROL LOOP CHARACTERISTICS

                        Process characteristics - steady state

                        Process characteristics - dynamic

            Valve characteristics

                        Typical control loop characteristics

FEEDBACK CONTROL – P&ID

            Development of standard P&ID: behavior of each mode

DAY 2             MODIFICATIONS TO P&ID

                        Features of commercial systems

CONTROLLER TUNING TECHNIQUES

           Objectives and benefits of well tuned loops

            Tuning from open loop and closed loop tests

            Improving “as found” tuning (“intelligent trial and error tuning”)

DAY 3             CONTROLLER TUNING (Continued)

                         Tuning liquid level control loops

             Self-tuning systems

MOTIVATION FOR ADVANCED REGULATORY CONTROL

                        The “feedback penalty”

ADVANCED REGULATORY CONTROL

                        Ratio

                        Cascade

DAY 4             ADVANCED REGULATORY CONTROL (Continued)

                        Feed forward

            Override (selector) control

                        Decoupling

                        Model-Based Control

DAY 5             MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL (Optional)

                        Brief mathematical review

                        Overview of MPC technology and applications