The process controller’s job is to maintain the process variable at setpoint, regardless of whether the setpoint is constant or has just been changed. The controller contains the “control algorithm,” ...

The tuning of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control loops was an important change at HollyFrontier’s Navajo Refinery in Artesia, N.M. Its hands-on, “mandraulic” culture was no longer cutting ...

Power plants–especially coal-fired boilers–pose a set of process control problems unparalleled in other industries. Rapid load ramps, continuous unit demand changes, variable fuel quality and process ...

Only through proper troubleshooting and then solving the underlying problems can control loop performance be improved. Process design certainly plays a role in control loop performance, but experience ...

With the ever-increasing complexity of today’s printed circuit boards, the many voltages required to properly power all the integrated circuit loads are now managed by a range of point of load (POL) ...

Every plant in the process industry most likely has several control loops that do not perform well. Although there are many factors that may negatively affect control loop performance, a few of these ...

Learning the basics can ease loop tuning frustration and ensure stability. During plant operations, it seems that tuning control loops is an ongoing task, which can be a continual frustration to ...

Model Predictive Control (MPC) has emerged as a versatile and robust strategy in modern control engineering, enabling controllers to predict future system behaviour and optimise performance over a ...

On my first project as a combustion control engineer, I was responsible for loop checks and for watching the experts tune the system controls. The first loop I tried to tune solo was the drum level ...