Process control and management

The purpose of this book is to provide a balanced introduction to process control and management, aimed at the general process engineer. Rapid changes have occurred in process control over the past decade, mainly because of the deployment of robust and effective digital control equipment, and the development of the models which underpin the area. Historically, process control was seen as simply the maintenance of particular process variables at appropriate setpoints. This very narrow view has been superseded by the view that process control involves the regulation of any given process, in the context of a complete processing plant, to maximise the economic return from the plant. This wider definition brings into play a range of control regimes, from basic regulatory control, through advanced regulatory control, to complex process management. The organization of the book reflects this hierarchy, and is thus split into 3 parts, covering basic regulatory control, advanced process control and finally process management. The book is completed by the inclusion of several useful appendices, covering mathematical modelling, process optimisation and simulation.

Preface. Part A: Basic Regulatory Control. 1. Introduction to Process Control. 2. Basic Elements of a Control Loop. 3. System Dynamics and Simulation. 4. Process Modelling. 5. Feedback Control, Stability and Tuning. 6. Disturbance Compensation. 7. Control System Design Using Heuristics. 8. Control System Design Using Models. Part B: Advanced Process Control. 9. Coping with Nonlinearity. 10. Coping with Deadtimes. 11. Coping with Interactions. 12. Safety Systems. 13. Batch Plant Control. 14. Artificial Intelligence in Process Control. Part C: Process Management. 15. Total Quality Control. 16. Production Planning. 17. Production Scheduling. 18. Constraint Control. 19. Optimal Control. 20. The Benefits Study. 21. Control System Specification. Appendix A: MATLAB Tutorial. Appendix B: Basics for Control System Analysis. Appendix C: Simulation Basics. Appendix D: Process Optimization. Appendix E: Mathematical Model Examples. Appendix F: Advanced Modelling. Index.