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Advances in PID Loop Tuning Produce Benefits  “Ease-of-use might seem to be a boring [technology] quality,” observes Dennis Nash, chief executive officer and president of Control Station Inc. (www.controlstation.com), Tolland, Conn.
Except, that is, “when you consider the aging workforce and the institutional knowledge of processes and instrumentation that has been slipping away.”
Thus, advances in proportional-integral-derivative (PID) loop tuning should be welcome, says Nash, whose company supplies PID loop tuning software. Why? Because badly and/or too-infrequently tuned PID loops can obstruct, if not drain, profitability. “The environment in which process companies operate is naturally dynamic. There are [also] any number of interacting [control] loops,” Nash observes, estimating hundreds, even thousands, at some facilities.
But, as he notes, loop tuning has typically been a “controlled experiment or disturbance.” That means you “bump” the process and adjust accordingly, Nash clarifies. End-users isolate controller response. Then, with that information, end-users can model the relationship of how the controller reacts (output) to the input (measured process variable), he explains...
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» TECHNOLOGIES: Making Data Talk -
As manufacturers install more intelligent sensing and computing devices around their plants and factories, questions arise about what to do with all the data.
Industrial networking, especially Ethernet with Internet Protocol (IP), gives a boost to moving data. Suppliers have stepped up with a variety of database products and historians to store all the data. But the problem remains—how to retrieve and use the data.
Data mining is a concept for retrieving this data, looking at them from various points of view, deciphering patterns and providing visual displays for users. In this way, people can turn the data into actionable intelligence...
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» INDUSTRIES: Chemical Industry Must Adopt Higher Automation Levels -
Will improving assets and optimizing their use—actions that should produce positive return on investment—require the chemical process industry (CPI) to move to the next higher level in automation?
Certainly, lots of technologies are available, observes Thomas J. Fiske, a senior analyst with ARC Advisory Group Inc. (www.arcweb.com), Dedham, Mass...
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» AUTOMATION TEAM: Leadership Skills for a Fast-changing World
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The Willow Creek Association (www.willowcreek.com), of South Barrington, Ill., assembled an impressive panel of speakers at its annual Leadership Summit Aug. 6-7.
Although billed as a summit for church leaders, the ideas were good for business as well as other organizations. Besides, any organization that can get Gary Hamel and Carly Fiorina for a program has something worth attending. As a leader, you learn to absorb ideas wherever you can get them...
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