Reflections from aComputer Science Major

Wandering in process controlfor 30 years

April 19, 2023 2

A Brief History

• 1970s – 1980s: Minicomputers in direct digital and supervisory control

• 1980s – present: Programmable controllers in discrete and analog control

• Mid-1980s – present: personal computers in supervisory control, human interface, management

• Right now: distributed, device-based control; information management

April 19, 2023 3

Typical Application

April 19, 2023 4

Typical Applications

• Design and Configuration

• Data Acquisition

• Direct (Loop) Control

• Alarm Detection

• Trend Analysis

• Advanced Control

• Scheduling and Production Management

April 19, 2023 5

April 19, 2023 6Page: 13-RPage: 13-R

April 19, 2023 7Page: 1-CPage: 1-C

April 19, 2023 8

Outcomes

• Lower costs– Energy, raw material

• Throughput– Improved speed, nameplate capacity

• Safety• Quality

– Consistency– Higher profit margins

• New Products

April 19, 2023 9

Some Delivered BenefitsThrough Additional Control

• Gas at the King of Beers

• Megawatts on Wheels

• A Sticky Situation at 3M

• 7,000,000 Smiles a Day at SKB

April 19, 2023 10

Trends to Consider

• Sensors and Control:– There are loops that are not controlled

because sensors or controllers don’t exist• Sensing technology• Size, Power

– Distributed, interoperable control, (Fieldbus)

• Human Interface– Centralized “Industrial Nintendos” are giving

way to hand-held devices, Internet browsers– How to interact with people given limited tools

April 19, 2023 11

4 -20 mA 4 -20 mA4 -20 mA

AIAI

PIDPID

AIAI AOAO

PIDPID

Visualization Trending Alarm Management Advanced Control Optimization

Regulatory ControlCalculations

Configuration

Today’s Control Implementation

April 19, 2023 12

4 -20 mA 4 -20 mA

AIAI

PIDPID

AIAI AOAO

PIDPID

PLC 4 -20 mA

Supervisory Software ConfigurationVisualizationTrendingAlarm Management

Regulatory ControlCalculations

Today’s Control Implementation

April 19, 2023 13

AOAO

AIAI

PIDPID

AIAI

PIDPID

Fieldbus

VisualizationTrendingAlarm Management

Advanced Control Optimization

Regulatory ControlCalculations

Control in the Field With FOUNDATION Fieldbus

April 19, 2023 14

April 19, 2023 15

Trends to Consider

• Networking– Wiring sensors and controls are

expensive– Self-discovering, self-correcting,

secure instrumentation networks are being developed

– Can we apply WiFi, Bluetooth, low-end networks(e.g. 9600 baud serial over radio)

April 19, 2023 16

Trends to Consider

• Information Management– What is “real time”?– How to handle, relate, archive and retrieve

different, asynchronous data• e.g. process continuous & event, human demand

– After MRP there was ERP. ERP begat “supply chain management” which begat “customer relationship management”

• Is there a successor on the horizon?• Who is affected? (The 3-day car)

April 19, 2023 17

April 19, 2023 18

The Future is Interdisciplinary• Mechanical Engineering:

• Sensors, materials, devices, controllers, actuators

• Electrical/Computer Engineering:• Sensors, networks, protocols, wireless devices and applications

• Computer Science• human interface, data compression, CAD integration, subsystem

integration

• Mathematics• Modeling, new control algorithms, advanced control (the new neural

networks)

• Biomedical Engineering– Fermentation, manufacturing process development

• Management– Key Performance Indicators, Global operations