Michael Brown is holding a series of his well-known courses on practical process control in February in Johannesburg. The courses are unique and are invaluable to both novices and experienced practitioners in the field of regulatory control optimisation.
The series consists of three courses:
* Introduction and appreciation of practical process control (one day)
For: Non-instrument people who work in process plants, but have no previous experience or practical training in control, like process engineers, operators, production managers, metallurgists, and chemical engineers.
* Practical process control Part 1: Troubleshooting and loop tuning (3 days)
For: Instrument and control personnel like mechanicians, technicians, and engineers. Michael Brown says that even people with years of experience in this field have found the course an absolute eye opener.
* Practical process control Part 2: Control techniques for more difficult processes (2 days)
This course deals with control of processes with difficult dynamics and techniques like feedforward. Most people taking Part 1 also take Part 2 in the same session. (Part 1 is mandatory for those wishing to take Part 2.)
The course series will take place in Johannesburg, the first starting on Friday 22 February.
Case History 195: Unstable reboiler steam flow Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice
A high-pressure steam flow control in a reboiler on a column in a petrochemical refinery continually cycled when placed in automatic. Several attempts had been made to tune the controller, but these had been unsuccessful.
Read more...Loop signature 25: Tuning part 3 - Results of tuning a particular simple self-regulating process by several different methods. Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice
A couple of SWAG methods of tuning were given in the previous Loop Signature article. I have tuned a simple self-regulating process using those methods, and two other tuning methods, one of them being the sophisticated Protuner tuning package, which is the system I employ. The tests were performed on a very accurate and powerful simulation package, and the results are compared below.
Read more...Case history 194: Boiler level control problem. Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
A boiler level control in a petrochemical refinery was causing problems, as the level was cycling badly and taking a long time to recover from sudden load changes. In addition, there were frequent high-level alarms.
Read more...Case History 193: The big dipper. Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice
This article gives an example of an important flow control system for flare gas in a petrochemical refinery. The control was suffering from serious problems, often cycling severely, and at other times the flow process variable (PV) would suddenly move quite a lot away from the setpoint (SP).
Read more...Loop signature 23: Tuning part 1. Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice
This is the first of several articles dealing with the subject of tuning. I have found that many people think that optimisation consists solely of tuning. I would stress once again that tuning is the last thing one should do when optimising regulatory controls.
Read more...Loop signature 22: How cyclical disturbances affect a control loop Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice
When tuning noisy loops, we recommend in our courses that one should eliminate the noise by editing it out, so the tuning will be done only on the true process response, free of any noise. The controller is controlling the process, and is not controlling the noise.
Read more...Case History 191: The weakest link. Michael Brown Control Engineering
Valves, Actuators & Pump Control
Which is the weakest link in a control loop? The answer, without any doubt is that, in most cases, the final control element is the weakest link.
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Read more...Reminiscences of a life in control Michael Brown Control Engineering
SAIMC
Reminiscences from Michael Brown on a long and rich journey in the world of automation together with SAIMC.
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