Just over a decade ago, an article titled, "Advanced Control Strategies Move into the Field" (Control, October 2008), highlighted three evolving trends in the process control world that would "make ...

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 ...

I recently surveyed the on-site development of the control system for a large concentrated solar power station. This “first of a kind” facility offered many control challenges, such as balancing heat ...

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 ...

PID loops are a central component of modulating boiler control systems with applications ranging from basic steam header pressure control to cascading 3-element drum level control. A modern ...

Industrial control systems can be categorized in two types: open-loop and closed-loop systems. The open-loop control system is a continuous control system that provides no feedback from its output.

In a recent installment of the International Society of Automation’s “Ask the Automation Pros” series, Erik Cornelsen, ...

For injection molding — as well as just about every plastic process — process cooling is very important for cycle time and part quality. Cooling sometimes seems like a last-horizon type of variable ...

US-based company Vulcan Materials is a major producer of aggregates-based construction materials, including asphalt and ready-mixed concrete. A couple of years ago, the company installed an Insitec ...