Every plant in the process industry most likely has several control loops that do not perform well. Although there are many factors that may negatively affect control loop performance, a few of these ...

Fan control is an important aspect of system architecture. Though often left as a secondary activity, its implementation has significant effects. Customer response can be immediate to factors such as ...

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 ...

In 2012, Automation World published an article looking at the decision factors faced when choosing electric or pneumatic actuators. More than a decade later, manufacturing engineers and OEMs still ...

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 ...

For the PDF version of this article, click here. More than 80% of the motors bought each year continue to be low-cost single-phase ac motors. Because these motors are not very efficient when ...

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 ...

Continued innovation in modeling and algorithm development has led to new process control for the Cyberbase/SDI drilling command center. Collaboration between the International Research Institute of ...

Distributed control systems are powerful assets for new and modernized power plants. Thanks to three product generations of technology innovations, these systems now provide new benefits — including ...