• Process Control: Loop Tuning and Analysis

Introduction
Although the subject of many hundreds of articles, books, and courses, the basic elements of automatic process control are still widely misunderstood.  Worse, the majority of control systems are misapplied.  Research carried out by ISA and other bodies indicates that up to 75% of all loops will oscillate when operated in automatic.

This workshop, ‘Process Control: Loop Tuning and Analysis’, is designed to provide engineers and technicians with the basic theoretical and practical understanding of the process loop and how this can be applied to optimize process control in terms of quality, safety, flexibility and costs.

What you will learn
The course is based on a wealth of experiential knowledge gleaned from the author's experience working within a systems integration company and also feedback from more than 4000 technicians and engineers who have attended the author’s workshops.   On successful completion of this workshop delegates will be able to: understand the fundamentals of closed loop control used in the field of process control.
 
- define such terms as process lag, capacitance and resistance
- gain an insight into the process reaction curve
- appreciate the effects of 1st and 2nd order reactions
- distinguish the effect of span on the system performance
- appreciate the effects of different valve characteristics on the loop performance
- analyze such problems as valve hysteresis, stiction and non linearities
- fully appreciate the effects of proportional, integral and derivative control
- correctly apply both open and closed Loop Tuning according to Ziegler Nichols
- appreciate the effects on loop tuning using a software-based loop analysis program
- understand the effects of aliasing
- realize the effects of filtering on loop performance
- understand cascade and feedforward control
- identify and correct problems with process dead time
Training methodology
Throughout the workshop, participants will learn through active participation using exercises, questionnaires, and practical simulation sessions covering:
- process reaction
- tuning methods
- diagnostic tools
- affect of different algorithms
- surge tank level control
- analyze such problems as valve hysteresis, stiction and non-linearities and its impact on controllability.

The program is centred around the ISA-recommend PC-Control LAB simulator