Approaching the Control Problem of the Automatic Chemical or Petroleum Plant

Abstract

Abstract In an effort to gain a more thorough understanding and to rationalize the design of process-control systems in the chemical and petroleum industries, a complementary program of field tests and analytical studies is being undertaken. The paper presents two practical examples of the implementation of this program. One of these examples is the operational analysis of a continuous catalytic-reaction process and its associated control system. The other example refers to field tests on a turbine speed-control system. Presentation of the results is followed by a discussion of some of the problems encountered in the experimental determination of process characteristics in the field. A technique based on correlation analysis is suggested as a possible solution to certain of these difficulties. The paper cites some of the outstanding benefits to be expected from computer control. The computer controller in the chemical and petroleum plant of the future is to be regarded as an aid to, rather than a substitute for, the human operator. Practical engineering difficulties, manpower problems, and above all, questions of economic feasibility, point to a compromise solution between fully automatic and manually assisted control as the goal toward which the industry will be working in the next few years.