Integrated Process Control Research Articles

The quest towards the integration of process control, process operations, and process operability –Industrial need or academic curiosity?

Historically, process control, process scheduling, and process operational functions (such as safety and maintenance) have been considered independently, in isolation, and/or in a sequential manner from an overall process automation perspective — primarily reflecting the widely accepted difference in their corresponding time scales like days/hours for scheduling, seconds/minutes for control, etc. However, the current trend towards real-time decision-making under increasingly dynamic and volatile business, market, and supply chain environments has intensified the need for an ‘integration of scales’ in terms of temporal and spatial considerations. The joint FOCAPO/CPC conference series over the last decade is an example of increasing evidence, at least within academic circles, of such a paradigm shift. It should not come as a surprise that there is increasing evidence of business and industrial needs in this direction. Moreover, significant advancements have been achieved in the development of solutions that effectively address the imperative of scale integration. Here, we will attempt to provide a road map of the evolution of the process systems engineering field towards the unification of control, operations, and operability, through industrial and research activities over the last twenty years. We aim to elucidate the following questions: When does the need for such an integration of scales arise? Which types of industrially relevant problems and applications can be considered for such an approach? Where do we stand regarding methodological developments and solution strategies as enablers and tools for such an integration? If desired, what would be the ideal framework and potentially the target software platform for achieving such a unification?

Spatial-temporal multi-factor decomposition and two-dimensional decoupling analysis of China's carbon emissions: From the perspective of whole process governance

Carbon governance is critical to China's contribution to the economic and social green transformation. Combining various factors along the pathway from carbon generation to treatment processes is necessary for the effective control of carbon emissions. This study uses a whole-process governance perspective to explore the factors influencing carbon emissions in China and identify the carbon emission decoupling status at different economic levels. Carbon emissions were decomposed into three dimensions: integrated process control (IPC), end-of-pipe treatment (EPT), and economic scale (ESS). Based on data from 30 Chinese provinces from to 2001–2019, a temporal-spatial factor decomposition model, a two-dimensional decoupling model, and a decoupling contribution index model were developed. The findings indicate that IPC is a crucial link in carbon reduction, and that ESS drives carbon emissions, followed by EPT. The technical intensity effect (ΔRI) is the key to driving carbon reduction. In addition, economic effect (ΔGP) and ΔRI are the main contributors to the gap in carbon emissions between different regions and the national average. Carbon emissions and economic growth show decoupling trends, however decoupling development lags behind economic development. IPC constitutes the main link for achieving decoupling, driven primarily by ΔRI. Based on these results, policy recommendations to enhance the carbon emission reduction potential and shorten the regional carbon emission gap are derived, providing new perspectives for synergistically achieving carbon emission reduction and high-quality economic growth.

An Integrated Real-time Monitoring and Statistical Process Control Approach for Coating Process and Product Quality via In-line Optical Coherence Tomography

An Integrated Real-time Monitoring and Statistical Process Control Approach for Coating Process and Product Quality via In-line Optical Coherence Tomography

Advanced Composite Manufacturing using Additive Manufacturing and Robotic Techniques

In the realm of mechanical engineering, the adoption and integration of cutting-edge technologies promise unprecedented advancements in material science and production processes. This paper delves into the pioneering realm of Advanced Composite Manufacturing leveraging both Additive Manufacturing (AM) and Robotic Techniques. Exploiting the intrinsic merits of AM, such as enhanced design freedom, reduced lead times, and intricate detailing, the research synergizes these advantages with the precision, speed, and repeatability offered by robotic mechanisms. The culmination of these methods allows for the fabrication of composite structures with unparalleled geometrical intricacy and tailored mechanical properties. Key insights from our exploration involve the optimization of AM parameters for composite materials, robotic path planning for efficient layering, and a holistic technique for integrated process control. Experimental evaluations signify marked improvements in terms of strength-to-weight ratios, production efficiency, and repeatability. Our findings pave the way for a new frontier in composite production, holding significant implications for industries ranging from aerospace to biomedical engineering. This study serves as a foundational step towards a paradigm shift in how we perceive and employ composite manufacturing in a progressively digital age.

Managed Pressure Drilling Using Integrated Process Control

Control of wellbore pressure during drilling operations has always been important in the oil industry as this can prevent the possibility of well blowout. The present research employs a combination of automatic process control and statistical process control for the first time for the identification, monitoring, and control of both random and special causes in drilling operations. To this end, by using automatic process control, control charts are applied to the output of the controlled process; subsequently, the points which are outside the predefined control limits are identified. This method is capable of using controllable input variables not used in automatic process control, such as changes in the mud weight, to fully control the process. Due to the dynamic nature of the process, adaptive model-based controllers have replaced feedback methods in automatic process control. Control charts have also been used to compare the performance of different automatic process control approaches. Based on this new criterion, the fuzzy adaptive approach is shown to have good performance in automatic process control. The results indicate that this approach can improve the limits of the automatic process control method by using statistical process control for controlling the bit pressure in an acceptable range.

Risk assessment and integrated process modeling–an improved QbD approach for the development of the bioprocess control strategy

A Process characterization is a regulatory imperative for process validation within the biopharmaceutical industry. Several individual steps must be conducted to achieve the final control strategy. For that purpose, tools from the Quality by Design (QbD) toolbox are often considered. These tools require process knowledge to conduct the associated data analysis. They include cause and effect analysis, multivariate data analysis, risk assessment and design space evaluation. However, this approach is limited to the evaluation of single unit operations. This is risky as the interactions of the operations may render the control strategy invalid. Hence, a holistic process evaluation is required. Here, we present a novel workflow that shows how simple data analysis tools can be used to investigate the process holistically. This results in a significant reduction of the experimental effort and in the development of an integrated process control strategy. This novel QbD workflow is based on a novel combination of risk assessment and integrated process modeling. We demonstrate this workflow in a case study and show that the herein presented approach can be applied to any biopharmaceutical process. We demonstrate a workflow that can reduce the number of factors and increase the amount of responses within a Design of Experiments (DoE). Consequently, this result demonstrates that experimental costs and time can be reduced by investing more time in thoughtful data analysis.

Integrated Process Control by Combining Controllers and Monitoring Charts

Integrated processes between automatic process control (APC) and statistical process control (SPC) have been of interest to researchers in the process control area as both are complementary to each other and share the common objective of reduction of process variation. In this paper, a control system with damping property functions is designed as an integral controller and is combined with SPC charts in order to reduce process variability. The proposed controller is compared with other existing and widely-used controllers including minimum mean square error controllers and proportional, integral and derivative controllers under the integration of APC and SPC. The results show that indeed a damping controller with optimum parameters results in a more significant reduction in process variation than the widely-used ones. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed controller.

EFFECT OF MOISTURE CONTENT ON DEHULLING OF FROZEN HIGH-OLEIC SUNFLOWER SEEDS OF HYBRID «UKRAINSKYI-F1»

The subject of research is the process of dehulling of sunflower seeds to produce dehulled kernels. The authors studied the fractional composition, moisture content and subzero temperatures effects on dehulling of sunflower seeds of Ukrainian FI hybrid. The sustainable preparation conditions and quality parameters of dehulling seeds from the various fractions at constant huller rotor speed were determined. First demonstrated the role of subzero temperatures as a factor in the integrated process control of dehulling. Temperature reduction of initial seeds dehulling from +20°С to -30 °С, with keeping all other parameters unchainged, increased the degree of dehulling by 10,8–14,7 %, increase the kernel fraction by 19–25 %; increase the solid kernel rate by 16–20 %, and reduce the yield of oilseed dust by 2,5–5,0 times.

Managing Data Quality of the Data Warehouse: A Chance-Constrained Programming Approach

To make informed decisions, managers establish data warehouses that integrate multiple data sources. However, the outcomes of the data warehouse-based decisions are not always satisfactory due to low data quality. Although many studies focused on data quality management, little effort has been made to explore effective data quality control strategies for the data warehouse. In this study, we propose a chance-constrained programming model that determines the optimal strategy for allocating the control resources to mitigate the data quality problems of the data warehouse. We develop a modified Artificial Bee Colony algorithm to solve the model. Our work contributes to the literature on evaluation of data quality problem propagation in data integration process and data quality control on the data sources that make up the data warehouse. We use a data warehouse in the healthcare organization to illustrate the model and the effectiveness of the algorithm.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUTOMATED PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM WITH A SUBSYSTEM FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF EQUIPMENT STATUS FOR AN ENTERPRISE MANUFACTURING STAINLESS STEEL PIPES BY WELDING

This article describes the process of developing an integrated process control system for an enterprise for the production of stainless steel pipes, based on the combination of local automation systems into a factory information technology system. Briefly describes the technological cycle of the production, the equipment used, its features, as well as its change as a result of the introduction of the process control system. It describes the requirements for quality control of products and methods for this control. The features and composition of the process control system are explained. The items of equipment included in the process control system are listed, their technical characteristics are given, and their choice is justified. Software and their structure, the interaction of elements in the system, the main tasks solved by the process control system and their influence on the quality of the finished product are described. The technical and economic analysis and justification of the application of the process control system for this production is carried out.

Migration of industrial process control systems to service-oriented architectures

ABSTARCTThe use of Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) in industrial automation promises an improved cross-layer integration as well as a functionality decoupled from the technical implementation. Compared with the earlier investigated manufacturing industry, control systems in the process industry reveal additional challenges in terms of migration from a legacy control system to an SOA control system.The successful migration of a highly integrated process control system, without reducing reliability or availability and, at the same time, preserving functionality and productivity, requires a detailed plan and certain specialised technology.This paper presents the challenges in the migration of a process control system and proposes a structured method for migration. The migration procedure proposed comprises four steps: initiation, configuration, data processing, and control execution. A technology demonstration at a pelletizing plant illustrates how the first of these steps could be implemented.

Cooperation of Horizontal Ground Heat Exchanger with the Ventilation Unit During Summer – Case Study

Renewable energy sources are used in the modern energy-efficient buildings to improve their energy balance. One of them is used in the mechanical ventilation system ground air heat exchanger (earth-air heat exchanger - EAHX). This solution, right after heat recovery from exhaust air (recuperation), allows the reduction in the energy needed to obtain the desired temperature of supply air. The article presents the results of "in situ" measurements of pipe ground air heat exchanger cooperating with the air handling unit, supporting cooling the building in the summer season, in Polish climatic conditions. The laboratory consists of a ventilation unit intake - exhaust with rotor for which the source of fresh air is the air intake wall and two air intakes field cooperating with the tube with ground air heat exchangers. Selection of the source of fresh air is performed using sprocket with actuators. This system is part of the ventilation system of the Malopolska Laboratory of Energy-Efficient Building (MLBE) building of Cracow University of Technology. The measuring system are, among others, the sensors of parameters of air inlets and outlets of the heat exchanger channels EAHX and weather station that senses the local weather conditions. The measurement data are recorded and archived by the integrated process control system in the building of MLBE. During the study measurements of operating parameters of the ventilation unit cooperating with the selected source of fresh air were performed. Two cases of operation of the system: using EAHX heat exchanger and without it, were analyzed. Potentially the use of ground air heat exchanger in the mechanical ventilation system can reduce the energy demand for heating or cooling rooms by the pre-adjustment of the supply air temperature. Considering the results can be concluded that the continuous use of these exchangers is not optimal. This relationship is appropriate not only on an annual basis for the transitional periods (spring and autumn), but also in individual days in the potentially most favorable periods of work exchanger (summer and winter). Inappropriate operation of the heat exchanger, will lead to a temporary increase in energy consumption for the preparation of the desired air temperature, relative to the fresh air unit which is non-pretreated. For optimal energy system operation: exchanger EAHX - air handling unit, to preserve the most favourable parameters of inlet air to handling unit, there is a need to dynamically adjust the source of fresh air, depending on changing external conditions and the required outlet temperature of central unit (temperature of air forced to the rooms).

Process control and economic cost design for total quality management

For decades quality management has been developed based on the statistical techniques and quality improvement activities. This was achieved through better understanding of process control and economic cost design, which plays an important role in the statistical techniques and quality improvement activities. The integration of process control and economic cost design successfully reduced process output variability and improved process efficiency. In this paper, a review and recent works on the economic cost design, process control, and their applications are provided. Specifically, we summarise the related topics regarding the integrated process between process control and statistical techniques, explaining process controllers, process efficiency, and economic cost designs. The integration of process control and statistical techniques is shown as a research area and we promote further interest in its development and application in industry. A discussion of some research topics is also given, including future research topics.

An Integrated Simulation-based Process Control and Operation Planning (IS-PCOP) System for Marine Oily Wastewater Management

The chronic discharge of oily wastewater, mainly including bilge water, offshore produced water and ballast water, has been referred to as a major contributor to marine oil pollution. Although gravity-based treatment techniques have been widely used to separate oil from wastewater, many dissolved toxic organics, particularly Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), are not likely to be effectively removed and may cause severe environmental problems. Further treatment has therefore become necessary for the shipping and offshore oil and gas industries, particularly in the harsh environments (e.g., the Arctic Ocean) where ecosystems are extremely vulnerable. Among many chemical and biological treatment techniques, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and advanced oxidation techniques have been recently regarded as promising solutions to the removal of PAHs. Such advanced treatment systems, as compared to the traditional ones, are usually lack of in-depth understanding of reaction mechanisms and kinetics, process control requirements, and long-term planning strategies. More particularly, the integration of process control and operation planning has been proven in the literature to greatly reduce process cost and improve system performance. However, such integration is usually complicated by many factors such as the multi-scale nature of decisions, the lack of knowledge of process dynamics and control, and uncertainty. These deficiencies can drastically hinder the widespread application of these advanced treatment systems in the shipping and offshore industries. In response to these knowledge and technique gaps, this research proposes an integrated process control and operation planning system to aid marine oily wastewater management based on experimental study, process modeling, process control, operation planning and their coupling.

Application of Sustainable Integrated Process Design and Control for Four Distillation Column Systems

The objective of this paper is to present the application of sustainable integrated process design and control methodology for distillation columns systems. The sustainable integrated process design and control methodology is developed and able to find the optimal solution for a single distillation column to ensure the design is more cost efficient, controllable and sustainable to meet the product quality. The sustainable integrated process design and control problem for a distillation column system is typically formulated as a mathematical programming (optimization with constraints) problem, and solved by decomposing it to six sequential hierarchical sub-problems: (i) pre-analysis, (ii) design analysis, (iii) controller design analysis, (iv) sustainability analysis, (v) detailed economics analysis and (vi) final selection and verification. In the pre-analysis sub-problem, the concept of driving force is used to locate the optimal design-control-sustainable solution targets, which are defined at the maximum point of the driving force diagram. The sustainability analysis sub-problem was analysed by using the three-dimensional sustainability index. The results through separation of n-Pentane, n-Hexane, n-Heptane, n-Octane and n-Decane mixtures with four distillation column systems shows the methodology is capable to find the optimal solution for multiple distillation column systems that satisfies design, control and sustainability criteria in a simple and efficient way.

Fully Integrated Process Control

AbstractLaser beam brazing and welding are well established joining techniques in the automotive industry; in particular for the body in white production. These processes are mainly used to join two‐piece trunk lids as well as to connect the roof and sidewall with a visible seam or to weld doors in steel or aluminum. Hence, the requirements upon the optical appearance of the brazed seams are very high and quality monitoring is essential. In cooperation of Scansonic MI GmbH and Fraunhofer ILT, a first prototype of a fully integrated on‐line process control system has been developed — SCeye.

Detection of Stiction in Level Control Loops

Stiction is a persistent control valve problem in the process industry responsible for oscillations and, consequently, losses of productivity. Its early detection and separation from other oscillation causes is an important issue in the industrial context. One of simple and effective approaches to detect stiction has been proposed by Yamashita that employed a pattern recognition principle. While its performance is good in flow control loops, it fails to properly diagnose other types of processes.The present work details a new approach that enables the application of the Yamashita pattern recognition principle to level and other integrating process control loops. A simulation study demonstrates its capabilities in clean and noisy environments and analyzes the impact of the noise on the diagnostic performance.

Quality improvement in pre-hospital critical care: increased value through research and publication.

Pre-hospital critical care is considered to be a complex intervention with a weak evidence base. In quality improvement literature, the value equation has been used to depict the inevitable relationship between resources expenditure and quality. Increased value of pre-hospital critical care involves moving a system from quality assurance to quality improvement. Agreed quality indicators can be integrated in existing quality improvement and complex intervention methodology. A QI system for pre-hospital critical care includes leadership involvement, multi-disciplinary buy-in, data collection infrastructure and long-term commitment. Further, integrating process control with governance systems allows evidence-based change of practice and publishing of results.

Getting ready for PAT: Scale up and inline monitoring of protein refolding of Npro fusion proteins

Screening for optimal refolding conditions for recombinant protein overexpressed in Escherichia coli as inclusion bodies is often carried out on micro-scale in non-agitated reactors. Currently, scale up of refolding of Npro fusion proteins is based on geometric similarity and constant Re number. Refolding/cleavage kinetics is recorded offline by HPLC and via fluorescence intensity. We show that the results for refolding obtained on the micro-scale can be transferred to the laboratory scale stirred tank reactor, with increases in scale up to a factor of 5000, with high agreement of kinetic constants and yield. Progress of refolding kinetics on the laboratory scale is monitored inline by attenuated total reflectance – Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Addressing the demands for better process understanding, we demonstrate that ATR-FTIR enables the inline monitoring of refolding processes on the laboratory scale, replacing offline analysis which delivers the results with a time delay. Implementing inline monitoring will allow the integration of process control, thereby resulting in a more efficient and knowledge based production process.

The Potential of Sensors and Biosensors for Integrated Process Control in Real-Time. Can They Survive the Environment?

The industry of tomorrow places a heavy demand on more efficient processes that performs in a more fluent cost-saving and sustainable way throughout the whole process production system. These industries need improvements in process monitoring and measurement that is the key for delivering better process control and therefore more sustainable processes. Innovations in process measurement are therefore needed to relate more closely to the full stream process environment to deliver better higher final quality products by allowing better process control and hence substantial cost reduction and a friendlier environment.This will need a complete new approach for the different scenarios regarding the innovation, development, design, behaviour, implementation and application of sensor and biosensors. These type of measuring devices and probes should functioned in temperatures on a continuous basis for extended periods ranging from temperatures around1000 ºC to room temperature and even below and from high pressures to normal pressures depending on the process production system. This talk will look and outlined different types of sensor and biosensor devices currently available and the potential to survive in the environment of integrated process control in real-time.AcknowledgementsThe present work was supported by the Romanian National ProgrammePN II, Ideas, Contract Nr. 100/27.10.2011.