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Control loop: Case History 154 - What happens to the process if the valve jumps?
May 2017, Michael Brown Control Engineering, System Integration & Control Systems Design
I recently wrote a Case History about control problems in a minerals extraction plant in Portugal, which was experiencing great difficulty with the control on their flotation banks. I have also written ...

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Nick Denbow's European report: Advances in battery technology
April 2017
The opportunities for spin-out businesses and industries from university research projects are multiplying. The growth in this sector comes from the acceleration of technology in general, but also because ...

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Next-gen automation services ­support operational excellence and reduced project cost
March 2017, IT in Manufacturing
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) now provides an enabling platform for a new generation of IIoT-enabled remote support services.

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Control loop: Case History 153 - Why is the control so terribly erratic?
March 2017, Michael Brown Control Engineering, Motion Control & Drives
I was recently asked to advise on a bad pH control problem in a water treatment plant. A new carbonisation bay had been installed at the plant: Figure 1 shows the layout of the bay and controls. Raw water ...

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Control systems vendors see opportunities in cloud-based IIoT data services
February 2017
Their problem is that their main business cycles between feast and famine, as it is dependent on investment project business. Harry Forbes of the ARC Advisory Group notes that automation companies will ...

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How to build a cloud IoT system around a manufacturing process
February 2017
Cloud-based IoT is a potential game changer that allows businesses to extend and further automate their processes using data from lots of sensors outside the factory by leveraging global infrastructures ...

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Nick Denbow's European report: Right idea – wrong time, maybe?
January 2017, News
Clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeters have come a long way since the 1970s.

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Nick Denbow's European report: Scada and disruption in the IoT era
December 2016
What is to be the next generation of automation systems, to take advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT)? The large automation systems offered by the major suppliers of today were initially developed ...

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Nick Denbow's European report: The latest robots are friendly
November 2016, News
We all know what a robot is. But then it really does depend on whether you immediately think of them in ‘sci-fi’ films, or paint spray booths, or welding on automotive production lines, or stacking in ...

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Control loop: Case History 151 - The myths surrounding deadtime dominant processes
November 2016, Michael Brown Control Engineering, System Integration & Control Systems Design
The practice of industrial feedback control is one of the most misunderstood engineering disciplines in the world. The theory was developed by eminent mathematicians in the early 1900s and was based on ...

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Nick Denbow's European Report: Women with STEM and computing skills take the lead
October 2016, News
STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) training is receiving a lot of current attention: but this is not something that is new. As the Founder of Churchill College, Cambridge, in 1959 ...

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Nick Denbow’s European report: Sales and marketing people to admire
September 2016, News
There is a family-run DIY shop in Winchester: it does not have the attractive displays of the DIY supercentres, it is crammed with stuff in crowded aisles, and you have to ask where to look for anything. ...

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Case History 150: Mystery in distillation column temperature control.
September 2016, Michael Brown Control Engineering
The longer I work in the field of control loop optimisation, the more I learn that things often do not work the way one expects. I have spent over 30 years optimising literally thousands of feedback control ...

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Cybersecurity implications of the Industrial Internet of Things
Technews Industry Guide - Industrial Internet of Things 2016
ARC Advisory Group’s long-running research into industrial control systems (ICS) and ICS cybersecurity provides a unique vantage point for assessing the cybersecurity implications of the emerging Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

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Nick Denbow's Industrial Internet report: The future for IoT
Technews Industry Guide - Industrial Internet of Things 2016
   Richard van Hooijdonk, a ‘Trendwatcher’ For the Yokogawa European conference, their Trendwatcher was Richard van Hooijdonk, from the Netherlands. A well-known radio lecturer, Richard is also a lecturer ...

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Nick Denbow's European report: Fresh air with Brexit
August 2016
Having been a silent voter during the run up to the referendum, and appalled by the rubbish pedalled by the politicians on both sides, I was delighted to discover that despite my reservations about leaving ...

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Improving OEM service performance with remote monitoring
July 2016, IT in Manufacturing
With remote asset health monitoring using IIoT and well-crafted analytics, OEMs can obtain advance warning of a failure and provide services for minimal unplanned downtime.

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Nick Denbow’s European report: The Yokogawa User Group conference in Budapest
July 2016
The 'User Group' conferences, which provide a meeting place for automation and control managers and engineers from different companies and industries to get together and share their operational experience, ...

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When should manufacturing organisations embark on digital transformation?
July 2016, IT in Manufacturing
Manufacturing organisations are faced with a fast moving and evolving landscape. Increasing customer demands for speed and quality, combined with strong pressure to operate at lower margins, means little ...

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Control loop: Case History 149 - Classic examples of badly optimised loops.
July 2016, Michael Brown Control Engineering
Problems on a flow control loop    The first example is that of a flow control loop on a liquid flow. Figure 1 shows a closed loop test with a step change of setpoint.    Three problems immediately stand ...

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