When should manufacturing organisations embark on digital transformation? July 2016, Absolute Perspectives, 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 ...
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 ...
Nick Denbow's European report: Emerson shows off its latest instruments June 2016, News The Emerson ‘Global User’s Exchange’, for their customers and potential customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa, was held in Brussels in April. As with all the leading automation, control and instrumentation ...
Nick Denbow's European report: Emerson shows off its latest instruments June 2016, News The Emerson ‘Global User’s Exchange’, for their customers and potential customers in Europe, Middle East and Africa, was held in Brussels in April. As with all the leading automation, control and instrumentation ...
The ‘Big Picture’ on ExxonMobil’s Open System Initiative June 2016 There were quite a few noteworthy presentations at ARC’s 20th Annual ARC Industry Forum in Orlando in February. One presentation in particular stimulated considerable discussion among process control ...
Control loop: Case History 147 - Why base-layer feedback control is needed April 2016, Michael Brown Control Engineering, System Integration & Control Systems Design A friend of mine was appointed to start an advanced control and optimisation group in a very large chemical plant and he hired a group of academically highly qualified young APC (advanced process control) ...
How exactly does IT support manufacturing compliance? March 2016, Absolute Perspectives, IT in Manufacturing Manufacturing compliance is increasingly a concern as a result of new regulations, and globally connected supply chains where products are made and consumed across multiple jurisdictions.
Nick Denbow’s European report: Internet of Things micro sensors are coming March 2016, News “Not another article talking about IoT sensors!” Maybe, like me, this is your normal reaction. Hopefully this article will show that there are clever developments going on, that are relevant industrially ...
Dual pressure and temperature transmitter for low power systems March 2016, Allpronix, Pressure Measurement & Control A multi-variable transmitter from American Sensor Technologies provides both pressure and temperature outputs from a single process point. In addition to simplifying control systems, the Model AST46PT ...
How does a Zener barrier work? March 2016, Extech Safety Systems For an explosion, all three of gas/dust, oxygen and source of ignition (spark or heat) need to be present. Intrinsic Safety (IS) works on the principle of removing the source of ignition. This can be ...
Case History 146: What makes control loop optimisation worthwhile? February 2016, Michael Brown Control Engineering, System Integration & Control Systems Design In this article we look at three cases where great success was achieved through optimisation. The work was all done in a petro-chemical refinery. Case study 1
The first example is of a reactor feed ...
Optimising the value of an operator training simulator November 2015 For example, would the simulator be used to train plant managers, engineers, and/or maintenance technicians as well as operators? Would the simulator also be used to test control strategies in a safe, ...
Nick Denbow’s European report: The rise of an Ethernet fieldbus October 2015, News Remember the 'Fieldbus Wars'? These happened in the 1990s I suppose, when there were all sorts of sensor networks used to gather data from the many sensors distributed around a plant or machine, to transmit ...
What is MESA and why should you care? September 2015, MESA Africa NPC, News MESA (Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association) International is a global community of manufacturers, producers, industry leaders, and solution providers who are focused on driving business results ...
Ensuring the safety and security of industrial control systems September 2015, IT in Manufacturing Process safety and cyber security are distinctly different disciplines, but there is growing realisation that they are related.
Specifically, today’s industrial organisations face the common imperative ...
Nick Denbow's European report: Drones for remote inspection August 2015, News The first serious use of a helicopter drone for inspection duties on a petrochemical plant in the UK was reported around five years ago, from Cyberhawk, based in Edinburgh, and initially focused on the ...
