Process Control & Optimization
Overview
Process control and optimization (PCO) is the discipline of adjusting a process to maintain or optimize a specified set of parameters without violating process constraints. The PCO market is being driven by rising demand for energy-efficient production processes, safety and security concerns, and the development of IoT systems that can reliably predict process deviations. Fundamentally, there are three parameters that can be adjusted to affect optimal performance.
- Equipment optimization: The first step is to verify that the existing equipment is being used to its fullest advantage by examining operating data to identify equipment bottlenecks.
- Operating procedures: Operating procedures may vary widely from person-to-person or from shift-to-shift. Automation of the plant can help significantly. But automation will be of no help if the operators take control and run the plant in manual.
- Control optimization: In a typical processing plant, such as a chemical plant or oil refinery, there are hundreds or even thousands of control loops. Each control loop is responsible for controlling one part of the process, such as maintaining a temperature, level, or flow. If the control loop is not properly designed and tuned, the process runs below its optimum. The process will be more expensive to operate, and equipment will wear out prematurely. For each control loop to run optimally, identification of sensor, valve, and tuning problems is important. It has been well documented that over 35% of control loops typically have problems. The process of continuously monitoring and optimizing the entire plant is sometimes called performance supervision.
Applicable Industries
- Transportation
- Equipment & Machinery
- Chemicals
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Quality Assurance
Market Size
The advanced process control market is estimated to reach USD 1.4 billion by 2020; growing at a CAGR of 11.79% from 2014 to 2020.
Source: Markets and Markets
Case Studies.
Case Study
Industrial & General Manufacturing Case Study
The client is a 65 division conglomerate with various small divisions which were unable to support individual PLM instances. The organization also faced major challenges in organizing and maintaining the various PLM instances at a corporate level.
Case Study
Refrigeration System Monitoring - Condis Supermarkets
The CONDIS supermarket chain needed to control reliably that its industrial refrigeration machines were operating correctly. At the same time the solution had to allow for manual testing of the level of refrigerant in the gas circuit when required, from the platform itself. This way they can act quickly in response to an alarm that the system itself should be capable of generating.
Case Study
ER Telecom Turns To LoRaWAN To Accelerate Digital Transformation In Russia
Russia offers a unique environment for IoT connectivity compared to densely populated European countries, because of the sheer size of the Russian Federation and its sparsely-populated or empty areas where there is no GSM mobile network coverage – although these areas can still be home to industries such as mining, oil & gas production or logging. In addition, there is a specific requirement to store and process all data within Russian borders to comply with national data protection regulations.