Dec
10
The single loop and multi-loop control techniques most often used in automating continuous and batch processes are addressed in the book Control Loop Foundation – Batch and Continuous Processes. Similarly, the advanced control techniques that are most often utilized in the process industry are addressed in the book Advanced Control Foundation – Tools, Techniques, and …
Aug
20
IEC accepted the U.S. National Committee’s offer to hold IEC/TC 65, SC 65A, SC 65B, SC 65C and SC 65E meetings during the weeks of 17-21 and 24-28 September 2012 at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando Florida, USA. Subcommittee meetings are schedules the week before the start of ISA Automation Week. The plenary will …
Jul
30
Courses required for an engineering degree are designed to provide the student with a sound technical foundation for work in industry. However, in most cases these courses do not address the terminology and common practices that an engineer must know to design, implement, checkout and commission a process control system. Universities can help bridge this …
Jul
16
The PID block mode parameter as originally defined by ISA50 determines the source of the block setpoint and the source of its output. This mode parameter is structure to contain four attributes: Target – The mode of operation requested by the operator Actual – The mode of operation that may be achieved based on the …
Jul
09
As an operator changes the mode of a function block, it is important that this change not cause a sudden change in plant operation. In the ISA50 mode implementation, the status in the backward path plays an important role in providing bumpless transfer. For example, the actual mode of an analog output block will not transfer …
Jul
02
As the ISA50 function block team considered how to improve plant operations through a more comprehensive implementation of mode in the control system, they realized it would be important that the control blocks, such as the PID, be designed to automatically take into account up-steam and downstream conditions that impact control operation. Thus, inputs and …
Jun
25
To ease operator transition from panel-based systems to monitor-based systems, the manner in which first generation Distributed Control Systems (DCS) displayed information often mimicked the way this information had earlier appeared on the control panel. Since the control interface provided by the control panel was familiar and had proven to be effective, a similar presentation …
Jun
11
The SC65E WG7 committee met May 28-June1, 2012 in Meisdorf, Germany. In this meeting the committee addressed work that is part of the maintenance cycle for IEC61804 – Function blocks (FB) for process control. Also, much of the meeting discussion focused on work related to the development of IEC 62769 Field device integration (FDI) standard. …
May
28
I was honored to be one of the three plenary speakers at the IFAC PID’12 conference. My presentation was scheduled on the last day of the conference, Friday, March 30, 2012. The topic of my talk was PID Advances in Industrial Control. In this presentation I address the fact that major advances have been made …
Jan
02
In June, 2100 the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) distributed a new project proposal 65E/199/NP, Devices and integration in enterprise systems; Field Device Integration (FDI) – Part 1 to 7. Voting on this proposal was completed in October, 2011 and the new project was approved. Within IEC the SC65E WG7 committee will address converting the draft FDI …
