It can be shocking to examine control utilization in a plant where performance tools have not been installed and/or not used. For example, in the mid-1980s a control survey was conducted at a major pulp and paper plant where the control system had recently been updated to the latest distributed control system. At that time …
Tag Archive: DCS
Jun
25
Distributed Control Systems’ Implementation of Mode
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 …
Mar
05
Control Using Wireless Devices – The Challenge
There are significant difference in the frequency and manner in which anew measurement value is updated by a wired transmitter vs. a wireless transmitter. Thus, it is natural to question what impact this has whena wireless transmitter is used in closed loop control. Since most wireless transmitters are battery powered, it is desirable to minimize …
Feb
08
Virtualization – Real Today, a Reality Tomorrow
Virtualization technology has advanced a lot over the past 10 years. Most IT organizations now make extensive use of virtualization technology to consolidate servers and manage very large numbers of users. Virtualization provides a much improved architecture for isolating applications from hardware changes, securing systems, providing patch management, and improving power management (in large data …



