Process Control Design for Industrial Applications

8Industrial Applications – Case Studies

In this chapter, we present the results of a few case studies on how automatic control resources can significantly improve industrial processes exploitation: in the iron and steel industry – an air heating system for supplying the blast furnace of a steel plant; in petrochemical processes – the pyrolysis reactor for making ethylene; in the energy industry – thermal transfer facilities and renewable energy facilities (photovoltaics). It is known that a simple and low-cost automation solution is based on controlling key parameters to ensure a nominal operating point of the process. For implementation, we recommend improved control algorithms using advanced adaptive, robust or predictive strategies to maintain nominal performances in a real industrial setting. On the other hand, we propose corresponding optimization solutions to exploit technological processes in order to increase the profit of the company. The result of the optimization problem, which represents the best decision for the process, is automatically transferred at the control level in order for the process to occur at its optimum operating point. In this context, for each case study, we propose a set of control and decision algorithms that provide independent tracking and regulation performances as well as digital solutions for real-time control and optimization. All the studies presented here have been validated in functioning technological applications.

8.1. Digital control ...