Advance Process Control Strategy Selection
Advance Process Control Strategy Selection
Advance Process Control Strategy Selection
ARC has been covering Advanced Process Control (APC) for over two decades. Based on this
knowledge, ARC analysts have developed a comprehensive set of criteria to help you select the best
APC solution available on the market.
Over the years, APC has decisively demonstrated its value as a best practice by increasing
throughput and improving yield, energy usage, raw material usage, product quality, safety, and
responsiveness.
Implementing an APC solution can be time consuming and costly. For instance, many companies
typically spend hundreds of thousands of dollars installing an APC solution. Implementation usually
involves several lengthy steps such as preconditioning and testing, model building, controller
integration, and commissioning. Many suppliers are now offering improved tools that help
decrease the time and effort necessary to implement solutions and achieve faster time-to-benefits.
With the availability of more tools and better methodologies, an increasing number of companies
are now starting to apply APC to smaller units that were difficult in the past to justify on an ROI
basis. In addition, more transition and start-up sequencing technology is being integrated with
control applications to provide safer and more profitable operations. Incorporating rigorous
modelling technology into the controller will also extend its applicable range and
accuracy. Advanced control techniques are also finding many applications in batch and semi-batch
operations. [Learn more about Advanced Process Control.]
The benefits of advanced process control are well documented, for example, reducing process
variability, product give away, and optimizing against process constraints. Often such optimization
has also been accomplished in silos from other production stakeholders. Today and in the future,
especially in downstream refining and chemicals, benefits of steady operation will be managed in
real-time against the gap existing between “plan versus actual” and eliminating this loss
experienced by production planners and production schedulers. While production optimization is
not new, the ability to dynamically coordinate multiple process units in closed loop and
automatically adjusting APCs is a market driver. Production optimization software is easily
deployed and maintained by APC engineers and often a logical extension of an engineer’s workload.
APC engineers are well positioned to leverage the wave of artificial intelligence, cognitive
computing, or prescriptive analytics. While APC technology has been built on a foundation of
empirical and first principle models, machine learning and data science are now becoming a
profitable lever of performance in the optimization market. Leading suppliers are pushing the
peripherals of the process industries. They are now looking to address the performance of static
assets and equipment such as pumps, exchangers, distillation columns, and furnaces and how each
of these are intertwined to the systemic reliability and performance of process units or hydro
processing facilities that are front and centre in the continuous process and batch process
industries.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Major Trends
Industry Trends
Regional Trends
Strategies for Success
Scope
Business Goals
System Functions & Features
o Architecture
o Basic Features
o Advanced Features
Service Requirements
o Project
o Lifecycle