[Why a Consortium?] [Executive Summary]
[Partnership Structure] [Program Achievements]
[Research Directions of KA Hoo] [Research Directions of JB Riggs]

 

Why a Process Control Consortium?

Process control and optimization are industrially important. Improved process control results in one or more of the following benefits: lower product variability, higher value products, increased throughput, reduced utility usage, and improved safety. Because these benefits are economically important, the use of advanced process control is essential to companies engaged in competitive markets. But deciding upon what type of advanced control and how to apply it can be the difference between the failure or success of an advanced control project.

Optimization is simply getting the most (economically) out of a process. Due to the scale of processes in the refining and chemical industries, optimization can be a very attractive "carrot". But the choice of the level of detail in the optimization analysis, the maintainability of the system of models, and data reconciliation stand between industry and the carrot.

In times when investment capital is scarce, advanced control and optimization offer a means of improved operating efficiency and/or a means of producing higher valued products with only software changes, properly applied. The work that we are doing at Texas Tech is aimed at assisting industry in this pursuit.

Because the PMBC technology can be implemented in existing DCS microprocessors and personal computers it can be vendor-developed and offered as available options. It also can be developed in-house by process engineers. With our application perspective, we have developed the PMBC techniques into the initial implementation stage, and one reason for the partnership is to disseminate that technology.

But, the technology is low on the learning curve and offers the potential benefits of integrating unit controllers for plant-wide control, of artificial intelligence, of integrating statistical process control approaches, and of improved methods for model adjustment. These are applied development topics which are logical extensions of our experience and achievements. They offer near-term benefits to industry, and are not consistent with the long-term research exploration supported by government funding. If PMBC technology development is to continue, it must come from industrial funding; a second reason for the consortium.

Universities supply technically educated professionals and Texas Tech has the largest and most applications oriented control program in the Gulf-Southwest region. Traditionally, only a small portion of our graduate students are Americans. With increased financial support we can offer fellowships and attract more US citizens. The third reason for support is to increase the availability of control educated citizens.

Industrial support has allowed us to expand our control course offerings from two to five. We have an undergraduate lecture course on the basics of PID and advanced control. It is followed by an undergraduate laboratory course on instrumentation calibration, basic controller tuning, ratio, feed forward, and loop interaction. One graduate level course is review of PID and classical advanced control. Our second graduate lecture course covers such important theoretical topics as device dynamics, sampled data effects, digital filtering, model-predictive control, time series analysis, and PMBC. The courses include such important application topics as design of advanced control strategies, constraint handling, and multi-variable control. Finally, our graduate laboratory course includes ratio, cascade, feed forward, decouplers, gain scheduling, and model-based control. To make the education program larger and to maintain relevance, we need guidance, support, and political influence. Over the past five years, our control program graduates at the MS and PhD level have been hired by eleven US companies, and eight are working for Texas industries. Since industry benefits, help from industry is the fourth reason.

Finally, industrial support provides a strong program credibility toward obtaining institutional and government financial support.

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Executive Summary

This process control and optimization consortium (PCOC) is a partnership between industry and the Department of Chemical Engineering to assure relevant process modeling, control and optimization research focused on industrial problems. The industrial members are asked to pay a $15,000 per year membership fee with a two year initial commitment. The consortium will meet bi-annually. At these meetings (1 and 1/2 days), there will be a half-day workshop on a topic of relevance to the members and conducted by experts in the area. This will be followed by a one-day business meeting that reviews the status of selected projects, discusses future research directions, and plans future workshop topics. Partnering companies would benefit from control technology transfer and an awareness of recent developments in advanced process control by several mechanisms: a semi-annual program review, copies (upon request) of all publications and reports, a one-day per year no-fee consulting by one of the principals, and consortium graduate internships.

Process control is a vital component of today's chemical processing industry. Improvements in control will lead to a more uniform product, near-optimal and safe operations, and competitive market position. These benefits can almost always be quantified in terms of uptime, feedstock and energy resource savings, and decreased maintenance. Texas Tech's Department of Chemical Engineering needs industrial partners to develop and transfer the advanced modeling, control and optimization methodologies, and to fill the regional and national demand for control-educated graduates.

The original principals' objectives were to develop an applied chemical process control program and well trained control engineers. Since that time, one of the PI's (Rhinehart) accepted the Chair's job at Oklahoma State University. Karlene A. Hoo joined the consortium as co-chair and as an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering in Fall 1999 as did Charles Cutler (formerly founder and CEO of DMC Corp) as an Adjunct Professor. Karlene brings with her a strong theoretical background in the fundamentals of control theory and 6+ years of industrial experience with Dupont and Exxon Chemical Co. Charlie brings more than 23 years of industrial experience in the area of process control.

The approach to process control research has not altered its attempt to be applied, but rather it has become a balance of fundamental theory with applications. The program direction continues to stress modeling either first-principles using physics and chemistry or using system identification theory. The control research spans regulation (P/PI/PID types), advanced (model-based) supervisory, to coordination of scheduling and control. Analysis skills are being emphasized to assess, for instance, closed-loop stability for the general rather than specific classes of problems.

Currently, eleven graduate students are working on modeling, control and optimization aspects of single to multiple units to entire plants. We expect to acquire two more PhD students in the Fall 2001. We also have eight Chancellors fellows and one Koh fellow in the group. Software such as AspenPlus, DMCPlus, RT-Opt, Custom Modeler, PEMS, HYSIS, Maple, and Matlab are used routinely in in-classroom instruction and for research by the principals and the students. The research programs have been expanded to include adaptive control, distributed parameter systems - modeling and control, and batch systems.

The partnership has been established to provide base-line funding for the process control research program, to enhance technology transfer to industry, and to increase active industrial involvement in the direction of process control needs.

Overall, the PCOC program aims to establish a long-term mutually beneficial partnership with industry. The program principals, Drs. Riggs, Hoo, and Cutler have a results-oriented approach to their individual research programs.

Expected benefits to industry include:

Benefits to Texas Tech include:

For more information contact:

Dr. James B. Riggs or Dr. Karlene A. Hoo
Department of Chemical Engineering
Texas Tech University, P.O. Box 43121
Lubbock, TX 79409-3121
Phone: (806) 742-3553 (806)742-4079
Fax: (806) 742-3552

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Partnership Structure

Industrial commitment will be on a two year $15,000/year basis payable to the Texas Tech Research Foundation. All funds and interest will be used for the Chemical Engineering Process Control and Optimization Program as the faculty principals deem necessary.

Paid partnering companies are expected to send a technical representative to attend semi-annual program review meetings at Texas Tech University. Anticipated meeting dates are April and October. The agenda will include a review of non-proprietary projects, facility tour, personnel introductions, and a discussion to guide program directions. The faculty principals will supervise the work and determine program direction to best match expertise, opportunities and partner benefits. Industrial partners will have a significant input on program direction through participation at the semi-annual meeting.

Paid partnering companies will receive a copy of all publications, reports, computer code, and presentations as available. Each will receive an annual summary of research projects, accomplishments, and financial statements.

Industrial support is intended to strengthen the general control and optimization program; and benefits to partnering companies include early technology transfer, manpower supply, recruiting, early awareness of new developments, and access into university expertise. Inventions, techniques, software, and etc. which are developed through this academic program will be subject to the intellectual property customs of the university.

The program structure permits and can perform proprietary sponsored work for consortium members. Fees and rights would be negotiated on a per project basis.

The program also offers many other forms of mutually beneficial industry/ university cooperation including personnel exchange, collaborative course/ text development, seminar speakers, and etc.

Consortium memberships can be initiated semi-annually with checks payable by March 31 or September 30th of each year. Industrial commitment checks should be sent to

Ted W. Johnston, Manager
Grants and Contracts Administration
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas 79409-1105

payable to

Texas Tech University

ear marked for the

Process Control and Optimization Consortium

Simultaneously send name-address-email-phone-fax of the liaison for meeting coordination, communications and etc.

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Program Achievements

The control research of Hoo and Riggs has been very productive.

PI Hoo's leading accomplishments include:

PI Riggs' leading accomplishments include:

Papers/Invited Abstracts of KA Hoo presented in the last year:

Current Student Summer Internships

Program awards include:

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