Control Loop Performance Measures in the Evaluation of Process Economics

The number of control loops used in industry is growing continuously and there are problems in keeping them working at a satisfactory level. One reason for the poor performance is the lack of maintenance of control loops. Economical benefits can result from the better maintenance of control loops. In this paper the economic aspects of control loop performance measures are discussed. A strategy is proposed to evaluate the economics of control performance using control loop performance measures. In addition, a case study on an industrial process is also described. It is anticipated that the framework introduced in this paper may prove useful in presenting control quality in a common language understood by operators, engineers and management.Copyright © 2005 IFAC