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Benefits of Controller Monitoring and Integrated PID Optimization

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Benefits of Controller Monitoring and Integrated PID Optimization

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Sid GalaxyS6
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Benefits of Controller Monitoring and

Integrated PID Optimization


By Tom Kinney, John Gerry, and George Buckbee © 2005 ExperTune Inc

The benefits of continual loop monitoring are becoming well known to industry.
Controller monitoring can successfully find problem areas that will benefit the
plant. However, is it important that the PID Optimization software be integrated
with the performance monitor? This paper addresses the question.

A control monitoring package can be designed to take advantage of the powerful


technology in a PID optimization package. With an integrated optimization
package, during normal analysis of plant data, the monitor is constantly scanning
the data for special data features. These data features allow model identification
and control performance calculations on a continual basis. The monitor is
scanning for a setpoint change in automatic or a controller output change in
manual. With integrated optimization, the monitor is continuously and silently
tracking opportunities for developing process models on a 24x7 basis.

The Old Way

Traditionally, making a scheduled


bump to the controller output or Manual Set up data
Step
setpoint and collecting data on the collection equipment
results must be carried out. This
must be coordinated with process Manual Discussion with
Step Operator
operations and the process control
or instrument engineering
Manual
department. Once the data is Step Bump Tests
collected it must be validated. A
model must be developed based Manual Analyze & Validate Repeat for
on a decision about the form of the Step Models Each Loop
process. The resulting model
needs to be further validated by Manual Evaluate Valve
Step & Loop
playing the model data back thru
process data to determine if the fit
Manual
is sufficiently good to use the Step Develop Tuning
model for subsequent analysis and
prediction. Manual Report or
Step Document Results

Figure 1
Traditional Approach
This traditional approach is a time consuming, manually intensive, and error
prone process, which is rarely carried out on a plant wide basis. Figure 1 shows
a flowchart of the traditional process for loop monitoring & tuning.

The New Way

PlantTriage performs all these steps on a continuous basis, for all the control
loops in the plant. It looks for these special features in normal plant operating
data that is acceptable for modeling. This streamlined and automated approach
is shown in Figure 2.

Fully
Continuously
Automated Monitor, Identify, Reports Available
& Validate Models On Demand
and Tuning
Automatically Delivered
Or Manually Requested

Figure 2
Modern, Integrated Approach

An Example of Direct Cost Savings From Integrated Optimization

Let’s consider a typical process operation that has 300 active control loops. The
time and steps required to collect data on say 20% of those loops or 60 loops
would be as follows:

1.Connect tuning software: 15 min per loop. This includes entering the
addresses, the range information, the controller type, controller action, the
controller algorithm type and determining the OPC server and tag information.
This 15 minute estimate assumes no human errors occur and all information is at
hand for each loop.

2.Coordinate with operations to make the test, 30 min./loop

3. Carry out the test, 30 min/loop

4. Validate and analyze data, 1 hour per loop

5. Develop process control models and tuning, evaluate nonlinearities, signal


filtering, objective of tuning, and impact on valve wear. 1 hour

Total, 3.25 hrs / loop * 60 loops = 195 hrs


195hrs * $80/hr cost* = $15,600
For the 300 loops in our example this would cost $78,000

*(Plant engineer resource including salary, benefits, assigned overhead


costs etc. also referred to as a fully burdened cost. For an external consultant to
perform this task would cost twice as much, but presumably the consultant would
be more efficient so the cost would be similar.)

When the loop tuning and modeling software is fully integrated with the loop
monitoring system the cost to develop the same information is $0 and is
constantly being updated for an additional cost of $0.

Additionally, it may take several days or even weeks to mobilize the engineer or
consultant. Because they have many other priorities, it may take some time
before the right people can be available to gather the data. This is a “lost
opportunity cost”, because a loop tuning or valve performance problem may go
additional weeks without being fixed, resulting in further operating problems.

Performance Indexes from Automatic Modeling

PlantTriage uses the information from the automatic modeling system to develop
several metrics, which can also be used as Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs.
Two example metrics are the ExperTune Index and the Relative Response Time.

ExperTune Index, EI, is a prediction of the control performance improvements


possible if the control loop is retuned. The EI uses the information from the
automatic modeling subsystem based on a reduction in the Integrated Absolute
Error, IAE.

There are several available offerings in the marketplace, including PlantTriage,


which can detect some form of oscillation. There are many controllers, upwards
of 30%, that do not oscillate but have very sluggish and non optimal tuning
parameters in the controller. In these cases the controller will be slow to respond
and will have prolonged deviation from setpoint when a disturbance occurs. This
will reduce the time to steady state, during which time plant profit is substantially
reduced. The EI uses a model from the process developed from data and
validated using our tuning engine to deliver a real world prediction of realistic
improvements possible.
In many cases the Harris Index, HI, is promoted as a way to capture possible
controller performance improvements. While ExperTune provides full support for
this index in our product we feel that it has several major drawbacks. The HI is
based on an assumed process delay time, bases its performance prediction on a
Minimum Variance Controller model, and is insensitive to detuned controller
conditions referenced above.

MVC is an academic controller form of which there are no known commercial


implementations. The process model developed automatically from your process
data and run through our tuning engine is the best and most practical approach
to obtain controller performance predictions. Moreover, the EI will clearly identify
those cases where sluggish tuning exists.

Relative Response Time, RRT, another ExperTune exclusive, is a measure of


the controller characteristic period. If the control loop was modeled using the
automatic modeling subsystem then PlantTriage calculates an RRT. The RRT is
an essential tool to quickly decouple controllers whose harmonics are close to
each other. These loops have coupling or interaction. Operators sometimes
refer to this phenomenon with two or more controllers fighting each other or
talking to each other. When this condition occurs, oscillations can ripple through
a plant for many hours before they subside.

In some cases the only to way to eliminate the oscillations is to place one or
several controllers in manual until the process settles down. During these
periods operational targets are not achieved and energy is wasted due to the
excessive cycling. The RRT is a way to quickly and proactively eliminate these
conditions.

By using the integrated analysis tool within PlantTriage which in turn is enabled
by the automatic modeling function it is possible to quickly separate the
harmonics on two or more controllers such that the interaction is eliminated. By
eliminating interactions, the process responds faster to upsets and reaches
steady state four to five times faster. It is also more robust so that operational
targets are sustained thru a wide range of conditions ensuring maximum profit.

For further details on this topic including additional assessments generated from
the modeling subsystem included in PlantTriage follow this link.

http://www.expertune.com/ptwhitepapermodeling.html

Accessibility of PID Optimizer Software


There are ever increasing demands being put on today's engineers. Software
that is not straightforward and easy to use will not be used. Analyzing a loop in
detail should be only 1 click away. The easier it is, the more it will be used, and
the more benefit the plant will achieve economically. Tight integration also
avoids costly human errors. For example in the integration between the control
monitor and the PID Optimizer software:
• The user should not have to re-enter any setup information or any OPC
addresses. This saves time and can avoid costly human errors.

• The colors of the trends in the control monitor historian should be the
same as the colors of the trends in the Optimizer software. This avoids
costly human errors that can occur because someone was viewing an
incorrect trend.

• The PID Optimizer software should be capable of being launched from the
control monitor while viewing a historical trend of the process data.

• When the PID Optimizer software is launched, the same process data
shown on the historical trend should appear in the Optimizer software,
automatically.

• Any zoom or pan of any trend in the control monitor historian will contain
data that can be automatically passed to the PID Optimizer software when
it is launched.

• If the user is viewing multiple loops on the historian trends (as in a


cascade for example), all the loops should be automatically configured in
the PID Optimizer software, thus making it much easier to analyze all the
loops that pertain to a specific problem being studied on the trend.

Each of the above items makes the Optimizer tool, much more accessible, easier
to use, more likely to be used, and therefore that much more likely to be of
benefit to the plant. PlantTriage satisfies all these requirements.

Conclusions

PlantTriage, from ExperTune, is unique in tightly integrating PID optimization


technology with the control monitoring system. This integration is required to get
the most out of controller monitoring. The benefits from having the two functions
integrated are substantial. They include significant labor savings, human error
reduction, and the development of essential performance assessments needed
to quickly and efficiently optimize a process automation system.
by
Performance Supervision System

For more information, contact http://www.expertune.com

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