Articles

Batch executives speed up accurate feeds

Despite great strides to the increased computing power of PC-based controls and software, many batch applications have been stuck with the same measurement and control methods for 30 years. No longer.
Post Date: 03/08/2007
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Ink control, steam drums, smart positioners

Process control authority Béla Lipták and his cadre of automation experts answer readers' questions regarding ink control, steam drums and smart positioners.
Post Date: 01/05/2007
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Standards for better not worse!

ISA, WBF, MIMOSA OAGi and OPC have set up the Manufacturing Interoperability Guideline (MIG) working group to bring harmony to two of the automation industry’s most important standards.
Post Date: 10/27/2006
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Still life

Control Talk columnists McMillan and Weiner invite Wendy Kramer, Mark Sowell and Control Hall of Fame inductee Terry Tolliver to comment on improving the control of batch distillation applications.
Post Date: 10/13/2006
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The world is a batch

ISA 88 gives process automation a native language for batch processes, and much more. Editor in Chief Walt Boyes reports on the state of the batch in the September cover story for CONTROL magazine.
Post Date: 09/11/2006
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Innovations in batching, dosing and weighing

Challenges brought on by new regulations and technical problems for batching, dosing and weighing have pushed users to find some innovative and surprising solutions beyond our own industry.
Post Date: 07/12/2006
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Full throttle batch and startup response

Improvements in practices for starting up a loop with a large process time constant, or slow ramp time compared to the dead time, can save 25% or more in batch cycle and startup time. Read how.
Post Date: 05/08/2006
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System integrators are today's new users

CONTROL contributor and WBF Chairman, Maurice Wilkins, offers his thoughts on where all the end users from manufacturing companies who attend events have gone in this installment of Batch Dispatch.
Post Date: 02/24/2006
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A spoonful of industrial computers

CONTROL's contributing editor Wayne Labs notes that while that well-known spoonful of sugar may work for sick kids, manufacturers may need a dose of industrial computing to cure ailments in their processes.
Post Date: 01/16/2006
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New software works with older process

For this potato chip maker, achieving higher productivity starts with understanding the process, whether it's continuous or batch-oriented, and that means gathering as much data as possible.
Post Date: 07/30/2005
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Getting batch material transfers under control

Batch material transfer control seems an easy task to carry out, but the reality is that many functions are necessary if the system is to accomplish accurate batch material transfer control. Weighing systems with device-level controls can help.
Post Date: 07/18/2005
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An alarming situation

Alarm systems of one type or another always have been part of industrial machine, robot, and skid control systems, but CONTROL Senior Technical Editor Dan Hebert, PE, notes that there's more to alarm technology than meets the eye ... or ear for that matter.
Post Date: 06/05/2005
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Reflections on the 2005 WBF conference

In this "special to the web" article for ControlGlobal.com, WBF Chairman Maurice Wilkins offers his thoughts on the 2005 WBF conference held last month in Atlantic City.
Post Date: 06/02/2005
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Life's a batch!

Efficient batch control can be both an art and science, writes CONTROL contributor Gregory K. McMillan, so act accordingly for best results, and always remember "it's survival of the fittest" out there.
Post Date: 05/17/2005
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Ten steps to secure control systems

This "special to the web" article summarizes the 10 most important design and process principles that, while not guaranteed to secure a system, ensure your control systems are as secure as practical.
Post Date: 05/12/2005
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The cyber security assessment methodology

Check out the methodology behind cyber security in this "special to the web" article by Jay Abshier, and assess your network’s intrusion protection/detection plan.
Post Date: 05/12/2005
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The human aspects of process automation

Maurice Wilkins, Chairman of the World Batch Forum, focuses on batch management, automation and integration in this "special to the web" monthly column for <EM>ControlGlobal.com</EM>.
Post Date: 01/25/2005
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It’s more than batch!

Maurice Wilkins, Chairman of the World Batch Forum, focuses on batch management, automation and integration in this new "special to the web" monthly column for ControlGlobal.com.
Post Date: 11/30/2004
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Call it what you will, it's still artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is proving it's worth in process and in practice in plants nationwide. Meanwhile the costs, in time and money, of adding AI capability to a plant keep falling.
Post Date: 10/27/2004
Author: Dana Blankenhorn

Control offshore plants from here

Technology just might keep process control from going overseas as long as engineers, operators and techs can tune the plant, watch over day-to-day operations, and diagnose problems from here.
Post Date: 10/22/2004
Author: Rich Merritt, Senior Technical Editor