Automatic process control helps lower energy costs

Control Station Inc . has released its 4.0 Product Suite, designed to improve performance of manufacturing systems by applying advanced process control capabilities. The 4.0 Product Suite enables manufacturers to significantly reduce energy consumption, the company says.

The cornerstone of Control Station’s 4.0 Product Suite is Engineer. With more than 40 industry-standard process models, the modeling and tuning capabilities of Engineer allow users to achieve increased stability and optimal response to disturbances within production processes.

Another component of the Product Suite is Developer, which combines modeling and tuning capabilities with rapid process design and simulation utilities. The solution supports advanced and industry-relevant control methods, including cascade, feed-forward and Smith predictor capabilities for integrating processes.

The link between lower energy costs and effective process control is becoming increasingly clear to manufacturers. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 40% of production costs within the chemicals and petroleum processing industries are attributed to energy consumption. Recent volatility in the supply of crude oil has resulted in a precipitous increase in the cost per barrel, inflating manufacturers’ cost of goods sold and lowering profits.

Specifically related to process controls, the Carbon Trust, an independent not-for-profit organization that monitors industrial carbon emissions, reports that regular tuning of process controllers can reduce energy consumption by as much as 15%.

—David Greenfield, editorial director, Control Engineering, dgreenfield@reedbusiness.com

Do you have experience and expertise with the topics mentioned in this content? You should consider contributing to our CFE Media editorial team and getting the recognition you and your company deserve. Click here to start this process.