Wow, August already. For those around Emerson Process Management, it means the Emerson Exchange 2010 Technical Conference is rapidly approaching. This year it will be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas on September 27 through October 1. If you register on or before August 16 you can save $400 off the full registration price.
Emerson’s Terry Blevins and Mark Nixon will be presenting a short course on process control fundamentals at Emerson Exchange, titled Control Loop Foundation – Batch and Continuous Processes. The abstract:
A new book on process control fundamentals will be published by ISA in September, 2010. This book is based on material originally developed for internal Emerson classes. In this short course the book authors present key areas of the book and demonstrate web base exercises that accompany the book.
I checked and saw a detailed description of the book is available on the ISA website. Mark and Terry describe the book’s intended audience:
It is assumed that the reader may not have worked in a process plant environment and may be unfamiliar with the field devices and control systems. Much of the material on the practical aspects of control design and process applications is based on the authors personal experience gained in working with process control systems. Thus, the book is written to act as a guide for engineers, managers, technicians, and others that are new to process control or experienced control engineers who are unfamiliar with multi-loop control techniques.
I was able to get my hands on an advanced copy of their Emerson Exchange short course. It steps through an introduction that covers measurement devices, analyzers, final elements, field wiring and communications, control strategy documentation, operator graphics and metrics, and process characterization.
After the introduction, Terry and Mark provide a closer look at control objectives. These include single loop control, tuning and loop performance, multi-loop control, model predictive control, and process modeling. They highlight specific applications in continuous, combustion, and distillation control. Overall, the short course gives a basic overview of process control that is covered in greater depth in the book.
If you or some of your colleagues are new to process control, this short course is an opportunity to hear first hand and ask questions from two, highly experienced individuals. Terry notes that seating is expected to be limited so you’ll want to get there early. They’ll also have a drawing for a few books that will be hot off the presses.
I hope this provides another reason to come to the Emerson Exchange. Terry, Mark, and I look forward to seeing you there!
