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Online Process Control (PID/APC/MPC) and Machine Condition Quality and Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics Software - Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Algorithm

View the Apromon brochure.

Please contact us to get a free demo on APROMON - Online Process Control (PID/APC/MPC) and Machine Condition Quality and Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics Software - Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Algorithm.

[email protected], Tel: (832) 495 643

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Typically, industrial and manufacturing plants can have somewhere from 50 PIDs for a small plant and maybe up to 3000 PIDs for a large plant. Many industrial plants can have between 10 to 50 DCS-based advanced process controllers (APCs) or even between 1 to 5 model predictive controllers (MPCs). Are you aware that all your controllers are slowly deteriorating, becoming oscillatory or too sluggish, or for unknown reason placed and kept in manual mode? How would you know?

In many industrial plants there can be between 50 up to 2000 or even more control valves, and many of them may be moving erratically. This could tear and wear out them quickly, and build up your replacement and maintenance costs. Are you aware that your control valves are slowly getting destroyed? How would you know?

Also, many manufacturing facilities can have between 100 or even more than 3000 measuring sensors. Measuring instruments and signals can fail, become frozen, jagged, spiky, or noisy. All this “weird” signal behavior can affect on behavior of important PID/APC/MPC controllers, some crucial rule-based logic and control algorithms, and the life-cycle of your final control elements. Again, how would you know before it is too late?

As you are aware, things with time will become worse. Any perfectly tuned PID, optimized APC, or satisfactory identified model predictive controller (MPC) models with time will deteriorate. This is just a natural life-cycle of any equipment or control optimization solution, since with time process dynamics, conditions, equipment sizes and performance will certainly change. Thats why continuous process control monitoring and diagnostics is important. Early detection of plant or control system problems can save costs and bring huge monetary benefits to any plant. With the help of process control monitoring and diagnostics technology you can early diagnose plant issues and act quickly to maintain controls optimal. Up to today, only small percentage (%) of industrial plants use control monitoring. Therefore, big opportunity is still missed and online monitoring is essential!

APROMON is a continuous real-time (online) Artificial Intelligence (AI) based online software product for monitoring and diagnostics of PID control loops, advanced process controllers (APCs), model predictive controllers (MPCs), machine conditions, measuring sensors and final control elements quality performance. It runs automatically and can be connect to any DCS / PLC / Historian system using typical industrial OPC (OLE for Process Control) communication protocol.

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APROMON slika za web

APROMON will give you the answers on all process control, measuring sensor and final control element performance questions, such as:

  • Which controllers are not controlling well (sluggish/aggressive/oscillatory)?
  • Which controllers have interactions?
  • Which controllers have continuous and strong disturbances?
  • Which control valves are not working well (too jagged/sticky/over-undersized)?
  • Which controllers need better tuning and optimization?
  • Which signals need filtering (too noisy)?
  • Which controllers have instrument signal problems (frozen/spiky/out of range)?
  • Which controllers often change mode or are inactive?
  • Which controllers have and for how long saturated MVs/CVs?

And many other diagnostic assistance tips useful for chemical and control room engineers and operators.

APROMON is equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) leading-edge technology for oscillation or a pattern change detection, not matched by any other technology. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms it identifies “True Amplitudes” by decomposing a complex plant signal into its true process signal and isolates any slow drifts, noise and signal strength not related to the process, as shown in Figure 5.

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Image APROMON

APROMON reliably determines if any of the PID/APC/MPC controllers are starting to become unstable (by having raising oscillation) or if they are hunting (becoming unstable/oscillatory on a long run). This new Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature can become new PLC/DCS alarm, called “Oscillation” or “Pattern Change” alarm, in addition to commonly used PLC/DCS alarms. Also, APROMON can detect whenever a basic PV signal, which is a part of a simple measurement, or any basic or advanced controller is hit by external oscillatory or spiky disturbance.

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APROMON is the only software tool that decomposes the total controller output movement into individual P (proportional), I (integral) and D (derivative) contributions, by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) based algorithm. It shows which of the three terms (P, I or D) is dominant and illuminates controller tuning or optimization problems. Oscillations due to high P, or high I, or both can be unambiguously determined allowing the user to easily and quickly stabilize and tune controller performance.

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Also, based on the embedded and powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, APROMON has the unique power to automatically convert any controllers, such as: flow, pressure, temperature, level, online analysis, advanced process control (APC) controllers into a simple and single “Grade” factor, just like the grade given by a professor to a student. Grade of 100 indicates the best performance and grades closer to 0 is indication of bad behavior. APROMON calculates and displays 30+ different performance criteria for each tag/control point. The Grade reported for each tag is a result of Artificial Intelligence (AI) perturbations of many criteria, as displayed in Figure 3. Text descriptive message explaining the root cause of the problem and providing step wise procedure how to solve the same is for generated for each tag, as shown on Figure 4. These messages, criteria values and grades are extremely valuable and are stored in the historical archival system, which can be easily accessed for months and years.

Some of the distinguishing and powerful features of APROMON are listed below:

  • It can work as Offline (Excel-based), and/or Online (Service and as OPC client)
  • Runs automatically at every user defined period
  • Works for all types of controllers – fast, medium, slow are intelligently scaled appropriately
  • Criteria, data and grade performance is displayed as an online real-time trend
  • Can be run for any number of controller and/or measurements with multiple instances
  • Each engineer/operator can get his own report for his dedicated unit over mobile or email
  • Reports can be conveniently used during morning meetings in control room for prioritization
  • Configuration is very simple and quick, takes only several hours
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