Process Control Consultant

Process control involves a lot; my strength is solving a unit's process dynamics/control problems that persist in spite of good efforts by the unit resources.

Basically, there are three ways that controls develop. Following standard design ideas and rules of thumb is the most common and usually most effective. For complex problems, black box control/optimization like dynamic matrix control can be effective. The third approach is the one I prefer: opening the box, understanding the process dynamics, and designing controls that are open and understandable, and stabilize the process.

Some typical problems for which I developed successful control designs include:

• Large complex units with multiple mass and energy feeds, changing frequently;
• Large plant recycles with multiple feed and purge points with long dynamics;
• Complex systems like multiple, interconnected steam headers.

I'm not a lone ranger with a silver bullet. Rather, I'm a specialized resource that can join your plant team working to resolve problems or improve performance. If you don't have a team, I'll work with you to find and enlist the people needed for successful design and implementation. The plant team defines the issues and the needs. My role is to study the fundamental dynamics of the units involved, understand the current controls, and present to the team a proposal for controls that will perform better. With feedback and improvements from the team, I'll form a final proposal that meets the needs of:

• Production/operations - for process stability and for operator display and interaction;
• Plant technical - for design compatibility, sustainability, platform;
• Plant Management - for cost effectiveness and quality objectives

A key component in most of my past designs: dynamic simulation. For control designs, dynamic simulation need not always be high fidelity, because controls naturally tune themselves to the variation in the real plant via feedback. But a basic dynamic simulation is important to

• Understand how the unit(s) work
• Test and evaluate potential new control strategies
• Convince plant people that a proposal will work

My Process Control/Engineering Resume describes some of the more significant projects I've worked on.

It's a long i like the sky - Sky´ rick