OPTIMIZING PLANT PERFORMANCE USING
PREDICTIVE DIAGNOSTICS
VIA A DIGITAL VALVE CONTROLLER ON A CONTROL VALVE
Historically, traditional control systems used in process control
provided little to no access to equipment health. These traditional systems do not provide a systematic way
to monitor, diagnose and improve
performance of field instruments
because traditional pneumatic or
electro-pneumatic devices cannot
communicate back information.
However, advances in control
instrumentation systems have brought
new dimensions to the process industry in the form of control system communications to intelligent field
devices. Still, challenges remain in
deciding which field devices are
appropriate for detecting which issues
to increase plant throughput. Many
field devices play equal roles in precise control and higher plant efficiencies. However, the valve (final control
element) is truly the heart of the
process control loop as it actually
physically touches the process and
controls it.
This article concentrates on
maintenance and optimum performance of the final control element of
process control loops using digital
valve controllers.
Digital valve controls can feed data back to those
running a plant to help them optimize plant
performance and set valve maintenance
priorities. BY RIYAZ ALI
INTRODUCTION
Field instruments and control valves
are scattered throughout process
plants, often located in hard-to-reach
places. Routine inspection of every
field device is a challenging job for
the maintenance and operations
team. Hazardous locations, bad
weather and difficult environments
can make the task problematic, espe-
cially while the process is running.
Too often, poorly performing instru-
ments and valves used in the process
are simply ignored until the next plant
shutdown or until they fail.
