A Distributed Coordination Approach to Reconfigurable Process Control

Success in the continuous process industries depends upon the ability to adapt to the demands of global supply chains in real-time. Thus, process plants must be designed to be easily reconfigured as and when necessary. A Distributed Coordination Approach to Reconfigurable Process Control presents research that addresses this issue, via developing a new distributed framework that will enable the building of a process control system that is capable of reconfigurability. This framework views the process as a set of readily-integrated, modular process elements, which operate relatively independently and are each supported by a degree of stand-alone decision-making capability. The rationale and benefits of moving towards the new approach is demonstrated by means of a worked example of a real process plant. The research will also help end-users to gain an understanding of the economic aspects of material flows across their plants, and the ways in which their processes can be integrated across the enterprise.