A microprocessor based simulator/trainer for a dry process control laboratory

This work addresses the design and operation of a small process simulator developed specifically for use in a university process control laboratory. Also presented are a number of application examples that illustrate uses of the device as a teaching/learning tool in undergraduate courses. The examples are intended to illustrate ways in which the simulator can be used to aid students in bridging the gap between control theory and practice.

State of the art microcomputer technology is utilized in the simulator which has over 10⁵unique plant configurations. The selected plant characteristics provide a reasonable representation of typical industrial processes and these characteristics (transfer functions, gain, dead time, settling time and sensor noise level) can all be independently selected. The simulator is also inexpensive, easy to operate and requires only a minimum of instructional overhead to use.

In the laboratory the simulator (a) can be configured for stand-alone operation to study process dynamics and modelling or (b) it can be connected in series or parallel with other simulators or (c) it can be connected to a wide variety of industrial control equipment. The application laboratory examples demonstrate uses of the simulator in all three areas.

The laboratory examples include demonstrations of reaction curve modelling, open loop and closed controller tuning methods, design of feedforward controllers, cascade and ratio control, multivariable processes and the relative gain array (RGA), decoupling of multivariable processes, and model reference control algorithms such as the Smith predictor.

In conclusion, the simulator discussed in this work addresses a very real need for modern laboratory equipment in process control courses. The device is shown to be versatile and quite effective as a tool for teaching the fundamentals of process control practice. Also, the device is relatively inexpensive which means that it is practical to provide multiple copies in the laboratory; this improves the quality of a laboratory designed around it because the accessibility of the laboratory is greatly increased.