TABLE OF CONTENTS Fundamentally, all batch plants process defined quantities of raw materials to produce the specific quantity, i.e. a batch, of finished product. How each plant does this depends on many things including the complexity of the process actions, the number of products the plant must produce, the differences between each product's process actions and sequences, the level of automation employed and the requirements for batch history. In many ways, all batch plants are the same but if we take a closer in-depth look at the batch plant we find many unique characteristics and requirements that give each plant its own personality. Knowing the personality of a batch plant is the key to selecting the right batch automation solution that best fits the plant's requirements.
Every batch plant has certain basic capabilities that are common to all batch plants. For selecting the most appropriate automation solution it is critical to identify and understand the dominant traits of the batch process. These include the process equipment, equipment control systems, operators who interact with the process, product recipes, a production schedule, a historical data record, etc.
Process/equipment control equipment comes in many forms and is usually dependent on the complexity of the process and the procedure that must be executed to produce that batch. The most basic is a fixed-speed mixer motor, with a starter and a timer that is set and controlled by an operator. Advanced process control solutions include...
