Feedback Controller Performance Assessment of Univariate Processes

Abstract

A typical industrial process includes thousands of control loops. Instrumentation technicians generally maintain and service these loops, but rather infrequently. It is important for control engineers to have an efficient tool to monitor and assess control loop performance. Monitoring and assessment of control loop performance should not disturb routine operation of the processes or, at least, should be carried out under closed-loop conditions. As pointed out by Eriksson and Isaksson (1994), “in the short term, such a tool probably has to be a stand-alone unit with its own software that hooks on to and collects data straight from the input of the process computer; in the long term, such a function will be an integral part of any commercial control system”