Process Measuring, Monitoring and Control at Lab-scale: an Added Value for Practical Training

Open loop dynamic testing and closed loop automatic control have been devised, implemented and quantitatively evaluated on a portable laboratory workstation, with the aim of serving Chemical and Process Engineering students with practical training. A basic case study was conceived on level control. Classical evaluations, both qualitative and quantitative, were carried out on the dynamic response experimentally obtained on the workstation, either at open or closed loop, including the quality of the feedback action by means of the controller performance indexes (e.g., IAE; ISE; ITAE; ITSE). Although conceptually simple, the experimental activities turned out a rather demanding task in terms of time, data elaboration and interpretation work, but they provided a continuous beneficial interaction between the lecturer and the student. The developed technique, the tests with the workstation and the encouraging results obtained so far promise to be a very useful educational tool for undergraduate students in classes on Process Control, with the added value of directly involving and better motivating both students and instructors.