Control Station, a leader in PID (proportional-integral-derivative) control loop tuning and process control technologies, has announced the launch of the company’s newest product innovation – PlantESP.
The launch of this software-based technology significantly expands Control Station’s suite of process control diagnostic and optimisation solutions.
PlantESP actively monitors the performance of a production facility’s PID controllers, facilitating the isolation and correction of underperforming regulatory control systems. It complements Control Station’s award-winning suite of Loop-Pro PID controller tuning products. PlantESP also alerts users to performance issues related to a plant’s mechanical final control elements and its process limits.
The solution’s launch is the result of years of extensive product research, development, and testing. The concept for PlantESP was first established in 2007 as Control Station’s growing base of licensees solicited the company for a proactive performance monitoring and alerting capability. Nearly two dozen of Control Station’s customers provided essential input to the product design.
‘Intuitive solution’
“Our participation in the pilot programme allowed us to witness PlantESP’s evolution first-hand and to understand the benefits of monitoring the performance of our regulatory controllers,” shared Dave Shepler of American Electric Power’s Conesville Power Station. “It’s an intuitive solution and it simplified the isolation of issues that were negatively affecting our plant’s heat rate – a critical success factor in the power industry. The analysis and recommendations provided by PlantESPs have helped us to correct issues and maintain more reliable, cost-effective operations.”
“PlantESP has been a major undertaking and its design reflects the direct input of our customers,” stated Bob Rice, Control Station’s vice president of engineering. “Almost every production facility can benefit from improving PID control, but isolating a handful of ‘bad actors’ represented a significant challenge. We’ve solved this problem by equipping manufacturers with this logical, intuitive, and effective technology.”
Founded in 1998 under the name of Control Station Technologies by the University of Connecticut’s Dr Douglas Cooper, the company focused on solutions for teaching PID control loop diagnostics and optimisation best-practices. Control Station Technologies became the leading provider of PID diagnostic and process optimisation course curriculums to both the commercial and academic communities. The company’s Practical Process Control curriculum is utilised today by over 150 colleges and universities worldwide.
In 2004, Control Station incorporated to deliver enhanced PID diagnostic and optimidation technologies. The company boasts installations with Fortune 100 customers worldwide.
