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Control-in-the-Field Benefits Study

A study into the performance benefits associated with Control in the Field (CIF) technology has been undertaken for the Fieldbus Foundation. CIF is a key function offered by Fieldbus technologies for process control applications where the control function is executed locally in the sensor/actuator devices, without requiring the data to be transmitted to and from the central control system. This has the potential to reduce latencies and improve determinism of the read-execute-write cycles in a control loop, allowing faster sampling and therefore improved performance. The objective of the study was to quantify how much improvement could be attained and under what situations.

Simulation-based analysis was used to assess the performance of CIF under many different scenarios of process dynamics, and a rigorous comparison made with a traditional solution where control was executed in the SCADA/DCS. It was found that in typical fast process loops (e.g. pressure and flow), CIF can provide a 10-30% improvement in response time and up to 20% reduction in disturbance rejection. As would be expected for slower process loops or those exhibiting deadtime, the improvements become marginal.

The results have now been published in an ARC white paper titled “The Business Value Proposition of Control in the Field”, which can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.fieldbus.org. The white paper also covers additional benefits that can arise from CIF, including tolerance to certain faults, reduced controller loading and reduced network traffic. Recommendations from end-users of CIF, such as Shell Global Solution International, reinforce these usefulness of these the benefits.

The full Fieldbus Foundation press release can be found here

Free Access to Wiley Control Journals

The publishers John Wiley have kindly agreed to make online access available for ACTC members for a limited period. The journals cover topics such as Robust & Nonlinear Control, Adaptive Control and Signal Processing, Optimal Control & Applications and many others.

For further details on how you can access this information, please contact Kelly Haldenby at John Wiley & Sons Limited