Tools
Services
Achieved Results
In an environment of increasing international competition where countries with lower
production costs quickly catch up technologically, new thinking is required in order
to meet the competition. A proactive way of meeting the increasing competition is to
focus on maximizing the utilization of existing technology and, faster than the competitors, being able to continuously introduce and make use of new technology. This means much more than just investing in new equipment.
The ability to optimize or improve a process is dependent upon the ability to control the process. The ability to control the process is dependent upon the access to reliable and valid measurements. A successful industrial optimization thus entails a strategic approach encompassing the whole chain:
Measuring => Controlling=> Optimizing
Grabitech provides production tools and services through the whole chain that support process industries in their efforts to increase competitiveness.
Process Measurements
The development of sensors and measuring instruments has made it possible to measure almost anything and thereby forming a basis for highly efficient process control. However, to make use of the measurement it is necessary to ensure measurement
reliability and validity.
The reliability is related to the quality of the measurement (noise, repeatability, etc). The
validity is correlated to knowledge about when and how a certain process measurement is related to product quality and other process output. Most processes have a substantial time lag between process input and process output. Keeping track of this time lag is thus crucial in order to draw well founded conclusions from a measurement.
The Grabitech Tracking System is an excellent tool for ensuring reliable and valid data. It offers many opportunities for filtering data and handling of time lags and also forms a basis for other software applications. The
Tracking System also provides excellent opportunities for systemization of production data for process modeling.
The Tracking System can be installed separately or as an integrated part of installations of new measuring instruments, control systems or hardware.
Process Control
Reliable and valid process measurements form the basis for efficient process control, but this is not enough. Knowledge of how measured process variables affect output and how to make cost efficient process adjustment are also necessary. Grabitech is an official distributor of the
Unscrambler tool, which is a multivariate data analysis tool. This tool provides opportunities to identify complex correlations between multitudes of input and output process parameters. The tool can be used to identify the most important process variables and to model the entire process.
Knowing how changes in input parameters affect the output and how cost efficient process adjustments can be made, makes efficient process control possible. Process models are at the core of all the products in the Grabitech’s
Online
Predictor series. The Grabitech Online Predictor provides excellent opportunities to monitor the process and product quality. The
Predictor simplifies the decision making by highlighting real-time production cost, product quality and suggestions for cost efficient process adjustments.
The Grabitech Online Predictor can be installed separately or as an integrated part of installations of new measuring instruments, control systems or hardware.
Process Optimization
The ability to control a process does not guarantee optimal control. Optimal process control can be a difficult task due to several reasons:
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Complex correlations between process variables might make it necessary to consider many parameters simultaneously during process adjustments.
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Several process levels might exist, all with different optimal variable settings.
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Changes in raw material and process conditions require continuous adjustments of variable settings.
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Several quality parameters might need to be optimized simultaneously.
A comprehensive and successful process optimization should thus entail:
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A
dynamic optimization goal that should consist of a cost efficient weighted combination of the interesting process outputs (production variations, production cost, product qualities and emission levels). A
dynamic goal also means that it should be possible to automatically change the optimization goal as the process levels change.
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Handling of any process complexity with possibilities to successfully carry out the optimization, whether output from process models can be used or not.
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Handling of long term process changes with possibilities to continuously carry out optimization regardless of seasonal changes or changes in raw material.
The products in the MultiSimplex Controller
series provide all these possibilities and automate the process optimization for any process.
The unique joint response feature makes it possible to define an optimization goal, which is a combination of all interesting process outputs.
The MultiSimplex algorithm allows for handling of process disturbances and changes in process levels.
The MultiSimplex Controller does not need a process model but can use output from process models if such exists. The product also allows for continuous optimization and are especially useful in situations
Optimization Results
The comprehensive and flexible optimization opportunities provided by the MultiSimplex Controller series has proven to result in 10-50% improvements of optimization targets, where the products have been installed. This directly translates into equivalent savings when optimization targets are raw material, energy and costly emissions (NOx for example)
