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THE ACT CLUB NEWS Issue 16 December 1998 speakers describing recent implemented in the toolbox, Inside This Issue: developments in these areas. including current state-of-the-art • Forthcoming Events techniques, are accessible if required. The ACT Club will report on the A full description of the Toolbox and • New Predictive Control Lloyd’s study into the use of Fibre its features can be found on Page 2. Toolbox Optic Cabling and also launch the updated Ship Modelling and The official launch of the Predictive • New ACT Club Reports Simulation package which now Control Toolbox will be on 14th April • ACT Club WWW Site works in Matlab/Simulink. 1999 at the University of Strathclyde. • The programme for the day will ACT Club in London consist of: • Conference News Process Control and • • Theoretical introduction to Energy SIG SCADA Systems Meeting, Predictive Control th • ACT Club Training 9 February 1999 • Detailed presentation of the Courses & Deliverables Toolbox capabilities Bailey Automation in Telford is • Hands-on sessions. hosting this event which will bring together speakers from both elcome to this bumper issue of academia and industry. It should be a Interested Club members can request Wthe Advanced Control very interesting day especially as we a beta version of the Toolbox for Technology Club News. It is filled have the renowned researcher Prof. evaluation. If you are interested with details of our forthcoming Jacques Richalet, who will give the please contact Andy Clegg. events and activities, as well as the key presentation, entitled “Industrial usual conference reports and other Applications of PFC Predictive news articles. Control”. Events for 1999: I hope you enjoy reading the Other speakers from the Oil and Gas • Newsletter. If you have any 5th Marine SIG Meeting, Industry and Systems Suppliers th comments (or criticisms!) we will be perspective will make this a very well Croydon, 8 February delighted to hear from you. rounded day. A tour around Bailey • Process Control & SCADA Automation is also included. Systems, Telford, 9th February Andy Clegg ACT Club Manager • Energy, Oil & Gas Event, Predictive Control Aberdeen, March (tbc) • Toolbox Launch Event Predictive Control Toolbox Launch, Glasgow, 14th April Forthcoming Events for 14th April 1999 ACT Club Members • Steering Group Meeting, 19th The Industrial Control Centre has May (evening) th developed a Predictive Control • PID Control Day, University of 5 Marine SIG Meeting Toolbox, which is being made th th Sussex, 20 May 8 February 1999 available to Club members. The main • purpose of the Toolbox is to enable Applications of Advanced The next Marine Special Interest engineers to try out Model Based Control, Cambridge Group Meeting will be held on 8th Predictive Control without the need University, mid-September February 1999 at Lloyd’s Register of to understand the underlying theory (tbc) Shipping in Croydon. The theme of and algorithms. The Toolbox makes the meeting will be Fault Monitoring extensive use of Graphical User and System Integration with guest Interfaces to guide the user through the design process. The algorithms THE ADVANCED CONTROL TECHNOLOGY CLUB 50 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1QE. Tel.: (+44) 0141 553 1111 Fax: (+44) 0141 553 1232 e-mail: [email protected] Page 2 The ACT Club News It is hoped that the same type of Control. It is likely to be held in one • Improving the Quality of international representation will be of the nearby hotels and will Control in Cold Rolling Mills present at this course as was present hopefully combine both work and Training Course, October (tbc) at the previous event. A number of pleasure. companies have already expressed an Energy, Oil & Gas interest in promoting the course. The New ACT Club Predictive Meeting, March 1999 arrangements have yet to be finalised, but following feedback, it is likely to Control Toolbox be a little shorter than the full-week The ACT Club recently hosted a of the previous event. Club members meeting targeted at the Oil and Gas will again receive two free places, The long awaited ACT Club Industry (see report on Page 3) which whilst non-members will pay a fee of Predictive Control Toolbox for focused on the performance and cost £2,700 per delegate. benefits improvements that have been Matlab is now available in a pre- release evaluation form. This achieved through the use of advanced We hope to establish these courses as Toolbox is a very user-friendly control. an annual event and that this will means of trying predictive control form the beginning of a Metal algorithms without the need for a This future event is intended to Processing Special Interest Group. expand on the interest generated by detailed understanding of the theory. The user interacts with the design the previous event and will coincide Further details of this course can be entirely through Graphical User with the commencement of our obtained from Reza Katebi in the Interfaces and dialog boxes. The Energy Special Interest Group. We ICC, (tel.: 0141 548 4297 or email: Toolbox includes the following hope to follow the same structure as [email protected]). the previous event and include a features: number of company presentations. • A state-space system description is This meeting will be held in Full details of all the above used allowing multivariable Aberdeen to attract a strong events will be circulated to Club systems to be handled easily. participation from the North Sea Oil members 6-8 weeks prior to • The new algorithms, developed in and Gas Industry and is scheduled for events taking place the ICC, provide better stability March 1999. and robustness properties, and are presented along with the more traditional algorithms PID Control Day, • Constraints on both plant input and output signals can be handled 20th May 1999 • The designed controllers can be tested using both linear and non- This meeting will report on recent Steering Group Report linear models developed within advances with the commonest form SIMULINK. of controller, the PID, including new • A demonstration example of a gas auto-tuning techniques. It will be The ACT Club Steering Group met at turbine model is provided. hosted by Prof.. Derek Atherton at BG Technology on the 26th October, the University of Sussex. featuring the usual discussions on The toolbox nature of this package defining future Club activities and enables the user to take the various priorities. Prof. Ron Leigh of Brunel elements within the toolbox and Improving Control in University was present and he incorporate them into their own Cold Rolling Mills described the shape of the new simulations in a very convenient London based Centre. manner. It is the most professional of The success of the Hot Rolling Mill the ACT Club packages to date. course (see Page 3) has encouraged We are always willing to accept new members onto the Steering Group, This toolbox will be launched us to develop a Cold Mill course for th 1999. The course will again be aimed and at the moment we are looking for formally on the 14 April as at plant engineers concerned with the nominations for the position of mentioned previously in this operation and maintenance of Cold Chairman. newsletter. The pre-release version Mills. The course will therefore be at Toolbox is fully functional and is quite an introductory level. being made available to companies The next Steering Group meeting for comment and evaluation will take place on the evening of the purposes. If any Club member would 19th May, prior to the meeting on PID like to evaluate this software before THE ADVANCED CONTROL TECHNOLOGY CLUB Page 3 The ACT Club News its formal release then please contact Andy Clegg at the usual address. This was a very successful event supported by the Energy Technology If any member would like copies Support Unit (ETSU), which looked of the material distributed at the Recent ACT Club Events at Advanced Control for the Oil and above meetings then please Gas Industry. The aim was to contact Lorna Fleming at the promote the benefits that Advanced usual address. Introduction to QFT Control can provide through presentations discussing real-life A very successful meeting on experiences. Quantitative Feedback Theory was hosted by CEGELEC at Rugby in The meeting was attended by thirty New ACT Club response to requests from Club participants from many International Members members for an introduction to this Oil and Gas companies as well as subject. In addition to the tutorial ACT Club members. introduction, a range of applications was considered and the benefits and Alstom have recently joined the advantages of QFT outlined. ACT Club, primarily to undertake a Joint ACT Club/ICC Case Study on the application of QFT extends classical frequency Hot Rolling Mill Control Fault Tolerant Control for Gas domain design approaches to provide Turbines. truly robust solutions. It is applicable and Technology Course to many systems, ranging from Kodak became the first company to process control to aerospace. The The above event, held 14th-18th September at Strathclyde University, join through the new London Centre meeting attracted over twenty (see article on Page 5). Kodak are delegates and an introductory report attracted both Club members and paying non-Club members from primarily concerned with process was issued. This report has now been control for their film production, and issued as an Educational Note. many different countries, making this a truly international event. The as such are heavily involved in lectures and practical sessions were Chemical engineering and batch well received and overall the course processes. Applications of proved very worthwhile for delegates Knowledge Based Systems and lecturers alike. The course Cerestar (food stuffs producer) and banquet was held at the Charles Omron (PLC manufacturer) are Rennie Mackintosh designed “House both looking to follow in Kodak’s This one-day meeting held at BG for an Art Lover” and proved a fitting footsteps and join through the Technology, Loughborough brought end for our first such course.