Control & Alarms · Advanced · 2 days

Advanced Process Control (MPC) Principles and Maintenance

How multivariable predictive controllers work, how to design and step-test them, and why most of them end up switched off

Duration2 days
LevelAdvanced
FormatOn-site · virtual
CodeTR-E04
SP PV 4.9SP 5.0 Kc · Ti · Td Alarm
Course flyer

Advanced Process Control (MPC) Principles and Maintenance — one-page catalogue.

The flyer below is the printable A4 version. Use the buttons above to download it or the request form.

Advanced Process Control (MPC) Principles and Maintenance — one-page course flyer
Click the flyer to open the printable PDF.
Request this courseDownload the Training Request Form, quote course code TR-E04, sign and e-mail it to sales@cerasus.ai — or use the consultation form below.
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At a glance

What you will be able to do.

APC and control engineers, process engineers supporting APC applications, console supervisors and operations engineers who own the benefits

An MPC application is a set of models, limits and economics that must be maintained like any other piece of equipment; the industry's experience is that half of them are off within three years. The course explains what a predictive controller actually does with its models and objective function, then works through the lifecycle that keeps it on: benefits estimation, base-layer preparation, step-test planning, model identification, commissioning, and the monitoring that detects model mismatch before the operators lose confidence. Exercises use a distillation column case in ProcessVision.

  • Explain prediction, move suppression, constraint handling and LP/QP steady-state optimisation in operator and manager terms
  • Estimate benefits and define the constraint set and economics for a candidate application
  • Prepare the base layer: loop tuning, valve health, inferentials and instrument checks
  • Plan and supervise a step test and identify models with adequate quality
  • Commission an application: tuning weights, limit ranges, operator interface and hand-over
  • Monitor service factor, constraint activity and model quality and decide when to re-identify
Course outline

Day by day

Day 1

Why APC pays: variability reduction and constraint pushing · MPC anatomy: models, prediction horizon, control horizon, move suppression · steady-state optimiser and economics · benefits estimation and functional design · base-layer audit with CeraControl · inferential and soft-sensor requirements · step-test planning: signals, amplitude, duration, PRBS

Day 2

Model identification and model-quality judgement · controller tuning weights and limit ranges · operator interface, alarms and ISA-101 considerations · commissioning and benefit verification · monitoring KPIs: service factor, limits active, prediction error, model mismatch · sustaining: MOC for APC, re-identification triggers, roles · workshop on a column application in ProcessVision

Standards referenced
ISA-95 / IEC 62264
ISA-101
ISA-18.2
API RP 554
IEC 61131-3
Request a consultation

Tell us about the unit and the problem.

Send a short brief — plant, service of interest and what you need to achieve — and a Cerasus engineer will respond with a proposed scope and next steps.

Prefer email or phone? sales@cerasus.ai · +974 5506 2743