Networked Process Control

Chemical plants are large-scale dynamical systems that involve distributed arrangements of interconnected subsystems which are tightly integrated through mass, energy and information flows. The tight integration gives rise to networked process and control architectures in which process networks arise from the exchange of material and energy through recycle streams, while control networks result from the integration of different control loops through real-time communication networks. The focus of this session is on recent advances in the analysis and design of networked process control systems. The session is intended to cover a broad range of contributions -- spanning both theoretical and applied topics -- dealing with the fundamental and practical challenges that arise in the design of distributed control, monitoring and communication schemes for process networks. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: novel techniques for the analysis and control of integrated process networks, exploiting network structure and dynamics in controller design; incorporation of communication networks in plant-wide control systems with emphasis on issues such as network resource management and communication disruptions; integration of sensor and actuator networks in process control systems; advances in multi-agent system based approaches for control and supervision of process systems.