Advanced Process Control (APC) encompasses a wide variety of multivariable process control techniques that overlay basic control methods and is synonymous with process automation.
In a changing world with a growing emphasis on process safety, optimization and efficiency APC techniques have become a standard to assist in increasing profitability whilst maintaining a safe working environment. Intelligent control techniques such as fuzzy logic provides the opportunity to design simple yet effective rule-based controllers removing the classical dependence on binary values.
More advanced control techniques such as model predictive control (MPC) utilise dynamic relationships between process variables providing the opportunity to implement optimisation algorithms within the APC layer. Techniques as described are often combined in order to provide a complete APC solution catering directly for the client’s needs.