Course Description

The course described in this paper is Chemical Engineering 801 - Advanced Process Control. In the latest offering at the University of Delaware (Fall 1998), there were seven students enrolled for a grade and five students auditing the class. Of the seven students taking the class for a grade, five were University of Delaware graduate students and two were industrial professionals enrolled for continuing education credit. As a main reference, the course used the text by Skogestad and Postlethwaite [4], and the major topics covered in the course include:

• Classical Multivariable Control
• Analysis of Performance Limitations
• Uncertainty Characterization
• Robust Control Synthesis
• Control Structure Selection and Plant-Wide Control

One of the key strengths of the Skogestad and Postlethwaite text is the treatment of performance limitations, and this topic was covered in depth in the lecture and reinforced via the experimental project. The course project was assigned in the middle of the semester, and the students were given the choice of a theoretical independent course project (related to their thesis research) or the opportunity to work on the experimental system as a group project. Of the five on-site students, four elected to carry out their project using the experimental Four Tank System.