Human Factors Aspects of Advanced Process Control

Abstract

Energy conservation practices, such as heat recovery and integration, require that many chemical and related processes use advanced control systems. Many of the more advanced process control strategies and algorithms can cause operator confusion, leading to incorrect operator actions and negating the advantages of the advanced control. If the operator makes a mistake and upsets the process, or fails to respond correctly to a process upset, the loss can exceed the possible savings of the advanced control. Further, the experience can result in the operator not using the control capability in the future. Display and man/machine interface techniques, based on an understanding of human factors and of an operator's typical analysis of a process, can be used to present information to the operator in a manner which will prevent confusion. This paper discusses techniques for selecting and displaying process and control information to the operator.