Systems Control of Chemical and Related Process Systems

The traditional concept of control, in application to chemical and related process systems (CRS), concerns the problem of how to manipulate inputs to the system so that (a) designated output variables follow predetermined time trajectories (which may be constants over finite intervals) or (b) the state vector of the system is transferred (optimally) from some initial value to a specified final value. However, there has been an increasing tendency to consider control from a broader and more general perspective. Strong contributing factors in this trend are (a) the increasing application of computers in process control, providing the hardware and software means for implementing more sophisticated control concepts, and (b) the growing awareness and acceptance of a "systems approach" in the design and control of industrial process systems