APC Performance Announces New Model-Less and Inherently Adaptive Process Control Algorithm

APC Performance, LLC announced Rate-Predictive Control (RPC), its new, patented model-less and inherently adaptive (or “naturally self-tuning”) process control algorithm.  It deploys as a re-usable distributed control system (DCS) software function block, or it can be directly built into commercial control system products as one of the user-selectable control algorithm options in these devices.  RPC reportedly provides a more reliable alternative to industry standard “PID” control in many applications.  XMC, the model-less multivariable control technology by APC Performance, LLC, embeds RPC as its internal control method.

The APC Performance press release says RPC and XMC represent potentially the most important and far-reaching breakthroughs in industrial process control technology in decades, because they solve fundamental limitations that have historically undermined process control performance in the past, including:

• Model-less – RPC does not depend on detailed process models for either single-loop or multivariable process control, thereby eliminating over 90 percent of plant testing and model-related activities, costs, and maintenance.

   

• Inherently Adaptive – RPC is “naturally self-tuning” with regard to changes in process gain, which is especially important in an industry that has struggled to find a reliable self-tuning controller in the past, and where dynamically changing process gains have been a particular problem of model-based multivariable control.

   

   

All process industries, such as refining, chemicals and power generation, rely heavily on process control technology for safe, stable and reliable operation.  As a result of RPC and XMC, all process industry sectors stand to realize large gains in overall real-time process control and optimization performance.  

APC Performance, LLC, also announced that its patent application for Rate-Predictive Control (RPC) has been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Peter Reynolds, ARC Advisory Group, commented, “Much of the traditional large matrix multivariable or model-based control technology has been difficult to use and support, resulting in poor operator acceptance and eventual degradation of the plant models, which impacts process performance.  It appears that APC Performance has designed XMC to target the optimization gap between traditional advanced regulatory control and the large matrix model-based controllers to make the solution simpler to implement, support, and maintain and much easier for the operator to use, which should result in better acceptance.”

Additional information about RPC and XMC will available at the ARC Industry Forum 2017 in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 6-9. 

Keywords: Process Control Algorithm, Distributed Control System (DCS), Model-Less Multivariable Control, Model-Based Multivariable Control, ARC Advisory Group.