Plantwide Control of Chemical Processes for Beginners

Managing a single chemical reactor is one thing, but coordinating an entire chemical plant with interconnected recycle streams, heat exchangers, and distillation columns requires a holistic approach. This text-based course guides you through the fundamental principles of plantwide control, helping you understand how individual unit operations interact on a global scale. You will transition from analyzing isolated equipment to designing coordinated control structures that keep entire processes stable, safe, and efficient. By completing this course, you will gain the confidence to evaluate plant-wide dynamics, identify key control degrees of freedom, and implement strategies to handle throughput changes and inventory control. What you'll learn: - Understand the core principles of plantwide control and why local optimization can destabilize a whole process - Identify control degrees of freedom in complex chemical plants with recycle loops - Establish inventory control structures for liquid and vapor systems across multiple units - Apply systematic design procedures to select throughput manipulators and manage recycle effects - Analyze process interactions and basic regulatory control loops to ensure safety and product quality - Practice evaluating control structures using realistic process flow diagrams and written case studies The course begins with foundational concepts in process dynamics, mass balances, and control terminology before moving step-by-step through systematic design methodologies and practical industrial scenarios. This course is designed for engineering students, junior process engineers, and operations personnel who want to build a solid foundation in chemical plant control. No advanced control theory background is required. Start reading today to master the coordination of complex chemical systems.