Control and optimization in cement plants

Energy consumption is a crucial parameter in plant performance and a critical factor for optimization. From a control point of view, factors such as nonlinear, multi-variable dynamics and process constraints need to be handled effectively. In addition, several critical process variables and product quality parameters are not measured online in an industrial cement plant. An effective online estimation mechanism along with a knowledge-based control algorithm is thus essential for achieving consistent closed-loop performance. An appropriately designed solution with these components ensures that process variability is significantly reduced along with reduction in specific energy consumption