(109a) Closed Loop AI Optimization - the Next Evolution of Advanced Process Control and Online Optimization Technology

Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are challenging the status quo in all areas of process industry operations. One of the newer areas where AI is challenging legacy work processes is in the area of process optimization and controls. We’re cresting 4 decades since the first matrix controller came online, and while many improvements were made in those 40 years, the underlying technology remained the same.

The recent decade has brought significant advancement in technology and compute as well as a shift in sentiment towards AI in industrial environments. Control room operators are no longer fearing that AI will take their jobs, but seeing AI as their opportunity to perform their jobs more effectively. AI-based solutions for closed loop optimization and control are leveraging modern software components to build point-and-click, intuitive user experiences so that users of all skill sets can dive into underlying data-based process models without requiring coding or controls expertise. The result is a curious workforce making data-driven optimization decisions to drive plant operations to the highest state of energy and production efficiency they’ve ever realized.