DIJKSTRA, Freerk (Godfried Bomansstraat 82, NV Hengelo, NL-7552, NL)
UTELLUS B.V. (Hengelosestraat 705, PA Enschede, NL-7521, NL)
JANSENS, Pieter, Johannes (Planciusdreef 65, RK Bergschenhoek, NL-2661, NL)
DIJKSTRA, Freerk (Godfried Bomansstraat 82, NV Hengelo, NL-7552, NL)
| CIAIMS
1. A control system for a closed installation for realising a production process, provided with at least one control loop, comprising a sensor, a controller and an actuator, the sensor being designed for measuring a parameter of the production process progressing in the installation and which is to be controlled, and the actuator is adjustable for influencing the parameter to be controlled, characterised in that a predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator is designed for moving within the closed installation.
2. A control system according to claim 1, characterised in that the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator is designed for monitoring a process or production stream in the closed installa- tion.
3. A control system according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator is provided with a propulsion organ. 4. A control system according to one of the claims 1-3, characterised in that the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator is equipped with at least one energy source and an organ facilitating localisation. 5. A control system according to claim 4, characterised in that the localisation-facilitating organ is a transponder designed for co-operating with a transmitter/receiver provided inside or outside of the installation.
6. A control system according to claim 4, character- ised in that the localisation-facilitating organ is a transmitter designed for co-operating with a receiver provided inside or outside of the installation.
7. A control system according to one of the claims 4-6, characterised in that the sensors and/or actuators of the at least one control loop are provided with localisation- facilitating organs, which are designed for determining a mutual position and/or distance between said sensors and/or actuators .
8. A control system according to one of the preced- ing claims, characterised in that the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator falls on the sensor, and the same is provided with a measuring organ for a parameter that has previously been determined from the group comprising temperature, pressure, concentration, pH, tension.
9. A control system according to one of the claims 1-7, characterised in that the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator falls on the actuator, and the same is equipped for influencing an opera- tional parameter of the production process progressing in the installation.
10. A control system according to claim 9, characterised in that the actuator is embodied with a coating film, which film is designed for the controlled alteration of at least one physical property thereof, selected from the group comprising polarity, permeability, solubility, crystallinity, dissociation of functional groups.
11. A control system according to claim 9, characterised in that the actuator is embodied with a catalyst- forming coating layer, which is designed for the controlled release of the catalyst.
12. A control system according to claim 9, characterised in that the actuator is embodied with an energy source, preferably an ultrasonic source for, at a predeter- mined place and/or moment, inducing germing of a heterogeneous phase in the production process.
13. A control system according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that several control loops are provided, each of which comprising a sensor, a controller and an actuator, and that the controllers form a part of a multi- variable dynamic controller based on a model of the production process progressing in the installation.
14. A sensor for a processing or operating parameter • selected from the group comprising temperature, pressure, concentration, pH, tension, characterised in that during use, the same is movable in a closed installation for carrying out a production process.
15. A sensor according to claim 14, and as described as part of the control system according to one of the claims 2-13.
16. An actuator for influencing a processing or op- erating parameter, characterised in that during use, the same is movable in a closed installation for carrying out a production process.
17. An actuator according to claim 16, and as described as part of the control system according to one of the claims 2-13. |
Control system, and a sensor and actuator to be used in this control system
The invention relates to a control system for a processing installation or production plant or the like, provided with at least one control loop, comprising a sensor, a controller and an actuator, the sensor being designed for measuring a parameter of the processing installation or the production plant that is to be controlled and/or recorded, and the actuator being adjustable for influencing the parameter to be controlled. The invention also relates to a sensor or actuator to be used in this control system. The processing installation or production plant referred to in this application relates to a closed installation wherein the production process takes place, and of which measuring and/or controlling " the parameters to be controlled is rendered more difficult because of the closed nature of the installation, owing to which the parameter to be measured and/or controlled cannot, or only with difficulty, be measured or controlled directly.
Control systems are known from everyday practice and are used in numerous situations. For example, in the domestic situation control systems are known for controlling the temperature in the home, but also for controlling the temperatures in appliances used in the domestic situation.
Control systems are also used in all kinds of industries, which may include both batch and continuous processes of the processing industry, but may also include production plants processing raw materials, manufacturing plastic or non-plastic materials, processing or manufacturing metals, synthesising medication and fine-chemicals, producing beverages such as soft drinks and beer, as well as producing other food stuffs. In short, where this application refers to a
(closed) installation for carrying out a production process, such as a processing installation or a production plant, this term should be understood in the broadest possible sense, and includes all such (closed) installations that are suitable for industrial manufacture or material production as covered
by Article 3 of the Treaty of Strasbourg of 27 November 1963 concerning the unification of some principles of patent law.
The accuracy and effectiveness of the control systems as used in numerous industrial fields are limited be- cause for one thing, the sensors and actuators to be used make it possible only to a limited extent to measure parameters that are of importance for the operational management, and for another thing, to influence them adequately. This applies even more when several parameters need to be influenced simultaneously, and when cross-influencing occurs from the actuator to be adjusted to other parameters than the parameter of the production management substantially to be influenced by this actuator.
Where processing installations such as reactors, separators, ovens and the like are involved, there is the additional problem that matter present in these processing installations is often not mixed homogeneously in the sense that locally, or in the course of time, variations may occur in the processing conditions that may be a result obtained by design or may be the result of a desired or undesired process development.
It is the object of the invention to avoid the above described limits of the known control system and to make it possible to render a control process more effective by means of the control system.
To this end the control system or the sensors and/or actuators to be used in this control system are characterised by one or several of the claims following the description.
In a first aspect of the invention the control sys- tern is characterised in that a predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator is designed for moving within the closed installation.
In this way the possibility is created to render parameters of the operational management of a processing in- stallation or production plant measurable and influenceable, which parameters cannot be reached in the prior art because they may relate to aspects that take place deep within the processing installation or production plant.
To this end it is advantageous that the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator is designed for monitoring a process or production stream in the closed installation. In this way the sensor and/or actuator may simply be moved for monitoring the stream of the material or the liquid moving within the processing installation or production plant. This is, for example, a simple manner of monitoring the parameter development in a sluggish flow. An alternative embodiment of the control system according to the invention is characterised in that the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator is provided with a propulsion organ.
This allows the purposeful direction of the sensor and/or the actuator to a chosen position in the processing installation or the production plant in order to monitor and - influence the processing progress at that location.
The effective use of the control system according to the invention is facilitated by the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator being equipped with at least one energy source and an organ facilitating localisation.
The fact that the sensor and/or the actuator is equipped with its own energy source allows this sensor and/or actuator to be completely integrated in the closed processing installation or closed production plant without the need for it to be coupled to external energy supplies. The localisation-facilitating organ is useful for the exact localisation of the sensor and/or actuator in order to allow a measurement and/or control to take place in accordance with this location.
A suitable embodiment of the control system referred to above is characterised in that the localisation- facilitating organ is a transponder designed for co-operating with a transmitter/receiver provided inside or outside of the closed processing installation or closed production plant.
For the transmitter/receiver and the transponder it is possible to use, for example, ultra-wideband radio tech-
nology. The person skilled in the art is quite familiar with such ultra-wideband radio technology so that no further elucidation is necessary.
The localisation-facilitating organ may also be a transmitter that is designed for co-operating with a receiver provided inside or outside of the closed procesaing installation or the closed production plant.
A particular aspect of the invention relates to the embodiment in which the sensors and/or actuators of the at least one control loop are provided with localisation- facilitating organs, which are designed for determining a mutual position and/or distance between said sensors and/or actuators. To this end these sensors and/or actuators are integrated in a wireless communication network, and the control action locally desired can be carried out adequately and quickly.
As already generally explained in the above, the control .system according to the invention is widely applicable. For example, it is possible that when the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator falls on the sensor, the same is provided with a measuring organ for a parameter that has previously been determined from the group comprising temperature, pressure, concentration, pH, tension. The just referred to tension may be both a mechanical and an electrical tension.
A provision within the frame of the invention is further that when the predetermined selection from the group comprising the sensor and the actuator falls on the actuator, the same is equipped for influencing an operational parameter of the closed processing installation or the closed production plant.
A first suitable embodiment of the control system according to the invention is characterised in that the ac- tuator is embodied with a coating film, which film is designed for the controlled alteration of at least one physical property thereof, selected from the group comprising polar-
ity, permeability, solubility, crystallinity, dissociation of functional groups.
This makes it possible to selectively catch or release molecules, ions or metallic particles- Another embodiment of the control system according to the invention is characterised in that the actuator is embodied with a catalyst-forming coating layer, which is designed for the controlled release of the catalyst.
The fact that the catalyst can be released in a con- trolled manner makes it possible to very accurately influence a progress of a process.
Still another embodiment of the control system according to the invention is characterised in that the actuator is embodied with an ultrasonic source or other energy source, with which it is possible to, at the right place and the chosen moment, induce germing of a heterogeneous phase in a (production) process.
This makes a very accurate and flexible control of heterogeneous processes such as crystallisation and liquid- liquid extraction and condensation possible.
As already mentioned, the control system according to the invention is very widely applicable. It is, for example, possible that several control loops are provided, each of which comprising a sensor, a controller and an actuator, and that the controllers form a part of a multi-variable dynamic controller based on a model of the processing installation or production plant.
The invention is further embodied in a separate sensor and/or separate actuator as described above as part of the control system according to the invention.