Editor: Professor Emeritus Kauko Leiviskä, Oulu University

Process control and automation

Everything you need to know about the control and management of the mill operations and production

Automation is a necessary part in mill investments and its role is growing together with technological development. It helps operators complete their activities in difficult situations and provides mill staff and other people with timely and precise information on raw materials, machinery, production, products and other issues influencing the mill and its environment. Quite often, modern processes are impossible to operate without high-level automation, especially if we consider today’s stringent quality requirements.

Automation is a multidisciplinary area. It requires knowledge of process and control engineering, electronics, information technology, communications, mathematics, work sciences etc. Good process knowledge and understanding of process phenomena is crucial. The focus in this Process control and automation theme is on process control and optimisation together with millwide activities. Special attention is given to intelligent systems that are gaining ground in these applications. The aim is to examine the status of and future views on systems, methods and technology that are becoming essential in monitoring and controlling process operations.