Experimental design for the economic performance evaluation of industrial controllers

Experimental design techniques are routinely used in the social and biological sciences to determine the relative performance of different factors. However, it appears that these techniques are not commonly used by the industrial control community. As a consequence, incorrect conclusions are often reached from inappropriately designed plant improvement trials. This presentation introduces experiment design concepts as part of a framework for determining the economic benefits of advanced industrial control projects. Using improved level control in mineral flotation as an example, common incorrect experiments are demonstrated and examples of correct experimental designs are given. The contention is that greater use of these tools by the industrial control community would significantly enhance the validity of comparative trials.