• Preprint 165

Technical Report 165, c4e-Preprint Series, Cambridge

Cambridge Weblabs: a Process Control System using industrial standard SIMATIC PCS 7

Authors: Maria Botero, Anders Selmer, Roger Watson, Mukta Bansal, and Markus Kraft*

Reference: Technical Report 165, c4e-Preprint Series, Cambridge, 2016

Associated Themes:
  Theme icon Theme icon


Highlights
  • A remotely controlled experiment suitable for reactor engineering and process control teaching.
  • With SIEMENS industry standard control software we introduce students to real-world systems.
  • We have shared the experiment on the web enabling remote access from anywhere in the world.
Abstract

Graphical abstract Continually assessed project work forms a core part of the Chemical Engineering curriculum at Cambridge. We have designed and built a remotely controlled chemical reactor that has been used and evaluated in undergraduate chemical engineering education. The purpose was to provide a pedagogical and authentic experience to students with essential training when laboratory usage was impossible or impractical, and be able to run and share the experiments as a fully functioning chemical engineering plant. A state-of-the-art SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Control System from Siemens is used for controlling, monitoring and providing results output. We describe the experimental setup, the hard- and software used, the teaching assignment and finally the results of the student evaluation. We also describe the challenges on the sustainability of the weblabs.

Material from this preprint has been published in Education for Chemical Engineers.

Download

PDF (2.9 MB)