DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE FUNCTIONS

This thesis investigates the economic performance assessment (EPA) of control systems, which is gaining significance in both academic and industrial contexts. The objective is to develop performance functions (PFs) that serve as tools for estimating the benefits of control upgrade projects and enhancing the economic performance of control systems. A methodology is proposed for creating PFs, utilizing case studies of an electric arc furnace, a grinding mill circuit, and a bleaching plant stage, ensuring that the multivariate nature of processes is adequately addressed. The research reveals that existing literature lacks systematic methods for developing PFs, creating a bottleneck in further EPA research. Without well-established PFs, effective decision-making for management is impeded. This work emphasizes the necessity of incorporating the dependencies between controlled variables to improve the accuracy of economic assessments. The results demonstrate the significance of joint performance functions over individual performance functions in contextually relevant multivariate scenarios. By promoting systematic PF development, this research contributes essential insights and methodologies that bolster the capability of economic assessments in process control systems.