Flexible Control Configuration in Modular Plants via Control Function Library

This paper presents the design, implementation, and validation of a Control Function Library to support standardized design and deployment of control functions for automated industrial process operation. The Control Function Library establishes a standardized set of control functions for chemical production. Five categories (Time-based, Continuous, Reversible, Stopping, and Ramping control functions) are developed and encapsulated in the first version of the library. The Control Function Library enables scalability by providing a flexible framework for adding or modifying control functions to accommodate specific production requirements. This scalability allows control systems to adapt to changing requirements or environments without significant redevelopment efforts, especially for capability-based operation configuration and execution. Furthermore, the reuse of Control Function Libraries across various projects or applications minimizes development time and resource costs by avoiding the need to re-engineer processes from scratch for each new modular plant.