About Control Notes
Hi, I am Jacques – the author of this blog and the founder of OptiControls Inc. OptiControls provides control loop optimization and process control training services, and helps companies in the process industry improve production by solving challenging control problems and optimizing the performance of their control systems.
You can read more about me at this link: http://www.opticontrols.com/www/jacques-smuts
I have been practicing process control since the early 1990’s and have learned a few things on the way. My intention with the blog is to share my experiences with you and grow the site as a collection of articles, information, discussions, ideas, tips & tricks, and anything else of interest to process control practitioners.
Although I try to provide correct information in this blog, I cannot guarantee its correctness or suitability for your application or process. Please use your engineering judgement when applying anything offered in this blog, or consult with a professional. The application of process control is often more complex in practice than it seems at first. I will be happy to work with you on a particular control problem to ensure you get the best results possible.
I hope you will find the blog interesting and useful, and I welcome your remarks and insights. Please leave a comment below any blog entry.
Stay tuned!
Jacques Smuts – Author of the book Process Control for Practitioners
I just got your book on Friday and as of Sunday morning I am about half way through and think it is by far the best technical reference I have ever read on any subject. I spent the previous several weeks re-reading my college textbook on process controls only to refresh my memory that there was very little in there of any use. That’s when I went to Amazon and selected your book based on the reviews and am so happy I did.
I am preparing for a large process startup that will begin in a week or so and believe it or not, we do not have a bona fide controls engineer on the project. I am the least bad alternative and with the help of your book I am hoping to at least make a respectable showing. I know this is not recommended, but I begged for a real controls engineer months ago and was ignored.
Congratulations and thanks for such a great book.
p.s. Will the simulator software work on my Windows 8.1 PC and would you recommend it for a novice like myself? I am happy to buy it for myself if it would help since it is so reasonably priced.
Jim,
Thank you for your kind words – I am happy to hear you find my book on target and useful.
The simulator will definitely help you understand tuning control loops and troubleshooting control problems. It comes with 20+ step-by-step practical exercises that really shows you how to do it.