This book, now in its second edition, presents in a comprehensive manner the fundamentals of computer-based control of industrial processes. Intended primarily for undergraduate and postgraduate students of instrumentation/electronics engineering, the book will also be immensely useful for professionals and researchers in these fields.
The book begins with a thorough introduction to automation—its history, utility and the current scenario. It then moves on to discuss in detail the techniques, components, subsystems and system architectures relevant to process control. The control techniques covered include classical controls as well as newer controls such as model-based adaptive control, self-tuning control, expert systems and fuzzy logic control. The components consist of sensors and actuators of various types. The subsystems covered are SCADA systems, remote terminal units for telemetry and telecontrol, programmable controllers, distributed digital controllers and personal computers.
Also included are real-time operating systems and real-time programming languages. The major architectures discussed are distributed digital control, distributed SCADA system and multi-microprocessor architectures.
The book thoroughly covers the various technological developments in this field. It also covers, through a number of case studies, the applications of computer-based control in major industries.
The second edition contains substantially revised and updated content on a large number of topics covered in the first edition.
KRISHNA KANT, Ph.D., is Dean (Academic) at Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida. Earlier, he served as Senior Director in the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. He received his Masters in Physics (with specialization in Electronics) in 1972 from Jabalpur University, his Masters in Computer Science in 1975 from BITS Pilani, and his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1980 from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Dr. Krishna Kant has wide experience in designing and implementing microprocessor-based, real-time control systems in the industries. He coordinated the UNDP project on Microprocessor Application Engineering Programme (MAEP) and conceptualized and coordinated several other automation projects in steel sector, water sector and railways. He imparted training to industries on microprocessor and microcontroller applications, industrial control, etc. He taught ‘Microprocessor and Applications’ and ‘Computer Control of Processes’ courses to MCA and ME students, respectively, for three years in University of Delhi. He is the author of five books including Computer Based Industrial Control, 2nd ed. and Microprocessor-Based Agri Instrumentation, both published by PHI Learning. He has also co-edited a book.
