4976 Bear Mountain Drive

Evergreen, CO  80439

office: 303-670-8392 

cell:  303-670-9092          

e-mail:  bob@procontrol.net

ProControl, Inc.                   

Process Control Education and Technology                  

  Robert V. Bartman, Ph.D., President                              

PetroChemical Control Engineer Evaluations of ProControl's DISCOVER software,

a real-world Dynamic Process Analysis and Loop Tuning tool

Direct client quotes gathered by Dr. Robert Bartman,  ProControl, Inc.

© ProControl, Inc.

Unedited Quotes on DISCOVER follow:

This software was very valuable in class.  Back in the plant, it shines.   BP

This program is very good; it promotes better understanding of how to analyze loop responses.    BP

DISCOVER will be most useful for evaluating and solving our real problems.  It will pay for itself just by helping in the solution (modeling and tuning) of a few difficult, money-losing loops.     Maraven, PdVSA

Brilliant!  The best tool I have seen and worked with.  Easy to use, and a wealth of experience embedded in Help screens.  I see a great opportunity for making money very easily through its use.    BP

It's the best I've seen or heard of.  I was sent to this course primarily to become proficient with DISCOVER.    ARCO Chemical

DISCOVER coverage was extremely worthwhile.  It is really good.  It makes the life of a Control Engineer much easier and reduces (or eliminates) trial and error.  One of our plants has had a 20% throughput gain simply by using this tool.     ARCO Chemical

Discover is intelligent software, with features that have clearly been included in response to real-life modeling problems – for example, the capability to back out effects of specific variables whose impacts are already known.  I liked the flexibilities on the ‘Calculated Variables’ tab.  I liked the representation (both graphical trends and percentages) of the influence of all variables in multivariable modeling.  I also liked Discover’s inline advice and comments, its tooltips, and its Help screens.   BP

This software looks like it was built by an engineer, for engineers.  It should be a lesson to people not to get ‘hung up’ on just the slickness of an interface, but instead to offer great functionality and (very important) embedded, practical, documentation.   BP

The quality of this software, and its documentation, says something about the ability of smaller, more focused, companies to deliver better quality products than ‘sprawling’ software houses.    BP

Extremely helpful in ID'ing and getting tuning for most of the plant control loops I come in contact with.      Ashland

Excellent.  Discover’s a very powerful tool, and a necessary pre-requisite for an Applications Engineer.      BP

Our evaluation showed that among all the tuning tools on the market, yours is the only one producing practical tuning constants for all our plant's conditions.   BP

We've finished our tuning evaluation, and I can tell you that DISCOVER came up very, very well.  It provided extremely robust settings, and was totally dependable - none of the loops generated anything close to instability.  We were particularly impressed with the quality of level control, and also with ability to handle model mismatch and valve stiction.   BP

Wow!  I can't imagine how I will advance if my boss doesn't upgrade our (very) old version!     Preem Raffinaderi, Sweden

Very valuable as a tool that gives good/accurate tuning constants in a short time when in a tight spot.       ARCO Chemical

DISCOVER is Great -- especially for discontinuous analyzers!      Preem Raffinaderi

Extremely useful tool for Control and Process Engineers.  Very powerful and effective for developing process understanding as well as getting the right tuning constants.   ARCO Chemical

A very useful tool for dynamic identification and monitoring.  I was particularly impressed with the interactive features of the process modeling component, which allows users to employ their process understanding - as opposed to the "black box" nature of other identification packages.  The author also has taken the necessary stops to fully define (and solve) the problem of optimizing PID tuning for real-world applications.      Texaco

Very useful, especially as a means of testing your own perception of plant dynamics.  I have never appreciated before the subtle differences between vendor control equations, or between Prop-on-Error and Prop-on-PV tuning constants.     BP Chemicals

I really feel it is very good.  It will be the heart of my efforts to tune.  I will be trying to change the whole refinery culture.     Unocal

This program works very well because it encourages us to have a solid understanding before we make corrections to controls.     Ashland

I would recommend that management license DISCOVER.  It appears to be very effective and versatile, and should pay for itself.     Conoco

Excellent tool for tuning loops and problem-solving in the plant.  It’s justified by just a few tuning improvements.    Ashland

After using DISCOVER for two weeks on all sorts of different tasks, it seems to be a truly wonderful tool.  If I go to a site, I would definitely want to license it -- without a doubt.    BP

I think DISCOVER would be very useful to our company.   I can see this being worth the cost.   It is much friendlier than the `somewhat similar' tool we now use.   It actually has a great deal of practical knowledge built-in.   It's a good learning tool, but would be most useful in the plant, solving real problems.   Conoco

By using DISCOVER you eliminate guesswork in tuning control loops, and gain optimum revenue.    Star Enterprise

DISCOVER is easy to use, and gives very good results.    Amoco

I now see clear benefits for DISCOVER over a tool like Expertune!      Texaco

Excellent tool for both plant analysis and loop-tuning - coupled with OWNCODE it makes a powerful simulation tool.     BP

A very powerful tool for process modeling, analysis and tuning for basic control implementation, and for gaining fundamental process understanding.    Citgo

A very user-friendly tool to determine tuning constants based on the process.  It'll be good for the troublesome loops I'm forced to look at 2 - 3 times per week.    Texaco

DISCOVER is an excellent tool.    Huntsman Petrochemical

This has more potential for practical application than any other control analysis and tuning package I've seen.  An ingenious user can do much more than just tune loops - backing out the ULOAD disturbances from a "spoiled" step test is quite a bonus! DISCOVER's approach to level modeling is something I wish I had thought of!!   Citgo

Excellent tool!  Our many control tuning and control problems will be much better handled with DISCOVER.  The tool permits more in-depth process understanding and removes much of the guesswork from real plant control loops.    Citgo

This tool provides the necessary power to evaluate true process dynamics.  Without this ability, control work will take longer and suffer from uncertainty of the real process.

GE Plastics

Based on the exercises with DISCOVER in class, I would support a management decision to upgrade our present software.  It is an important tool in aiding the process understanding, thus helping one to make an informed decision on tuning constants.    Singapore Refining

This software should settle out the controls on a lot of our units.  It is easy to use, and the Help screens are good.    Citgo

I predict that DISCOVER will be the most valuable tool available to Control Engineers at the plant.  It will also be very useful to the I & E Technicians responsible for TDC Controller tuning.     ARCO Chemical

The main feature for our purposes is its search procedure for process dynamic parameters, which gives Control Engineers the ability to fathom our process before continuing with any further control implementation.     Amoco Chemical

Excellent!  It provides an excellent analysis and tuning tool.  Other PCE's at our site have used DISCOVER and have proven its value in dollars.    Star Enterprise

Very useful for modeling processes and tuning - a practical and essential tool for maximum utilization and effectiveness of a Process Control Engineer's time.   Unocal

An excellent tool.  It is well thought-out in terms of its functions, and is well-documented via Help Screens, which is important.  Its three-branch structure forces proper analysis of data.  I know I could make a lot of money with it.  It has all the things we need to do a better job.  I wish I had had it on my last project.     Air Products

DISCOVER is very valuable.  It was fun to do seat-of-the-pants tuning and then compare the results to DISCOVER's.  We all got enough practice to be able to use DISCOVER on our own back in our plant.  It has many more capabilities than I had realized (e.g., its ability to handle multiple-input process data).    Star Enterprise

DISCOVER's in-plant worth has already proven valuable, and as more of us learn to use it, it will grow in worth to us.  I intend to look through all of the Help Screens as a review (upon return to El Dorado).    Texaco

 It is one of the easiest Process Control tools I've seen - very user friendly, and lots of HELP screens.  We don't have a very organized way of tuning, or of teaching tuning, in our group; this tool would be of major benefit.     Mobil Oil

Exceptional!  I don't see how we would have been able to startup 8 new process units without it.     ARCO Chemical

Excellent!  DISCOVER'S an invaluable aid to process understanding.    Caltex Services.

The DISCOVER program is an excellent tool for process identification and process understanding.  I was impressed with the selection of data manipulation on the New Variable Generation screen, and also with its correlation capabilities.     BAPCO.

Excellent!  The application of DISCOVER'S dynamics in matching process output data is an invaluable aid to process understanding.    Caltex Services

It will be a valuable tool in the plant - it will take a lot of guess work out of identifying the process.    Texaco

I believe that it will save me time, and make money for us.    Star Enterprise

DISCOVER is very helpful for identifying tuning constants, and the process also.  There are a lot of features in the program.    Texaco

I think that this software is worth licensing.  It is user-friendly, with great on-line help.   It would be a GREAT TOOL -- and it's very easy to use!     Hoechst Celanese

An excellent tool, and easy to use.  It has great Help documentation.  It will be extremely helpful with our plant data.    Hoechst Celanese

Excellent for determining cause-and effect relationships.  I feel like my control experience/abilities will accelerate rapidly as I begin to apply DISCOVER.     Star Enterprise

DISCOVER is an excellent tool.  It allows you to translate process data into practical process knowledge.     Hoechst Celanese

Excellent.  It should really give me a new and better solution to my problems than I've arrived at in the past.    Hoechst Celanese

DISCOVER is REQUIRED if we are to easily and adequately identify the dynamics of the processes we are working with in the plant.     Texaco

I have access to lots of closed-loop data.  With your concise rules for closed-loop data analysis, and Discover, I can now use this data to tune loops, without running more plant tests.    Hoechst Celanese

Very useful in process modeling; this is a very practical in-plant aid for difficult and unstable processes.     Lagoven, PdVSA

This is a very impressive process control tool.     BP

I enjoyed the `back to basics' of relating everything back to process dynamics and how to get to them (using DISCOVER).    Texaco

DISCOVER provides lots of practical application!     Amoco Chemical

The correlation portion is the most useful as it immediately gives process parameters in the form we most need, and comprehend.    Star Enterprise

Excellent tool for analyzing plant tests, then using the results to model the process and tune controllers.     Amoco Chemical

Its ability to handle process data uncertainty is good for real-world tuning, where we expect the plant to run at less than an "ideal" state.    Hoechst Celanese

Discover is a great tool.  Easy to understand, with lots of useful commenting and help.  Can’t wait to use it back at the plant – it will be really valuable!    BP

*********************************************************

Our thanks to the many Revelations Course graduates, Advanced Control supervisors, software evaluators, and beta-testers, who have contributed to the above – and to Discover’s continual improvement.

Bob Bartman,

CEO, ProControl, Inc.