Dr. Thomas E. Marlin
Professor Emeritus
Advanced Process Control
Department of Chemical Engineering
Research Summary
Advanced Control and Optimization in the Process Industries
Competitive pressures require today's process plants to be tightly integrated and to achieve
consistently high yields, low energy consumption and excellent product quality. The overall
objective of this research is the development of new real-time technology that enables plant
personnel to satisfy these ever-increasing demands. Particular emphasis is placed on the
design, optimization, control, and monitoring of the integrated plant, not on individual units.
Considerable opportunity exists to optimize operating variables in existing process plants, but the analysis is challenging. New analysis procedures address the realistic environment of dynamic plants, noisy data and models with errors. The research concentrates on model updating, model formulation, optimization, and results analysis that are designed to function as an integrated, feedback system.
Operations optimization exists in a hierarchical decision-making system, so that the research must also address the proper structure and communication between these levels. The higher scheduling level considers longer-term issues and provides an operating window and goals (economics) to the optimizer. The lower, multivariable control level enforces the proper operating policy as disturbances enter the plant.
I collaborate with several Faculty members and 18 industrial sponsors in the McMaster Advanced Control Consortium (MACC). MACC fosters industrially relevant research in process systems engineering and provides a community of graduate students who share knowledge and experiences. Further information about MACC is available at the following website.
Education
We have been developing teaching approaches and resources for education that can be used by students at all universities. The major product is an undergraduate textbook on process control and a supporting website.
Marlin, T., Process Control, Designing Processes and Control Systems for Dynamic Performance
2nd Edition, McGraw Hill, New York, 2000 (ISBN 0-07-039363-1)
The following website provides interactive learning resources for process control students
www.pc-education.mcmaster.ca
Selected Publications on Education
Hough, M., E. Wood, W. S. Yip, and T. Marlin, A Web Site To Support Active
Student Learning In
Process Control, Amer. Assoc. Engr. Ed. Annual Conference, Session 3513,
Montreal, June 2002.
Marlin, T. and D. R. Woods., Trouble Shooting for CAPE
Undergraduate Education, ESCAPE 12,
The Hague, Netherlands, May 26-29, 2002
Marlin, T., Progressing from Real to Realistic Practical
Examples in Undergraduate Control
Education,
AIChE Annual Meet, Los Angeles, November 2000; Topical Conference
on Chemical Engineering Education
Marlin, T., The Software Laboratory,Comp and Chem. Engr., ESCAPE-6 supplement, S1371-1376, 1996
Recently, I have taught the following undergraduate courses.
Chemical Engineering 3P04 Process Control
Chemical Engineering 4N04 Engineering Economics and Problem Solving
Chemical Engineering 4G03 Optimization in Chemical Engineering
and the following graduate course
Chemical Engineering 764 Process Control Design
Distinctions
Visiting Fellow for Warren Centre (1987): Selected to lead a project on Advanced Process Control at the University of Sydney. The one-year study involved the evaluation of commercial and technical issues in plant automation for Australian industry by a team of 40 academics and practitioners. The results of this study have been published as a book by the Instrument Society of America. The project is summarized at http://www.warren.usyd.edu.au/front_page.html
NSERC Chair in Industrial Process Control at McMaster University
Teaching: President's Award for Excellence
in Course and Resource
Design was granted in 2001
Kalev Pugi Award: (with John MacGregor) - From the Society of Chemical Industry of Canada for accomplishments in research management demonstrating creativity, determination experimental design and project management for the McMaster Advanced Control Consortium
Profile
Dr. Marlin contributes considerable industrial and academic experience (15 and 22 years, respectively). His primary research interests are in process control design, real-time optimization, robust predictive control, and supply-chain optimization.
Education
B.S., State University of New York at Buffalo (1966)
M.S., University of Dayton (1967)
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts (1972).