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The drive to meet consumer demands for economically competitive and high quality products requires effective and efficient process control technologies. These process control technologies are required to transform raw materials to final products with the optimal use of those raw materials in a sustainable and safe manner, using minimal energy, and producing less harmful less harmful by-products. The effective specification, design and implementation of process control systems are fundamental in achieving these goals.

This course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to provide the student with the knowledge base and application skills to design and implement process control systems. These designs would include the specification of vital hardware systems and associated sensors and actuators to allow safe and effective control of the overall system's performance. The principles of control theory that the course relies on is covered in the co-requisite course `Control and Instrumentation'. The course also further expands on the fundamental knowledge gained in the pre-requisite course `Introduction to Industrial Processes' by enabling students to undertake the specification, design and implementation of selected control systems suitable for food processing, manufacturing, mining, ore processing, and petro-chemical processes. An awareness of safety system roles and architectures is also developed.

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. apply the basic principles of fluid flow to the analysis of flow control systems;
2. apply the basic principles of heat transfer to the analysis of temperature control systems;
3. apply the basic principles of applied mechanics to the analysis of speed and position control systems;
4. apply fundamental electrical and electronic circuit theory applicable to practical process control systems;
5. design and implement programmable logic controller (PLC) or microcontroller-based process controllers, including selection of appropriate industrial sensors and actuators;
6. describe the safety life cycle, select hardware that meets the requirements of given relevant hazardous area standards and compare independent safety systems with the option of integrating safety systems within process controllers;
7. develop and assess user interface systems to ensure they allow for the effective and safe operation of a given industrial process;
8. communicate technical information in a professional manner.