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About this Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT)

Since the first Distributed Control System (DCS) was installed in the late 1970s, the concept of DCS has swept alternative control technologies from the field. The substantial growth, in the construction of plants in the traditional heavy process industries such as power generation, refining, oil and gas, water and petrochemicals, is driving significant growth in the utilisation of DCS. The broad architecture of a solution involves either a direct connection to physical equipment such as switches, pumps and valves or connection via a fieldbus communication system. With the advent of high speed data highways and locally collected plant information, DCSs are being used to reduce cabling costs as well as implement advanced control strategies. This Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) will cover the practical applications of DCS and is based on a selection of subjects that either have had a strong impact on distributed systems today or explore novel ideas which may be of importance for the future. Other topics in the course cover important aspects of distributed systems such as data communications, SCADA and Safety Instrumented Systems plus PLC applications. The evolution of computer control systems is discussed in this VILT and the architecture of contemporary DCS offerings is described in general terms. The VILT covers hardware, configuration, data communications, user interfaces and I/O devices. In addition, the VILT introduces the general maintenance requirements of the DCS. It covers troubleshooting techniques using DCS self-diagnostics and the various diagnostic displays available to engineers and technicians as well as safe and proper component replacement procedures for cards, modules and power supplies. The VILT also looks at the different methods of tuning three term controllers using the various Zeigler-Nichols approaches. A section of this VILT is also concerned with future considerations on the choice and updating of older DCSs, managing the DCS upgrade, choosing between PLC and DCS for the process industries, immediate action items for an ageing DCS/PLC and configuration implementation considerations for distributed control systems.