Special Issue on Integrated Optimization of Industrial Automation

A special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.

Introduction

Complex industrial processes such as steel production, papermaking, car manufacturing and mineral processing use multiple layered and networked computer control systems, usually referred to as distributed control systems (DCS), to perform operational management, monitoring and automation for the whole production lines. Horizontally these processes consist of a number of the production units that fulfill the required production so as to produce the expected quality products. Vertically these production systems are operated by a number of control and operational layers such as planning and scheduling, operational control and low level control loops. Once the production structure is obtained, the only group of decision variables that can realize the required optimization and automation of the whole production line are the controlled variables for each production unit. In this regards, operational optimization and automation for the whole production line is a new concept that aims to optimize the operation of all the decision variables at different layers of DCS so that product quality and production efficiency can be optimized whilst energy and other consumption can be minimized. Of course, these are realizable under the condition that the whole production line would operate safely. This means that condition monitoring and fast fault prediction and control is also an important issue that has been addressed in both research and industrial sectors with respect to the automation of whole production lines. The purpose of this special issuewill be on the optimization and operational automation for the whole production line, where it is expected that such a special issue will boost wide range of interests in the research and industrial community in terms of automation for the whole production line so that product quality, production efficiency, energy consumption and effluent discharge can be optimized in line with low carbon discharge.

Scope, Description, and More Information

The central theme of the Special Issue will be emerging opportunities and future directions in automation science and engineering for the whole production lines widely seen in various process industries. Examples are the automation in steel making, mineral processing, metal processing, papermaking and petrol-chemical plants.

The special issue aims to publish original, significant and visionary automation papers describing scientific methods and technologies that improve planning and scheduling, product quality, production efficiency and energy consumptions. Integrated automation will also be included together with condition monitoring and fault tolerant control for complex industrial processes. Submissions of scientific results from experts in both academia and industry worldwide are strongly encouraged. Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to,

Planning and scheduling for the whole production lines
Plant-wide operational automation and optimization
Data driven modeling and operational automation
High volume data reduction
Multi-objective operational optimization
Hybrid computer networked control systems for DCS architecture
Fault diagnosis and prediction for the whole production lines
Prognosis and heath management for the whole production line
Integrated and collaborative fault tolerant control
Product quality monitoring for the whole lines
Dynamic performance assessment for whole production lines

Important Dates

Call for Papers	September 15, 2012
Deadline for Paper Submission	January 15, 2013
First Review	May 01, 2013
Final Review	August 01, 2013
Publication	October 2014