Gentlemen:
Does somebody have some figures about the right number of operators per control loops (pid, hand controls, i/o, etc). Is there some standard to
follow? Till now I couldn't find good information.

Thanks in advance.
Claudio A. Perez
Control Systems Eng.
PROFERTIL S.A.
(54) 291 459-8139
[email protected]
www.profertil.com.ar

 

It is very hard to know the number of loops the operator can handle. It all depends upon the process. In fact, the more important question is "how much of the process can a given number of operators handle".

John

 

Claudio,
In addition to the complexity of the process, the nature of the control system affects the number of loops per operator. The DCS was created to increase the number of loops per process operator. The current standard is somewhere between 50 and 150 using modern DCS operator consoles. In the days of panelboard controls, the standard was 25-50, also depending on the complexity of the process AND the number of controls requiring manual operator adjustment.

Dick Caro
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As a rough figure, 250 control valves per operator is what I have heard in a seminar.

 

Earlier DCS system were reliable & I personally had thumbrule used for continious plant Per console

40 Control loops
80 openloops

This ratio changes for batch plants depending upon the complexity of process or level of automation for your batch plant. We have taken recently 1 Operator console for following

Control loop : 18
open loop : 40
xv-on off : 180

This was just meeting the requirement. It is only 3 months this is commissioned, but I personally feel you should have one dedicated stion for analysis SPC/Batch efficiency/Looses of reaction.

Jari
[email protected]