Process Automation

This book chapter is chapter 25 of the Handbook of Automation:

The field of process automation is concerned with the analysis of dynamic behavior of chemical processes, design of automatic controllers, and associated instrumentation. Process automation as practiced in the process industries has undergone significant changes since it was first introduced a century ago. Perhaps the most significant influence on the changes in process control technology has been the introduction of inexpensive digital computers and instruments with greater capabilities than their analog predecessors. During the past decade the increasing availability of low-cost, yet "smart", sensors and actuators, has ushered in an era of "smart manufacturing," and a greater integration of the supply and product chains with manufacturing facilities.