Preface Whether advanced control or optimal control (hereinafter referred to as optimal control), both are the most effective means to fully utilize the potential of a control system and achieve optimal control results. Optimal control was once the domain of foreign process patent holders, DCS suppliers, EPC contractors, and specialized software vendors. The high software costs and labor service fees deterred many domestic users, leaving only large enterprises like Sinopec, PetroChina, and other leading companies in the industry with the resources to adopt this technology. With the accelerating pace of control system openness, domestic and international institutions and universities engaged in optimal control research have gained more opportunities to test their optimized control systems and theories on equipment. In this process, monitoring and configuration software has also played a crucial role. In general, China's optimal control research largely began with the development of software for DCS and its host computers. This development approach has many drawbacks: 1. The software results are highly dependent on the computer operating system and the DCS manufacturer and model, resulting in extremely poor portability. Although the theory of optimal control is mature and feasible for implementation, developers face numerous challenges in creating field-deployed control products: human-machine interface issues, data acquisition and communication problems, debugging methods and techniques, and the availability of DCS resources, among others. 2. The development environment provided by the DCS and its host computer limits the capabilities of R&D personnel. 3. R&D personnel need to focus more on familiarizing themselves with the DCS and its host computer system rather than on process, mathematical algorithms, and parameter analysis. Optimized control was initially combined with configuration software, as exemplified by HERISTICS' ONSPEC software product. This product integrates configuration software and optimal control algorithms, allowing users to configure and implement optimized control functions themselves. With the widespread adoption of general-purpose monitoring and configuration software, and the increasing proportion of PCs in automatic control, applications using monitoring and configuration software + optimized control software modules to achieve advanced control are becoming more common. The following application examples are representative: In 2000, Professor Wu Gang of the University of Science and Technology of China, using the ForceControl® configuration software, further developed the ANOpt online operation optimization software for acrylonitrile reactors on the CENTUM A distributed control system of Yokogawa Corporation in Japan. This expanded the system's web publishing function and made the upgraded ANOpt easier to use and port. From 2000 to the present, ControlSoft's optimized control system, based on the ForceControl® configuration software platform, has been successfully implemented in the hydration control system of Jiangxi Chemical Co., Ltd., the rubber production control system of Lanzhou Chemical Latex Center, the circulating water treatment control system of Qilu Petrochemical Plastics Plant, the alcohol fermentation control system of Guangdong Qingyuan Environmental Recycling Resources Co., Ltd., the alcohol distillation control system of Anhui Bengbu Yingkesong Brewing Co., Ltd., the distillation unit of Sichuan Jinlu Resin Co., Ltd., the production control system of Jiangxi Musashino Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and the DCS system of Jiangyin Shuangliang Composite Materials Co., Ltd. In 2001, Professor Han Zhigang developed model-free controller software using ForceControl® configuration software as a platform. In the Fularji Power Plant water treatment project, model-free control algorithms were employed to optimize control of water treatment processes such as chemical dosing. In 2006, Bosoft Corporation of the United States used its model-free adaptive control software product CyboCon, using ForceControl® configuration software as a platform, to optimize the control of the automatic chemical dosing system for wastewater treatment at the Dagang Oilfield's self-owned power plant. 1. The Role of Monitoring Configuration Software in Optimized Control Applications Utilizing configuration software to leverage the capabilities of optimized control software has become an important form of optimized control. Configuration software can provide the following functional extensions for optimized control software: 1.1 Human-Machine Interface (HMI) Although many optimized control software programs have strong HMI capabilities, they still have many shortcomings compared to general-purpose configuration software. Tasks such as process screen display, operation screen display, parameter setting, alarm display/confirmation/printing, and report printing need to be implemented by configuration software. 1.2 Data Acquisition Optimized control requires the acquisition of sufficiently complete data, and the rich drivers in configuration software can meet this requirement. 1.3 Control Command Transmission The computational output of the optimized control software needs to be sent to the controller or I/O via the configuration software's I/O driver. Additionally, operator console commands also need to be issued from the human-machine interface. 2. New Requirements for Configuration Software in Function and Technology Due to Optimized Control Applications 2.1 Optimized Control Requires Configuration Software to Have Complete and Reliable Dual-Machine Hot Standby Function The computational output of optimized control needs to be sent to the controller or process I/O via the configuration software. The reliability requirements for this type of control are no less than those for DCS or PLC. The configuration software and optimized control software constitute a new type of controller. Therefore, the configuration software is required to provide complete dual-machine hot standby functionality, supporting multiple redundancy modes such as equipment redundancy, control network redundancy, server redundancy, management network redundancy, and client redundancy. When the master fails, the slave should take over control within 2 seconds. If the slave fails again after the master recovers, it can switch back. 2.2 Optimized Control Requires Configuration Software to Provide More Extensive Controller Communication Drivers Optimized control often relies on conventional controllers to function, either to compensate for the shortcomings of conventional controllers or to solve control loops that conventional controllers cannot control. Therefore, whether the configuration software's I/O drivers are compatible with more control systems determines whether optimized control can function effectively on these control systems. 2.3 Optimized control requires configuration software to have fast, high-capacity historical data storage capabilities. Optimized control software communicates with configuration software through a fast data interface to obtain the real-time and historical data required for modeling, and sends the calculation output back to the controller or I/O through the configuration software. This application requires seamless integration between optimized control software and configuration software to achieve higher control efficiency. 2.4 Optimized control requires configuration software to support fast, high-capacity real-time and historical data interfaces to enable rapid data exchange between optimized control software and monitoring configuration software. This goal can be achieved through a fast data interface, which should also be able to meet a throughput rate of 20,000 times/second. 3. Other factors affecting optimized control and configuration software 3.1 Optimized control software is closely integrated with soft PLC (soft logic) software. Both desktop and embedded soft logic software are excellent hosts for optimized control software. 3.2 Standardized technologies, such as the OPC standard, provide many convenient conditions for the promotion of optimized control software. 3.3 With the continuous invention of new sensors, the continuous improvement of the accuracy of existing sensors, and the depletion of renewable resources, users' requirements for control accuracy and quality will gradually increase, and optimized control will gradually become an important control method. Outlook High-end applications characterized by optimized control, scheduling and command, data mining, and decision support are the main direction for value mining in automatic control systems and an inevitable trend after a certain level of automation is achieved. Twenty years ago, the focus was on popularizing automation and increasing the level of automation in the market; today, our main task is to improve the control quality of automatic control systems. Although the penetration rate of DCS and other control equipment in large-scale industries is high, most only achieve single-loop effects. In our control systems, the proportion of complex loops is actually very small, and the control effect of complex loops and even some single loops is not ideal, often requiring long-term manual operation. To change this situation, the only option is to choose optimized control methods. Of course, any optimized control is accompanied by process improvement and optimization; the core technology lies in process knowledge, and information technology is merely a means of implementing process control. Only by thoroughly understanding the process can optimized control play its role. A research report published in January 2006 by the Macroeconomic Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission showed that the input-output ratio of optimized control systems in domestic petrochemical, metallurgical, and power industries within three years of implementation was approximately 1:10 to 1:30. This demonstrates that information technology, supported by optimized control software, monitoring configuration software, and real-time databases, has an unparalleled effect on improving economic efficiency compared to other methods. Its significance in transforming traditional industries is also reflected in its energy conservation, emission reduction, and pollutant reduction effects, indicating a promising future.