Introduction

Aalto University School of Science and Technology (founded in 1908) is the largest and oldest institute of engineering education in Finland. The University campus is situated about 10 km west of Helsinki in the Otaniemi area, in the township of Espoo. The number of undergraduates is about 10 000 and that of postgraduates about 2400. The basic degree offered is the Master’s degree in engineering or architecture (diploma engineer or architect, minimum 4.5 a). Postgraduate degrees offered are Licentiate of Technology (minimum 2.5 a) and Doctor of Technology (minimum 4 a). The Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology comprises eight research groups(= eight full professorships): Biochemistry, Microbiology, Bioprocess Technology, Chemical Engineering, Plant Design, Industrial Chemistry, Polymer Technology and Process Control and Automation.

The Laboratory of Process Control and Automation at the Aalto University School of Science and Technology was founded in 1987. The laboratory is a part of the Department of Biotechnology and Chemical Technology.

The aim of the laboratory is to serve all fields of process technology - chemical, metallurgical and forest products - in terms of process automation.

The laboratory gives courses in process modelling, simulation, control, optimisation and automation as well as in production control. The undergraduate students typically have a few years background of process engineering studies, after which a one-to-two-year portion of automation studies. The postgraduate students typically work in the field of process technology - either in the industry or in research institutes or universities - while studying.

Educational

The laboratory provides a comprehensive education program in the field of control theory and automation systems keeping the main emphasis on industrial applications. The education is adapted to the actual demand of the Finnish process industry, training young engineers to cope with the today’s problems and designing solutions for the future.

The Laboratory of Process Control and Automation at Aalto University of School Science and Technology provides higher education with complete studies for the degree of Master of Science in Technology, and postgraduate research can be carried out for the degree of Licentiate or Doctor of Science in Technology.

The laboratory concentrates on the field of automation and control while maintaining strong process background. Supervisory control, expert systems and fault-diagnosis are the main areas of teaching. The objective is to give the students the skills needed for applying these to pulp and paper, chemical, metallurgical or forest technology processes.

List of courses

CHEM-E7140 Process Automation
CHEM-E7145 Advanced Process Control Methods and Process Control Project Work
CHEM-E7155 Production Planning and Control
KE-90.4600 Process Automation project work

Recent research topics

Simulation environment for advanced control development of a multiple hearth furnace
Soft Sensor for Monitoring Energy Balances in Multiple Hearth Furnace
Temperature Profile Control of a Multiple Hearth Furnace for Kaolin Calcination
Fault tolerant model predictive control (FTMPC) of the BioGrate boiler

The various research projects carried out in the laboratory are strongly connected with the Finnish industry, developing solutions for challenging interdisciplinary problems. Process control, fault diagnosis and expert systems are applied in various field of the process industry as chemistry, metallurgy, mineral processing, pulp and paper and forest technology.

This info last modified 2008-06-10 - contact webmaster