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Instrumentation and Control 199

It is important to remember that no amount of automated process control can
make a poorly designed mechanical process system perform well. Automation is not
a solution for misapplied or improperly sized process equipment components.
In a recent broad-industry survey, more than two-thirds of data acquisition soft-
ware systems purchasers identified the following features as necessary or desirable
(Harrold, 2006):

• Data logging and historian functions.
• Control and simulation.

• Statistical quality control and statistical process control.
• Developer capabilities of database connectivity through an open source struc-
tured query language (SQL), such as ANSI SQL.
• Integration and customization tools and functions such as ActiveX and OPC
(object-linking and embedding for process control), which specify the com-
munication of real-time plant data between programmable logic controllers,
distributed control systems (DCS), and other control devices to human-
machine interfaces and display clients from different manufacturers
(http://www.pacontrol.com/OPC.html).
Fundamentally, functional design or modification of instrument and control sys-
tems for bioenergy processes must address the following categories and functions:

• Process control,
• Reporting and recordkeeping (including regulatory compliance), and
• Safety, security, and maintenance.

3.0 THE FUTURE IS NOW

Forward-looking agencies are following the lead of other industry sectors by linking
process and production information into a vertically integrated system that provides
accounting, budgeting, purchasing, maintenance and production planning, staffing,
and even goal-setting and reporting functions.
Although it is not typically practical to demand all elements in a single system
immediately, agencies often discover that they can realize significant value-added
functionality in a tightly integrated system.