LAPSE:2025.0508
Published Article
LAPSE:2025.0508
Teaching Digital Twins in Process Control Using the Temperature Control Lab
June 27, 2025
Abstract
Process control can be one of the most exciting and engaging chemical engineering undergraduate courses! This paper describes our experience transforming Chemical Process Control into Data Analytics, Optimization, and Control at the University of Notre Dame (second semester required course in the junior year). Our modern course is built around six hands-on experiments in which students practice data-centric modeling and analysis using the Arduino-based Temperature Control Lab (TCLab) hardware. We argue that state-space dynamic modeling and optimization are more critical for educating modern chemical engineers than topics such as frequency domain analysis and controller synthesis emphasized in many classical undergraduate control courses. All the course material is available online at https://ndcbe.github.io/controls.
Process control can be one of the most exciting and engaging chemical engineering undergraduate courses! This paper describes our experience transforming Chemical Process Control into Data Analytics, Optimization, and Control at the University of Notre Dame (second semester required course in the junior year). Our modern course is built around six hands-on experiments in which students practice data-centric modeling and analysis using the Arduino-based Temperature Control Lab (TCLab) hardware. We argue that state-space dynamic modeling and optimization are more critical for educating modern chemical engineers than topics such as frequency domain analysis and controller synthesis emphasized in many classical undergraduate control courses. All the course material is available online at https://ndcbe.github.io/controls.
Record ID
Keywords
Dynamic Modelling, Education, Industry 40, Model Predictive Control, Process Control, Process Monitoring, Process Operations, Pyomo, System Identification
Subject
Suggested Citation
Dowling AW, Dougher M, Watson MJ, Lynch HG, Lu Z, Laky DJ. Teaching Digital Twins in Process Control Using the Temperature Control Lab. Systems and Control Transactions 4:2215-2221 (2025) https://doi.org/10.69997/sct.180577
Author Affiliations
Dowling AW: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Dougher M: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Watson MJ: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Lynch HG: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Lu Z: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Laky DJ: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Dougher M: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Watson MJ: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Lynch HG: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Lu Z: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Laky DJ: University of Notre Dame, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556, United States
Journal Name
Systems and Control Transactions
Volume
4
First Page
2215
Last Page
2221
Year
2025
Publication Date
2025-07-01
Version Comments
Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: 2215-2221-1367-SCT-4-2025, Publication Type: Journal Article
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Published Article
LAPSE:2025.0508
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https://doi.org/10.69997/sct.180577
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Jun 27, 2025
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References Cited
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