Compressor Control Is Moving Beyond Black Boxes

Until recently, many compressor operators considered black boxes the best available technology to maintain consistent compressor control, despite the technology’s many drawbacks. Chief among those are: 1) the lack of interoperability with other plant controls, 2) the difficulty of quickly accessing critical operating data, 3) the need for specialized tools to maintain or expand compressor control systems and 4) the demand for more redundancy and energy efficiency.