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Chemical Engineering vocabulary · Process Control and Instrumentation

Setpoint

Meaning in chemical engineering, with examples

/ˈsɛtpɔɪnt/nounCore term

In chemical engineering, setpoint means: The target value that a controller tries to hold, such as a temperature of 85 °C or a tank level of 60%.

In Turkish: ayar noktası, set değeri, hedef değer

How it is used

Used constantly in control rooms. Operators raise, lower, change or ramp a setpoint; engineers check how far the process value is from the setpoint. Also written 'set point' or abbreviated SP, next to PV (process variable) and OP (output).

Example sentences

  1. Lower the reactor temperature setpoint to 78 °C until the cooling water problem is fixed.

  2. The level keeps swinging around the setpoint, so the controller probably needs retuning.

Common collocations

  • change the setpoint
  • temperature setpoint
  • setpoint change
  • track the setpoint
  • remote setpoint
  • PID controllerThe most common type of process controller. It sets its output from three terms: proportional (the present error), integral (past error) and derivative (how fast the error is changing).
  • feedback controlA control method that measures the process variable, compares it with the setpoint and adjusts the output, usually a valve, to correct the difference.
  • control loopA set of parts that work together to hold one process variable at its setpoint: a sensor and transmitter, a controller and a final element such as a control valve.
  • control valveAn automatic valve that opens and closes in small steps on a signal from a controller, so that flow, pressure, level or temperature stays at the setpoint.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Process Control and Instrumentation

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