Adaptation of advanced process control blocks in response to variable process delay

A process controller adapted to control a process having a plurality of field devices, the process controller comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• a control block stored on the memory and adapted to be executed by the processor to perform control calculations to produce one or more control signals for controlling the process, the control block being adapted to execute on the processor at an execution rate;
• and
• an execution rate block stored on the memory and adapted to be executed on the processor to determine the execution rate of the control block based on a value of a parameter associated with the process.

A method of controlling a process having process delay that is a function of a parameter, the method comprising the steps of:

• executing, at an execution rate, a control block that implements multiple input/multiple output control during operation of the process;
• obtaining an indication of the parameter;
• and
• determining the execution rate of the control block as a function of the indication of the parameter.