Process control

A method for analyzing mixtures of components by a process selected from the group consisting of flow based separation processes and flow analysis processes in a system, the method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining measurement signals by measuring process conditions at a plurality of positions throughout the system;
• applying signal processing to the measurement signals, said signal processing comprising multivariate data analysis for condensing the plurality of measurement signals to a smaller number of main signals being non-correlated;
• logging said main signals;
• displaying said main signals versus time, where changes of said system conditions are indicated by one or more of the main signals displayed;
• detecting any error occurrence during an ongoing process;
• and
• determining what part of said system caused said error;
• and wherein the multivariate data analysis comprises principal component analysis and that at least two principal components are determined and displayed in two different diagrams, one diagram thereof adopted to particularly disclose drift of the system conditions, and another diagram adopted to particularly disclose abrupt or short time deviations of the system conditions.

A method for analyzing mixtures of components by a process selected from the group consisting of flow based separation processes and flow analysis processes in a system, the method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining measurement signals by measuring process conditions at a plurality of positions throughout the system;
• applying signal processing to the measurement signals, said signal processing comprising multivariate data analysis for condensing the plurality of measurement signals to a smaller number of main signals being non-correlated;
• logging said main signals;
• displaying said main signals versus time, wherein changes of said system conditions are indicated by one or more of the main signals displayed;
• detecting any error occurrence during an ongoing process;
• and
• determining what part of said system caused said error;
• wherein the flow analysis process is a liquid chromatography process having a system comprising a pump, a precolumn, a column, and a detector;
• wherein the pump is pressurized, a pressure is maintained before the precolumn, the column has a temperature, and the detector has a current passing therethrough, and said measurement signals comprise the pressure of the pump, the pressure before the precolumn, the temperature of the column, and the current of the detector.

An apparatus for analyzing mixtures of components by a monitoring process selected from the group consisting of flow based separation processes and flow analysis processes, the apparatus comprising:

• means for measuring process conditions at a plurality of positions throughout the system;
• means for processing signals from said measuring means, said signal processing means comprising multivariate data analysis for condensing the plurality of measurement signals to a smaller number of main signals being non-correlated;
• means for logging said main signals;
• means for displaying said main signals versus time, where changes of said process conditions are indicated by one or more of the displayed main signals;
• means for detecting any error occurrence during an ongoing process;
• and
• means for determining what part of said system caused said error.