The industrial experience in developing supervisory control systems for flotation columns is discussed. Procedures for diagnosis of instrumentation calibration and maintenance, prior to the implementation of control schemes on top of the distributed control system, are discussed. This strategy contributes to better control by using data validation, by opportunely detecting measurement and operating problems and by consistently coordinating control actions in managing the local control loop setpoints. Examples based on the control systems developed for El Teniente and Salvador concentrators, from Codelco-Chile, are used to illustrate how to relax some of the constraints on the controllability of the process.
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