1. Sequential processes

1.1 Nature of sequential functions

The representation and analysis problems encountered in the design and control of discontinuous processes or systems are fundamentally different from those that have long been addressed in the field of continuous processes.

• The opposition between continuous industrial processes and discontinuous industrial processes can be seen, first and foremost, in the very nature of the products handled and produced by the two: the streams of material encountered in heavy chemicals, an example if ever there was one of continuous processes, give way in discontinuous processes to the series of parts used in manufacturing.

  The variables associated with these products, or with the machines and...