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When modeling dynamic processes for several inputs with freely existing data, such as data collected with normal process operations, the ability to accurately model the output response for a given input change is impeded when inputs are cross-correlated (i.e., pairwise) as this adversely affects accurate estimation of the causative effects of inputs on the response variable. The causative effects of the inputs can be evaluated functionally and analytically via the Jacobian matrix which is done in this work for NARMAX and Wiener structures that are linear and nonlinear in model parameters. This analysis shows that the Wiener structure with physically based nonlinear parametrization is superior. This conclusion is also supported in this work by a modeling study on a real distillation column consisting of eight test runs over a period of three years.

A new approach to teaching technical writing skills to chemical engineering undergraduate students has been implemented by the authors. These students are required to take two laboratory courses, and in these courses they are required to complete reports in several different formats, including both written reports and oral presentations. In addition, the students are required to take a technical writing course offered by the English department. By linking the first laboratory course with the technical writing course in a learning community, the students have realized many benefits. First, there is consistent instruction provided on how to write technical reports, which are tailored to the chemical engineering profession. Second, a peer mentor is provided. This person has already completed both of the classes associated with the learning community and provides additional help and instruction outside of class times. Third, there are some "linked" assignments: (1) a single report is submitted in both courses at the same time and is evaluated by both the lab staff and the English instructor. This allows for feedback from multiple readers and allows students to better understand how to write for a broad audience; (2) a final design project proposal is assigned and evaluated jointly by both of the instructors during an oral presentation. The score earned by each group for this proposal is consistent in both of the classes, further reinforcing the idea that technical writing is a part of chemical engineering, not a separate subject. This paper will introduce the structure of the learning community linking the laboratory and technical writing courses and discuss the results seen in student assessments and evaluations since it was first introduced. This discussion will include suggestions for implementing similar learning communities in other engineering disciplines.

Introduction 2. Hammerstein Modeling 3. An Exact Solution to a True Hammerstein Process 3 .1. A True Hammerstein Process 4. The Industrial Flow Process Study 26 5. Analysis of the Flow Process 5.1. Open-Loop Step Study 5.2. Closed-Loop Step Studies 32 6. Conclusions 36 7. References Acknowledgements CHAPTER 4. APPLICATION OF A WIENER BLOCK-ORIENTED MODELING TECHNIQUE TO A NONLINEAR PROCESS Abstract 1. Introduction 1.1. Wiener Model Structure 2. Identification of the W-BEST Model 2.1. An Exact Solution v 2.2. Applying the W-BEST Method 3. The Simulated CSTR Process 3.1. Applying the W-BEST Modeling Method 3.2. A Comparison of the W-BEST with the H-BEST Prediction Algorithm 4. Conclusions and Future Work 5. References CHAPTER 5. A COMPARISON OF A BLOCK-ORIENTED MODELING METHODOLOGY WITH ANOTHER CONTINUOUS-TIME WIENER-BASED MODEL Abstract 1. Introduction 1.1. The Wiener Model Structure 2. The Wiener Block-Oriented Exact Solution Technique (W-BEST) 3. The Process Studied 3.1. An Exact Solution 3.2. Identification of Parameters for the W-BEST Model 4. Discussion 5. Conclusions 6. References CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK 1. Conclusions 2. Future Work

The increasing pressure in industry to maintain tight control over processes has led to the development of many advanced control algorithms. Many of these algorithms are modelbased control schemes, which require an accurate predictive model of the process to achieve good controller performance. Because of this, research in the fields of nonlinear process modeling and predictive control has advanced over the past several decades.