The Department of Automation of Heat and Chemical Processes was established in 1917 when the faculty from the Department of the Heat Machine formed the Department of “Pomiary maszymowy” where the nearest translation into English will be “Technological Measurement”. Since 1927 till now the Department is located in the then newly built Building of Lviv Polytechnic National University (currently the 10th Building situated on Ustyyanovycha Street, 5). From 1920 to 1941 the Department was headed by Prof. Vitkevych R. In 1940 the Department was renamed into the Department of Heat and Technical Measurement.
In September 1944 the Department received a new name the Department of Heat and Technical Measurement and Devices. Up till 1951 the Department was headed by Ph.D., Associate Professor Shulimovskyy M. who later received the Professor degree and was appointed as a corresponding member of National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. From 1951 to 1958 the Department as a separate section was in the structure of the Department of Automatic Measurement Devices which was headed by Prof. Karandeev K. — later the corresponding member of The Academy of Sciences of the USSR. This Department gave birth to the most departments of the Department of Automatics; it became an alma mater to a pleiad of scientists that set a basis for the creation of the modern instrumental making industry in Lviv.
Regarding the rising demand for experts in Automation Technological Processes in 1958 the Department was reorganized: on its basis and with a part of the faculty from the Department of Processes and Devices in Chemical Production was established the Department of Automation of Industrial Processes (the head of the Department Ph.D., Associate Professor Sitnytskiy Yu. — from 1958 to 1970). At that time the basic laboratory base of the Department was created and the direction of scientific research of the faculty defined. From 1960 to 1970 the Department belonged to the Faculty of Automatics and trained the experts in four specialties: automation and complex mechanization of chemical and technical processes, automation of the heat and power processes, automation of the processes of the reprocessing of gas and oil, automation of the processes of extraction, transportation and storing of oil and gas. In 1963 the two latter were handed over to Ivano-Frankivsk branch of Lviv Polytechnic National University (currently Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas). In 1964 the Department the research laboratory was established (NDL-25).
In 1969 the Department of Automation of Industrial Processes was renamed into the Department of Automation of Heat and Chemical Processes. In 1971 the Department in the structure of the Heat and Technical Faculty was headed by Ph.D., Associate Professor Kos V. In 1980 as his successor was appointed Ph.D., Associate Professor Pistun Ye. Who currently is Ph.D., Professor and member of Academy of Gas and Oil of Ukraine. In 2001 the Department together with the other departments joined the newly established the Institute of Energy and Management Systems.
In early 90s the Department of Automation of Heat and Chemical Processes pioneered the creation of the basic course of Automation and Computer-integrated Technologies in Ukraine.
The Department developed the project standard of Ukraine on this basic direction. Head of the Department Professor Pistun Ye. headed methodological commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in this direction (now he is deputy of this commission), Deputy Chairman of the advisory council SAC (State Accreditation Committee of Ukraine) in computer science and technology and national security.
Department of Automation of Heat and Chemical Processes has Accredited Level IV.
Now the Department is preparing:
- Bachelors in course 6.050202 (6.092500) — Automation and Computer Integrated Technologies;
- Engineers in specialty 7.05020201 (7.092501) — Automated management of Technological Processes, including specializations in Automation Technological Processes and Production according to the chemical industry, food processing industry, energy (heat and nuclear) and Automated Energy Management and Energy Sources Accounting;
- Masters in specialty 8.05020201 (8.092501) — Automated Technological Processes Management ( Automation and Computer-Integrated Technologies).
At the Department take place postgraduate and doctoral studies. Here scientific personnel of higher qualification are learning — Candidates and Doctors of Sciences in specialties: 05.11.01 — Instruments and Methods for Measuring Mechanical Quantities; 05.11.13 — Instruments and Methods for Control and Determination of Substances; 05.13.07 — Automation Processes Control. At the department also works specialized Academic Council D 35.052.04, where the Ph.D. and Doctoral theses on the research areas mentioned above are defended.
During its existence the Department has trained more than 4,000 professionals. Graduates work : in research, design institutes, where they develop new methods and tools for automatic control, regulation and management, new automation system, they develop new computer-aided design and software for computer-automated and computer-integrated technologies; in organizations, which are involved in the installation and commissioning of automation systems and automated control systems; directly in the chemical, food, gas and other industries, nuclear and heat power in the workshops of control-measuring instruments and automation.
Department Labs are equipped with domestic and imported equipment: a wide variety of technological measurement and its’ metrological support, technical equipment automation including a microprocessor technology, analog and digital computers, modern computers.
In the learning process is widely used the most various modern software, computer aided design systems, specialized modeling systems on a PC, for example, training simulator of nuclear power unit. The department has an internal computer network.
The scientific direction of the department: development of components, data collection subsystems and primary information processing in automated control systems of technological processes, automation of technological processes and productions. A number of new measuring instruments and devices for control and management of technological production process of fiber-light guides (flow-metering devices of gases microconsumption, content meter of gas-vapor mixture of halides with oxygen, actuators and regulators on microconsumption, including aggressive environments), regulators and optimizers for automation systems of ball drum mills, exemplary flow-metering devices installations and gas analyzers, measuring transducers of technological parameters, developed at the Department and brought to mass production are widely implemented and used in various industries of the national economy, both in Ukraine and abroad.
The Department has one of the most famous scientific schools in energy carrier accounting, including natural gas. In this school there are drafted the normative documents of Ukraine (regulations, guidelines, methods of measurement), new hardware and energy carrier accounting systems, validation methods, and verification of facilities and accounting systems and others. For example, the Department faculty developed a set of national standards of Ukraine “Measuring the flow rate and volume of fluid and gas using standard constriction devices” (DSTU GOST 8.585.1:2009, DSTU GOST 8.585.2:2009, DSTU GOST 8.585.3:2009, DSTU GOST 8.585.4:2009, DSTU GOST 8.585.5:2009), which is valid in Ukraine from 04.01.2010, international standards GOST 8.586.1-2005 (ISO 5167-1:2003), GOST 8.586.2-2005 (ISO 5167-2:2003), GOST 8.586.3-2005 (ISO 5167-3:2003), GOST 8.586.4-2005 (ISO 5167-4:2003), GOST 8.586.5-2005 (ISO 5167-5:2003) that are implemented in the CIS.
Together with the Institute of Postgraduate Studies of the Lviv Polytechnic National University the Department organized courses for heightening qualification on energy conservation and natural gas accounting and provides training of industry professionals in these courses.
The faculty initiated the establishment of CJSC “Institute of Energy Audit and Energy Carrier Accounting ”, which together with the AHCP Department are solving extremely important problems for Ukraine of energy conservation and energy carrier accounting.