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PDC - Advance Control Strategy Method

The document discusses control strategies for shell and tube heat exchangers. It begins by describing the basic components and function of shell and tube heat exchangers. It then discusses various control strategies that can be used including PID control, cascade control using a secondary flow controller loop, feedforward control using a model-based steam flow setpoint, and an integrated approach combining all three for optimal control. The integrated approach uses feedforward control for major disturbances, cascade control for issues like steam pressure changes, and feedback for all other factors. This combination of strategies can effectively control temperature in heat exchangers under varying conditions.

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Faiz Idzwan
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200 views

PDC - Advance Control Strategy Method

The document discusses control strategies for shell and tube heat exchangers. It begins by describing the basic components and function of shell and tube heat exchangers. It then discusses various control strategies that can be used including PID control, cascade control using a secondary flow controller loop, feedforward control using a model-based steam flow setpoint, and an integrated approach combining all three for optimal control. The integrated approach uses feedforward control for major disturbances, cascade control for issues like steam pressure changes, and feedback for all other factors. This combination of strategies can effectively control temperature in heat exchangers under varying conditions.

Uploaded by

Faiz Idzwan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Advance Control Strategy Method

Heat exchangers transfer thermal energy between fluids. Although heat transfer is
typically efficient, controlling the temperature of the fluid being heated at a specific and stable
set point can be challenging. However, these challenges can be overcome by understanding
heat exchanger control schemes implemented in industry. By far, the shell-and-tube is the most
common type of heat exchanger used in petrochemical industries because it is suitable for low
and high pressure applications (see Figure 1). It consists of an outer shell with a bundle of tubes
inside. The tubes are oriented in a straight or in a "U" shape. One fluid runs through the tubes,
and another fluid flows through the shell surrounding the tubes to transfer heat between the
two fluids (see Figure 2). The set of tubes is known as a "tube bundle." Heat is transferred from
the tube fluid to shell fluid to remove heat, or from the shell fluid to the tube fluid to heat the
material inside. Fluids can be liquids or gases on either the shell or the tube side. To transfer
heat efficiently, many tubes are used, which increases the heat-transfer surface area between
the two fluids (Shady Yehia, 2016).

Figure 1: Shell and tube heat exchanger.

Figure 2: Interior view inside shell and tube heat exchanger


Control Objective.

The objective for advance control measure is to develop a comprehensive control


strategy for any control loop, it's important to identify the process variable of interestcalled
the "controlled variable," the manipulated variable, and the different disturbance variables that
directly affect the controlled variable. Consider the heat exchanger shown in figure 1 above,
the shell side fluid is the process fluid that is required to be heated to a certain temperature set
point. The control objective is to maintain process fluid outlet temperature T1Out at the desired
set pointregardless of disturbancesby manipulating the steam flow rate F2. The resulting
temperature is measured at the outlet of the heat exchanger T1Out (controlled variable).
Heating is achieved by passing steam through the tube side. The more steam passing through
the tubes, the more heat is transferred to the process fluid, and vice versa. Control of the steam
flow F2 (manipulated variable) is achieved by throttling a modulating valve installed on the
steam inlet side (J.M Juran, 1988).

Three major disturbances can affect the process fluid outlet temperature:
Changes in process fluid flow rate, F1
Changes in process fluid inlet temperature, T1In
Changes in steam pressure, causing a change in steam flow rate, F2.
Strategy in Advance Control

Typical thermal control for modern product testing uses a PID (Proportional, Integral,
& Derivative) control algorithm to provide precise temperature control in changing
environments. Other algorithms can be equally successful but the PID algorithm is generally
the most widely used. Proper tuning of the temperature control algorithm requires some
tradeoffs between fast response and precise control. Proper adjustment of the setup parameters
in the PID temperature control algorithm can make some of these need tradeoffs. The control
sensor must also be located in the optimum location to control well. If there is a long lag
between the time that the heat or cooling is turned on and when the sensor detects it, fast
accurate control will not be possible.

The process may never be able to achieve the desired temperature control if the
temperature sensor is not properly located. For the fastest response, the sensor should be fairly
close to the driving heat and cool sources. For temperature readings that most closely represent
the temperatures of device under test, the sensor should be located on or at least closer to the
actual device. Modern control algorithms can help with a best-of-both approach.

Cascade Control.

Figure 3: Cascade control strategy.


In the cascade control scheme, instead of feeding the output of the PID temperature
controller directly to the control valve, it is fed as a set point to a feedback PID-based, steam-
flow controller. This second loop is responsible for ensuring the flow rate of the steam doesn't
change due to uncontrollable factors, such as steam pressure changes or valve problems. To
understand how this works, consider that the heat exchanger is in steady-state operation, the
outlet temperature matches the set point, and the controller output of is constant. A sudden
increase in steam pressure will cause steam flow rate F2 to ramp up. This will cause a gradual
change in the controlled variable. Without the flow control loop, it will not take corrective
action until the outlet temperature is already affected (Shady Yehia, 2016).

By implementing the cascade strategy, the feedback flow control loop will adjust the
valve position immediately when the steam flow rate has changed to bring the flow back to the
value of the previous steady-state condition (because the flow set point given by the
temperature controller didn't change as the outlet temperature did not yet change), preventing
a change in the outlet temperature before it happens. Note that the flow control loop must be
tuned to run much faster than the temperature control loop, therefore cancelling the effect of
flow variance before it affects the process fluid outlet temperature.

Feedforward Control.

Figure 4: Schematic diagram for feedforward control method


Unlike feedback control, feedforward takes a corrective action when a disturbance
occurs. Feedforward control doesn't see the process variable. It sees only the disturbances and
responds to them as they occur. This enables a feedforward controller to quickly and directly
compensate for the effect of a disturbance (Shady Yehia, 2016). To implement feedforward
control, an understanding of the process model and the direct relationship between disturbances
and the process variables is necessary. For heat exchangers, a derivation from the steady-state
model will lead to the following equation, which determines the amount of steam flow required:

F2sp = F1 (T1OUTsp - T1IN) (Cp/H)

Where:
F2sp = steam flow rate calculated set point to be applied to feedback flow controller, fbFC
F1 = process fluid flow rate measured disturbance
T1OUTsp = process fluid temperature set point at the heat exchanger outlet
T1IN = process fluid inlet temperature measured disturbance
Cp = process fluid specific heat (known)
H = latent heat of vaporization for steam (known).

Applying this equation to calculate the required steam flow rate is sufficient to cancel
the effects of changes of the process fluid flow rate and temperature. In a perfect world with
few enhancements to the process model, this feedforward controller is enough to perfectly
control the process. Unfortunately, it's not a perfect world. The obvious advantage of using
feedforward control is that it takes corrective action before the process is upset. A disadvantage
is that it mandates a high initial capital cost because every disturbance must be measured,
increasing the number of instruments and the associated engineering costs. In addition, this
approach requires deeper knowledge of the process. It's not always realistic to depend on
feedforward control only without taking into account the measured process variable.
Integrated Approach

Figure 5: Schematic diagram for integrated approach strategy control

An integrated approach that uses feedback, feedforward, and cascade control is shown
in Figure 5. This approach is more than capable of accommodating heat exchanger control
requirements:

A feedforward loop will handle major disturbances in the process fluid


A cascaded-flow control loop will handle issues related to steam pressure and
valve problems
A feedback loop will handle everything else.

Combining the three techniques to optimize heat exchanger temperature control is


necessary to minimize process variance, maximize product quality, and ensure energy
efficiency in petrochemical industries.
References

J.M. Juran (1988). Jurans Quality Control Handbook,McGraw-Hill, 1988.


G.A. Dumont and Y. Fu, (1993), Nonlinear Adaptive Control via Laguerre Expansion
of Volterra Kernals, Int. J. Adaptive Control and Signal Processing, V. 7, no. 5, pp.
367-382.
Shady Yehia, 2016. Applying Heat Exchanger Control Strategies. [Online]. Access on
2th June 2017. Available on World Wide Web:
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/applying-heat-exchanger-control-
strategies/5a90ba2effa8c154a34bc8619585bb3e.html

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