CHAPTER-1

LECTURE -2
Design Aspects of Process
Control System

By: Tafere A. (Ass. prof)

 Design Aspects of Process Control System
 How do we use the knowledge of process behavior to reach
control objectives / Design Aspects of Process Control System?

 A broad categorization of the steps followed during the

design of a control system includes:
1. Defining the Control Objectives
2. Selecting the Measurements
3. Selecting the Manipulated Variables
4. Selecting the Control Configuration
5. Designing the Controller
 Design Aspects of Process Control System
1. Defining the Control Objectives
 The process that we want to control is always the central element
in any control configuration.
 At the beginning, control objectives are defined only qualitatively
and later on that they are known quantitatively (usually in terms
of the output variables).

 What are the operational objectives of a control system upon to

achieve?
These are:
 Ensuring stability of the process
 Suppressing the influence of external disturbances and
 Optimizing the economic performance of a plant, or a
combination of all).
 2. Select Measurements:
 What variables must be measured to monitor the
performance of a chemical plant.
 For any control objective, it is always necessary to monitor
the performance of the chemical process that we want to
control.
 This can only be done by measuring the values of relevant
processing variables (températures, pressures,
concentrations, flowrates, etc.).
 We always prefer to monitor directly the variables (making
primary measurements) that represent our control
objectives, and this is what is done whenever possible.
 3. Selecting the Manipulated Variables
 Select Manipulated Variables: What are the manipulated variables to be
used to control a chemical process ?

 Once the control objectives have been specified and the various
measurements identified, the next question is how do we effect a
change on the process, i.e.

 Usually in a process we have a number of available input

variables which can be adjusted freely.

 Which ones we select to use as manipulated variables is a

crucial question as the choice will affect the quality of the
control actions we take.
4. Select the Control Configuration:
 After the control objectives, the possible measurements, and the
available manipulated variables have been identified, the final problem
to be solved is that of defining the control configuration.
 A control configuration is the information structure which is used to
connect the available measurements to the available manipulated
variables.
 Which is the best control configuration for a given chemical process
control situation ?

 Feedback control

 Feed forward control

 Inferential control
Con’t…
 Depending on how many controlled outputs and manipulated inputs we
have in a chemical process, we can distinguish the control
configurations into:
– single-input, single-output (SISO) or
– multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) control systems.
 For example, for the tank heater system:
– If the control objective (controlled output) is to keep the liquid level at a desired value by
manipulating the effluent flow rate, then we have a SISO system.
– On the contrary, if our control objectives are (more than one) to keep the level and the
temperature of the liquid at desired values, by manipulating (more than one) the steam
flow rate and the effluent flow rate, then we have a MIMO system.
 In the chemical industry most of the processing systems are multiple input,
multiple-output systems.
 Feedback control configuration

 For feedback control, the

disturbance variable is not
measured.
 Advantage of feedback control
 An important advantage of feedback control is that;

 It is a very simple technique that compensates for all

disturbances.

Any disturbance affects the controlled variable and once this

variable deviates from set point , the controller changes its input
in such a way as to return the temperature to the set point.

 Corrective action occurs regardless of the source of the

disturbance.
 Reduces the sensitivity of the controlled variable to
unmeasured disturbances and process changes.
 The feedback controller works with minimum knowledge of
the process.
 In fact, the only information it needs is in which direction to move.
 How much to move is usually adjusted by trial and error.

 Feedback control is the most common control strategy in the

process industries.
Its simplicity accounts for its popularity.
 However, feedback control does have a fundamental limitation:
 No corrective action is taken until the disturbance has upset the
process, that is, after the controlled variable deviates from the set
point.
Feedback Control
 If the inlet process temperature decreases, thus creating a
disturbance, its effect must propagate through the heat
exchanger before the outlet temperature decreases.

 Once this temperature changes, the signal from transmitter to

the controller also changes.
 Then, the controller becomes aware that a deviation from set-
point has occurred and;
 It must compensate for the disturbance by manipulating the
steam valve.
 Then, the controller signals valve is to increase;
- Its opening and

- The steam flow.

 Feedforward control configuration

Controller

MV measure
d output
(CV)

 The distinguishing feature of feed forward

control is that the disturbance variable is
measured, but the controlled variable is
not. Unmeasured output
 Feed forward Control
 Suppose that in heat exchanger example the major disturbance is
the inlet temperature.
 To implement feed forward control, the disturbance first
must be measured and then a decision is be made how to
manipulate the steam to compensate for this change.
 The objective of feed forward control is;

 To measure the disturbances and compensate for

them before the controlled variable deviates from
set point.

 If applied correctly, the controlled variable

deviation would be minimum.
Con’t…
 The important advantage of feedforward control is that;
 Corrective action is taken before the controlled variable,
deviates from the set point.
Ideally, the corrective action will cancel the effects of the
disturbance, so that the controlled variable is not affected by
the disturbance.

 Feedforward control has three significant disadvantages:

I. The disturbance variable must be measured (or accurately estimated),
II. No corrective action is taken for unmeasured disturbances, and
III. A process model is required.
Generally:
 A feed-forward controller measures the disturbance
variable and sends this value to a controller, which adjusts
the manipulated variable.
 This control uses no knowledge of the output
 is future focused. It provides information about what a
person could do differently in the future
 A feedback control system measures the output variable,
compares that value to the desired output value, and uses
this information to adjust the manipulated variable.
 This control action is dependent on the output variable.
 is past focused. It provides information about past activity
and performance.
 Inferential control configuration
 Uses secondary measurements, because the controlled variables
are not measured, to adjust the values of the manipulated
variables.
 The objective here is to keep the (unmeasured) controlled
variables at desired levels.
 The estimator uses the values of the available measured outputs,
along with the material and energy balances that govern the
process, to;
 compute mathematically (estimate) the values of the
unmeasured controlled variables.
These estimates in turn are used by the controller to adjust
the values of the manipulated variables.
 5. Design the Controller
 In every control configuration, the controller is the active element
that receives the information from the measurements and takes
appropriate control actions to adjust the values of the manipulated
variables.
 For the design of the controller we may need to make the
following question:
How is the information taken from the measurements used to adjust
the values of the manipulated variables?
The answer to this question constitutes the control law ( types of
controller structure, P - PI - PID ) , which is implemented
automatically by the controller and Controller tuning parameters
(Kc, τI, τD ?)
 Hardware Elements of Control System
 In every control configuration we can distinguish the following
Hardware elements;
Chemical process : It represents the material equipment together with
the physical or chemical operations that occur there.
Measuring instruments or sensors: Such instruments are used to measure
the disturbances, the controlled output variables or to measure
secondary variables, and are the main sources of information about
what is going on in the process.
Con’t …
Characteristic examples are:
 Thermocouples or resistance thermometers - for measuring the
temperature
 Venture meters - for measuring the flow rate,
 Gas Chromatographs - or measuring the composition of a
stream, etc.
 Transducer/transmitter; In process instrumentation, sensors are

used to measure physical quantities such as pressure, temperature,

flow etc. of the process.

 The sensor generates output in the form of voltage which is sent

to the transmitter attached with the sensor.

 Basic elements of closed loop system
 Compares the reference value with the
measured value and produces an error signal
Error = reference – measured value

This produces a signal related to the

variable being controlled and provides
the signal fed back to the comparison
element to determine if there is an error
 Con’t…
 As a specific example, let’s consider a hot
water heater for a home and examine its
control system, using closed loop type of
diagram.
 The desired hot water temperature is
selected by the homeowner, and typically
it is in the neighborhood of 120 to 140
0F.
 Let assume that the set point is 130 F.
 The thermocouple measures the
temperature of the water in the tank and
sends a signal to the thermostat indicating
the temperature variation.
Block diagram of a hot water heater control system.
Con’t…
 The thermostat (controller) determines the error as:

 Error = Tset point - T measured value

 If the error is positive (> 0), the measured temperature is lower than
desired and the thermostat opens the fuel valve to the burner which
adds heat to the tank.

 If the error is less than zero or negative (< 0), the thermostat closes the
fuel valve and no heat is added to the tank.

 Disturbances to the system, which decrease the temperature of the

water in the tank, include ambient heat losses and hot water demand
by the household which is replaced with a cold water feed.
 PROCESS CONTROL LAWS
 First Law: The best control system is the simplest
one that will do the job.

 Second Law: You must understand the process

before you can control it.

 Third Law: The control is never possible if the

mathematical model can not be developed.
Duties of a Control Engineer
 Tuning controllers for performance and reliability

 Selecting the proper PID mode and/or advanced PID

options

 Control loop troubleshooting

 Multi-unit controller design

 Documentation of process control changes

 Characteristics of Effective Process
Control Engineers
 Use their knowledge of the process to guide process
control applications.
 Have a fundamentally sound picture of process dynamics
and feedback control.
 Work effectively with the operators
 A good relationship with the operators is a NECESSARY
condition for the success of a control engineer
 Process Control and Optimization
 Control and optimization are terms that are many times
wrongly interchanged.

 Control - has to do with adjusting flow rates to

maintain the controlled variables of the process at
specified set-points.

 Optimization - chooses the values for key set-points

such that the process operates at the “best” economic
conditions.
 Background needed for Process Control
 To be successful in the practice of automatic process control, the engineer

must first be familiar with the basic principles of :-

 Thermodynamics, fluid flow, heat transfer, separation process, reaction

processes etc.

 Another important tool for the study and practice of process control is

computer simulation.

 Many of the equations developed to describe processes are nonlinear in

nature and consequently, the most exact way to solve them is by

numerical methods.

 The computer simulation of process models is called simulation.