THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

School of mines and minerals sciences

CE 560 / MT 580
Process control

Lecture 01
Definitions, some examples of process control problems &
process control activities

C. Botha (Mr.)
Contacts: Chemical Engineering Department
Email: [email protected]
Alt. Email: [email protected]

January, 2024
 Why process control?

o Modern plants are more difficult to operate and satisfy their performance requirements.

o The following key factors are the reasons for this.

1) Increased competition leading to tightened product quality requirements.

2) Increased emphasis placed on efficient plant operation to ensure profitability despite

changing economic conditions,

o i.e., raw material and product prices.

3) Tougher safety and environmental regulations required.

4) Complex and highly integrated processes.

o Makes it difficult to prevent disturbance from propagating to downstream units

 Why process control?

o Thus, operating a modern plant safely and economically whilst satisfying product quality
and environmental requirements is impossible without computer-based process control
or some form of manual control.

What is an industrial process?

o Industrial process or plant - a systematic arrangement and rational integration of

processing units so as to convert raw materials into desired product(s) using physical
and chemical operations.

o E.g., pumps, heat exchangers, mixing tanks, absorbers etc. arranged and integrated to
achieve a common objective.

o In practice, the term refers to both processing operations and processing equipment.
 Primary objective of process control

o The primary objective or function of process control is regulatory i.e., to maintain a

process at the desired operating conditions safely and economically whilst satisfying
environmental and product quality requirements – a regulatory objective.

o For a processs, processs variables, i.e., input variables usually fluctuate.

o For example, flowrates, temperatures, pressures etc. may show significant variations
during operation.

o Such fluctuations affects the output variable i.e., results in output that changes with time.

o Fluctuations (or disturbances) are ever-present and processes are said to be dynamic.

 I.e., are characterized by constant change in key process variables during

operation.
 Primary objective of process control

o Despite the dynamic nature, a process and associated equipment must be controlled.

o That is, process must be maintained at the desired operating condition by a control
system.

o Such conditions are typically determined by equipment constraints, safety, product,

economic and environmental/social requirements.

o Thus, process control is naturally part of all plant activities, especially operations.

 E.g., during operation, operators ensure that proper adjustments are made to offset
the effect of disturbances.

 Adjustments can be a response to a sudden change in feed temperature so that

process is maintained at the desired operating point.
 Primary objective of process control

o To be able to make proper adjustments that eliminate the effect of disturbances also
requires:

 An understanding of the process dynamic behaviour.

 That is, how does a process variable to be controlled varies when there is a change
in one or more of the input variables?

 This cannot only lead to better response but also better design of a control system.

 And a well-designed control system can ensure:

1) Strict maintenance of a process at the desired operating condition.

2) Safe and profitable operation of a plant and its equipment.

 Process control in experiments

o Process control is also involved in engineering experiments.

 That is, conducting experiments require control of the laboratory equipment.

 This means adhering to certain conditions as prescribed by the experimental

procedure.

What is process control?

o Process control is concerned with how to achieve the control objectives and can be
defined as
o An engineering discipline that deals with ways and means for monitoring
and maintaining the output of a process within a desired range by adjusting
appropriate input variables.
 Examples of process control problems- (1) Room temperature control system

o Consider the room heating system (Sensor/

HX
shown in figure 1. transmitter)
Thermostat Controller

o Control objective: To maintain the

room temperature at or near the
desired (comfortable) temperature
by circulating hot water through the
heat exchanger (HX). Furnace Fuel flow

(Final control
o How can this control objective be element)

achieved? Fig.1 Room temperature control system

 Examples of process control problems- (1) Room temperature control system

1) Room temperature is measured by the thermostat ( sensor/transmitter).

2) Measured temperature is compared to the desired temperature range, say 18 – 22℃.

3) If the measured temperature is <18℃, furnace and fuel pump are turned on.

o This increases fuel flow and heat supply to the room thus temperature increases.

3) For room temperatures >22℃, the furnace and fuel pump are turned off.

4) Finally, for temperatures between 18 – 22℃, furnace and pump remain unaltered, i.e.
off.

o Figure 2 illustrates the room temperature history for this type of a control strategy.
Examples of process control problems- (1) Room temperature control system

Controlled 22oC
variable
(Room temp)
18oC

Manipulated
variable
(Fuel flow)
Time

Fig.2 Room temperature response for on/off control system

 Examples of process control problems- (1) Room temperature control system

o Room temperature cycles between minimum and maximum temperatures as fuel flow is
turned on and off.

o Room temperature exceeds the upper limit slightly as the furnace and the heat
exchanger cannot respond instantly.

o Control strategy as described here is an example of on/off control strategy.

o Often used where precise control at the desired level is not a primary concern.

o Better control strategies capable of maintaining variables of interest much closer to the
desired value are discussed later.
 Examples of process control problems- (2) Driving an automobile

o Consider a person driving an automobile, one control objective is typically to keep the
vehicle centred in the proper lane.
o How can this control objective be achieved?
 Driver determines the location of the vehicle in relation to the lane using the eyes
(sensor/transmitter).
 Driver determines change required to maintain the vehicle cantered in that lane using
brain (controller).
 Driver must then change the position of the steering wheel (final control element) by
an amount determined so as to keep the vehicle in lane.
o Performing above tasks maintain automobile close to the desired position on the road
despite disturbances like bumps, curves etc.
 Process control activities

o There are a number of process control activities or functions.

o One such activity, maintain a controlled variable at its desired value, has been
mentioned.

o The first three functions are as follows:

1) Suppress the influence of external disturbances on a process.

2) Ensure stability of a process

3) Optimize performance of a process, typically economic performance.

o 1 and 2 are fall into regulatory functions while functions while 3 is real time optimization.
 Suppressing external disturbance effect

o A common function of a control system is to suppress the effect of external disturbances.

o A disturbance represent the effect of the surrounding on a process or variables that affect
the output but cannot be manipulated.

o Adjustment of such variables (disturbances) is usually out of reach for an operator.

o Hence, a control mechanism to bring about the necessary changes is required.

o That is, to cancel the negative impacts that such disturbances may have on the process.

o This function can be understood better by considering the stirred tank heater (STH)
system in Fig. 3.
 Suppressing external disturbance effect

Fi (ft3/min), Ti (°F)

T
Q
F (ft3/min), T (°F)

Condensate

Fst (Ibm/min)
Steam

Fig.3 Stirred tank heater system

 Suppressing external disturbance effect cont’d…

o Control objectives for the STH are as follows:

1) Maintain the temperature T of the outlet stream at the desired value Ts.

2) Ensure a constant volume Vs of the liquid in the stirred tank heater.

o External factors (disturbances) are changes in:

1. feed flow-rate Fi (ft3/min)

2. inlet temperature Ti (oF) and

3. surrounding temperature.

o These may affect the steady-state operation of the stirred tank heater.
 Suppressing external disturbance effect cont’d…

o In the absence of any changes in the feed conditions, then after attaining desired
operating conditions i.e., 𝑇 = 𝑇𝑠 and 𝑉 = 𝑉𝑠 (𝑜𝑟 ℎ = ℎ𝑠 )

o STH can be left without any supervision and control.

o However, this is not possible since feed conditions (temperature and flow-rate) may be
subjected to frequent changes.

o Similarly, the surrounding temperature and other conditions may also frequently
change.

o Thus, some form of a control mechanism is needed to suppress the impact of these
disturbances and so keep 𝑇 and 𝑉 at or near the desired values Ts and Vs .
 Suppressing external disturbance effect cont’d…

o The corresponding control scheme required to perform this task is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig.4 Feedback temperature control strategy for the stirred-tank heater system
 Suppressing external disturbance effect cont’d…

o Temperature of the liquid is measure by a thermocouple (measuring instrument).

o Measured temperature T is compared to the set point value Ts yielding an error or
deviation given by
  Ts - T ..........................................Eq.1.0

o Computed value of the error is used by the controller to determines what action to
perform to keep T at or near the desired temperature Ts.
o When 𝜺 > 𝟎, the measured temperature T is less than set point temperature Ts.
o Controller opens steam valve so that more steam is supplied to increase system
temperature.
 Suppressing external disturbance effect cont’d…

o When 𝜺 < 𝟎, measured temperature T is greater than set point temperature Ts.

o Controller closes the steam valve so that less steam is supplied to reduce the system
temperature.

o If ε = 𝟎, which means that measured temperature T = Ts then no control action is

taken by controller.

What to think about?

o Similar control strategy to maintain the volume of liquid in the tank at the desired value
Vs or to maintain the level in the tank h at or near hs.
 Ensuring stability of a process

o The behaviour of a process variable 𝑥 is depicted in the figure below.

B
x x
A

to Time to Time
(a) (b)

Fig.5 (a) Response of a stable system, (b) response of an unstable system

o At an initial time 𝑡 = 𝑡0 , the steady-state value of the variable 𝑥 is disturbed by some

external factor (disturbance).
 Ensuring stability of a process cont’d…

o Response shown in figure 5 (a), the value of the variable returns to its desired value and
stays there as time elapses.

o Such a process is said to be stable or self-regulating and needs no external control.

o Contrary, if the variable 𝑥 does not return to its initial value after being disturbed as shown
in figure 5 (b), the process is said to be unstable.

o A control mechanism is required in this case to force 𝑥 to return to its original value.

o Example of such a process is an exothermic reaction whose temperature may continue to

rise if no mechanism to remove heat from the reaction vessel is provided.