Distillation: Inferential Temperature Control & Single-Ended Control

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Distillation: Inferential Temperature Control & Single-Ended Control By Jim Riggs

In the first article of this series, Jim discussed control relevant issues associated with distillation columns. The second article presented the majo disturbances affecting composition control and the importance of properly functioning regulatory controls.

In this article, Jim discusses the use of product composition measurements in distillation column control. He also explores single composition st where either the top or bottom product composition is controlled while the other is allowed to float. Product Composition Measurements Product impurity levels (measured either on-line or in the laboratory) are used by feedback controllers to adjust column operation to meet specifications. In addition, tray temperatures are used to infer product compositions, where feasible.

On-line analyzers There is a range of on-line analyzers commonly used in the chemical process industries (e.g., gas chromatographs). A key issue with analyzers associated analyzer delay.

For columns that have slow-responding composition dynamics, analyzer delay is usually less of an issue. For a propylene/propane splitter (i.e., reflux ratio column), the composition dynamics for the primary product have a time constant of about 2 hours. As the cycle time for the analyzer from 5 minutes to 10 minutes, it does not significantly affect the feedback control performance.

For an ethane/propane splitter (i.e., a low reflux ratio column), even a five-minute analyzer delay seriously undermines composition control perfo because the time constant for this process is less than five minutes. Fortunately, most fast-acting columns have a significant temperature drop a them so that product composition can be effectively inferred from tray temperature measurements.

For columns that have a low relative volatility (i.e., less than 1.4), inferential temperature control is not feasible and feedback based on an on analyzer is required, but these columns generally have slow composition dynamics compared to the analyzer delay. For columns with a high rel volatility (i.e., greater than 2.0), inferential temperature control is usually effective.

Inferential temperature control Inferential temperature control is an effective means of maintaining composition control for columns from a control and economic standpoint. Th

greatly reduces the analyzer dead time for feedback control and is much less expensive to install and maintain than an on-line composition ana Because of their superior repeatability, RTDs (resistance temperature detectors) and thermistors are usually used for inferential temperature

For multicomponent separations, tray temperatures do not uniquely determine the product composition. As a result, for these cases it is essenti on-line analyzer or, at least, periodic laboratory analysis be used to adjust the tray temperature set point to the proper level.

If feedback based on laboratory analysis is not used, offset between the desired product composition and the actual product composition can re Column pressure also significantly affects tray temperature measurements. For most systems, a simple linear correction compensates for varia column pressure:

where Tpc is the pressure-compensated temperature that should be used for feedback control, Tmeas is the measured tray temperature, Kpr is correction factor, P is the operating pressure and P0 is the reference pressure.

Kpr can be estimated by applying a steady-state column simulator for two different pressures within the normal operating range and using the fo equation:

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where Ti is the value of the tray temperature for tray i predicted by the column simulator.

A steady-state column model can also be used to determine the best tray locations for inferential control by finding the trays whose temperature the strongest correlation with product composition. The following procedure is recommended:

Table 1 shows an example of this approach used to locate the best tray temperature for inferential temperature control in the stripping section o depropanizer.

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Note that a temperature measurement anywhere between tray 7 and tray 16 should work well for this application for the assumed feed composi

For certain columns, the bulk of the temperature change occurs in a few trays, resulting in a very steep temperature profile. If a single tray temp used to infer the product composition in such a case, feed composition changes can move the location of the steep temperature change away f tray selected for control, leading to a situation in which the chosen tray temperature is insensitive to changes in product impurity levels.

This problem can be handled by controlling the average of several tray temperatures that bracket the area where the steep temperature change for feed composition changes. In this manner, when feed changes cause the temperature profile in the column to move, at least one of the tray temperatures used in the average of the temperatures is located on the steep temperature front. The average of the tray temperatures sensitive to product impurity changes over the full range of feed composition changes.

Single Composition Control Here the composition of one product is controlled while the composition of the other product is allowed to float. In the chemical industry over 90 columns are operated under single composition control compared to dual composition control, which controls both the overhead and the compositions.

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Figure 8 shows single composition control using the reflux to control the purity of the overhead product while maintaining a fixed reboiler duty. T composition is not controlled directly and can vary significantly as the feed composition changes.

The control performance of the overhead product is generally best when reflux, L, rather than either the distillate flow rate, D, or the reflux ratio, issue

MV. L is the fastest-acting MV for the overhead and the least sensitive to feed composition changes. Because the reboiler duty is fixed, coupling

When the bottom product is controlled by single composition control, the control configuration shown in Figure 9 is recommended. rate, V, is faster acting and less sensitive to disturbances than either the bottoms product rate, B, or the boilup ratio, V/B, V is used to product composition with the reflux rate fixed, which allows the overhead composition to float.

Single composition control is much easier to implement, tune and maintain than dual composition control. The choice between single and dual composition control is based on the tradeoff between the additional cost associated with dual composition control (analyzer costs, increased co maintenance, etc.) and the economic benefit of dual composition control (increased product recovery and reduced utility costs). While single composition control is in widespread use in the chemical industry, dual composition control is generally preferred for columns that produce high-volume chemical intermediates because the energy usage for these columns is much larger. More on Distillation Control The final article in this four part series on distillation control will discuss advanced issues including dual composition control and constraint _______ 1. This material is reprinted from Chemical Process Control, 2nd Ed. with the permission of the publisher: Ferret Publishing (806 747 3872). About the Author Jim Riggs is a professor of chemical engineering at Texas Tech University, where he has been since 1983. He has served as an industrial presented a number of industrial short courses on various topics relating to process control. He is the author of several popular chemical textbooks and co-founded the Texas Tech Process Control Consortium in 1992. Jim Riggs Department of Chemical Engineering Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 79410 Email: [email protected]

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