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Problem Set 5

Problem Set 5

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Chuah Chong Yang
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20 views1 page

Problem Set 5

Problem Set 5

Uploaded by

Chuah Chong Yang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Spring 2006 Process Dynamics, Operations, and Control 10.

450
Problem Set 5
The tank is 1 m tall and 60 cm in diameter. The flow to the tank varies unpredictably and
without regular pattern, but has historically been between 0.06 and 0.085 m3 min-1. We desire to
pump from the tank at 0.07 m3 min-1, but are willing to adjust this flow to maintain the liquid
level at 60 ± 5 cm. We obtain a level instrument that measures over the full range of the tank.
We also obtain a proportional controller, which takes a 0 - 100% input and delivers a 0 - 100%
output. We need to size an appropriate control valve for the outlet stream (part (2)), and we need
to tune the controller (part (3)).

Fi

h
Fo

(1) From an earlier problem set, you know that the pumped-outlet tank is unstable. You’ve
already derived a system model for such a tank. For warm-up, present it in Laplace domain, so
that the transform of the output liquid level [ h’(s) ] is clearly related to the inputs via transfer
functions. Determine the poles of these transfer functions. Do these indicate the instability?

(2) “Size the valve.” Ultimately, that means a physical size, something you select from a
catalog. However, at this point we will be content to specify the required flow capacity. Do this
by determining the outlet flow you will need to compensate for the most demanding disturbance.
Then make your specification 10% larger, so that you can avoid banging the valve fully open.
Finally express your valve “size” as the gain Kv of the transfer function between controller and
outlet flow rate. In writing this transfer function, presume that the valve is much faster than the
tank, not like the one in Lesson 4.

(3) Download the (new and slightly improved) file template.m from the MIT Server. Modify it to
describe closed-loop operation of the tank, using the equipment we have described above:
process, sensor, controller, valve. This means that you will need to code the controller
algorithm. Remember that the controller’s job is to calculate an output that positions a valve.
That controller output depends, in proportional mode, on the controller bias (xco_init), the set
point (ysp), the sensor reading (ys), and the controller gain (Kc). The subfunction argument list
contains all the items you should need. When you’ve coded things, do some common-sense
checks to catch blunders. For example, run it both open- and closed-loop with steady inputs to
verify that it holds steady state. Then run it open loop with a simple disturbance to see if the
process behaves as it should.

The goal of this part (3) is to find the smallest controller gain that satisfies the control objective
stated in the introduction, for the worst disturbances (under the limits stated above) you throw at
it. Do so; state the gain, and turn in a disturbance response plot that shows its triumph.

revised 2006 Mar 2 1

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