James B. Riggs M. Nazmul Karim

James B.
Riggs
M. Nazmul Karim
Introduction
A Career in Process
Control
Requires that engineers use all of their
chemical engineering training (i.e.,
provides an excellent technical profession
that can last an entire career)
Can become a technical Top Gun
Allows engineers to work on projects that
can result in significant savings for their
companies (i.e., provides good visibility
within a company)
A Career in Process
Control
Provides professional mobility. There is a
shortage of experienced process control
engineers.
Is a well paid technical profession for chemical
engineers.
Chemical Process Industries

(CPI)
Hydrocarbon fuels
Chemical products
Pulp and paper products

Agrochemicals
Man-made fibers
Bio-Process Industries
Use micro-organisms to produce useful
products
Pharmaceutical industry
Ethanol from grain industry
Importance of Process Control for

the CPI
PC directly affects the safety and reliability of
a process.
PC determines the quality of the products
produced by a process.
PC can affect how efficient a process is
operated.
Bottom Line: PC has a major impact on the
profitability of a company in the CPI.
Safety and Reliability

The control system must provide safe
operation
Alarms, safety constraint control, start-up and
shutdown.
A control system must be able to absorb a
variety of disturbances and keep the process

in a good operating region:
Thunderstorms, feed composition upsets,
temporary loss of utilities (e.g., steam supply),

day to night variation in the ambient conditions
Benefits of Improved Control

Impurity
Concentration
Old Controller
Limit
Time
Benefits of Improved Control

Limit
Time
New Controller
Impurity
Concentration
Impurity
Concentration
Old Controller
Limit
Time
Better Control Means

Products with Reduced
For many cases, reduced variability
Variability
products are in high demand and have high
value added (e.g., feedstocks for
polymers).
Product certification procedures (e.g., ISO
9000) are used to guarantee product
quality and place a large emphasis on
process control.
Impurity
Concentration
Limit
Time
Improved Performance
Impurity
Concentration
Impurity
Concentration
Benefits of Improved
Control
Old Controller
New Controller
Limit
Time
Limit
Time
Maximizing the Profit of a

Plant
Many times involves controlling against
constraints.
The closer that you are able to operate to
these constraints, the more profit you can
make. For example, maximizing the product
production rate usually involving controlling
the process against one or more process
constraints.
Constraint Control
Example
Consider a reactor temperature control
example for which at excessively high
temperatures the reactor will experience a
temperature runaway and explode.
But the higher the temperature the greater
the product yield.
Therefore, better reactor temperature
control allows safe operation at a higher
reactor temperature and thus more profit.
Importance of Process Control

for the Bio-Process Industries
Improved product quality.
Faster and less expensive process
validation.
Increased production rates.
Driving a Car: An
Everyday
Example
of
Control Objective
(Setpoint): Maintain car in
proper lane. Control
Process
Controlled variable- Location on the road

Manipulated variable- Orientation of the
front wheels
Actuator- Drivers arms/steering wheel
Sensor- Drivers eyes
Controller- Driver
Disturbance- Curve in road
Logic Flow Diagram for

a Feedback Control
Loop
Temperature Control for a

Heat Exchanger: ChE Control
Example
Heat Exchanger Control

Controlled variable- Outlet temperature of
product stream
Manipulated variable- Steam flow
Actuator- Control valve on steam line
Sensor- Thermocouple on product stream
Disturbance- Changes in the inlet feed
temperature
DO Control in a BioReactor
DO Control
Controlled variable- the measured
dissolved O2 concentration
Manipulated variable- air flow rate to the
bio-reactor
Actuator- variable speed air compressor
Sensor- ion-specific electrode in contact
with the broth in the bio-reactor
Disturbance- Changes in the metabolism of
the microorganisms in the bio-reactor
Logic Flow Diagram for

a Feedback Control
Loop
Comparison of Driving a
Car and Control of a Heat
Actuator: Drivers arm and steering
Exchanger
wheel vs. Control valve
Controller: the driver vs. an electronic
controller
Sensor: the drivers eyes vs. thermocouple
Controlled variable: cars position on the
road vs. temperature of outlet stream
The key feature of all feedback control

loops is that the measured value of the
controlled variable is compared with
the setpoint and this difference is used
to determine the control action taken.
In-Class Exercise
Consider a person skiing down a mountain.
Identify the controller, the actuator, the

process, the sensor and the controlled
variable. Also, indicate the setpoint and
potential disturbances. Remember that the
process is affected by the actuator to change
the value of the controlled variable.
Types of Feedback
Controllers
On-Off Control- e.g., room thermostat
Manual Control- Used by operators and
based on more or less open loop responses

PID control- Most commonly used
controller. Control action based on error
from setpoint (Chaps 6-8).
Advanced PID- Enhancements of PID: ratio,
cascade, feedforward (Chaps 9-11).
Model-based Control- Uses model of the
process directly for control (Chap 13).
Duties of a Control
Engineer
Tuning controllers for performance and
reliability (Chap 7)
Selecting the proper PID mode and/or
advanced PID options (Chap 6, 10-12)
Control loop troubleshooting (Chap 2 & 8)
Multi-unit controller design (Chap 14)
Documentation of process control changes
Characteristics of
Effective Process Control
Use their knowledge of the process to
Engineers
guide their process control applications.
They are process control engineers.
Have a fundamentally sound picture of
process dynamics and feedback control.
Work effectively with the operators.
Operator Acceptance
A good relationship with the operators is a
NECESSARY condition for the success of a

control engineer.
Build a relationship with the operators
based on mutual respect.
Operators are a valuable source of plant
experience.
A successful control project should make
the operators job easier, not harder.
Process Control and

Optimization
Control and optimization are terms that are
many times erroneously interchanged.

Control has to do with adjusting flow rates
to maintain the controlled variables of the
process at specified setpoints.
Optimization chooses the values for key
setpoints such that the process operates at
the best economic conditions.
Optimization and Control of a

CSTR
Optimization Example
ABC
Mole balance on A :
Q C A0 Q C A k1 exp[ E1 / RT ] C A Vr
Solving for C A
C A0
CA
k1 exp[ E1 / RT ]Vr
1
Q
Likewise, C B and CC are calculated from mole
balances.
Economic Objective
Function
Q C A VA Q C B VB Q CC VC Q C A0 VAF
VB > VC, VA, or VAF
At low T, little formation of B
At high T, too much of B reacts to form C
Therefore, the exits an optimum reactor
temperature, T*
Optimization Algorithm
1. Select initial guess for reactor temperature
2. Evaluate CA, CB, and CC
3. Evaluate
4. Choose new reactor temperature and
return to 2 until T* identified.
Graphical Solution of
Optimum Reactor
Temperature, T*
Economic Objective
Function,
2
1.5
1
T*
0.5
0
-0.5
250
275
300
325
Reactor Temperature (K)
350
Process Optimization
Typical optimization objective function, :
= Product values-Feed costs-Utility costs

The steady-state solution of process models is
usually used to determine process operating
conditions which yields flow rates of products,
feed, and utilities.
Unit costs of feed and sale price of products
are combined with flows to yield
Optimization variables are adjusted until is
maximized (optimization solution).
Generalized
Optimization Procedure
Numerical
Optimization
Algorithm
Initial Estimate
of Optimization
Variables
Economic
Function
Value
Optimization
Variables
Process
Model
Optimum
Operating
Conditions
Model
Results
Economic
Function
Evaluation
Economic
Parameters
Optimization and Control of a

CSTR
In-Class Exercise
Identify an example for which you use
optimization in your everyday life. List the

degrees of freedom (the things that you are
free to choose) and clearly define the process
and how you determine the objective function.
Overview of Course
Material
Control loop hardware (Chap 2)
Dynamic modeling (Chap 3)
Transfer functions and idealized dynamic
behavior (Chap 4-6)

PID controls (Chap 7-10)
Advanced PID controls (Chap 12-14)
Control of MIMO processes (Chap 15-18)
Fundamental
Understanding and
Fundamental UnderstandingIndustrially
Relevant
Laplace tranforms and
transfer functions (Ch
4-5)
Skills
Idealized dynamic behavior (Ch 6)
Frequency response analysis (Ch 11)
Industrially Relevant SkillsControl hardware and troubleshooting (Ch

2&10)
Controller Implementation and tuning (Ch 7-9)
Advanced PID techniques (Ch 12-14)
MIMO control (Ch 15-18)
Process Control
Terminology
Important to be able to communicate with
operators, peers, and boss.
New terminology appears in bold in the text
New terminology is summarized at the end of
each chapter.
Review the terminology regularly in order to
keep up with it.
Overall Course
Objectives
Develop the skills necessary to function as
an industrial process control engineer.
Skills
Tuning loops
Control loop design
Control loop troubleshooting
Command of the terminology
Fundamental understanding
Process dynamics
Feedback control
Overview
All feedback control loops have a controller,
an actuator, a process, and a sensor where

the controller chooses control action based
upon the error from setpoint.
Control has to do with adjusting flow rates
to maintain controlled variables at their
setpoints while for optimization the
setpoints for certain controllers are adjusted
to optimize the economic performance of
the plant.

James B. Riggs M. Nazmul Karim

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James B.

Chemical Process Industries

Pulp and paper products

Importance of Process Control for

Safety and Reliability

A control system must be able to absorb a

variety of disturbances and keep the process

temporary loss of utilities (e.g., steam supply),

Benefits of Improved Control

Benefits of Improved Control

Better Control Means

Maximizing the Profit of a

Importance of Process Control

Controlled variable- Location on the road

Logic Flow Diagram for

Temperature Control for a

Heat Exchanger Control

Logic Flow Diagram for

The key feature of all feedback control

Identify the controller, the actuator, the

based on more or less open loop responses

NECESSARY condition for the success of a

Process Control and

many times erroneously interchanged.

Optimization and Control of a

return to 2 until T* identified.

Reactor Temperature (K)

= Product values-Feed costs-Utility costs

Optimization and Control of a

optimization in your everyday life. List the

behavior (Chap 4-6)

Industrially Relevant SkillsControl hardware and troubleshooting (Ch

an actuator, a process, and a sensor where

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