CHAPTER

1 Introduction to Process
Control
(lecture week 1&2)

Prepared by Dr. Suhadat

Chapter Overview & Learning Outcomes
1.1 Basic concept of control system
1.2 Control objective and application
1.3 Process control problem and variables
1.4 Typical control loop and strategy

At the end of this chapter, YOU should be able to:

1. Understand the role of process dynamics and control in industry
2. Understand general concepts
3. Understand the purpose of process control and classify variables
5. Understand control aspects of complete chemical plant
6. Identify hardware for process control system
 A typical chemical plant and control system

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 1.1 Basic concept of process control system
 Foundation of process control is process understanding.
 What is a process?
“The conversion of feed materials to useful products using
chemical and physical operations”
 Common processes can be continuous, batch or semi-
batch.
 What is control?
“ Control is to maintain desired conditions in a system by
adjusting selected input variables of the system”

Measure Decide Correct

 What is “Process Dynamics”

refer to unsteady-state (change with time) process behavior.
  Steady state: variables do not change with time
 Unsteady state: variables change with time

 What is “Instrumentation”
- refer to a device or group of devices used for direct
reading or, when using many sensors.
- deals with the design, configuration and automation of
systems.
- part of a complex industrial control system in such as
chemical industry, manufacturing industry, vehicles and
transportation

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 Recall on Batch and Continuous process;

Batch: feed is
charged, products
are only removed
after some time later

Continuous:
inputs and outputs
flow continuously

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 Role of process dynamics and control in industry

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  Under steady state conditions, the flow rate out of the
tank must equal the flow rate into the tank.
 What would happen dynamically if we changed Fo?

 How will h(t) and F(t) vary will time?

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 1.2 Control objective and application
Review on objective of a process plant;

 Purpose:
Process plants
transform raw materials
into useful products

 Objectives:
1. Plants must satisfy production Specification
- Good quality products
- Minimal pollution‐noise, air, water, safety standards
2. Plant must make profit
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  How to achieve these objectives?
1. Good plant design
2. Good plant operation
 Safety for the equipment, and hence everybody
– Never violate important constraints
 Safety for the workers, and hence everybody
– Noise level, leakage
 Safety to the surrounding, and hence everybody
– Environmental regulation : Effluent (air, water)

How do we achieve all these?…

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 Process control objectives;

1. Maintain a process at the desired operating

conditions
2. Safety
3. Comply to the environmental requirements
4. Equipment protection
5. Smooth operation
6. Production quality
7. Profit
8. Monitoring and Diagnostics

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 Process control applications
 Large-scale integrated processing plants such as oil
refineries or ethylene plants require thousands of process
variables such as temperature, pressure, flow, level and
compositions are measured and controlled.
 Example;
Tubular Heat Exchanger
Continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR)
Thermal cracking furnace
Multi-component distillation column
Stir-tank Blending system
Liquid storage
Flash tank
Fuel oil storage and Others..
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 Flipped classroom exercises
Identify the meaning for the following term using additional information
from book or internet sources;
a) Set point
b) Controlled variables
c) Manipulated variables
d) Disturbance variables
e) Feedback control
f) Feedforward control
g) Steady- state
h) Instrumentation system
i) Dynamic system
j) Transmitter
k) Sensor
l) Actuator
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 1.3 Process control variables and problem
The process control problem has been characterized by
identifying three important types of process variables,
which is a critical step in developing a control system.
1. Controlled variables - CV
these are the variables which quantify the
performance or quality of the final product, which are
also called output variables//Set-point.
2. Manipulated variables – MV
these input variables are adjusted dynamically to keep
the controlled variables at their set-points.
3. Disturbance variables – DV
these are also called "load" variables and represent
input variables that can cause the controlled variables
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to deviate from their respective set points.
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 Where do Disturbances come from?

Variation in composition of incoming raw materials (eg

mineral rock, oil/gas, waste water)
Weather – hot, cold, dry, humid, summer vs winter,
pollution levels
Gradual buildup of scale etc inside the process (eg heat
exchanger fouling)
Unexpected surges due to malfunctions, wear & tear, in
pumps, animals!, valves, equipment
Process never works “perfectly”!!

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 Control Terminology

Control: maintain desired conditions by adjusting variables in

the system
Input: Variable that causes a change (not always same as a
physical input)
Setpoint (SP): desired value or range for a controlled variable
Process value (PV): the actual value of the variable
Sensor/transmitter: physical measurement device
Controller:
• Calculates difference between Process value (PV) value
reported by the sensor, and the desired set-point (SP) and
decides how much to adjust the output variable (the
“brain”)
Final element: the physical equipment used to adjust the
controlled variable. - Usually a control valve

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 Process control problem
1. Tubular Heat Exchanger

 Control Variable : The exit temperature of the process

fluid
 Manipulating variable: the cooling water flow rate.
 Disturbances variable: Variations in the inlet
temperatures and process fluid flow rate.
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 2. Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR)

 Control Variable : The temperature of the reaction

mixture/tank/product
 Manipulating variable: rate of the coolant in a jacket or
cooling coil.
 Disturbances variable: The feed conditions (composition,
flow rate, and temperature).
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 2. Distillation Column

 Control Variable : Distillate composition

 Manipulating variable: the reflux flow rate or the
distillate flow rate.
• Disturbances variable: The feed conditions
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 1.4 Typical control loop and strategy
Control loop and hardware element
Control loop General control hardware element

• Common control loop;

Flow, level, pressure, temperature
and composition loops

Components of control loop/hardware element;

• A sensor, transmitter, controller and final control element
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 •Terminology in a control loop;

First letter:
A= Analyzer/composition
F = flowrate
L = level in vessel
P = pressure
T= temperature

• Second letter:
• C = controller: a control calculation is performed
• T= transmitter: a variable is measured and transmitted
• I = Indicator: a variable is measured and displayed

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 Example:

Overview control loop:..\..\..\..\video\PC\Intro to PC.mp4

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 Overview on control system

“We want to control

the temperature of
oil leaving the heat
exchanger”….How
to control??

1. A thermocouple is inserted in a thermowell in the exit oil pipe.

2. Thermocouple wires are connected to a “temperature
transmitter” that converts the millivolt output into a 4- to 20
mA signal.
3. This signal sent to a temperature controller.
4. The temperature controller opens the steam valve if more
steam is needed or closes it a little if the temperature is too
high.
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 Illustrative Example: Blending system

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 •Control Objective:
•Keep x at a desired value (or “set point”) xsp, despite variations in
x1(t). Flow rate w2 can be adjusted for this purpose.

•Terminology:

• Controlled variable (or “output variable”): x

• Manipulated variable (or “input variable”): w2
• Disturbance variable (or “load variable”): x1

•Design Question. What value of w2 is required to have x  xSP ?

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 Mass Balance Equation
•Overall balance:
0  w1  w2  w (1-1)
•Component A balance:
w1x1  w2 x2  wx  0 (1-2)
•(The overbars denote nominal steady-state design values.)

• At the design conditions, x  xSP. Substitute Eq. 1-2, x  xSP

and x2  1 , then solve Eq. 1-2 for w2 :

xSP  x1
w2  w1 (1-3)
1  xSP

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 • Equation 1-3 is the design equation for the blending system.
• If our assumptions are correct, then this value of w2 will keep x
at xSP . But what if conditions change?

•Control Question. Suppose that the inlet concentration x1

changes with time. How can we ensure that x remains at or near
the set point xSP ?
•As a specific example, if x1  x1 and w2  w2 , then x > xSP.

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 Some Possible Control Strategies:
Method 1 Measure x and adjust w2.(Feedback)
• Intuitively, if x is too high, we should reduce w2;
• Manual control vs. automatic control
• Proportional feedback control law,

w2  t   w2  Kc  xSP  x  t  (1-4)

1. where Kc is called the controller gain.

2. w2(t) and x(t) denote variables that change with time t.
w  t   w2 ,
3. The change in the flow rate, 2 is proportional to
the deviation from the set point, xSP – x(t).
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 Control Method 1

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 Method 2 Measure x1 and adjust w2.(Feedforward)

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 Control Method 2

Method 3 Measure x1 and x, adjust w2.

• This approach is a combination of Methods 1 and 2.

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 Classification of Control Strategies: Feedback & Feedforward

1. Feedback Control: 2. Feedforward Control:

measure the controlled measure a disturbance
variable to influence an input variable in the input and
variable, which compensate compensate (corrective)
(corrective) After controlled Before the controlled
variables are affected variables are affected

Table. 1.1 Control Strategies for the Blending System

Method Measured Variable Manipulated Variable Category
1 x w2 FBa
2 x1 (disturbance) w2 FF
3 x1 (disturbance) and x w2 FF/FB

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 Feedback Feedforward
Advantages • Corrective action is taken • Correct for disturbance
regardless of the source before it upsets the
of the disturbance. process

Dis- • Adjustment takes place • No corrective action for

only after the controlled unmeasured
advantages
variable is affected disturbances.
significantly

Response Very oscillatory responses, Faster response to

or even instability disturbances in the feed.

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 Example on Heat Exchanger control system:
Feedback, Feedforward & FB/FF Strategy

Feedback control Feedforward control

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 Feedback & Feedforward control

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 Overview on Block Diagram
 Block diagram shows process variables and control signals
 Each block contains dynamic response model (process, controller)
 Negative feedback – output linked to input (like a recycle loop)
 Sensors and valves also have dynamics, and may need to account
for these.

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 Summary of Control objectives & Strategy on
control loop decision

Flash Separation
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 Hierarchy of process
control activities Major steps in control system development
(days-months) 5. Planning and
Scheduling

(hours-days) 4. Real-Time
Optimization

3b. Multiv ariable

(minutes-hours) and Constraint
Control

(seconds-minutes) 3a. Regulatory

Control

2. Saf ety , Env ironment

(< 1 second) and Equipment
Protection

(< 1 second) 1. Measurement

and Actuation

Process
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 Task 1 (clone exam)
In a continuous stirred-tank blending system, the control objective is to
blend the two inlet streams to produce an outlet stream that has the
desired composition. Stream 1 is a mixture of two chemical species, A
and B. It is assumed that its mass flow rate w1 is constant, but the mass
fraction of A, xA1, varies with time. Stream 2 consists of pure A and thus
xA2 = 1. The mass flow rate of Stream 2, w2, can be manipulated using
a control valve. The mass fraction of A in the exit stream is denoted by
xA and the desired set point by xA sp.

i) Draw and label a complete stirrer-tank blending system using the

information given.

i) From the information given, identify the controlled variable,

manipulate variable and disturbance variable for this control
problem.

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