INDUSTRIAL PROCESS CONTROL

Dr. Meera Balachandran

Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
 CONTROL IN THE “REAL WORLD”
• Industrial process control involves a lot
more than just Laplace transforms and
loop tuning
• Combination of both theory and
practice
• Understanding of core engineering
principles is key (thermodynamics,
mass transfer, etc)
• Control design requires collaboration
with others to understand objectives
and provide process design guidance
• Importance of both “big picture” and
details
 WHY DO CONTROL?
• Maintain the process at the desired state or set of
conditions – “keep it out of the ditch”
– Safety
• Ensure the process conditions minimize risk
– Optimal operation
• Running at the appropriate operating conditions improves
quality, yield, plant capacity, energy consumption, etc
– Recover from upsets or disturbances

• It’s not just about optimization; it’s about successful

operation of the entire plant
ACHIEVING OPTIMAL OPERATION
• Running at the optimal operating conditions can
maximize production rate and yield, improve
energy consumption, and is crucial for product
quality
• However, these objectives often compete
– Best product quality may be attained at the cost of
additional energy consumption
• Advanced Control techniques can help with
balancing this tradeoff
 ADVANCED CONTROL
Advanced control applications provide an additional layer of
control, to meet a variety of control objectives
– Feed-back composition control based on lab data
– Feed-forward to other unit operations or plant areas
– Perform complicated online calculations and close the loop to
manipulated variables
– Plant-wide supervisory control strategies can balance rates,
maximize throughput, minimize conversion costs or energy
consumption…
– Model Predictive Control (MPC) incorporates a process model to
optimize operation when there are multiple input, output, and
disturbance variables
 THE KEY TO PROCESS CONTROL
“You’re a chemical engineer first and foremost!”
 THE KEY TO PROCESS CONTROL
• If you truly understand the chemical principles at work in
the process, then controlling it is easy!
– Or easier, at least…
• You have to understand the fundamental stuff that’s
going on in order to determine:
– What the control objectives are in the first place, and which
variables should be controlled
– What your “control knobs” are and how they will affect the
process as a whole – how it all fits together
• If you increase the steam flow to a distillation column’s reboiler, what
will happen to the composition on tray 15? What about the distillate?
What about the pressure profile?
 THE KEY TO PROCESS CONTROL
• Another way to think about it: the goal is to move
variability to some place where you don’t care about it
– If the temperature in a reactor cycles or varies, that’s bad
– We can control this temperature (keep it stable) by
implementing a control loop which manipulates steam flow to
the reactor jacket
• Who cares if the steam flow moves around? The reactor temperature is
constant, and that’s what we want.

• Comes back to fundamental process understanding

– Must understand where variability is acceptable, and where it’s
not
– Must understand how everything fits together
CONTROL OF DISTILLATION COLUMN
 UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS
• Need to understand manipulated variables (“control
knobs”) available to us
• Chemical Engineering knowledge tells us…
– Increasing the reflux will help purify the distillate
– The hotter the base, the more material will boil overhead
 the entire composition profile will shift
– The dynamics of liquid effects vs. vapor effects are very
different
– The temperature on each tray is a function of the tray’s
composition and pressure
 DISTILLATION CONTROL OBJECTIVES

1. material-balance control
2. product quality control
3. satisfaction of constraints
 MATERIAL-BALANCE CONTROL
• The column control system must cause the average sum of the
product streams to be exactly equal to the average feed rate.
• Harbed has called this requirement that of keeping the column
in “balance.”
• The resulting adjustments in process flows must be smooth
and gradual to avoid upsetting either the column or
downstream process equipment fed by the column.
• Column holdup and overhead and bottoms inventories should
be maintained between maximum and minimum limits.
• The material-balance controls on any given column must be
consistent with the material-balance controls on adjacent
process equipment.
• In most cases material balance will be controlled by so-called
“averaging” liquid-level or pressure controls.
 PRODUCT QUALITY CONTROL
• Maintain the concentration of one component in either the
overhead or bottoms at a specified value.
• Maintain the composition at the other end of the column as
close as possible to a desired composition.
• It is usually true that minimum operating cost is achieved when
the products are controlled at minimum acceptable purities.
• This is so because the relationship between thermodynamic
work of separation and purity is nonlinear.”
• For some columns compositions are allowed to vary at one
end, and sometimes both ends, to satisfy certain economic
constraints
Both material-balance and composition controls must
function satisfactorily in the face of possible
disturbances in:
• Feed flow rate
• Feed composition
• Feed thermal condition
• Steam supply pressure
• Cooling-water supply temperature
• Cooling-water header pressure
• Ambient temperature, such as that caused by rainstorms
 SATISFACTION OF CONSTRAINTS
• The column shall not flood.
• Column pressure drop should be high enough to maintain
effective column operation, that is, to prevent serious weeping
or dumping
• The temperature difference in the reboiler should not exceed
the critical temperature difference.
• Column feed rate should not be so high as to overload reboiler
or condenser heat-transfer capacity.
• Boilup should not be so high that an increase will cause a
decrease in product purity at the top of the column.
• Column pressure should not exceed a maximum permissible
value.
 OTHER FACETS OF COLUMN CONTROL
• Startup and Shutdown
• Transitions
• Heat Recovery
• Testing
• Miscellaneous
• operator‘s work station
• minimum maintenance.
• Avoid frequent or critical “tuning” should be avoided. The
hardware
• convenient access
 DESIGNING THE CONTROL STRATEGY
• First, obtain or develop a steady-state model
– Need to know target compositions, normal flows, pressures,
the column’s temperature profile, etc.
– This gives you a snapshot of the desired operation
– A steady-state model also yields insight on the “control knobs”
• Next, pair controlled variables with manipulated variables
– Based on “Chemical Engineering” knowledge
– Utilizing information regarding key control objectives and
predicted disturbances
 CONTROL CONFIGURATION
Four valves are used to
control
• flow rate of B (the
bottom product)
• temperature of V
(the boilup)
• flow rate of L (the
reflux)
• flow rate of D (the
distillate).
 INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

The overhead vapour VT is also generally considered an input variable and is

mainly used to control the column pressure.
 CONTROLLED VARIABLE
Controlled Variable Reason
Composition of distillate Product quality
stream, Y
Composition of bottoms stream, Product quality
X
Liquid level in reflux drum, La Maintain inventory
Liquid level in base of the Maintain inventory
column, Ls
Pressure in the column, P Maintain inventory
Equilibrium relationship is
affected by changes in pressure
 MANIPULATED AND DISTURBANCE
VARIABLES
Manipulated Variables Disturbance Variables

Distillate flow, D Feed flow, F

Bottom flow, B Feed Composition, Z

Reflux flow, R Feed temperature, q

Reboiler duty, Qr Reboiler heat supply, S

Condenser cooling
supply, W
 CONTROL CONFIGURATIONS
• Choosing the control structure is the most important step
in designing a controller for the system.
• The column pressure and reboiler and condenser levels
must be controlled very carefully to maintain stable
operation.
• The control systems for these variables are called
inventory controllers.
• This leaves two degrees of freedom to control the top and
bottom concentrations.
• Deciding the control structure then amounts to choosing
which two inputs will control the compositions.
 CONTROL CONFIGURATIONS
• LV configuration
• DV configuration
 LV CONFIGURATION
• Most common is called the LV
configuration
• Reflux flow rate L is used to control the
composition of the top product
• boilup temperature V is used to control
the composition of the bottom product
• Distillate flow rate D and bottom product
flow rate B are used to control the levels
of the condenser and reboiler
respectively
• Variables L and V are the ones most likely
to be used by a manual operator to
control the product compositions.
 DV CONFIGURATIONS
• Distillate flow rate D is used to
control the composition of the top
product
• Boilup temperature V is used to
control the composition of the
bottom product
• Reflux flow rate L and bottom
product flow rate B are used to
control the levels of the condenser
and reboiler respectively.
 BASIC FEATURES OF COPOSITION
CONTROL SCHEMES
• Adjust the spilt between distillate and bottoms
by controlling one or the other of these
streams
• Most important adjustable parameter – ratio
D/F or B/F
• Separation achieved also depends on slope of
operating line (L/V – liquid flow to vapour
flow)
 BASIC FEATURES OF COPOSITION
CONTROL SCHEMES
• For a given feed the range of D/F to obtain
very high purity produts is narrow
• If F and xF are almost constant, a flow
controller can be used to regulate either D or
B
• When D is controlled with flow control,
bottoms is regulated to keep constant level in
the reboiler.
 BASIC FEATURES OF COPOSITION
CONTROL SCHEMES
• When D is controlled with flow control,
bottoms is regulated to keep constant level in
the reboiler.
 BASIC FEATURES OF COPOSITION
CONTROL SCHEMES
• When B is controlled with flow control,
distillate is regulated to keep constant level in
the reflux drum.
 BASIC FEATURES OF COPOSITION
CONTROL SCHEMES
• Direct control of both D and B will make the
system overdetermined andwould lead to
unstable operation, as the sum of product
flow would not match the feed rate.
• Take care of material balance at each end of
the column
• Liquid flow to reboiler = B + V. Steam flow
which determines V cannot be controlled if
direct control of bottom is used
 BASIC FEATURES OF COPOSITION
CONTROL SCHEMES
• Generally, the split between overhead and bottom is
adjusted automatically to maintain constant
composition of one product or constant temperature at
some point the column
• If D is more important than B, sensing element is placed
in the top section of the column and decrease in purity
is corrected by decreasing the rate of D
• If B is more important than D, sensing element is placed
in the bottom section of the column and decrease in
purity is corrected by decreasing the rate of B
 BASIC FEATURES OF COPOSITION
CONTROL SCHEMES
Product flow is controlled
• Directly by control valve is place in product
line or
• Indirectly by changing reflux rate or steam
flow
 CONTROL OF OVERHEAD COMPOSITION
SCHEME 1
• Direct scheme
• Signal from composition
controller is used to adjust
distillate flow D
• Reflux flow adjusted by
averaging type level controller
• Decrease in D will eventually
produce an equal increase in R
• Extra vapour would be returned
to the column without
disturbing product flow.
 CONTROL OF OVERHEAD COMPOSITION
SCHEME 1
Accumulator
Keep liquid seal on the reflux
and product lines.
Provide disengaging space for
non condensibles
Large accumulators dampens
the changes in flow and
provide high purity material for
reflux
Inadequate mixing can worsen
control
 CONTROL OF OVERHEAD COMPOSITION
SCHEME 1
• Nearly constant vapor flow
rate is maintained by
regulating the steam
pressure or by controlling
steam flow
• Accurate flow control is
obtained by an upstream
pressure regulator because
flow for a given orifice
pressure drop depend on
square root of upstream
density
 CONTROL OF OVERHEAD COMPOSITION
SCHEME 1
• Another way of controlling
vapor flow is to control
pressure drop across the
column. Pressure drop
across plate depends on
gas velocity and liquid
depth. As liquid depth
changes only slightly with
liquid rate, pressure drop is
a satisfactory measure of
flow rate
 CONTROL OF OVERHEAD COMPOSITION
SCHEME 2
• Indirect scheme
• Adjust R using composition
controller and use level
controller to adjust D
• Sensitive to upsets than
scheme 1 for very high reflux
ratios
• More sensitive to changes in
reflux temperature
• More popular than scheme 1
 CONTROL OF OVERHEAD COMPOSITION
SCHEME 3
• Decrease vapor rate when overhead
purity drops
• Reflux flow is controlled at a fixed value
• Lower value of V means lower value of D
• Slower scheme – wide separation
between sensing element and controlled
flow
• If sensing element is at a location several
plates from top, faster than scheme 1 and
2 - change in vapor flow transmitted
faster than change in liquid flow
 CONTROL OF OVERHEAD COMPOSITION
SCHEME 3
• Modification of scheme 3 is to
use cascade control.
• Composition controller is used
to adjust the set point of
steam controller
CONTROL OF BOTTOM COMPOSITION
• When direct control
of bottoms is used
steam flow is adjusted
by reboiler level
control
• Reflux is controlled at
constant rate and
overhead product is
adjusted by reflux
drum level controller
CONTROL OF BOTTOM COMPOSITION
• Composition controller
regulates steam flow
and level controller
adjusts bottom flow
• Reflux is controlled at
constant rate and
overhead product is
adjusted by reflux
drum level controller
CONTROL OF BOTH COMPOSITIONS
If there is variation in xF
and xD is maintained
constant, xB will change
Shift in feed composition
will decrease the separation
that is achieved.
Separation can be increased
by using higher vapour rate
and higher reflux rate
xD and xB can be controlled
by varying D/F and V/F
independently
 DISTILLATION COLUMN CONTROL
Other Aspects
• Location of sensing elements
• Pressure control
• Varying feed rate
• Feed Temperature control
• Dynamic lags – liquid flow, vapour flow,
concentration
• Frequency response
• Model predictive control