UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

CH26B Process Dynamics and Control I
Midterm Examination: Friday, March 22/02 (Systems Lab 1st Floor)
10:00 1:00 Alexander - Khan
1:00 4:00
Lalchan - Wallace
Answer all questions. Copy the files created in each question onto a floppy disk using
the suggested filenames. Label your disk with your name, student number and the
number of the computer you used. All written work you wish to have marked must be
written on the question paper. The use of notes and texts is permitted.
1. [10 marks]
Write a Matlab program (in an m-file) which uses the Matlab command inv to solve the
following set of linear equations for a, b, c, d, e, f and g. Save this program as linear.m.
57 a + 77 b
4 a + 100 b

+
+

72 c
16 c

+ 45 d
+ 23 d

+
+

54 e
44 e

+
+

63 f
11 f

+ 99 g
+ 67 g

=
=

20643
11902

1a
53 a
48 a
38 a
17 a

+
+
+
+
+

94 c
62 c
58 c
94 c
10 c

+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+

62 e
73 e
43 e
72 e
59 e

+
+
+
+
+

55 f
2f
56 f
78 f
69 f

+
+
+
+
+

=
=
=
=
=

19526
9898
11492
17226
16303

+
+
+
+
+

79 b
25 b
73 b
71 b
70 b

27 d
33 d
46 d
86 d
6d

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88 g
8g
14 g
25 g
59 g

2. [15 marks]
The resistance R (T ) of a platinum resistance thermometer operating at a temperature
below 660 C follows the relationship:
R (T ) R ( 20) [1 (T 20) (T 20) 2 ]

(2.1)

where
3.6 10 3 K 1 ,

16.0 10 7 K 2 .

The symbol T represents the temperature in degrees Celsius and R(20) = 21.3 is the
resistance at a room temperature of 20 C.
Write a Matlab program (in an m-file) which uses the Newton-Raphson method to
determine the temperature T which produces a resistance of 28.2 . Save this program as
resistance.m. (N.B. If you prefer, you may instead solve this problem by means of a call
to Matlab function fsolve from within an m-file called solver.m. Name the associated
function file resfun.m.)
Hint: The Newton-Raphson formula is given by

Ti 1 Ti
where

f (Ti )
f (Ti )

f (Ti )

d f (T )
dT

(2.2)

.
T Ti

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3. [25 marks]
The response of an underdamped second order process is described by the differential
equation:
4

d 2 y (t )
d y (t )
2
7 y (t ) 3
2
dt
dt

(3.1)

with boundary conditions

y (0) 0,

d y (t )
dt

0.
t 0

Use the Simulink fourth-order Runge-Kutta method to solve Eqn. (3.1) for values of t
from 0 to 20 with a fixed step size of h = 0.1. Save your Simulink model as order2.mdl.
The analytical solution to (3.1) is of the form
y (t )

3 3 t /
e
7 7

cos

sin

(3.2)

where and refer to the time constant and damping coefficient of a second-order
system. Write a Matlab program called afterorder2.m which plots the estimated and
actual y against t and computes the solution error at each stage in the integration.

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4. [50 marks]
Liquid level in a vertical 30 m3 cylinder is to be regulated by manipulating the effluent
flow control valve position. Liquid flows into the vessel at volumetric flowrate Fin (t )
and is pumped out at the rate Fout (t ). The height of liquid in the tank is to be denoted
by the symbol h(t ).

Fin(t)

LC

h(t)

CO(t)

Fout(t)
Figure Q4 - Cylindrical surge tank.
At steady-state, the inlet and outlet flows are 5 m3/min with accumulated liquid at a level
of 1 m. The control valve is linear with a range of 0 10 m 3/min corresponding to 0
100% controller output. The height of the tank is 2 m.
(a) Should the action of the level controller be direct (i.e. increase-increase) or reverse
(increase-decrease)? The flow control valve is air-to-open.

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(b) Prove that the response of the tank level to changes in the inlet flowrate and effluent
control valve position is governed by the differential equation:
A

F
d h(t )
Fin (t ) max CO (t )
dt
100%

where
Cross-sectional area of tank
Fmax
Maximum outlet flowrate
CO (t ) Level controller output, i.e. effluent control valve position

Be sure to state any additional assumptions you make in verifying this expression.

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(4.1)

(c) Calculate the steady-state control valve position COss .

(d) Create a Matlab Simulink model called level.mdl which simulates 2 hours of
proportional-only level control, introducing a step change in the inlet flowrate Fin (t ) of
+1 m3/min at time t = 30 minutes. Choose a value of the proportional gain K c which
will ensure that the tank level remains in the range 0.5 1.5 m (the maximum inlet
flowrate is also 10 m3/min). The level setpoint may be assumed constant at 1 m.
Quantify the offset observed in response to the load disturbance.

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(e) Repeat part (d) for the situation where the LC is a proportional-integral controller
(save the modified Simulink file as levelpi.mdl). Use your simulation model to obtain a
setting for the integral time I which produces an integral of the squared error (ISE) of
0.05 or less when K c is fixed at the value derived in part (d). Comment upon the
behaviour of the manipulated outlet flow

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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