Process Dynamics and Control

Introduction

Dr. Kumar
College of Applied Sciences

D. E. Seborg, T. F. Edger, D. A. Mellichamp, Process Dynamic and Control, 3rd

edition, John Wiley and sons, 2011.

1
 Chapter -1 Introduction
Most chemical processing plants were run essentially manual prior to the
1940s.

With increasing labor and equipment costs and with the development of
more severe, high performance processes in the 1940s and 1950s, it
became uneconomical and often impossible to operate plants without
automatic control devices.

In this course, students are introduced to basic techniques for the study of
chemical process dynamics, fundamental concepts and definitions of control
theory have been introduced.

Process control has become increasingly important in the process industries as

a consequence of global competition, rapidly changing economic conditions,
faster product development and more stringent environmental and safety
regulations
2
Why process control is important?

-To develop more flexible and complex processes for manufacturing high value
added products.

-Knowledge on dynamic behavior, physical and empirical modeling, computer

simulation, measurement and control strategies, basic control concepts and
advanced control strategies are important

-Without computer based process control systems it would be impossible to

operate modern plants

-Chemical Engineers needs the ability to design and operate modern plants.

Manufacturers control the production processes for 3 reasons:

To reduce variability
To increase efficiency
To ensure safety
3
The two main subjects are process dynamics and process control:

Process dynamics refers to unsteady-state(transient) process behavior.

Generally we use study steady-state----- variable do not change with respect to

time

But process dynamics are also very important

Transient behavior occurs:

i. Start up & shutdown
ii. Grade changes
iii.Major disturbance: e.g., refinery during stormy or
hurricane conditions
iv.Equipment or instrument failure (e.g., pump failure)
4
Process: The conversion of feed materials to products using chemical and
physical operations. In practice, the term process tends to be used for both the
processing operation and the processing equipment.

It applies to three types of common processes: Batch, semi-batch and

continuous.

Batch processes
i.Inherently unsteady-state operation
ii.Example: Batch reactor
1.Composition changes with time
2.Other variables such as temperature could be constant.
Batch plants:
i. Smaller plants in most industries

Semi-batch: Pulp mill, kidney dialysis unit etc.,

Continuous Process: Heat Exchanger, CSTR, distillation etc 5

In Chemical Engineering we know that there are no. of chemical units,
for example reactor, distillation, pump, compressor etc. These are
extensively used in chemical industries/plants.

To assemble few of these chemical units, then we can constitute

chemical plants.

Objective of Chemical plant:

A plant receives the raw materials, it uses different available sources of
energy, then it produces product in the most economical way. To meet
this objective we need to satisfy some requirements

6
 Incentives for chemical process control:

The chemical plant must satisfy the following requirements

Safety: To maintain Reactor Pressure

Product specifications: Desired quantity and quality

Environmental regulations: Concentration of chemicals in the effluent

stream, SO2 concentration which is rejected to the atmosphere, waste water
which is returned to lake or river.

Operational constraints: Distillation column should not be flooded, Tank

should not be dried or over flow, Reactor temperature should not exceed
the upper limit to avoid destruction of catalyst

Economics: Judiciously use raw materials, energy and human labors to

have minimum operating cost and maximum production
7
To maintain all this requirement there is some external intervention is
required. So we need to device a control system

Issues:
Suppressing the influence of external disturbances
These disturbances are the effects of the surroundings on a reactor,
separator, heat exchanger, compressor etc., usually out of the reach of a
human operator
Consequently, a control mechanism is introduced that makes the proper
changes out of the process to cancel the negative impact
Ensuring the stability of a chemical process
Process variables such as T, P, Concentration or flow rate does not return
to its initial value after it is disturbed by external influences. Ex. The
explosion of a hydro carbon fuel with air is such an unstable system.
In such cases, we need a controller that will ensure the stability of the
operation at the middle steady state.

8
Optimizing the performance of a chemical process
Consider a batch reactor where the following two consecutive reactions take
place. Bothe reactions are supplied by steam which flows through the jacket
around the reactor.
AB C
The desired product is B and the undesired product is C. The economy
objective for the operation of the batch reactor is to maximize the profit. The
only variable that can be changed is steam flow rate. This will affect the
temperature and this will affect the rates of the desired and undesired
reactions.

Process control strategy

Control objectives
Input variables
Output variables
Constraints
Operating characteristics
Control structure
9
Control loop
Imagine you are sitting in a cabin in front of a small fire on a cold winter
evening. You feel uncomfortably cold so you throw another log on the fire.
This is an example of a control loop.

In the control loop a variable (temperature) fell below the set point( your
comfort level), and you look action to bring the process back into the
desired condition by adding fuel to the fire. The control will remain static
until the temperature again rises above or falls below your comfort level.

Control loops in the process control industry require three tasks to occur,

Measurement
Comparison
Adjustment
10
 Process control terms:

Process variable
Set point
Measured variables, process variables and manipulated variables.
Error
Offset
Load disturbance, and
Control algorithm

Process Variables
A process variable is a condition of the process fluid ( a liquid or gas ) that can
change the manufacturing process in some way. Common process variable
include pressure, flow level, temperature, density, pH, mass, conductivity.

11
Set Point
The point is a value for a process that is desired to be maintained.
Example: If a process temperature needs to be kept within 50C of 1000C,
then the set point is 1000C. a temperature sensor can be used to help
maintain the temperature at set point. The sensor is inserted into the
process and the controller compares temperature reading from the sensor
to the set point. If the temperature reading is 1100C, then the controller
determines that the process is above the set point and signals the fuel valve
of the burner to close slightly until the process cools to 1000C.
Measured variables, process variables and manipulated variables.
The measured variable is the condition of the process fluid that might be
kept at the designated set point.
In the temperature control loop example, the measured variable is the
temperature which must be held close to 1000C. In most instances, the
measured variable is also the process variable. Sometimes, the measured
variable is not the same as the process variable.
Example: A manufacturer may measure a flow into and out of a storage
tank to determine the tank level. Here flow is the measured variable and
the process fluid level is the process variable.
The factor that is changed to keep the measure variable at set point is
called the manipulated variable would also be flow the measured variable12
Error
Error is the difference between the measured variable and the set point and
can be either positive or negative.
In the temperature control loop example, the error is the difference between
1100C (measured variable) and 1000c (the set point) that is the error is100C.
The objective of any control scheme is to minimize or eliminate error.

Any error can be seen having 3 major components:

a. Magnitude of error: It is simply the deviation between the values of the

set point and the process variable. The magnitude of error at any point in
time compared to the previous error provides the basis for determining the
change in error. The change in error is also an important value.

b. Duration of error: It refers to the length of time that error condition has
existed.

c. Rate of change of error: The rate of change is shown by the slope of the
error plot.
13
Offset
It is sustained deviation of the process variable from the set point. In the
temperature control loop example, if the control system held the process
fluid at 100.50C consistently, even though the set point is 1000C, then an
offset of 0.50C exists.
Load disturbance
Load disturbance is an undesired change in one of the factors that can
affect the process variable. In temperature control loop example, adding
cold process fluid to the vessel would be a load disturbance because it
would lower the temperature of the process fluid.

Control Algorithm
It is a mathematical expression of a control system. Using the temperature
control example, V is the fuel valve position and e is the error. The
relationship in the control algorithm can be expressed as: V=f (+or- e). The
fuel valve position (V) is the function (f) of the sign (+ or -) of the error e.
14
Open loop control

System in which the output quantity has no effect upon the process input
quantity are called open loop control system
Open-loop control

Closed loop control

Systems in which the output has an effect upon the process input quantity in
such a manner as to maintain the desired output value are closed loop
control system

15
16
17
 Classifications of the variable in a chemical process
Types of variables
Controlled variables - these are the variables which quantify the performance
or quality of the final product, which are also called output variables.
Manipulated variables - these input variables are adjusted dynamically to
keep the controlled variables at their set-points.
Disturbance variables - these are also called "load" variables and represent
input variables that can cause the controlled variables to deviate from their
respective set points.

The variable ( flow rate, T, P Concentrations etc) associated with a chemical

process are divided into two groups.
1. Input variables which denote the effect of the surroundings on the chemical
process
2. Output variables which denote the effect of the process on the surroundings

For the CSTR,

Input variables: CAi, Ti, Fi, Tci, Fc 18
Output variables F,V, T, CA, Tco
The input variable can be further classified into the flowing categories
Manipulated or adjusted variables, adjusted by manual or control mechanism
Disturbances, not the result of adjustment by an operator or a control system

The output variables are also classified into the following categories
Measured output variables, if their values are known by directly measuring them
Unmeasured output variables, if they are not or can not be measured directly.

Types of control configurations

Feed back control configurations
It uses direct measurement of the controlled variables to adjust the values of the
manipulated variables, to keep the controlled variables at desired levels(SP)

Inferential control configurations

It uses the secondary measurements to adjust the values of the manipulated
variables, to keep the controlled variables at desired levels.

Feed forward control configurations

It uses the direct measurement of the disturbances to adjust the vales of the
manipulated variables, to keep the values of the controlled output variables at desired
levels.
19
How do we control processes?
Simplest example, a continuous stirred tank Belding system is shown fig 1.3. 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. We
assume that its mass flow rate w1 is constant, but the mass fraction of A, x1 varies with
time.

Stream 2 consists of pure A and thus x2 =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 x and the desired value (set point) by xsp.

Thus for this control problem, the controlled variable is x, the

manipulated variable is w2 and the disturbance variable is x1

20
 1.3 Illustrative Example: Blending system

Notation:
w1, w2 and w are mass flow rates
x1, x2 and x are mass fractions of component A
21
Assumptions:
1. w1 is constant
2. x2 = constant = 1 (stream 2 is pure A)
3. Perfect mixing in the tank
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
22
 Design Question. What value of w2 is required to have
x xSP ?
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 :
xSP x1
w2 w1 (1-3)
1 xSP
23
 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 w
, 2 then x > xSP.

Some Possible Control Strategies:

Method 1. Measure x and adjust w2.
Intuitively, if x is too high, we should reduce w2;

24
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.
3. The change in the flow rate,w2 t w2 , is proportional to
the deviation from the set point, xSP x(t).
4. Kc should be positive
25
26
 Method 2. Measure x1 and adjust w2.

Thus, if x1 is greater than, we would decrease w2 so that

w2 w2 ;

One approach: Consider Eq. (1-3) and replace x1 and w2 with

x1(t) and w2(t) to get a control law:

xSP x1 t
w2 t w1 (1-5)
1 xSP

27
28
 Because Eq. (1-3) applies only at steady state, it is not clear how
effective the control law in (1-5) will be for transient conditions.

Method 3. Measure x1 and x, adjust w2.

This approach is a combination of Methods 1 and 2.

Method 4. Use a larger tank.

If a larger tank is used, fluctuations in x1 will tend to be damped
out due to the larger capacitance of the tank contents.
However, a larger tank means an increased capital cost.
29
 Classification of Control Strategies

Table. 1.1 Control Strategies for the Blending System

Method Measured Manipulated Category

Variable Variable
1 x w2 FB
2 x1 w2 FF
3 x1 and x w2 FF/FB
4 - - Design change

30
 Feedback Control:
Distinguishing feature: measure the controlled variable
Classification of process control strategies:
Method 1 is an example of a feedback control strategy.
Advantage: Controlled variable is measured and is used to adjust
the manipulated variable.
Corrective action occurs irrespective of regardless the source of
disturbance
Reduces sensitivity of the controlled variable to disturbances and
changes in the process
Disadvantage:
No corrective action occurs until after the disturbance has upset the
process, that is, until after x differs from xsp.

Very oscillatory responses, or even instability

31
Feed forward Control(Method 2)
Distinguishing feature: measure a disturbance variable
Advantage:
Correct for disturbance before it upsets the process.
Disadvantage:
Must be able to measure the disturbance.
No corrective action for unmeasured disturbances.
Method 3
Combination of Feedback and Feed forward controller:

Method 4 consists of a process design change and thus is not really a

control strategy

Process control diagram:

1. Analyzer and transmitter
2. Feedback controller
3. Control valve
32
 Basic elements of a control system/ Hardware control elements

Chemical Process
Measuring element
Transducers
Transmission lines
Controller
Final control element
Recording element

Hardware elements of a control system

Chemical process
It represents the material equipment together with the physical or chemical
operations that occur there.

Measuring elements or sensors

Instruments such as Thermocouples, Venturimeter, Gas chromatographs
are used to measure the disturbances (output variables) 33
Transducers
Many measurement can not be used for control until they are converted to
physical quantities(such as electric voltage or current or a pneumatic signal,
i.e. compressed air or liquid) which can be transmitted easily. Transducers
are used for this purposes.

Transmission lines
These are used to carry the measurement signal from the measuring device
to the controller. In the past, transmission lines were pneumatic
(compressed air or liquid) but with the advent of electric analog controllers
and especially the expanding use of digital computers for control,
transmission lines carry electric signals.
Another advantage is that week signals can be amplified. For ex; the output
of a thermocouple is of the order of a few mill volts, before it is transmitted
to the controller, it is amplified to the level of a few volts.

The controller
This is the hardware element that has intelligence. It receives the
information from the measuring devices and decides what action should be
taken.
34
Final control element
This is the hardware element that implement in real life the decision taken
by the controller. If the controller decides that the flow rate of the outlet
stream should be increased or decreased in order to keep the liquid level in
a tank at the desired rate, it is the valve that will implement this decision
opening or closing, by the commanded amount.
Ex: Control valve, relay switches, variable-speed pumps, variable speed
compressors etc.
Recording elements
These are used to provide a visual demonstration of how a chemical
process behaves. Usually the variables recorded are the variable that are
directly measured as part of the control system.
Various types of recorders( T, P and composition etc.) can be seen in the
control room of a chemical plant, continuously monitoring the behavior of
the process.

35
 Justification of Process Control

Specific Objectives of Control

Increased product throughput

Increased yield of higher valued products

Decreased energy consumption

Decreased pollution

Decreased off-spec product

Increased Safety

Extended life of equipment

Improved Operability

Decreased production labor

36
 Hierarchy of process control
activities
As mentioned earlier, the chief objective of process control is to maintain a
process at a desired operating conditions, safely and efficiently, while
satisfying environmental and product quality requirements.

So far, we have emphasized one process control activity, keeping controlled

variables at specified set points. But there are other important activities that
we will now briefly describe.

In Fig. 1.7 the process control activities are organized in the form of a
hierarchy with required functions at the lower levels and desirable, but
optional, functions at the higher levels.

The time scale for each activity is shown on the left side of Fig. 1.7. Note
that the frequency of execution is much lower for the higher-level functions.

37
1. Measurement and Actuation:
Measurement(sensors and transmitters)
Actuation equipment(Control valve)
Both are used to measure process variable and implement the calculated
control actions. These devices are interfaced to the control system digital
computer

2. Safety and Environmental/Equipment Protection:

Alarm management abnormal situation
Safety instrumental system emergency shutdown

3. Regulatory control:
Feedback and Feed forward controller are used to keep flow rates, T, P and
composition closer to set point.

38
4. Multi variable and constrains control:
Significant interactions occur among key process variables
Inequality constrains exit for manipulated and controlled variables
Constraints: both upper and lower limits
The ability to operate a process close to a limiting constrains

5. Real time optimization:

Optimum conditions may change based on equipment availability, process
disturbances and economic conditions(raw materials cost, product cost)
Minimizing operating cost and maximizing operating profit.

6. Planning and scheduling:

Both engineering consideration and business projections
Continuous and Batch and semi batch: Based on global scenario

39
40
41
AN OVERVIEW OF CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN

42
43
Example 1
1. Consider the room temperature control shown below,
Identify
the controlled variable
reference variable
comparison element
error signal
control element
correction element
Process Element
measuring element
type of feedback

44
 Controlled variable--- Room temperature
Reference variable --- The required room temperature
Comparison element The person comparing the measured value with
required value of the temperature
Error signal--- The difference between the measured and required value of
temperature
Control element the person
Correction element the hand operating the switch on the fire and so the
heating element
Process Element the room
Measuring element a thermometer
Type of feedback -- negative

45
Example 2
Consider the heat exchanger shown in the figure1. Identify:
The control objectives for the system
All the external disturbances that will affect the operation of the exchanger
All the available manipulated variables for the control of the exchanger in
the presence of disturbance

Control objective: Outlet temperature of water, must be

maintained at T2 = 1900F

External disturbances: Inlet flow rate of water and inlet

temperature of water,T1.

Manipulated variables: Flow rate of saturated steam and

temperature of saturated steam,T3. 46
Example 3
In the following figure 2, the distillation configuration for the separation of
benzene from toluene is given. The feed to the distillation comes from the
reactor, where toluene has been hydrodealkylated to produce benzene:
after the excess H2 and the produced CH4 have been removed in a flash
unit. For the distillation system:
Identify all the control objectives

Identify all the external disturbances

Identify all the available measurements and manipulated variables

47
 Control objectives: Overhead product composition and bottom product
composition.

External disturbances: Flow rate of feed (benzene, toluene) and

temperature of feed.

Available measurements: Flow rate of feed, temperature of feed,

temperature of water, flow rate of steam, overhead product composition,
bottom product composition, flow rate of water and flow rate of reflux.

Manipulated variables: flow rate of water and flow rate of steam, flow rate of
reflux.

48
Example: 4
Which of the following statements are true?

(a) Feedback and feed forward control both require a measured variable.

(b) The process variable to be controlled is measured in feedback control.

(c) Feed forward control can be perfect in the theoretical sense that the control
can take action via the manipulated variable even while control variable
remains equal to its desired value.

(d) Feed forward control can provide perfect control; that is, the output can be
kept at desired values, even with an imperfect process model.

(e) Feedback control will always take action regardless of the accuracy of any
process model that was used to design it and the source of a disturbance.

49
Example: 5
Consider a home heating system consisting of a natural gas fire
furnace and the thermostat. In this case the process consists of the
interior space to be heated. The thermostat contains both the
measuring element and the controller. The furnace is either on
(heating) or off.

Draw a schematic diagram for this control systems. On your diagram,

identify the controlled variables, manipulated variables, and disturbance
variables. Be sure to include several possible sources of disturbances
that can affect room temperature.
50
 Summary
Process Control is one form or another is an essential part of any chemical
engineering operation. In all processes, there arises the necessity of
keeping flows, pressures, temperatures, and compositions etc within certain
limits for reason of safety or specification.

Automatic control is highly desirable as manual operation would necessitate

continuous monitoring of the controlled variable by a human operator and
the efficiency of the observation of the operator would fall off with time.

The control of a process is most often accomplished by measuring the

variable it is required to control( controlled variable), comparing this
measurement with the value at which it is desired to maintain the controlled
variable( desired value of set point) and adjusting further variable
( manipulated variable) which has a direct effect on the controlled variable.

51