Process Dynamics and

Control (CHE F342)

Amol Deshpande
BITS Pilani
K K Birla Goa Campus Instructor-In-Charge
 BITS Pilani
K K Birla Goa Campus

INTRODUCTION
 Importance of process control

• Process performance – important but becoming difficult to satisfy

requirements (product quality and operation of the plant)
• Factors deciding product quality specifications
• Competition, tougher environmental and safety regulations and changing
economic conditions
• Operation of modern (complex and highly integrated) process
plant
• To operate modern plants safely and profitably while satisfying
product quality and environmental requirements –
Must have efficient process control system
• Important to acquire the knowledge (theory and practice) of
process control 3

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 Process dynamics and control

• Process dynamics
• Unsteady state (transient) process behavior

• Process control
• To maintain a process at the desired operating conditions safely
and efficiently while satisfying environmental and product
quality requirements
• Needs to satisfy by control system design
 Suppress the influence of external disturbance
 Ensuring the stability of a chemical process
 Optimizing the performance of a chemical process
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 Process

• Process ???
– Conversion of feed materials to products using chemical and physical
operations
• Types of processes
• Continuous, batch and semi-batch
• Continuous processes
• Tubular heat exchanger, CSTR, Thermal cracking furnace,
Distillation column
• Batch and semi-batch processes
• Batch reactor, Batch digester in a pulp mill, Kidney dialysis unit
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 Process system – Stirred tank
heater
• Objective:
– To keep the outlet temperature (T) at
desired value (Ts)
– To keep the volume of the fluid (V) at
the desired volume (Vs)

• Controlled variables (CVs),

Manipulated variables (MVs),
Disturbance variables (DVs)
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 Process system – Distillation
column

• Controlled variables (CVs), Manipulated variables (MVs),

Disturbance variables (DVs) 7

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 Control strategies

• Feedback control strategy

• Measurement of controlled variable is used to adjust the manipulated variable;
Disturbance variable is not measured
• Can handle the disturbance of unknown origin
• Limitation: No corrective action will be taken unless the disturbance upsets the
process
• Dominant process control strategy

• Feed-forward control strategy

• Disturbance variable is measured but controlled variable is not measured
• Controlled action is taken before the controlled variable deviates from the set
point
• Limitation:
• Disturbance variable has to be measured
• No corrective action is taken for unmeasured disturbances
• a process model is required
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 Design of a control system
• Basic questions need to be asked while designing
1. What are the operational objectives that a control system is called
upon to be achieved?
2. What variable should we measure in order to monitor the
operational performance of a plant?
3. What are the manipulated variables to be used to control a chemical
process?
4. What is the best control configuration for a given chemical process
control situation?
5. How is the information taken from the measurements, used to adjust
the values of the manipulated variables?
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 Design of a control system

• Approaches
• Traditional approach
• Control strategy is selected based on the knowledge of the
process, experience and insight
• Controller settings adjusted after installment of control
system – Controller tuning

• Model-based approach
• A dynamic model of process developed and control system
designed according to the developed model
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 Handout (CHE F342)

• Lecture Plans

• Evaluation

• Surprise tests/Assignments/Attendance

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