OVERVIEW

The objective of control system is to keep key process-operating parameters within narrow bounds of the reference
value or setpoint. This project describes the theory behind control circuits to maintain automatic control over different type
of process. The basis of automatic control is the control loop. A control loop for a given process must have at least one
sensor, a controller, and a control element to which the results are applied. The controller reads the error and makes a
decision. The action taken can be very simple to very complicated, depending on the system and the size of the acceptable
error. Automatic process control were used in continuous production processes is a combination of control engineering and
chemical engineering disciplines that uses industrial control systems to achieve a production level of consistency, economy
and safety which could not be achieved purely by human manual control.
PRODUCTION OF ETHYLBENZENE

Figure 1.0 Process Flow Diagram of Ethylbenzene Production

CONTROL STRATEGIES

In control strategy for category 1, the production of Ethylbenzene use the automatic
controller to automatically measure the process variable in the plant. There are two type of
instruments which are the level indicating controller (LIC) and flow indicating controller
(FIC). The FIC is found to be 4 units in the plant located after the control valves of benzene
feed drum V-301, benzene recycle pumps P-305 A/B, benzene reflux pumps P-302 A/B and
also EB reflux pumps P-303 A/B. Meanwhile, there are 5 units of LIC positioned in front of
the benzene feed drum V-301, the benzene reflux drum V-303, the benzene tower T-301, the
EB reflux drum V-304 and even before the T-302.

Control strategy for category 2 can be identified in the diagram is the feedforward
controller and ratio controller. Feedforwad controller is used to measure the important
disturbance in advance and take the corrective action before the occurence of disturbance.
Hence, it is applied in the high pressure steam boiler E-303, low pressure steam boiler E-304
and feed heater which also known as fired heater H-301. The ratio controller plays a role in
maintaining the ratio of two process variable at a specified value. In the diagram, the ratio of
ethylene and benzene are controlled.

Cascade controller is first identified as in control strategy for category 3. It rejects

disturbances in equipment using more than just one controller, consisting of two controllers
that are master controller and slave controller. It can be identified in the ethylbenzene
reactors of R-301, R-302, R-303 and also in transalkylation reactor R-304. Other than that, a
selective or override controller can be identified in the reactor R-301, R-302 and R-303
where the reactions occur in a gas phase and is exothermic.

ANALYSIS OF CONTROL STRATEGIES

Automatic control is a device accomplished automatically which could not be

achieved by human manual control. It uses the sensing element or sensor to measure the
process variable of fluid flow and level, which identified in this plant and compared to its set
point. The controller includes the amplifier and adjustable correcting devices. If the measured
value is larger than it should be, the correcting device will come into use to ensure the flow
rates and levels in the plant are stable. Meanwhile, the amplifier increases the signal power of
the output controller to a sufficient value for the actuating mechanism to operate.
 The application of control strategy of feedforward controller in boilers and fired
heater is important to ensure the load disturbance is rejected before it gives a visible impact
on the equipment. It measures the disturbance in advance and ensure a corrective action is
taken before the disturbance occur. It will firstly determine the mathematical correlation for
the possible effect by disturbance. After that, it will invert the model to cancel the effect
because of the disturbance. On the other hand, ratio controller controls the ratio of benzene to
ethylene which approximately at 8:1. The ratio should be kept high in order to minimize the
possibility of additional reactions between Diethylbenzene and Ethylene, yielding
triethylbenzene and higher. In operation, the flow rates of both feed are measured and the
ratio is calculated. The divider’s output will be sent to ratio controller. The controller will
hence compare the calculated ratio to the desired ratio and adjust the variable accordingly.

In cascade controller, master controller will regulates the temperature of the content
inside a reactor while the slave controller will controls the temperature of the reactor’s jacket.
The slave controller is located which first introduced to disturbance which prevent the master
controller from being affected by it. Additionally, a master loop which is the outer loop
serves as the set point for inner loop (slave loop). The slave loop will quickly minimize the
effect of fast acting disturbance and the master loop will rejects the slow disturbance.
Thereby, the slave loop is chosen as proportional-only controller because it responds quickly
and need no requirement to eliminate offset in the inner loop. Hence, the temperature of
reactors in the plant can be controlled at which the maximum temperature is 500°C.

Lastly, the selective or override controller is used since some processes have more
controlled variables than manipulated varibles and such situation does not allow exact pairing
of controlled variable and manipulated variable. That being said, a selective controller is
appropriate to improve the performance of control system along with protecting the
equipment from unsafe operating conditions. The protection is done by choosing an
appropriate controlled variables for a the process operating condition. As an be seen in the
diagram of ethylbenzene production, the mixture of preheated benzene and ethylene reacts in
the reactor system which consists of three adiabatic packed-bed reactor (R-301, R-302, R-
303). The exthermic reactions use a high selector in order to determine the temperature in the
chemical reactor. If the temperature goes beyond the limit, the selector will choose the
highest temperature from a multiple measurements points and hence control the maximum
temperature of reactor.
 In recommendation, the feedback controller should be installed in the ethylbenze
manufacturing. This is because it is considered as proportional controller with feedforward
controller as they operate with respect to the amount of disturbance or error occur at various
area of the system. Feedback controller operates after receiving disturbances from system that
may indicate difference while feedforward controller operates by measuring the possible
error that may occur with current operating conditions to avoid disturbance from occuring. In
other words, feedback controller seeks to eliminate error while feedforwards controller
reduces the error. Therefore, a feedback controller is suitable to be installed in conjunction
with the feedforward controller.
PRODUCTION OF MALEIC ANHYDRIDE

Figure 2.0 Process Flow Diagram of Maleic Anhydride Production

CONTROL STRATEGIES
In control strategy for category 1, the production of Maleic Anhydride use the
automatic controller to automatically measure the process variable in the plant. There are
three type of instruments which are the level indicating controller (LIC), flow indicating
controller (FIC) and pressure indicating controller (PIC). There are 4 FIC and LIC units each,
and 1 PIC units each. The FIC are located after the control valves of benzene feed pumps P-
601 A/B, benzene feed vaporizer E-601, reactor R-601 and MA reflux drum V-602.
Meanwhile, the LIC located before the drums in the process and the PIC is located at MA
reflux drum.

There are three identified controller for category 2 in control strategy which are
feedback controller, feedforward controller and ratio controller. The feedback controller is
used to control the temperature in the inlet reaction. For feedforward controller, it is
identified in the feed heater H-601 which is the fired heater. The disturbance is measured in
advance and a corrective action is taken before a disturbance occur. Meanwhile, the air to
benzene ratio is controlled by the ratio control.

The control strategy for category 3 that can be identified in the diagram are cascade
controller and selective or override controller. Cascade controller plays a role in regulating
the temperature of a reactor, R-601. For the selective or override controller, it controls the
reactor R-601 which involves the occurence of exothermic reaction inside it.

ANALYSIS OF CONTROL STRATEGIES

Automatic control is a system that uses a sensing element or sensor to measure the
fluid flow, level, and pressure process variable in the manufacture of maleic anhydride.
Measurement and comparison with its set point is performed automatically which varies from
manual control which measured by personnel with the help of instrumentation device such as
sight tube. If either of the process variable goes greater than the set point, the controller's
correction system will ensure that they are back to stable measurement while an amplifier
will raise the output controller's signal power to a appropriate value to operate the actuating
mechanism.

The feedback controller in the plant plays a role in controlling the temperature for the
inlet reaction. Typically, the temperatuer of inlet reaction are in the range of 350° C to 400° C
with the inlet concentration of approximately 1.5 vol% of benzene in air used. The feedback
controller will take action when the temperature deviates from its set point as detected to
keep the temperature in range. Other than that, the feedforward controller which used in the
fired heater acts by measuring the disturbance in advance and ensure that the appropriate
action are taken before it disturb the process. It will firstly determine the mathematical
correlation for the possible effect by disturbance. After that, it will invert the model to cancel
the effect because of the disturbance. For ratio controller, it kept the ratio of air to benzene
that enters the reactor very high since all the reactions are highly exothermic. The flow rates
of both air and benzene are measured and the ratio is calculated. The divider’s output is sent
to the ratio controller. Hence, it will compare the calculated ratio to the desired ratio. This
means that, the ratio will be adjusted accordingly.

A cascade controller in maleic anhydride manufacture is used to maintain the

temperature of reactor. The two nested loops which consist in a cascade controller are slave
loop and master loop. The outer loop is also known as master loop while the inner loop is
known as slave loop. The manipulate varible of master loop serves as a set point for slave
loop. Slave loop responds quickly and no requiry to eliminate offset in the inner loop. Hence,
it is chosen as a proportional-only controller. It quickly minimize the effect of fast
disturbance while the master loop eliminates offset and rejects slow disturbance. The
resulting error signal is used as input to controller for cooling water makeup. Therefore, the
temperature of the reactor can be maintained. Other than that, the reactor also use a selective
or override controller to protect the equipment from unsafe operating conditions. Since all the
reactions in the reactor are highly exothermic, a high selector is used to determine the hot-
spot temperature in a reactor. It choose the highest temperature from a multiple measurement
points and use it in feedback loop to control the maximum temperature in the reactor. This is
done to ensure the temperature does not go beyond the limit.

In recommendation, an adaptive controller could be a good employment in the maleic

anhydride manufacture. This is because it will automatically adjust the controller parameters
to compensate for changing operating conditions. During a plant operations, the operating
conditions can frequently change which then leads the process to behave differently from the
model that was used for controller design. Therefore, this controller will much helps in giving
the accurate knowledge of the process at current operating conditions as well as providing an
adequate disturbance rejection.
PRODUCTION OF STYRENE

Figure 3.0 Process Flow Diagram of Styrene Production

CONTROL STRATEGIES

In control strategy for category 1, the production of Styrene use the automatic
controller to automatically measure the process variable in the plant. There are two type of
instruments which are the level indicating controller (LIC) and flow indicating controller
(FIC). The FIC are found to be 3 units of them which located after the control valves of steam
heater H-401, reflux pump P-402 A/B and reflux pump P-403 A/B. Meanwhile, LIC has 4
units in the plant located at the styrene and benzene toluene column, T-402 and T-401
respectively, and also at the V-402 and V-403 drums.

Control strategy for category 2 can be identified in the diagram is the feedback
controller, feedforward controller and ratio controller. The feedback controller is used to
control the temperature of the product. Feedforwad controller is used to measure the
important disturbance in advance and take the corrective action before the occurence of
disturbance. Hence, it is applied in the feed heater which also known as fired heater H-401.
The ratio controller plays a role in maintaining the ratio of two process variable at a specified
value. In the diagram, the ratio of natural gas and air inside the heater are controlled.

Cascade controller is the only that can be identified as in control strategy for category
3. It rejects disturbances in equipment using more than just one controller, consisting of two
controllers that are master controller and slave controller. It is identified in the styrene
reactors of R-401 and R-402.

ANALYSIS OF CONTROL STRATEGIES

Automatic control is a device accomplished automatically which could not be

achieved by human manual control. It uses the sensing element or sensor to measure the
process variable of fluid flow and level, which identified in this plant and compared to its set
point. The controller includes the amplifier and adjustable correcting devices. If the measured
value is larger than it should be, the correcting device will come into use to ensure the flow
rates and levels in the plant are stable. Meanwhile, the amplifier increases the signal power of
the output controller to a sufficient value for the actuating mechanism to operate.

The application of feedback controller in the styrene manufacture is to maintain the

temperature of styrene at less than 125° C. The product (styrene) can polymerize
spontaneously at higher temperature and therefore requires the suggested temperature to
prevent any spontaneous polymerization problem. The feedback controller acts by measuring
the temperature and is adjusted via a final control element, which in the diagram is control
valve. It will then take corrective action when the temperature differs from its set point as
detected by manipulating the control element. A feedforward controller used as in fired heater
measures the disturbance in advance and take the appropriate action before the disturbance
disturbs the process. It will firstly determine the mathematical correlation for the possible
effect by disturbance. After that, it will invert the model to cancel the effect because of the
disturbance. Therefore, the load disturbance is rejected before it gives a visible impact on the
fired heater. The ratio controller controls the ratio of natural gas and air inside the heater. It
operates to adjust the ratio accordingly after the controller compare the calculated ratio to the
desired ratio. This is to hold the natural gas-air ratio to heater at the optimum value.

The cascade controller used in the styrene reactors plays a role in regulating the
temperature of the reactors. There are two controller in the scheme of cascade controller
which are the master controller and slave controller. The master controller will regulates the
temperature inside the reactor while the slave controller will control the reactor jacket’s
temperature. The jacket temperature is located near to a potential disturbance and therefore
the controller will react faster to the disturbances. A two nested loops consist of master loop
and slave loop involves in eliminating the disturbance. The master loop serves as a set point
for the slave loop. The slave loop is chosen as a proportional-only controller since it can
quickly responds to elimiate the offset in inner loop. It quickly minimize the effect of fast
disturbance while the maste loop rejects the slow disturbance to minimize the effects. Hence,
the temperature of a reactor is maintained.

In suggestion, an adaptive controller could be a good employment in the styrene

manufacture. During a plant operations, the operating conditions can frequently change
which will lead the process to behave differently. Therefore, the application of adaptive
controller will automatically adjust the controller parameters to compensate for changing
operating conditions. An accurate knowledge of the process at current operating conditions as
well as adequate disturbance rejection can be provided by using this type of controller.
CONCLUSION

It conclude that, all of the process had the control system that compares the value or status
of the process variable being controlled with the desired value or setpoint, and applies the
difference as a control signal to bring the process variable output of the plant to the same
value as the setpoint. Many types of process control systems exist, including supervisory
control and data acquisition, programmable logic controllers, or distributed control systems,
and they work to gather and transmit data obtained during the manufacturing process. The
main control system can be a relatively simple item with a sensor, often called a primary
transducer, that receives an input, along with a controller that processes the input, and a
receiver that processes an output.control system leads to automation in various fields of
industry. It also provides more reliability and improvement in product. With control system,
lots of work can be done in single minute of time which reduces more time required for that
work. It enables manufacturers to keep their operations running within specified limits and to
set more precise limits to maximize profitability, ensure quality and safety.