Instrumentation and Control

Student Notes

Note
This document contains the important points discussed in the pre-recorded courseware. It will help in revising the
important concepts related to Instrumentation and Control course.

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 Instrumentation and Control

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MODULE 7-FINAL CONTROL

This module presents general techniques and features of final control elements used in
process-control systems.
Focus Topic
 Final Control operation
 Analog, Digital & Pneumatic Signal
 Actuators
 Control Elements
1. Introduction-The final control element necessarily has a profound effect on the
process, and therefore must be selected after detailed considerations of the
possessive operational mechanisms.
2. Final Control Operation
A. Final control element operations involve the steps necessary to convert the control
signal into proportional action on the process itself. The final control function can
be implemented by signal conditioning, an actuator, and a final control element

a.
B. The input control signal can be an electric current, a digital signal, or pneumatic
pressure. (Figure1).
C. Signal conversion modifies the control signal to properly interface with the next
stage of control such as current to pressure, current to voltage etc. Transducers
are applied here as conversion elements.
D. The actuator is a translation of the (converted) control signal into action on the
control element.
E. Final control element has direct influence on the process dynamic variable and
is designed as an integral part of the process.
3. Signal Conversion
1. Convert the low-energy control signal to a high-energy signal to drive the actuator.
2. Controller output signals are typically in one of three forms:
A. Electrical current, usually 4- to 20-mA
B. Pneumatic pressure, usually 3 to 15 psi or 20 to 100 kPa
C. Digital signals, usually TTL-level voltages in serial or parallel format.

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3. Relays and Amplifiers are common methods of analog signal conditioning used
in conversions necessary for final control.
4. Digital Electrical signals are the basic elements of the output interface between
computer and final control.
5. Pneumatic signals provide a force by the gas pressures acting on a piston or
diaphragm. A pneumatic amplifier (Figure4) or booster converts the signal
pressure to a higher pressure or the same pressure but with greater gas volume.
A nozzle/flapper system (Figure5) does signal conversion from pressure to
mechanical motion and vice versa.

4. Actuators
Electrical Actuators-Actuators are an intermediate step between the
converted control signal and the final control element. Common electrical
actuators are solenoids, digital stepping motors, and ac and dc motors
A. Solenoid A solenoid is an elementary device that converts an electrical signal
into mechanical motion or physical Displacement.(Figure25)
B. Solenoid specifications include the electrical rating and the plunger pull or push
force when excited by the specified voltage.
C. Solenoids are used when a large, sudden force must be applied to perform
some job.

Electrical Motors
A. Electrical motors are devices that accept electrical input and produce a
continuous rotation as a result.
B. Motor styles and sizes vary as demands for rotational speed (revolutions per
minute, or rpm), starting torque, rotational torque, and other specifications vary.
C. Employed as actuators in process control.

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D. Three most common types being dc motor, ac motor, and stepping motor.
DC motor- The rotation of a dc motor (Figure27) is produced by the interaction
of two constant magnetic fields caused by a permanent magnet (PM) and the
second magnetic field is formed by passing a current through a coil of wire
contained within the PM field. Three configurations of DC motor are shown in
Figure 28

Parameter Series Field Shunt Field

Compound Field
Starting torque Large small Inbetween series
and shunt
Speed Control Difficult to control Good speed Inbetween series
speed control and shunt
Application starting heavy and Conveyer belts
non mobile loads
AC Motor-
A. Involves the interaction between two magnetic fields.
B. Both fields are varying in time in consonance with the ac excitation voltage.
C. Force between the fields is a function of the angle of the rotor but also the phase
of the current passing through the coils.

Pneumatic Actuators
A. The pneumatic actuator is based on the concept of pressure as force per unit
area. If we imagine that a net pressure difference is applied across a
diaphragm of surface area A, then a net force acts on the diaphragm given by

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B. If we need to double the available force for a given pressure, it is merely

necessary to double the diaphragm area.
C. A direct pneumatic actuator (Figure 36) can convert pressure signals into
mechanical shaft motion. The pressure and force are linearly related, as given
by above Equation for F and the compression of a spring is linearly related to
forces and that the shaft position is linearly related to the applied control
pressure as

D. A reverse actuator (Figure 37) moves the shaft in the opposite sense from the
direct actuator but obeys the same operating principle. Thus, the shaft is pulled
in by the application of a control pressure.
5. Control Elements
o Mechanical Control Elements- Control elements that perform some
mechanical operation in a process are called mechanical control elements
o Some examples are-
A. Solid-Material Hopper Valves
The control system is to maintain the flow of grain from the storage bin to
provide a constant flow rate on the conveyor (figure40). This flow depends on
the height of grain in the bin, and hence the hopper valve must open or close
to compensate for the variation. Actuator (could be a motor to adjust shaft
position, a hydraulic cylinder) operates a vane-type valve to control the grain
flow rate.

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B. Paper Thickness in Figure 41, the essential features of a system for

controlling paper thickness are shown. The paper is in a wet fiber suspension
and is passed between rollers. By varying the roller separation, paper thickness
is regulated. The mechanical control element shown is the movable roller. The
actuator, which could be electrical, pneumatic, or hydraulic, adjusts roller
separation based on a thickness measurement.
 Electrical Control Elements
A. Motor-Speed Control- A process-control loop regulates the speed through
direct change of operating voltage or current, as shown in Figure 42. Voltage
measurements of engine speed from a tachometer are used in a process-
control loop to determine the power applied to the motor brushes.

B. Temperature Control- Temperature often is controlled by using electrical

heaters in some application of industrial control. Thus, if heat can be supplied
through heaters electrically in an endothermic reaction, then the process-
control signal can be used to ON/OFF cycle a heater or set the heater within a
continuous span of operating voltages, as in Figure 44. In this example, a
reaction vessel is maintained at some constant temperature using an electrical
heater. The process-control loop provides this by smoothly varying excitation
to the heater.

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 Fluid valves
A. The word fluid here represents either gases, liquids, or vapors.
B. The chemical and petroleum industries have many applications that require
control of fluid processes.
C. Flow rate in process control is usually expressed as volume per unit time.

D. The purpose of the control valve is to regulate the flow rate of fluids through
pipes in the system. This is accomplished by placing a variable-size
restriction in the flow path, as shown in Figure 45.
E. There will be a drop in pressure across such a restriction, and the flow
rate(Q) varies with the square root of this pressure drop, with an appropriate
constant of proportionally

The constant, K, depends on the size of the valve, the geometrical structure
of the delivery system, and on the material flowing through the valve.

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Control Valve Types- The types are determined by the shape of the plug and seat.
A. Quick Opening -This type of valve is used predominantly for full ON/full OFF
control applications.
B. Linear -This type of valve has a flow rate that varies linearly with the stem
position. It represents the ideal situation where the valve alone determines
the pressure drop. The relationship is expressed as

C. Equal Percentage A very important type of valve employed in flow control

has a characteristic such that a given percentage change in stem position
produces an equivalent change in flow—that is, an equal percentage.
Rangeability R can be defined as.

Three types of control valves open differently as a function of valve stem position.
(figure 47)

Control-Valve Sizing –
A. All control valves involves corrections because of the non-ideal characteristics
of the material that flow.
B. A standard nomenclature is used to account for these corrections, depending
on the liquid, gas, or steam nature of the fluid.
C. These correction factors allow selection of the proper size of valve to
accommodate the rate of flow that the system must support.
D. The correction factor is called the valve flow coefficient and is designated as
Cᵥ. Using this factor, a liquid flow rate in U.S.per minute is

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 Instrumentation and Control

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