Introduction to Process

Control
Chapter 1

a) prototype system-blending tank

b) feedback control
c) implementation of control
d) justification of control

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 Chapter 1

2
 Control Terminology
controlled variables - these are the variables which
quantify the performance or quality of the final
product, which are also called output variables.
Chapter 1

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.

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 Chapter 1

4
 Chapter
Chapter11

5
 Control Terminology(2)

set-point change - implementing a change in the

operating conditions. The set-point signal is
changed and the manipulated variable is adjusted
Chapter 1

appropriately to achieve the new operating

conditions. Also called servomechanism (or "servo")
control.

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 Control Terminology(2)
Chapter 1

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 Control Terminology(2)

Example: Distillation tower

Level Control: Servo control adjusts reflux and bottoms

Chapter 1

flow rates to maintain desired liquid levels on trays or

packing in the distillation tower.

Temperature Control: Servo control modulates reboiler

and condenser duties based on temperature sensor
feedback for optimal separation.

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 Control Terminology(2)

Pressure Control: Servo control adjusts steam or gas

flow to maintain desired pressure levels using pressure
sensors.
Chapter 1

Flow Control: Servo control regulates feed, reflux, and

bottoms flows via feedback from flow sensors.

Composition Control: Servo control combined with

composition analyzers adjusts parameters for desired
component concentrations. Modern towers may use
advanced strategies like model predictive control for
optimization.
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 Control Terminology(2)

Disturbance change - the process transient

behavior when a disturbance enters, also called
regulatory control or load change. A control system
Chapter 1

should be able to return each controlled variable

back to its set-point.
Example:
Feed composition variations impact separation efficiency
by changing vapor-liquid equilibrium.

Altering feed flow rates affects residence time, potentially

reducing separation efficiency.

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 Control Terminology(2)
Example:

Temperature control issues disturb equilibrium, risking

Chapter 1

flooding or vapor bypass.

Pressure changes influence boiling points, impacting

separation efficiency and tower stability.

Tray or packing damage disrupts flow patterns, reducing

separation effectiveness.

Reflux ratio alterations impact efficiency and product

purity.
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 Control Terminology(2)

Example:
Reboiler or condenser problems affect temperature profile
and tower operation.
Chapter 1

Control system malfunctions lead to improper

adjustments, hindering separation. Robust control,
monitoring, and maintenance are vital for efficient
distillation.

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Chapter 1 Illustrative Example: Blending system

Notation:
• w1, w2 and w are mass flow rates

• x1, x2 and x are mass fractions of component A

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 Assumptions:
1. w1 is constant

2. x2 = constant = 1 (stream 2 is pure A)

3. Perfect mixing in the tank

Chapter 1

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

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• Disturbance variable (or “load variable”): x1
 Design Question. What value of w2 is required to have
x  xSP ?

Overall balance:
0  w1  w2  w (1-1)
Chapter 1

Component A balance:

w1 x1  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 w2 :
xSP  x1
w2  w1 (1-3)
1  xSP
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 • Equation 1-3 is the design equation for the blending
system.
• If our assumptions are correct, then this value of w2 will keep x
atxSP . But what if conditions change?
Chapter 1

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  w2, then x > xSP.

Some Possible Control Strategies:

Method 1. Measure x and adjust w2.

• Intuitively, if x is too high, we should reduce w2; 16

 • Proportional feedback control law,

w2 t   w2  K c  xSP  x t  (1-4)

1. where Kc is called the controller gain.

Chapter 1

2. w2(t) and x(t) denote variables that change with time t.

3. The change in the flow rate, 2   2 is proportional to

w t w ,
the deviation from the set point, xSP – x(t).

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 Chapter 1

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 Method 2. Measure x1 and adjust w2.

• Thus, if x1 is greater than x1, 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:
Chapter 1

xSP  x1 t 
w2 t   w1 (1-5)
1  xSP

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 Chapter 1

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 • 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.

Chapter 1

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.

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 Classification of Control Strategies

Table. 1.1 Control Strategies for the Blending System

Method Measured Manipulated Category
Variable Variable
Chapter 1

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

Feedback Control:
• Distinguishing feature: measure the controlled variable
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 • It is important to make a distinction between negative feedback
and positive feedback.
 Engineering Usage vs. Social Sciences
• Advantages:
 Corrective action is taken regardless of the source of
Chapter 1

the disturbance.
 Reduces sensitivity of the controlled variable to
disturbances and changes in the process (shown later).
• Disadvantages:
 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… 23
 Feedforward Control:
 Distinguishing feature: measure a disturbance
variable
• Advantage:
 Correct for disturbance before it upsets the process.
Chapter 1

• Disadvantage:
 Must be able to measure the disturbance.
 No corrective action for unmeasured disturbances.
 Process model is required

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 Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

Block diagram for temperature feedback control system

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Chapter 1

Figure 1.6 Block diagram for composition feedback control system

on Fig. 1.4.

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 Chapter 1

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29
 Why Process control?
• The concept of chemical process control
introduce several examples to illustrate the
necessity for process modelling as we begin
our study of process dynamics and control.

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 Why Process control?
• Increased product throughput
• Increased yield of higher valued products
• Decreased energy consumption
Chapter 1

• Decreased pollution
• Decreased off-spec product
• Increased Safety
• Extended life of equipment
• Improved Operability
• Decreased production labor

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 Control System
• Control systems are used to maintain process
conditions at their desired values by
manipulating certain process variables to
adjust the variables of interest.

Ex: The cruise control on an automobile. The purpose of a cruise control is

to maintain the speed of the vehicle (the controlled variable) at the
desired value (the set point) despite variations in terrain, hills, etc.
(disturbances) by adjusting the throttle, or the fuel flow to the engine
(the manipulated variable).
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 Control System
• Several common attributes of control
systems

– The ability to maintain the process variable at its

desired value in spite of disturbances that might be
experienced (this is termed disturbance rejection )
– The ability to move the process variable from one
setting to a new desired setting (this is termed set point
tracking )
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 Control System

Generalized process control system

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 Control System
The controller compares the measurement signal of the controlled
variable to the set point (the desired value of the controlled
variable). The difference between the two values is called the
error.
Error = Set point value -Measurement signal of controlled variable

Closed loop feedback control system: The controller

automatically acts to return the controlled variable to its desired
value.

Open-loop system: The measurement signal disconnected from the

controller, and the controller output would have to be manually
adjusted to change the value of the controlled variable.
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Control System

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Block diagram of a hot water heater control system.

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• Proportional control: Controller should change the heat input
by an amount proportional to the error.
• The larger we make the proportionality constant for the
proportional controller (called the controller gain), the
smaller the steady-state error will become.
• Some residual steady state error (called offset ).

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Improvement may be obtained over proportional control
by adding integral control

• The controller is now instructed:

– To change the heat input by an additional
amount proportional to the time integral of the
error.
– Has two adjustable parameters:
• A multiplier for the error
• A multiplier for the integral of the error

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Improvement may be obtained over proportional control
by adding integral control

• Apparent error: the controller will receive

measured values of the temperature, rather
than the actual values, it will be acting upon
the apparent error.
• Thermocouple delay in transmission of the
temperature to the controller is primarily to make
the response of the system somewhat more
oscillatory than if the response were instantaneous

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 Block Diagram (gives a relationship
between variables)
• It indicates the flow of information around the control system
and the function of each part of the system.

• Each component of the system is represented by a block,

with little regard for the actual physical characteristics of the
represented component

(1) The relationship between the signals entering and leaving

the block
(2) The manner in which information flows around the
system.
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 Modelling for Process Dynamics

• Explore process dynamics

• Review some mathematical tools for solving the resulting
process models

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PROCESS DYNAMICS—A CHEMICAL
MIXING SCENARIO

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 PROCESS DYNAMICS—A CHEMICAL
MIXING SCENARIO

• The process is running along at steady state

• The concentration of A in stream 1 is 1 g/L and in
stream 2 is 4 g/L. At 3:00 P.M. the shift changes at the
plant.
• The new operator changes Stream 1 to 20 L/min, and
stream 2 to 10 L/min

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 PROCESS DYNAMICS—A CHEMICAL
MIXING SCENARIO

Before Change

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 PROCESS DYNAMICS—A CHEMICAL
MIXING SCENARIO

After Change

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 PROCESS DYNAMICS—A CHEMICAL
MIXING SCENARIO

Chemical mixing process flow diagram showing

operator-induced transient
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 PROCESS DYNAMICS—A CHEMICAL
MIXING SCENARIO
Unsteady state mass balance of A around the heating vessel (To
analyze how the exit from the heating vessel with time)

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 PROCESS DYNAMICS—A CHEMICAL
MIXING SCENARIO
Unsteady state mass balance of A around the heating vessel

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 PROCESS DYNAMICS—A CHEMICAL
MIXING SCENARIO
Unsteady state mass balance of A around the heating vessel

The concentration starts at the original steady-state

concentration of 3 g/L and exponentially decreases to 2
g/L.

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51
Modeling the mixing process enables:

•To determine the concentration of component A in the stream being

fed to the reactor.

•To determine or predict the dynamic behavior of a process is crucial

to being able to design a control system for it.

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 Energy balance
Stream 1 (at 25 °C) mixes with stream 2 (at 55 °C), producing
stream 3, the feed to the heating vessel.

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 Energy balance
Stream 1 (at 25 °C) mixes with stream 2 (at 55 °C), producing
stream 3, the feed to the heating vessel.

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 Energy balance
Stream 1 (at 25 °C) mixes with stream 2 (at 55 °C), producing
stream 3, the feed to the heating vessel.

So, the steady-state inlet temperature to the heating vessel is 45

°C.
The steady-state heat input required from the heater

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 Energy balance
The steady-state heat input required from the heater

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Energy balance
Chemical mixing process flow diagram summarizing initial
temperatures

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Energy balance

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Energy balance

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Energy balance

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Energy balance

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62
Significance of modelling

By appropriate modelling of the process:

•Enable to predict how the system will respond to changes in the

operating conditions.
•Possible designing of controllers to automatically control the
process variables at their desired settings.

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
• Laplace transforms
• MATLAB/Simulink

Definition of the Laplace Transform

The Laplace transform of a function f ( t ) is defined to be F ( s )

according to the equation

(1)

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MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Typical features of Laplace transformation

• The Laplace transform F (s) contains no information about

the behavior of f (t) for t , 0 (Our usual starting point will be a
steady-state system or process, and we will be interested in examining
what happens when the system is disturbed.

• The Laplace transform is defined in Eq. (1) by an improper

integral, it will not exist for every function f ( t ).

• The Laplace transform is linear.

• The Laplace transform operator transforms a function of the

variable t to a function of the variable s. The t variable is
eliminated by the integration. 66
 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Simple Functions

• The step function is

• The exponential function

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Simple Functions

• The exponential function

Provided that s+ a > 0

or s > -a
In case s is a complex number,

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Simple Functions
• The ramp function

f(t)

• The sine function

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Simple Functions
• Sine function

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Simple Functions

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Simple Functions

The unit impulse function has zero width, infinite

height and an integral (area) of one.
The step response is the integral of
the impulse response.

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Simple Functions

The unit impulse function is δ(t) and defined as,

We know the relation between unit step and unit impulse.

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Derivatives

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 MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
FOR MODELING
Transforms of Derivatives

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Find the Laplace transform of the function x( t) that satisfies the
differential equation and initial conditions

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 SOLUTION OF ORDINARY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS (ODES)

An ordinary differential equation (ODE) is a differential

equation (DE) dependent on only a single independent variable.

Ex 1: Transform the differential equations resulting from the mass

and energy balances for the chemical mixer to determine the
transform of the exit concentration and temperature.

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 SOLUTION OF ORDINARY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS (ODES)

Ex1: Transform the differential equations resulting from the mass

and energy balances for the chemical mixer to determine the
transform of the exit concentration and temperature.

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 SOLUTION OF ORDINARY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS (ODES)

Ex 1: Transform the differential equations resulting from the mass

and energy balances for the chemical mixer to determine the
transform of the exit concentration and temperature.

After the disturbance, Ca3 has a constant value of 2 g/L. Therefore,

Ca3(s) = 2/s.
Ca(0) = 3g/L at time 0 and that
The time constant, is 5 min.
Substituting these values into the expression for Ca yields
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 SOLUTION OF ORDINARY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS (ODES)

Ex: Transform the differential equations resulting from the mass

and energy balances for the chemical mixer to determine the
transform of the exit concentration and temperature.

80
 SOLUTION OF ORDINARY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS (ODES)

Ex1: Transform the differential equations resulting from the mass

and energy balances for the chemical mixer to determine the
transform of the exit concentration and temperature.

81
 SOLUTION OF ORDINARY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS (ODES)

Ex 1: Transform the differential equations resulting from the mass

and energy balances for the chemical mixer to determine the
transform of the exit concentration and temperature.

After the disturbance, T3 is constant at 35 ˚C, T3 ( s) = 35/ s.

The initial temperature in the tank T(0), at 3 P.M. is 80 ˚C.

Input Q =1.05 x 106 cal/min.
Time constant is 5 min.

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84
Chapter 3

85
 • Inverting the transforms to obtain the solution in the time
domain.
• The equations to be solved are all of the general form

• The unknown function of time is x(t), and an, an1, . . . , a1,

a0 are constants
• The given function r(t) is called the forcing function.

In a system of differential equations used to describe a time-dependent process,

a forcing function is a function that appears in the equations and is only a
function of time, and not of any of the other variables. In effect, it is a constant
for each value of t. 86
 PARTIAL FRACTIONS

Laplace transform

The theory of partial fractions

87
For s = 0

This procedure for determining the coefficients is called

the Heaviside expansion.

Chemical mixing scenario revisited (From example 1)

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Chemical mixing scenario revisited (From example 1)

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90
(a)

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The roots are found to be -1 + i and -1 - i.

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Match coefficients of like terms on the left and right sides of the
equation.

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95
96
 The appearance of the factor (s + a)n in the denominator of x (s)
leads to n terms in the partial fraction expansion

The constant C1 can be determined as usual by multiplying the

expansion by (s + a)n and setting s = -a. The constants will be
chosen as already stated.

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 3.2 Economic Incentives - Advanced
Control
 
Chapter 1

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 Chapter 1

99
 (days-months) 5. Planning and
Scheduling

(hours-days) 4. Real-Time
Optimization

3b. Multivariable
Figure 1.8 Hierarchy of
Chapter 1

(minutes-hours) and Constraint

Control
process control activities.
(seconds-minutes) 3a. Regulatory
Control

2. Safety, Environment
(< 1 second) and Equipment
Protection

(< 1 second) 1. Measurement

and Actuation

Process
100
Chapter 1

Figure 1.10 Major

steps in control
system development

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Chapter 1

Next chapter
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