Topic 2.

0 Introduction to Process Control

Summary
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Incentives for Chemical Process Control
2.3 Design Aspects of a Process Control System
2.4 Hardware for a Process Control System
Lesson aims and objectives:
By the end of the lesson students should be able to:
• define what is a process, process control and chemical process and the
different variables involved
• describe the needs and the incentives for controlling a chemical process
• analyze the characteristics of a control system
• formulate the problems that must be solved during the design of
chemical process control systems
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2.1 Introduction

• The primary objective of a process control is to

maintain a process at the desired operating
conditions, safely, economically and efficiently, while
satisfying environmental and product quality
requirements.
• Process control is concerned with how to achieve
these goals.
• In large-scale, integrated processing plants, e.g. oil
refineries or ethylene plants, thousands of process
variables, e.g. composition, T, P are measured and
controlled.
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Why do we need Process Control?

 
  

Effective process control is required to maintain safe

operations, quality products, and business viability.
Objectives of a Process Control:
1. Safety
• The primary purpose of a Process Control system is
safety:
 Personnel safety,
 Environmental safety
Equipment safety
Process safety
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• The safety of plant personnel and the community
is the highest priority in any operation.
 An example of safety: installation of a pressure
relief valve in the steam supply in a heat
exchanger.
 Other examples of safety: a pressure switch
that does not allow a pump to over pressurize a
pipe
 Another example of safety: a temperature
switch that does not allow the fluid flowing
through a heat exchanger to overheat.
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2. Quality
• process control systems are central to
maintaining product quality.
in blending and batching operations, control
systems maintain the proper ratio of
ingredients to deliver a consistent product.
in cooking systems, they tightly regulate
temperatures to deliver consistent quality
product.

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3. Profit
• When safety and quality concerns are met, process
control objectives can be focused on profit.
• All processes experience variations and product
quality demands that we operate within constraints.
 A batch system may require ± 0.5% tolerance on each
ingredient addition to maintain quality.
 A cook system may require ± 0.5 degrees on the exit
temperature to maintain quality.
• Profits will be maximized the closer the process is
operated to these constraints.
The real challenge in process control is to do so safely
without compromising product quality. 6
What is a Process?

• It is the conversion of feed materials to

products using chemical and physical
operations (continuous, batch and semi-batch)

Fig 2.1 Process (open loop process)

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What is Process Control?

 Variables (MVs): process

• Process control is the act variables that can be adjusted in
of controlling a final order to keep the CVs at or near
control element to change the SPs (eg. Flow rates).
the manipulated variable to  Disturbance Variables (DVs):
process variables that affect the
maintain the process
CVs but cannot be manipulated,
variable at a desired Set they are related to changes in the
Point. operating environment of the
The 3 important types of process (feed conditions or
process variables: ambient temperature).
 Controlled Variables (CVs): • The specification of CVs, MVs
process variables that are and DVs is a critical step in
controlled, the desired value of developing a control system and
a CV is referred as its set – selection should be based on
point (SP) process knowledge, experience
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and control objectives.
• The foundation of process control is
processing understanding.

Fig 2.2 Block diagram of a process with a final control element and
sensors to measure the manipulated and process variables 9
What is Closed Loop Control?

• In closed loop control the controller output is

determined by difference between the
process variable and the Set Point.
• Closed loop control is also called feedback or
regulatory control
• The output of a closed loop controller is a
function of the error.
• Error is the deviation of the process variable
from the Set Point and is defined as:
E = SP - PV. 10
Fig 2.3 Closed loop control system 11
2.2 Incentives for Chemical Process Control
• A chemical plant is an arrangement of processing units
(reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, distillation columns,
absorbers, evaporators, tanks, etc.), integrated with
each other in a systematic and rational manner.
• The plant's overall objective is to convert certain raw
materials (input feedstock) into desired products in the
most economical way.
• During its operation, a chemical plant must satisfy
several requirements imposed by its designers and the
general technical, economic and social conditions in the
presence of ever-changing external influences
(disturbances/perturbations). 12
Some of such requirements are:
1. Safety:
 The safe operation of a chemical process is a primary requirement, for
the well-being of the people in the plant and its continued contribution
to the economic development.
 the operating conditions (pressures, temperatures, concentration of
chemicals, etc. ) should always be within allowable limits.
2. Production specifications: The plant should produce the desired
amounts and quality of the final products.
 We may require the production of two million kgs of ethylene per day,
of 99.5% purity, from an ethylene plant, therefore, a control system is
needed to ensure that the production level (2 million kgs per day) and
the purity specifications (99.5% ethylene) are satisfied.
3. Environmental regulations: Various federal and state laws may
specify that the temperatures, concentrations of chemicals and
flowrates of the effluents from a plant be within certain limits .
 amounts of SOX , NOX (emissions) ejected to the atmosphere, and the
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4. Operational constraints:
•The various types of equipment used in a chemical plant have
constraints inherent to their operation.
Pumps must maintain a certain net positive suction head; tanks
should not overflow or go dry; distillation columns should not be
flooded; the temperature in a catalytic reactor should not exceed an
upper limit since the catalyst will be destroyed.
Control systems are needed to satisfy all these operational
constraints.
5. Economics:
•The operation of a plant must conform to the market conditions, i.e.
the availability of raw materials and the demand of the final products.
should be as economic as possible in its utilization of RMs, energy,
capital and human labor.
operating conditions to be controlled (optimum levels of min
operating cost, or max profit; etc.) 14
• All the above requirements require need for a
continuous monitoring of the operation of a
chemical plant and an external intervention (control)
to guarantee the satisfaction of the operational
objectives.
accomplished through a rational arrangement of various
equipment (measuring devices, valves, controllers,
computers) and human intervention (plant designers,
plant operators), which constitutes the control system.
There are three general classes of needs that a
control system is called to satisfy:
• Suppress the influence of external disturbances,
• ensure the stability of a chemical process, and
• optimize the performance of a chemical process 15
2.2.1Suppressing Influence of External
Disturbances
• Most common objective of a controller
in Chemical Plant is to suppress the
influence of the external disturbances.
 have effects on a reactors, separators,
heat exchangers, compressors, etc.,
and therefore need to introduce a
control mechanism.

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Example 2.1 - Controlling the Operation of a Stirred Tank Heater (STH)

Fig 2.1Stirred tank heater (STH) 17

• Consider the tank heater system shown in
Figure 2.1.
 A liquid enters the tank with a flowrate Fi
(m3/min), and a temperature Ti (°C), where it is
heated with steam (having a flowrate Fs, kg/min).
Let F and T be the flowrate and temperature of
the stream leaving the tank.
• The tank is considered to be well stirred,
which implies that the temperature of the
effluent is equal to the temperature of the
liquid in the tank.
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a. Operational objectives of this heater are:
 to keep the effluent temperature T at a
desired value Ts
 to keep the volume of the liquid in the tank
at a desired value Vs 
b. External factors/disturbances on the operation
of the heater are:
 changes in feed flow rate and temperature
(Fi and Ti)
 changes in the steam flow rate and
temperature (Fst and Tst) 19
Fig 2.2 Feedback temperature control of a tank heater 20
• Need to maintain: T = Ts and V = Vs,
some form of control action is needed to
alleviate the impact of the changing
disturbances and keep T and V at the
desired values (Fig 2.2.)
• Fig2.2 demonstrates a control action to
keep T = Ts when Ti or Fi changes.

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• A thermocouple measures the temperature T
of the liquid in the tank.
T is compared with the desired value Ts yielding a
deviation or error: ε =Ts -T.
• The value of the deviation/error, ε is sent to a
control mechanism for rectification which
decides what must be done in order for the
temperature T to return back to the desired
value Ts
• The desired value Ts is called the Set Point and
is supplied externally by the person in charge
of production. 22
• Returning to the tank heater example, we can use a
different control arrangement to maintain T = Ts
when Ti changes.
Measure the temperature of the Inlet stream T i and
open or close the steam valve to provide more or less
steam.
• Such control configuration is called Feedforward
control and is shown in Figure 2.3.
• The feedforward control does not wait until the
effect of the disturbances has been felt by the
system, but acts appropriately before the external
disturbance affects the system, anticipating what its
effect will be (works in an anticipatory manner). 23
 Fig 2.3 Feedforward control for STH
• The suppression of the impact that disturbances have on the operating
behavior of processing units is one of the main reasons for the usage
24
of
control in the chemical industry.
2.2.2 Ensure Stability of a Process

• Consider the behavior of the variable x shown in Fig 2.4, at time t = to disturbed by
some external factors but as the time progresses the value of x returns to its initial
value to stay.

Fig 2.4 Response of a stable system 2.5 Alternative response of unstable system (self-
regulating)

• If x is a process variable like T, P, concentration, flowrate, etc., we say that the

process is stable or self-regulating and needs no external intervention for its
stabilization. 25
• It is clear that no control mechanism is needed to
force x to return to its initial value
• In contrast to the above behavior, the variable y
shown in Figure 2.5 does not return to its initial
value after it is disturbed by external influences.
• Processes whose variables follow the pattern
indicated by y in Figure 2.5 (curves a,b,c) are called
unstable processes and require external control for
the stabilization of their behavior.
The explosion of a hydrocarbon duel with air is such
an unstable system.
Riding a bicycle is an attempt to stabilize an unstable
system and we attain that by pedaling, steering and
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leaning our body right or left.
2.2.3 Optimizing the Performance of a Chemical Process

• Safety and the satisfaction of the production

specifications are the 2 principal/ cardinal
operational objectives for a chemical plant.
Once these are achieved, the next goal is how to make
the operation of the plant more profitable.
Need to be able to change the operation of the plant
(flow rates, pressures, concentrations, temperatures) in
such a way that an economic objective (profit) is always
maximized.
• This task is undertaken by the automatic controllers
of the plant and its human operators. 27
 Fig 2.6 Optimization of a BR with two consecutive reactions
• Consider a batch reactor where the following two
consecutive reactions take place:

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• Both reactions are assumed to be endothermic with
first order kinetics.
• The heat required for the reactions is supplied by
steam which flows through the jacket around the
reactor (Fig 2.6).
• The desired product is B while C is an undesired
product/waste.
• The economic objective for the operation of the
batch reactor is to maximize the profit ɸ over a
period of time tR, i.e.
𝑡𝑅
𝑚𝑎𝑥𝛷 = න ሼሾ𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝐵 ሿ
0
− [𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴]ሽ𝑑𝑡 − −1
29
  where, tR is the period of rxn
Q, the steam flow rate is the only variable that can be
freely changed in order to maximize profit
• The steam flow rate, which vary with time, will
affect the T in the BR and T will in turn affect the
rates of the desired and undesired rxns.
 Question: How should Q(t) be varied with time so
that profit is maximized? (Optimal control
problems)
• Control of Q is not used to ensure stability of
reactor or eliminate effect of external disturbances
on reactor, but optimize its economic performance.
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2.3 Design aspects of Process Control
System
2.3.1 Classification of variables in a
Chemical Process
2.3.2 Design elements of a Control System
2.3.3 Control aspects of a complete
Chemical Plant

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2.3.1 Classification of variables in a Chemical Process

• The variables associated with a chemical process are divided into 2

groups:
Input variables: which denote the effect of the surroundings on the chemical
process
Output variables: which denote the effect of the process on the
surroundings

Fig 2.7 CSTR with cooling jacket

Input variables: cA, Fi, Ti, Tci, Fc, (F)
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Output variables: cA, F, V, T, Tco
• Input variables can further be divided into:
 Manipulated (or adjustable) variables, their values can be
adjusted freely by a human operator or a control mechanism
 Disturbances, their values are not the result of adjustment by an
operator or a control system
• Output variables can also be classified into the following categories:
 Measured output variables, their values are known by directly
measuring them
 Unmeasured output variables, their values are not or cannot be
measured directly
• Suppose the inlet stream in the CSTR system (Fig 2.7) comes from an
upstream unit over which we have no control (then cA, Ti and Fi) are
disturbances.
• If the coolant flow rate is controlled by a control valve, then Fc is a
MV, while Tc is a disturbance.
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• If the flow rate of the effluent stream is controlled by a
valve, F is a MV, otherwise it is an output variable.
• With respect to output variables (T, F, Tco and V) are
measured output variables (T & Tco using a
thermocouple, F using a venturi meter and V using a
DPC).
• cA is a measured variable if an analyzer (gas
chromatograph, infrared spectrometer, etc.) is
attached to the effluent stream, generally expensive,
low reliability, consequently cA becomes unmeasured
output variable.
• According to their measurability, disturbances are
classified into measured and unmeasured disturbances 34
Fig 2.8 summarizes all the classes of variables that we have around a chemical process .

Fig 2.8 Input and output variables around a chemical process 35

 2.3.2 Design elements of a Control System

• There are basic questions as well as concepts that

must be answered and understood while
attempting to design a control system that will
satisfy the control needs of a chemical process.
(a). Define control objectives
The central element in any control configuration
is the PROCESS that we want to control, thus the
first question raised by the control designer is:
• Question 1: What are the operational objectives
that a control system is called upon to achieve?
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• The answer to this question
determines the control
objectives:
Ensuring the stability of
the process, or
Suppressing the influence
of external disturbances,
or
Optimizing the economic
performance of a plant,
or Fig 2.1 STH
A combination of the • Control objectives:
above  T = Ts and
 V (h) = Vs (hs)
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(b). Select measurements (c). Select manipulated variables
 Once the central objectives have
Whatever our control
been specified and the various
objectives are, we need measurements identified, the
some means to monitor the next question relates to how we
performance of the effect a change in the process:
chemical process • Question 3: What are the
This is done by measuring manipulated variables to be
the values of certain used to control a chemical
processing variables (Ts, Ps, process?
concentration, flow rates, • Usually in a process we have a
etc.), and the second number of available input
question that arises is: variables which can be
adjusted freely, but which
• Question 2: What variables
ones to select as manipulated
should we measure in order to variables is a crucial question,
maintain the operational as choice will affect the quality
performance of a plant? 38
of the control actions we take.
 • Depending on how many controlled
(d). Select the control outputs and manipulated inputs we
configuration have in a chemical process, we can
distinguish the control configuration as
After the control objectives, the
either single-input, single-output (SISO)
possible measurements, and the or multiple-input, multiple-output
available manipulated variables (MIMO) control systems.
have been identified, the final • For example, the tank heater
problem to be solved is that of system:
defining the control configuration.  If the control objective (controlled
It is clear that there are many output) is to keep the liquid level at a
different control configurations for desired value by manipulating the
a given chemical process, which effluent flow rate, we have a SISO
system.
raises the following question:
• On the contrary, if our control objective
• Question 4: What is the best control
are (more than one) to keep the level
configuration for a given chemical
and the temperature of the liquid at
process control situation?
desired values, by manipulating (more
• The answer to this question is very than one) the steam flow rate and the
critical for the quality of the control effluent flow rate, we have a MIMO
system we are to design. system. 39
General structures of FB and FF control systems

Fig 2.9 General structure of Feedback control Fig 2.10 General structure of Feedforward
configuration control configuration 40
 • Let’s consider the problem of controlling
(e).Design the controller the temperature T of a liquid in a STH
In every control (Fig 2.1), when Ti changes.
configuration the controller
is the active element that
receives the information
from the measurements
and takes appropriate
control actions to adjust the
values of the MVs, and the
following question arises:
• Question 5: How is the
information taken from the Fig 2.1 STH
measurements used to
adjust the values of the • Assumption: Fi = F and Ti will be the
MVs? (Answer: Control law). measurement and Q (heat input
provided by the steam) the MV. 41
• Question 6: How should Q change in order to keep
T constant, when Ti changes? (Developing a
control law)
• Under steady – state conditions:
0 = FρCp (Ti,s – Ts) + Qs ---- 1
• Where, F, ρ and Cp are the inlet (or outlet) flow
rate, density of liquid and specific heat capacity of
the liquid, respectively.
• Ts, Ti,s and Qs are the corresponding steady-state
values.

42
Fig 2.11 temperature step change 43
• If suddenly Ti increases as in Fig 2.11, if nothing is done on Q, T will
start rising with time, and how T changes with time is described by
the transient energy balance around the tank as follows:

Subtracting eqn. I from eqn. 2

Note that d(T-Ts)/dt = dT/dt since Ts = constant

The difference, ϵ = T – Ts (error or deviation of liquid’s temperature from

the desired value, Ts).

Control law is to require that Q changes proportionally to the error T - Ts:

This is known as the proportional control and parameter α is called

proportional gain 44
• Substituting eqn 4 into eqn 3:

• Eqn 5 is solved for (T - Ts), and for various values of gain α yields a
solution shown in Fig 2.12

Fig 2.12 temperature response under proportional feedback control 45

• None of the solutions is satisfactory since T-Ts ≠ 0
(proportional control not applicable)
• Therefore can use integral control, where Q is
proportional to the time integral of (T-Ts):

•Eqn 6 into eqn 3:

46
• The solutions of eqn. 7 for various parameter values of
α’ are shown in Fig 2.13; the integral control is
acceptable since it derives the error T – Ts to zero.
• The quality of control depends on the value of α’

Fig 2.13 Temperature response under integral feedback control 47

• Combining proportional and integral
action = proportional-integral control
and the value of the heat input Q
becomes:

48