Process Dynamics and

Control
Hare Krishna Mohanta
BITS Pilani Department of Chemical Engineering
B.I.T.S-Pilani, Pilani Campus
Pilani Campus
 CHAPTER 1
BITS Pilani CHE F342: PROCESS DYNAMICS AND CONTROL
Pilani Campus
Introduction to Process Control

• Objective of a plant
• Requirements to meet the objective
• Issues addressed by Control System/Process Control
• Classification of Variables with examples
• Control Strategies/Schemes
• Laws of Process Control

16 January 2019 3
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Objective of a plant
Raw materials PLANT Product

Objective of a plant:
• To obtain the product in the most economical and efficient way
Requirements to meet the objective:
• Safety – e.g. Reactor operating at a very extreme condition
• Product specification - both quality as well as quantity
• Environmental requirements – Various Govt. laws and regulations
• Operational constraints
– Distillation column should not be flooded
– Tanks should not overflow or run dry
– Temperature should not exceed the upper limit in case of catalytic reactions
• Economic – Less operating cost and maximum profit
To meet all these requirements, we need control systems.

16 January 2019 4
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Issues addressed by Control
System/Process Control
1. Suppressing the influence of external disturbances
2. Ensuring stability of chemical processes
Ti , wi
3. Optimizing the performance of a chemical processes T,w

TT V

Suppressing the influence of external disturbances TSP -

T
Q
+
Consider a tank heating system e=Tsp-T

Control objective: TC

To maintain the temperature at a desired value, Tsp.

Steam Flowrate

16 January 2019 5
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Ensuring Stability of a chemical Process

• Stable process

• Unstable process

In chemical industry most of the processes are not stable but rather unstable
(like the runway case)

16 January 2019 6
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Optimizing the performance of a
Chemical Process
• Jacketed CSTR
ABC Fi, CAi, Ti

Desired product = B Fc, Tco

Undesired product = C
Economic objective: F, CA, T
Fc, Tci

So, for this an efficient control system is required.

16 January 2019 7
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Classification of Variables

Process Variables
(PVs)

Input variables Output variables

Measured output
Manipulated Disturbance/Load Unmeasured
(Controlled
Variables (MVs) Variables (DVs) output
Variables, CVs)

16 January 2019 8
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Definitions

• Process – Any system in which certain change occurs. This change may be
physical/chemical
• Input variables – Those variables which affect the process.
• Output variables – Those variables which are affected by the process.
• Controlled variables (CVs) – The process variables that are controlled.
• Setpoint (SP) - The desired value of CV is called as its set-point.
• Manipulated Variables (MVs) – The process variables that can be adjusted in order
to keep the CVs at or near their setpoints.
[Generally, MVs are flowrates because they can be changed instantaneously.
Generally temperature and pressure can’t be instantly manipulated.]
• Disturbance Variables (DVs) – The process variables that affect the CVs, but can’t
be manipulated.

16 January 2019 9
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Examples:

• Liquid Tank System

hSP
Fi e=hsp-h
Fi -+ LC
h
LT

h FO
h FO

• Objective: To maintain h at a desired value, hsp

CV MV DVs

h Fi or Fo Fo or Fi

16 January 2019 10
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Examples:

• Heating Tank System Ti , wi

T,w

• Objective: To keep T at a desired value Tsp. V

CV MV DVs

T Fst Fi, Ti

Ti , wi
T,w
Fst
TT V

T
-
TSP +

e=Tsp-T

TC

Fst

16 January 2019 11
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Control Schemes

Control
schemes

Feedback Feed-forward Feedback+Feed- Inferential

Control Control forward Control control

16 January 2019 12
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Example – A mixing Process

Control objective: To blend the two inlet streams to produce an outlet stream
that has the desired composition xsp. w ,x
1 1 w , x =1
2 2

CV: x
MV: w2
DVs: w1, x1 V

• Strategy 1: Measuring x and manipulating w2 to get xsp

w, x
(This control scheme is called as Feedback Control)
• Strategy 2: Measuring w1 and manipulating w2 to a suitable value to get xsp
(This control scheme is called as Feedforward Control)

16 January 2019 13
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Feedback Control

• Measuring x and manipulating w2 to get xsp w1,x1 w2, x2=1

• Characteristics of FB Control
1. CV is measured and the measurement is used to adjust the MV AC

2. DV is not measured. -
+
xsp

• Advantages of FB Control V
AT
1. Corrective action occurs regardless of the source of disturbance
w, x
2. Reduces the sensitivity of CV to unmeasured disturbances and process changes

• Limitations of FB Control
• No corrective action is taken until after the disturbance has upset the process

16 January 2019 14
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Feedforward Control
• Measuring w1 and manipulating w2 to a suitable value to get xsp
OMB: w1+w2 = w
CB: w1x1+w2x2 = wx = (w1+w2)x xsp

x2 = 1 (pure stream) and we want x to be xsp. So, -+

w1x1+w2 = (w1+w2)xsp
w ,x w2, x2=1
or, w2 = w1(xsp-x1)/(1-xsp) 1 1

• Characteristics of FF Control V w, x
• DV is measured but not the CV
• Advantage:
• Control action takes place before the process gets affected
• Limitations:
• The DV must be correctly estimated
• No corrective action is taken for the unmeasured disturbances.
• A process model is required

16 January 2019 15
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Other Control Strategies

• Feedforward-Feedback Control
• A combination of Feedforward and Feedback Control Strategies
• FB control provided corrective action for unmeasured disturbances
• FF control reacts to eliminate measured disturbance before the CV
is upset
• Inferential Control
• CV is indirectly measured through a model, called as estimator or
soft-sensor

16 January 2019 16
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Laws of Process Control

• 1st Law
The simplest control system that will do the job is
the best
• 2nd Law
Process dynamics must be understood before it
can be controlled

16 January 2019 17
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Exercises
1.1 Which of the following statements are true?
(a) Feedback and feedforward control both require a measured variable.
TRUE
(b) The process variable to be controlled is measured in feedback control.
TRUE
(c) Feedforward control can be perfect in the theoretical sense that the controller can
take action via the manipulated variable even while the controlled variable remains
equal to its desired value.
TRUE
(d) Feedforward control can provide perfect control; that is, the output can be kept at
its desired value, even with an imperfect process model.
TRUE
(e) Feedback control will always take action regardless of the accuracy of any process
model that was used to design it and the source of a disturbance.
FALSE

16 January 2019 18
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 Q 1.2

Consider a home heating system consisting of a natural

gas-fired furnace and a thermostat. In this case the
process consists of the interior space to be heated. The
thermostat contains both the measuring element and the
controller. The furnace is either on (heating) or off.
Draw a schematic diagram for this control system. On
your diagram, identify the controlled variables,
manipulated variables, and disturbance variables. Be
sure to include several possible sources of disturbances • CV: T
that can affect room temperature. • MV: Q
• DV: QL

16 January 2019 19
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Q 1.6

The distillation column shown in the drawing is used to

distill a binary mixture. Symbols x, y, and z denote mole fractions
of the more volatile component, while B, D, R, and F
represent molar flow rates. It is desired to control distillate
composition y despite disturbances in feed flow rate F. All
flow rates can be measured and manipulated with the exception
of F, which can only be measured. A composition analyzer
provides measurements of y.
(a) Propose a feedback control method and sketch the
schematic diagram.
(b) Suggest a feedforward control method and sketch the
schematic diagram.

16 January 2019 20
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Q 1.6

Feed Back Control Feedforward Control

16 January 2019 21
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
16 January 2019 22
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
16 January 2019
23 BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus