Chapter 1

Process Dynamics and Control
Introduction to
Chemical Process Dynamics
and Control
Dr. Nooryusmiza Yusoff
Chemical Engineering Department
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 1

Chapter Objectives
End of this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Define what is “process dynamics” and
“control”
2. Describe WHY process dynamics and control
is important in industry
3. Classify “variables”
4. Demonstrate the purpose of process control
5. Recognize what are the typical hardware for
process control system

Process
• Foundation of process control is process

understanding.
What is a process?
• The conversion of feed materials to useful

products using chemical and physical operations
– PROCESS.
• Common processes can be continuous, batch or

semi-batch.

Batch and semi-batch processes

Control problem
• Batch or semi-batch reactor: The reactor

temperature is controlled by manipulating a
coolant flow rate.
• Batch digester: The end point of the chemical
reaction is indicated by Kappa number, a measure
of lignin content. It is controlled to a desired value
by adjusting the digester temperature, pressure,
and/or cycle time.
• Plasma etcher: The unwanted material on a layer
of a microelectronics circuit is selectively
removed by chemical reactions. The temperature,
pressure and flow rates of etching gases to the
reactor are controlled by adjusting electrical
heaters and control valves.

• Kidney dialysis unit: The blood flow rate

is maintained by a pump, and “ambient
conditions”, such as temperature of the
unit, are controlled by adjusting a flow
rate.

Continuous Processes

Tubular Heat Exchanger
Control problem: The exit temperature of the process

fluid is controlled by manipulating the cooling water
flow rate.
Disturbances: Variations in the inlet temperatures and
process fluid flow rate.

Continuous stirred tank reactor
(CSTR)
Control problem: If the reaction is highly exothermic, it is

necessary to control the reactor temperature by manipulating
the flow rate of the coolant in a jacket or cooling coil.
Disturbances: The feed conditions (composition, flow rate,
and temperature).

Thermal cracking furnace
Control Problem: The furnace

temperature and amount of excess air in
the flue gas to be controlled by
manipulating the fuel flow rate and the
fuel/air ratio.
Disturbances: The crude oil composition
and the heating quality of the fuel.

Multi-component distillation column
Control Problem: Distillate

composition can be controlled by
adjusting the reflux flow rate or
the distillate flow rate.
Disturbances: The feed conditions

Dynamics
Dynamic Process
• Time varying
• Unsteady state

Dynamics
 The term process dynamics refer to

unsteady state (or transient) behavior.
 Dynamic studies provide us the behavior

of the process under unsteady-state
conditions
Gain knowledge about the

process behavior.

Concepts of Process Control
A simple
example:

Block diagram

Role of process dynamics and control
in industry
Illustration with examples

• Example 1 – a simple process where
dynamic response is important
• Example 2 – use of a single feedback

controller
• Example 3 – simple but typical chemical

engineering plant

Example 1 – A gravity-flow tank
Under steady state conditions,

the flow rate out of the tank
must equal the flow rate into
the tank.
What would happen dynamically

if we changed Fo?
How will h(t) and F(t) vary

will time?

Example 2 – Heat Exchanger
We want to control the temperature of oil leaving

the heat exchanger.

How to control?
A thermocouple is inserted in a thermowell

in the exit oil pipe.
Thermocouple wires are connected to a

“temperature transmitter” that converts the
millivolt output into a 4- to 20 mA signal.
This signal sent to a temperature controller.
The temperature controller opens the steam

valve if more steam is needed or closes it a
little if the temperature is too high.

Components of control loop
• A sensor
• A transmitter Measurement (M)
• A controller Decision (D)
• A final control element (actuator)
Action (A)
Process control deal with:

• What type of controller to be used?
• How it should be “tuned”?

Class Discussion 1

Example 3 - A typical chemical plant

Need for control
Performance requirements for process plants have become

increasingly difficult to satisfy.
Key factors for tightening product quality specifications:

• Stronger competition
• Rapidly changing economic conditions
• Tough environmental and safety regulations
• Modern plants are complex and highly integrated
• It is difficult to prevent disturbances from propagating from
one unit to other interconnected units.
Process control has become increasingly important due to

increased importance on safe and efficient plant operation.

OBJECTIVES OF PROCESS CONTROL
• Maintain a process at the desired

operating conditions, safely and
efficiently
• Satisfy product quality and
environmental requirements

Justification of Process Control
Specific Objectives of Control

• Increased product throughput
• Increased yield of higher valued products
• Decreased energy consumption
• Decreased pollution
• Decreased off-spec product
• Increased Safety
• Extended life of equipment
• Improved Operability
• Decreased production labor

Process control applications
• Large-scale integrated processing plants

such as oil refineries or ethylene plants
require thousands of process variables such
as temperature, pressure, flow, level and
compositions are measured and controlled.
• Large number of process variables, mainly

flow rates, can be manipulated.
• Feedback control systems compare

measurements with their desired values and
then adjust the manipulated variables
accordingly.

Process variables
Three important types: (Control Terminology)

1. Controlled variables - these are the variables
which quantify the performance or quality of the
final product, which are also called output
variables.
2. Manipulated variables - these input variables are
adjusted dynamically to keep the controlled
variables at their set-points.
3. 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.

• Specification of controlled variables,

manipulated variables and disturbance
variables is a critical step in developing a
control system

Class Discussion 2

Plant Automation
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING Days-Years

(Strategic, Tactical, Operational)
REAL-TIME OPTIMIZATION Hours-Days
ADVANCED PROCESS CONTROLS Minutes-Hours

(Model Predictive Control, Artificial Intelligent Control)
REGULATORY CONTROLS Seconds-

(PID) Minutes
Motivation:
To integrate all levels of plant
automation as a single-level
control (Tousain, 2002)

Economic Incentives - Advanced
Control

Control Terminology
• set-point change - implementing a change in the

operating conditions. The set-point signal is
changed and the manipulated variable is adjusted
appropriately to achieve the new operating
conditions.
Also called servomechanism (or "servo") control.
• disturbance change - the process transient
behavior when a disturbance enters, also called
regulatory control or load change.
A control system should be able to return each
controlled variable back to its set-point.

Control Strategies
There are 2 major control strategies:

Feedback control
Feedforward control



Feedback Control
• Distinguishing feature: measure the controlled

variable.
• It is important to make a distinction between
negative feedback and positive feedback.
Advantages:
• Corrective action is taken regardless of the source
of the disturbances.
• Reduces sensitivity of the controlled variable to
disturbances and changes in the process.

Feedback Control
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…

Feedforward Control
Distinguishing feature:
• measure a disturbance variable
Advantage:
• Correct for disturbance before it upsets
the process.
Disadvantage:
• Must be able to measure the disturbance
No corrective action for unmeasured
disturbances

Illustrative Example:
Blending system
Notation: Assumptions:
• w1, w2 and w are mass • w1 is constant
flow rates
• x2 = const. = 1 (stream 2 is pure A
• x1, x2 and x are mass
• Perfect mixing in the tank
fractions of component A

Blending system
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
• 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)
Component A balance:
w1x1  w2 x2  wx  0 (1-2)
(The overbars denote nominal steady-state design values)

At the design conditions, x  xsp .
Substitute in Eq.1-2, x  xsp and x2  1, then solve Eq. 1-2
for w2 :
xSP  x1
w2  w1 (1-3)
1  xSP
Equation 1-3 is the design equation for the blending
system.
• If our assumptions are correct, then this value of w2 will
keep x at xsp.
• But what if conditions change?
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;
• Manual control vs. automatic control
• Proportional feedback control law
w2  t   w2  K c  xSP  x  t   (1-4)
• Kc is called the controller gain

• w2(t) and x(t) denote variables that change with time t
• The change in the flow rate, w2  t   w2 , is proportional to
the deviation from the set point, xSP – x(t).

Control Method 1

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

Control Method 2

Control Method 3
Method 3. Measure x1 and x, adjust w2.

• This approach is a combination of Methods 1 and 2.

Control 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.

Classification of Control Strategies
Table. 1.1 Control Strategies for the Blending

System
Measured Manipulated
Method Variable Variable Category
1 x w2 FB
2 x1 w2 FF
3 x1 and x w2 FF/FB
4 - - Design
change

Class Discussion 3

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Process Dynamics and Control

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 1

End of this chapter, you should be able to:

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 2

• Foundation of process control is process

• The conversion of feed materials to useful

• Common processes can be continuous, batch or

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 3

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 4

• Batch or semi-batch reactor: The reactor

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 5

• Kidney dialysis unit: The blood flow rate

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 6

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 7

Control problem: The exit temperature of the process

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 8

Control problem: If the reaction is highly exothermic, it is

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 9

Control Problem: The furnace

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 10

Control Problem: Distillate

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 11

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 12

 The term process dynamics refer to

 Dynamic studies provide us the behavior

Gain knowledge about the

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 13

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 14

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 15

Illustration with examples

• Example 2 – use of a single feedback

• Example 3 – simple but typical chemical

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 16

Under steady state conditions,

What would happen dynamically

How will h(t) and F(t) vary

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 17

We want to control the temperature of oil leaving

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 18

A thermocouple is inserted in a thermowell

Thermocouple wires are connected to a

This signal sent to a temperature controller.

The temperature controller opens the steam

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 19

Process control deal with:

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 20

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 21

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 22

Performance requirements for process plants have become

Key factors for tightening product quality specifications:

Process control has become increasingly important due to

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 23

• Maintain a process at the desired

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 24

Specific Objectives of Control

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 25

• Large-scale integrated processing plants

• Large number of process variables, mainly

• Feedback control systems compare

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 26

Three important types: (Control Terminology)

02/08/2010 CBB3013 - Chemical Process Dynamics and Control 27