EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

EXPERIMENT A1 BOILER DRUM FLOW & HEAT EXCHANGER PROCESS CONTROL (BDT-1) OBJECTIVES
To identify the major components of the Boiler Drum and Heat Exchanger process control training system. To study flow control system of the boiler drum using PI controller. To study temperature control system in the heat exchanger using single loop PID controller. To tune the controller using Cohen-Coon Open Loop (C-C) method.

KEYWORDS Heat exchanger, Boiler drum, Flow control, Level control, Temperature control 1. INTRODUCTION Boilers are used in almost all process and power plants to generate steam for the main purpose of (i) process heating and (ii) electricity generation. There are two basic process control systems found in any boiler plant: (i) Boiler drum level control and (ii) combustion control. Model BDT921 allows the study of the boiler drum level control system using water. It also has a temperature control system in a Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger. The Model 921 allows the study of control of the process variables such as level, flow, temperature and pressure. The controllers include simple ON/OFF controller, PID singleloop feedback controller, PID cascade controller and PID feedforward controller. Only studies on control of level, flow and temperature using PID single-loop feedback controller and PID cascade controller will be carried out in this experiment. 2. EXPERIMENTAL EQUIPMENT The experimental equipment used here is the Boiler Drum and Heat Exchanger Process Control Training System, Model BDT921 (Figure 8.1). The process medium is tap water. 2.1 BOILER DRUM

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

Tank T11 represents a boiler drum. Water from a preheated feedwater tank T12 is pumped into T11 by pump P12. This is the inflow to the boiler drum. The hot water from tank T11 is pumped out by the pump P11. This is the outflow from the boiler drum. This outflow becomes the heating medium to the Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger. Tank T11 is equipped with an electric heater to further heat the preheated feedwater. Tank T12 has two electric heaters. T12 supplies preheated water to tank T11 at about 60oC. The outflow of Tank T11 returns to Tank T12 after flowing through the heat exchanger. Tank T13 is the product batch tank containing water at ambient temperature. Water from this tank is pumped by pumps P13 and P14 to the shell side of the heat exchanger. The water gets heated up and returns to the tank T13. Water in tank T13 is well mixed by recirculating pump P15. The outflow hot water heating medium pipeline is painted RED. The preheated feedwater inflow pipeline is painted PINK. The product water pipeline is painted GREEN. This system is equipped with the necessary valves such as suction, discharge and by-pass valves. 2.2 CONTROL SYSTEMS AND INSTRUMENTATION The process can be operated from the control panel or the DCS. A brief description of the control system and instruments used is given below. 1) PID control for level: Measurement : LT11, Level transmitter, at vessel T11 Controller : LIC11, panel mount PID controller Final control element: LCV11, Control valve, complete with pneumatic positioner (PP) and a Current-to-Air converter (I/P), LCY11 2) PID control for flow: Measurement : FT12, Flow transmitter, at the inlet of vessel T11 Controller : FIC11, panel mount PID controller Final control element: LCV11, Control valve, complete with pneumatic positioner (PP) and a Current-to-Air converter (I/P), LCY11 Note: LIC11 and FIC11 can be set to function as cascade control or cascade with feedforward control. But, in this experiment, only single loop controllers will be used. 3) ON/OFF control for temperature: Measurement : TE11/TIT11, Temperature transmitter, at vessel T11 Controller : TIC111, panel mount ON/OFF controller Final control element: Heater in Tank T11. 4) PID control for temperature: Measurement : TE14/TIT14, Temperature transmitter, at the exit of the product water from the heat exchanger Controller : TIC11, panel mount PID controller

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

Final control element: TCV11, Control valve, complete with pneumatic positioner (PP) and a Current-to-Air converter (I/P), TCY11 5) Cascade Control: Measurement :

TE14/TIT14, Temperature transmitter, at the exit of the product water from the heat exchanger FT11, Flow transmitter, at the outlet of vessel T11 Controller : TIC11 and FIC12, panel mount PID controllers Final control element: TCV11, Control valve, complete with pneumatic positioner (PP) and a Current-to-Air converter (I/P), TCY11

6) ON/OFF controls for temperature: Measurement : TE12/TIT12, Temperature transmitter, at vessel T12 Controller : TIC12, panel mount ON/OFF controller Final control element: Heater in T12. Measurement : TE13/TIT13, Temperature transmitter, at vessel T13 Controller : TIC13, panel mount ON/OFF controller Final control element: TSV11, TSV12. 7) Recorder: LFTR11 Channel 1 0-1000 mm WG Channel 2 0-6 m3/Hr Channel 3 0-6 m3/Hr Channel 4 0-100 oC 8) Instrumentation: Gauge pressure transmitters : Temperature sensor/transmitter: PT11 TE11/TIT11 Type K thermocouple element TE12/TIT12 Type K thermocouple element TE13/TIT13 RTD element TE14/TIT14 RTD element FT11 (With square root function) FT12 LCV11 (Air-to-Open) TCV11 (Air-to-Open) TSV11, TSV12, LSV11

Red pen (0-100%) Green pen (0-100%) Blue pen (0-100%) Purple pen (0-100%)

Level, from LT11 Inflow, from FT12 Outflow, from FT11 Temp., from TE14

Differential pressure transmitter: Flowmeter (Vortex) Control valve Solenoid valves : : :

3. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES 3.1 IDENTIFICATION OF MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE PLANT Walk around the system, identify and mark the following major components in the P&I Diagram (Figure)

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

T11 T12 LT11 TE11 LCV11 TE12 TIC11 TIC111 TIC12 FT11 FIC12 TCV11 FT12 P12 T13 P13/P14 FI13 TE14 TIT14 LFTR11

Tank that represents the boiler drum Preheated feedwater tank Level transmitter for tank T11 Temperature sensor in Tank T11, a thermocouple element Level control valve at feed water inflow pipeline to Tank T11 Temperature sensor in Tank T12, a thermocouple element PID controller ON/OFF temperature controller in tank T11 ON/OFF temperature controller in tank T12 Measurement of outflow rate from T11 PID controller to control the inflow to T11 Control valve for TIC11/FIC12 Vortex flow meter Pump for feedwater (inflow) to tank T11 Product tank Pumps for pumping the water to be heated into the shell-side of the heat exchanger from product tank T13 Variable area flow meter Temperature sensor at the exit of the heat exchanger Indicating temperature transmitter for TE14 Recorder

3.2 START-UP PROCEDURES The following steps constitute start-up procedure. These steps must be carried out every time you start the equipment to perform an experiment. 1. Make sure : ON/OFF switches for the heaters at the front of the electrical cubicle are set to OFF. The suction, discharge and by-pass valves of pumps P11 and P12 are opened. The pump by-pass valves should be closed after the pumps have been started and their flow verified. At the outflow pipeline from P11, there is a manual Other Demand valve which should be fully opened. Locate the five control valves: LCV11, TCV11, LSV11, TSV11 and TSV12. o The manual by-pass valve in parallel to each of the control valve should be fully shut. o The two manual valves adjacent to (upstream and downstream) the control valve should be fully opened.

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

The Vent and the Overflow drain valve at the top of the tank T11 is open. TOP inflow manual valve and close the one at the bottom is open. Do NOT switch on pumps P13/P14 as there is no necessity to operate the product flow system. Do not turn on the heater as there is no necessity for heating. Switch OFF both the heaters for tanks T11 and T12. Do a final check that the instrument air supply are 25 psig (1.7 Barg) and 45 psig (3 Barg) as indicated at the air regulators.

2. Turn on the main power supply switch at the front of the Electrical Cubicle. All the panel instruments will lit up. Otherwise check and switch ON all the instrument power supply switches at the back of the instrument (open) panel. 3. Fill the tank T12 with water up to the level of overflow drain pipe outlet. 4. Fill the tank T11 half-full by switching ON the pump P12. Switch OFF the pump P12 and top up tank T12 again. 5. Press the RCD pushbutton at the front of the recorder to STOP/START the recorder chart drive. Make a small pencil note on the chart paper for any adjustment you make in this experiment. 6. Manually regulate both TCV11 and LCV11 from their controllers TIC11 and FIC11 (in Manual modes) so that the water level in tank T11 remains almost steady. This is an exercise of balancing two flowrates, Inflow and Outflow. 7. Do not allow the water level at tank T11 to fall below 20% or rise above 90%. Note the Inflow and Outflow rates. They are equal when the level is steady. 3.3 FLOW CONTROL IN BOILER DRUM Since the inflow and the outflow are independently operated by two different pumps, the boiler drum behaves like an integrating system. That is, if the outflow is set at a constant flow rate by its pump, and if the inflow increases/decreases there will be a continuous rise/fall in liquid level in Tank T11, resulting in overflow/run dry situation. Hence in this boiler drum system, we will control both the inflow and the outflow independently using two different controllers. We will always set the inflow at a higher flow rate than the outflow so that only an overflow situation arises. 1. Set Proportional (P) and Integral (I) control into FIC 11 using the following trial PID values for FIC11 i.e. PID2. i. PB2 = 60%-100% ii. T12 = 20 seconds iii. TD2 = 0

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

( Note: Write the set point and PID values on the recorder paper beside their responses). 2. Switch LIC/FIC11 to the 2-Element position. 3. Observe the Inflow rate PV2 and FIC11. Move its set point SV2 until it is near to the measurement value PV2. Press A button to switch FIC 11 to Automatic (A) mode. 4. Try different ways to disturb the process. - Step change the set point as above. - Open and close the by-pass valve around the Inflow pump P12 to disturb the Inflow. - Switch FIC11 to Manual (M), and change the control output by 10%. Switch it back to Auto (A). 4. Tune the controller using Cohen Coon Open Loop (C-C) method to get a new Set Proportional (P) and Integral (I) control. 5. Try different ways to disturb the process. - Step change the set point as above. - Open and close the by-pass valve around the Inflow pump P12 to disturb the Inflow. - Switch FIC11 to Manual (M), and change the control output by 10%. Switch it back to Auto (A). 5. Observe and compare the response with setting found in (1) and (4).. 3.4 TEMPERATURE CONTROL IN THE HEAT EXCHANGER USING PID CONTROLLER 1. Checklist Check that the external water supply is connected to tank T13 via LSV11 and its supply-side isolation valve is opened. LSV11 is an ON-OFF solenoid control valve and its by-pass valves should be shut whilst its incoming manual valve should be opened. Fill tank T13 with water till it is about 3/4 full. Tank T14 will fill by itself via the mechanical ball float control. Check the level at T13/T14 at the level sight glass. Check the sight glass of tank T11 to ensure the water in tank T11 completely covers the heater. Otherwise the heater will burn out. Check that TIT11, TIT12, TIT13 and TIT14 show approximately ambient (or previously heated) temperature with TIT11 and TIT12 rising when the heaters are turned on.

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Set LIC11 (PID1, Loop 1) to Manual (M) mode.

Switch on the power for the heaters at both T11 and T12. The Heater ON/OFF switches are at the front of the Electrical panel. Switch LIC/FIC11 to the 1-Element position. Manually adjust the controller output (MV) of LIC11 to MV = 55%. Set the controller TIC11/FIC12 selector switch to Position 1. Set the controller TIC11 (PID1, Loop 1) to Manual (M) mode. Manually adjust the output (MV) of TIC11 (Loop 1 of TIC11/FIC12) to about 45%. Visually check that the stem position of TCV11 is about 45%. Set the set point of LIC11 to 500 mm (50%). Set the PID values in the controller LIC11 (PID1, Loop 1) as PB1 = 20% TI1 = 25 seconds TD1 = 0 This controller maintains the level of liquid in the tank T11 almost constant.

10. Press the Auto A button to switch LIC11 to Automatic mode. 11. Start the record chart drive by pressing the RCD pushbutton. Observe the level (red pen) response at recorder LFTR11. If the level oscillates too much, then adjust the controller parameters accordingly ( Note: Write the set point and PID values on the recorder paper beside their responses). 12. Set the PID values of the controller TIC11 as PB1 = 6% TI1 = 30 seconds TD1 = 7 seconds. 13. Check TIT11 and TIT12. The temperatures in tanks T11 and T12 are maintained around 60oC by ON/OFF controllers. 14. When TIT11 and TIT12 are about 60C, the Outflow or heating medium is ready for the heating of the product from tank T13. 15. Set the setpoint SV of TIC11 as given below: a. SV must always be set at a, few degrees (say 5C), higher temperature than the product tank temperature, indicated at TITI3. b. Also SV must be at least 10C less than the temperature of the heating medium, TIT11. c. The maximum value that can be set to SV is 40oC. 16. When SV, the set point of TIC11 is set, start both product pumps P13/P14. Verify its flow rate at the rotameter FI13. Set the product flow rate at the maximum by shutting their by-pass valves fully. Make sure that their manual discharge valves are opened. 17. Switch controller TIC11 to Automatic (A) mode. 18. Switch on the recirculating pump P15 for mixing tank T13.

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

19. The initial flow of product will be overheated if the Heat Exchanger has been running for some time without any product flow. Let the product run for a while. 20. Observe the temperature, TIT14, control response (purple pen) at the recorder LFTR11 until it shows consistent response for two cycles or when the response is steady. 21. Step increase the temperature setpoint SV by 3C to 5C at TIC11 to represent a desire for higher temperature product. 22. Mark the set point and the PID controller settings in the recorder chart paper besides the TIT14 (purple pen) response. 23. Observe the response till it becomes almost steady. 24. Set new PID values of the controller TIC11 as PB1 = 10% TI1 = 50 seconds TD1 = 12 seconds.

( Note: Write the set point and PID values on the recorder paper beside their responses). Observed the response and wait until it becomes almost steady before increased the temperature set point. Step increase the temperature setpoint SV by 3C to 5C at TIC11 to represent a desire for higher temperature product. Observe the response till it becomes almost steady.

25. Tune the controller using Ziegler-Nichol (Z-N) method to get a new set of reading for Proportional (P) , Integral (I) and derivatives (D) control. ( Note: Write the set point and PID values on the recorder paper beside their responses). Observed the response and wait until it becomes almost steady before increased the temperature set point. Step increase the temperature setpoint SV by 3C to 5C at TIC11 to represent a desire for higher temperature product. Observe the response till it becomes almost steady.

26. Retrieve the relevant portions of the record chart paper and compare the output for 2 PID setting given. This constitutes the results of your experiment. 4. RESULTS Report should contain 1. The P&I diagram marked with all major components of the Boiler Drum and Heat Exchanger Control system. 2. The chart recordings of the flow control responses at two different set points. A comparison of the responses at high and low set points. responses are damped or oscillatory, fast or sluggish, etc. Highlight if the

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

3. The record chart paper showing the control response for set point changes in product temperature. 4. Discussion on heat exchanger control.

EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

Figure 8.1 P&I Diagram of Boiler Drum and Heat Exchanger Process Control Training System, BDT921

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EKC 493 Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

Figure 8.2 P&I Diagram of Boiler Drum and Heat Exchanger Process Control Training System, BDT921 with names of major components removed 11