Chapter 1

Introduction to
Process Control

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 Topic Outcomes (TO)
1. Explain the importance of process control.
2. Identify and describe simple control system
Chapter 1

3. Explain the process & instrumentation

diagram (P&ID).
4. Design control system for a typical chemical
process.

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 Basic Questions about Control
1)What is control?
Chapter 1

2)Why is control necessary?

3)What is feedback control?
4)What does a feedback
system do?
5)How is control done?

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 1.What is control?
Control:To maintain desired conditions in a
physical system by adjusting selected variables
Chapter 1

in the system.

Control System
The control systems appear to have three basic
elements which is

SENSOR CONTROLLER FINAL ELEMENT

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 SENSOR

-The first task that of acquiring information about of the process output
variables.
-Sensors are usually needed for pressure, temperature, liquid level, flow
and composition measurement.
-thermocouple: temperature measurement
Chapter 1

-differential pressure cell: for liquid level measurements

-gas/liquid chromatographs: composition measurements

CONTROLLER

-The decision maker,and hence the ‘heart’ of the control system

FINAL ELEMENT

-Pump, variable speed fans, compressor, conveyors

Transmitter: How process information acquired by the sensor get back to

the controller, and the controller decision gets back to the process
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 DISTURBANCE

INPUT OUTPUT
Chapter 1

Process
sensor
Final control element

Transmitter

Transmitter
Decision
Controller INFORMATION

The feedback control configuration

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 2.Why is control necessary?
Chapter 1

One word: DISTURBANCES!

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 Chapter 1

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 2.Why is control necessary?
1.Safety
a) Emergency System - to enforce bounds of variables.
Chapter 1

b) Safety Valve - it opens to vent the excess vapor.

2.Environmental Protection
a) Safety Release System
- it diverts a hydrocarbon gaseous to a flare for
combustion .
-it diverts a stream (water) to a holding pond for
purification.

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 2.Why is control necessary?
3. Equipment Protection
a) To maintain conditions near desired value and
emergency controls.
Chapter 1

b) Level controller - protects the pump form damage.

c) Emergency Controls - shut off the pump motor when
the level decreased.

4. Smooth Operation and Production Rate

a) Chemical plants - complex networks / interacting
processes.
b) Adjusting the feed valve (before the flash drum) -
desired value.

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 2.Why is control necessary?
5. Product Quality
a) Specifications - compositions / physical properties /
Chapter 1

performance properties / combination of all three.

b) Adjusting the flash temperature - control
component A in the liquid stream.

6. Profit
a) Goal - to provide product at lowest cost.
b) Using hot process fluid for heating instead of steam.

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 2.Why is control necessary?
7. Monitoring and Diagnosis
There are 2 functions:
Chapter 1

i. The immediate safety and operation of the plant -

plant operators.
ii. The long term plant performance analysis
-engineers
Alarm - to indicate serious maloperation.

All the categories of control objectives must be

achieved simultaneously; failure to do so leads to
unprofitable or worse, dangerous plant operation.
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 3.What is Feedback control?
FEEDBACK CONTROL makes use of an output of a system
to influence an input to the same system.
Chapter 1

input = cause output = effect

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 4.What does a feedback system do?
-Describe your method
for driving a car.
Chapter 1

-Could you drive a car

without looking out
the windshield?
-What must be
provided by the car
designer?
-Can a “good design”
eliminate the need to
steer?

Figure 1
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 Chapter 1

15
 Chapter 1

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 Chapter 1

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 Process Dynamics

a) Determine how a process responds during transient conditions and it refers

to unsteady-state process.
b) Steady-state vs. unsteady-state behavior
Steady state: variables do not change with time
Chapter 1

Unsteady state: variables change with time

a) Continuous processes: Examples of transient behavior:
Start up & shutdown
Grade changes
Major disturbance: e.g., refinery during stormy or hurricane conditions
Equipment or instrument failure (e.g., pump failure)

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 d) Batch processes
i. Inherently unsteady-state operation
ii. Example: Batch reactor
1. Composition changes with time
2. Other variables such as temperature could be constant.
Chapter 1

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 Control Terminology
controlled variables - these are the variables which quantify the
performance or quality of the final product, which are also called output
variables.
manipulated variables - these input variables are adjusted dynamically to
Chapter 1

keep the controlled variables at their set-points.(if their value can be

adjusted freely by the human operator or a control mechanism).
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.(if their values are not the result of
adjustment by an operator or a control system).
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.

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 FEEDBACK
Chapter 1

Uses direct measurements of the controlled variables to adjust the

values of the manipulated variables.

FEEDFORWARD
Uses direct measurements of the disturbances variables to adjust
the values of the manipulated variables.

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 General Form of Control System Configuration

Disturbances variable
Chapter 1

PROCESS

Manipulated variable
Controlled variable

Structure of Open-loop System (struktur bg sistem gelung terbuka)

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 Feed Back Feed Forward
Disturbances
variable
Manipulated controller Disturbances
variable Controlled variable
Process variable
Process
Manipulated Controlled
controller variable variable
Advantages
Chapter 1

It does not required identification and
measurement of any disturbance.
It is not sensitive to modeling errors.
It is not sensitive to parameter
changes.
Acts before the effects of a disturbances has
been felt by the system
Is good for slow systems or with significant
dead time
It does not introduce instability in the closed
-loop response

Disadvantages
It wait until the effect of the Required identification & measurement of
disturbances has been felt by the disturbances
system Cannot cope with unmeasured disturbance
It is unsatisfactory for slow processes Sensitive to process parameter variations
It may create instability in the close- Requires good knowledge of the process control
loop response

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 Instrumentation Symbols

Symbols of instruments used in process

controls drawings:
Chapter 1

A: Analyzer
F: Flow rate
L: Level of liquid or solids in a vessel
P: Pressure
T: Temperature
C: Controller
V: Valve

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Chapter 1

Case Study
Chapter 1
 Case 1: High pressure is dangerous.
Case 2: No flow could damage the pump
Chapter 1

Case 3: High temperature may cause thermal

loading in the column
Case 4: Quality of product at the bottom column
is the most critical
Case 5: Keep the process at smooth rate, avoid
dry column
Chapter 1
Case 1
Chapter 1
Case 2
 Case 3

High thermal
loading
Chapter 1

TC
 Case 4
Adjusting the
heating and
flowrate
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 Case 5
 Chapter 1

TASK 1

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 Task 1
State your own objective for this chemical reactor.
List the controlled, manipulated variables and disturbance(s)
Chapter 1
 Answer for Task 1
Level and Temperature Control
LC
Chapter 1

TC
 Question
Chapter 1

How do we control processes?

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Chapter 1 1.1 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

• Disturbance variable (or “load variable”): x1

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 Design Question. What value of w2 is required to have x = xSP ?

Overall balance:
0 = w1 + w2 − w (1-1)

Component A balance:
Chapter 1

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
at xSP . 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
xSP
the set point ?
x1 > x1 w2 = w2
As a specific example, if and , then x > xSP.

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 Some Possible Control Strategies:
Method 1. Measure x and adjust w2.

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

•Intuitively, if x is too low, we should increase w2;

Chapter 1

•Manual control vs. automatic control

Proportional feedback control law,
w2 ( t ) = w2 + Kc  xSP − x ( t )  (1-4)

1. where Kc is called the controller gain.

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

w2 ( t ) − w2 ,
3. The change in the flow rate, is proportional to
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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

Chapter 1

x1(t) and w2(t) to get a control law:

xSP − x1 ( t )
w2 ( t ) = w1 (1-5)
1 − xSP

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Chapter 1

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

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

Method 4. Use a larger tank.

Chapter 1

• 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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 1.2 Classification of Control Strategies

Table. 1.1 Control Strategies for the Blending System

Method Measured Manipulated Category
Variable Variable
Chapter 1

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

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 (days-months ) 5. Planningand
Scheduling

(hours-days ) 4. Real-Time
Optimization
Chapter 1

3b. Multivariable
(minutes-hours ) andConstraint
Control
Figure 1.7 Hierarchy of
process control activities.
(seconds-minutes ) 3a. Regulatory
Control

2. Safety, Environment
(< 1 second ) andEquipment
Protection

(< 1 second ) 1. Measurement

andActuation

Process

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Chapter 1

Figure 1.9 Major

steps in control
system development

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 See Exercise 1.6
Chapter 1

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