EH/JAN 2012/CPE562

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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FINAL EXAMINATION

COURSE

CHEMICAL PROCESS CONTROL

COURSE CODE

CPE562

EXAMINATION

JANUARY 2012

TIME

2 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
1.

This question paper consists of three (3) questions.

2.

Answer ALL questions in the Answer Booklet. Start each answer on a new page.

3.

Do not bring any material into the examination room unless permission is given by the
invigilator.
Please check to make sure that this examination pack consists of:
i)
ii)

the Question Paper

an Answer Booklet - provided by the Faculty

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO

This examination paper consists of 5 printed pages
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EH/JAN 2012/CPE562

QUESTION 1
(P02, C02, C03)
a)

Elaborate four major differences between air-to-open (ATO) and air-to-close (ATC)
control valves. Use appropriate diagrams to enhance your answer.
(8 marks)

b)

Override and selective control strategies often deal with multiple control objectives.
State two (2) importances of these two strategies.
(3 marks)

c)

A process instrumentation diagram (P&ID) of a flash drum is shown in Figure 1. Steam

is condensed in a steam coil to vaporize a portion of the liquid feed, and the liquid
product is removed by a pump. There are control valves for the steam flow (1), vapour
product (3), liquid product (4), feed flow (5), and the steam chest (2) (which allows the
steam chest to be rapidly evacuated in emergency situations).
Determine and discuss the control valve's type of action (fail-open or fail-close) for
each control valve identified as 1, 3 and 5 to achieve lowest temperature and pressure
in the flash vessel in case of pneumatic air failure.
(9 marks)

Figure 1 P&ID of a flash drum system

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EH/JAN 2012/CPE562

QUESTION 2
(P02, C02, C03)
a)

The pressure in the tank as in Figure 2 is controlled by varying the air flowrate leaving
the tank. The controller receives a signal from a pressure transmitter with a range of 0 to
800 kPa. The controller is a proportional-integral controller with a gain 5%CO / %TO and
an integral time of 5 min. The control valve is linear with transfer function of 15 gpm /
%CO and the time constant of the valve actuator is 0.08 min. The transfer function of
the gas flow to the pressure in the tank is first-order with a gain of 40 kPa/gpm and a
time constant of 0.5 min.
i)

Draw the complete block diagram for the control loop showing the transfer function
of each device.
(10 marks)

ii)

If the controller receives 65%TO signal from the transmitter, determine the pressure
measured by the pressure sensor in the tank.
(4 marks)

Air

Figure 2 Gas pressure control

b) Determine E/R for the following system.

(6 marks)

~A
t

^+
B

>

*l

s(s + p)

K2s

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EH/JAN 2012/CPE562

QUESTION 3
(P02, C02, C03)
a) A computer is used to control a flow loop as shown in Figure 3. It receives signals of
between 1 to 5 V from various transmitters via signal converters and transmits signals of
between 0 to 10 V to control valves via signal converters.
i)

Develop a mathematical relationship between the signal transmitted by the

computer in V and the signal received by the control valve in psig.
(6 marks)

ii)

Use the mathematical relationship that you have developed to calculate the air
pneumatic signal to the control valve when the computer transmits a signal of 4 V.
(4 marks)

1_5 V

pi

4 - 20 mA
FT

!
,

^
Signal converters

""-"----- - 4 < 0-10V

l/P

-/Mh

4 - 2 0 mA

Figure 3 Flow loop control.

b) A control system has the following characteristics.
Controller = Transfer function-type's PID control algorithm
Process =
Sensor =

10

5s2+1
1

Final control element =

50
5+1

Using appropriate block diagrams, sketch a negative feedback control system based on
the above information. Hint: Determine the controller's transfer function.
(6 marks)

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c)

EH/JAN 2012/CPE562

State two (2) advantages and two (2) disadvantages of automation in chemical
processing and manufacturing industries.
(4 marks)

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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