Universiti Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia France Institute

FAB38404
Process Control
Lecture 3
Mathematical Model
Reference :
Chemical Process Control, An Introduction to Theory And Practice, G. Stephanopoulos
Chapter 1

Yusof Mohd Ekhsan

Automation And Robotic Unit | Industrial Automation Section

Why Do We need Mathematical Modeling for Process Control

Our goal is to develop a control system for a chemical process which will
guarantee that the operational objectives of our process are satisfied in the
presence of disturbances.
Then why do we need to develop a mathematical model for the process we
want to control?
The physical equipment of the chemical process we want to control have not
been constructed. So we cannot experiment to determine how the process
reacts to various inputs and therefore we cannot design the appropriate
control system.
Even if the process equipment is available for experimentation, the
procedure is usually very costly.
Therefore we need a simple description of how the process reacts to various
inputs and this is what the mathematical models can provide to the control
designer

FAB38404 Process Control

Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysia France Institute

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State Variables and State Equations for a Chemical Process

In order to characterize a processing system (tank heater, batch reactor,

distillation column, heat exchanger, etc) and its behaviour we need:
1. A set of fundamental dependent quantities whose values will describe
the natural state of a given system
2. A set of equation in the variables above which will describe how the
natural state of the given system changes with time.

For most of the processing systems of interest to a chemical engineer, there

are only three such fundamental quantities : Mass, Energy and Momentum.
Mass, energy and momentum can be characterized by variable such as
density, concentration, temperature, pressure and flow rate
These characterizing variables are called state variables and the values
define the state of a processing system
The equations that relate the state variables (dependent variables) to the
various independent variables are derived from application of the
conservation principle on the fundamental quantities and are called
state equations.

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State Variables and State Equations for a Chemical Process

The principle of conservation of a quantity S states that:

The quantity S can be any of the following fundamental quantities:

Total mass
Mass of individual components
Total energy
Momentum

Figure 1: A General system and its interactions with the external world
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State Variables and State Equations for a Chemical Process

d ( V )
i Fi j F j
dt
i:inlet
j:outlet

Total mass balance:

Mass balance on component A:

Total energy balance:

d ( A ) d (c AV )

c Ai Fi c Aj F j rV
dt
dt
i:inlet
j:outlet

dE d (U K P)

i Fi hi j F j h j Q Ws
dt
dt
i:inlet
j:outlet

density of the material in the system

i density of the material in ith inlet stream
j density of the material in jth outlet stream

r reaction rate per unit volume for component A

in the system
hi specific enthalpy of the material in ith inlet stream

V total volume of the system

Fi volumetric flow rate of the ith inlet stream
Fj volumetric flow rate of the jth outlet stream
A number of moles of component A in the system

h j specific enthalpy of the material in jth outlet stream

c A molar concentration of A in the system

c Ai molar concentration of A in the ith inlet
c Aj molar concentration of A in the jth outlet

U internal energies of the system

K kinetic energies of the system
P potential energies of the system
Q amount of heat exchaned between the system
and its surroundings per unit time
Ws number of moles of component A
in the system

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Example : Static and Dynamic Behavior

Example: State variables and state equations for a stirred tank heater
Consider the stirred tank heater in Figure 2.
The fundamental quantities about the heater are :
a) The total mass of the liquid in the tank
b) The total energy of the material in the tank
c) Its momentum

The momentum of the heater remains constant

even when the disturbances change value and
will not be considered further:
Total mass in the tank:

Figure 2: Stirred tank heater

total mass V Ah
Where the density of liquid, V the volume of liquid, A the cross-sectional area
of the tank and h the height of the liquid level
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Example : Static and Dynamic Behavior

Total energy of the liquid in the tank:

E U K P
But since the tank does not move, dK/dt = dP/dt = 0 and dE/dt = dU/dt

dU dH

dt
dt
Where H is the total enthalpy of the liquid in the tank. Furthermore

H Vc p (T Tref )
Ahc p (T Tref )
Where cp = heat capacity of the liquid in the tank
Tref = reference temperature where the specific enthalpy of the liquid is
assumed to be zero
Conclusion for the stirred tank heater:
State variables: h and T
Constant parameter: , A, cp, Tref
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Example : Static and Dynamic Behavior

To develop the state equations, we apply the conservation principle on the two
fundamental quantities: total mass and total energy
Total mass balance:
accumulation of
total mass

time

Or

input of output of
total mass total mass

time
time

d ( Ah)
Fi F
dt
dh
A
Fi F
dt

Where Fi and F are the volumetric flow rate [ i.e ft3/min or m3/min] for the inlet
and outlet streams respectively. Assuming constant density, the equation
becomes

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dh
Fi F
dt

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Example : Static and Dynamic Behavior

Total energy balance:

accumulation of
total energy

time

input of output of energy supplied

total energy total energy by steam

time
time
time

or

d Ahc p (T Tref )

F c

i p

dt

(T Tref ) Fc p (T Tref ) Q

Where Q is the amount of heat supplied by the steam per unit of time. The
equation above can take the following simpler form. Assuming that Tref = 0, the
equation becomes

d (hT )
Q
FiTi FT
dt
c p

or

Ah
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dT
Q
Fi Ti T
dt
c p
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Example : Static and Dynamic Behavior

Summarizing the modeling steps, we have:

State equations:

Ah

dh
Fi F
dt

dT
Q
Fi Ti T
dt
c p

State variables: h, T
Output variables : h, T (both measured)
Input variables
Disturbances: Ti, Fi
Manipulated variables: Q, F (for feedback control)
Fi (for feedforward control)
Parameters: A, , cp

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