ChE 403 Process Control

3.00 credits, 3 hours/week

Course Outline
Basic concepts of chemical process control:
incentives for process control; design aspects;
Chapter 1

hardware elements.

Modelling for control purposes; development of mathematical

models; linearization of nonlinear systems; input-output
model; transfer functions.

Dynamic and static behavior of chemical processes:

first, second and higher order processes;
transportation lag; systems in series.
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 1
 Course Outline (contd)
Analysis and design of feedback control
systems:
concept of feedback control; feedback
controllers and final control elements; block
Chapter 1

diagrams; closed loop responses; concept of

stability; stability testing.

Frequency response analysis:

Bode diagrams; Nyquist plots;
Bode and Nyquist stability criteria;
control system design by frequency response
analysis.
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 2
 Course Outline (contd)
Analysis and design of advanced control systems:
control of system with large dead time or inverse
response; multiple-loop control systems;
feedforward and ratio control; adaptive and
Chapter 1

inferential control.

Design of control systems for multivariable

processes:
synthesis of alternative control configurations for
multiple-input and multiple-output processes;
interaction and decoupling of control loops.

Design of control systems for complete plants.

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 3
 Course Info
Teacher: Dr. M. A. A. Choudhury

Textbook:
1. Seborg, D. E., Edgar, T.F., Mellichamp, D. A., (2004), Process
Dynamics and Control, 2nd edition, John Wiley
Chapter 1

Reference Books:
1. Karim, M.N., Riggs, J. B. (2006), Chemical and Bio-Process
Control, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall
2. Marlin, T. (2000), Process Control: Designing Processes and
Control Systems for Dynamic Performance, McGraw Hill

Course Website:
http://teacher.buet.ac.bd/shoukat/
Then click courses Process Control

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 4
Chapter 1

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 5

Chapter 1
Authors

Dale Seborg Thomas Edgar Duncan Mellichamp

UC, Santabara UT, Austin UC, Santabara

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 6
 A Career in Process Control
- Requires that engineers use all of their chemical
engineering training (i.e., provides an excellent
technical profession that can last an entire career)
- Allows engineers to work on projects that can result
Chapter 1

in significant savings for their companies (i.e.,

provides good visibility within a company)
- Provides professional mobility.
- There is a shortage of experienced process control
engineers.
- Is a well paid technical profession for chemical
engineers.

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 7
 What is a Process?

Process:
- A Heat Exchanger (heating/cooling)
- A Chemical/Biological Reactor (make
Chapter 1

petrochemicals or recombinant drugs)

- A Separator (Distillation column or a
chromatographic column for separating
proteins)
- A Feed or holding tank
- Human body
- A Car
- A Computer Drive

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 8
 Chemical Process Industries (CPI)

Hydrocarbon fuels
Chemical products
Chapter 1

Pulp and paper products

Agrochemicals
Man-made fibers

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 9
 Bio-Process Industries

Use micro-organisms to produce

useful products
Chapter 1

Pharmaceutical industry
Ethanol from grain industry

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 10
Chapter 1

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 11
Chapter 1

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 12
 CONTROL
Chapter 1

Gas stream Gas stream

Empty vessel

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 13

 Adjusting valves: Do you believe in automation?

Do we run around the

plant to adjust the
valves when required?
Chapter 1

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury Process pictures courtesy of Petro-Canada Products 14

 Adjusting valves: Do you believe in automation?

Central control room

Overview of
entire process
Make
immediate
Chapter 1

adjustment
anywhere
Safe location
History of past
operation

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury Process pictures courtesy of Petro-Canada Products 15

 What is Process Control?

Outputs
Inputs
Chapter 1

(effects)
(cause)
Process

Output:
off-specification
Consequence:
Less profit!
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 16
 Benefits of Improved Control
New Controller
Old Controller

Concentration
Limit
Concentration

Limit

Impurity
Impurity
Chapter 1

Time Time
Improved Performance
Concentration

Limit
Impurity

Time
Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 17
 Objectives of Process Control
Maintain a stable process operation
Appropriate instruments/sensors are to be
implemented to operate under fail/safe
conditions.
Chapter 1

Make sure no disturbances affect the process

output(s).
Make sure when we make desired changes (set
point) to the process, it does achieve the desired
goal.
Make sure the process always remain within a
tight specification.
Maximize the profitability of the plant
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 18
 Process Dynamics
a) Refers to unsteady-state or transient behavior.
b) Steady-state vs. unsteady-state behavior
i. Steady state: variables do not change with time
ii. But on what scale? e.g., noisy measurement
Chapter 1

c) ChE curriculum emphasizes steady-state or equilibrium

situations:
i. Examples: ChE 111, 201, 203, 405
d) Continuous processes: Examples of transient behavior:
i. Start up & shutdown
ii. Grade changes
iii. Major disturbance: e.g., refinery during stormy or hurricane
conditions
Dr. M. iv.
A. A.Equipment
Shoukat Choudhury or instrument failure (e.g., pump failure) 19
 e) 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

Process Control
Objective: to maintain or operate a process at the desired
operating conditions safely and efficiently, while satisfying
environmental and product quality requirements.
a) Large scale, continuous processes:
i. Oil refinery, ethylene plant, pulp mill
ii. Typically, 1000 5000 process variables are measured.
1. Most of these variables are also controlled.
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 20
 Process Control (contd.)

iii. Examples: flow rate, T, P, liquid level, composition

iv. Sampling rates:
1. Process variables: A few seconds to minutes
Chapter 1

2. Quality variables: once per 8 hr shift, daily, or weekly

b) Manipulated variables
i. We implement process control by manipulating process
variables, usually flow rates.
1. Examples: feed rate, cooling rate, product flow rate,
etc.
ii. Typically, several thousand manipulated variables in a
large continuous plant
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 21
 Process Control (contd.)
c) Batch plants:
i. Smaller plants in most industries
1. Exception: microelectronics (200 300 processing
steps).
Chapter 1

ii. But still large numbers of measured variables.

d) Question: How do we control processes?
i. We will consider an illustrative example.

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 22
 1.1 Illustrative Example: Blending system
Chapter 1

Notation:
w1, w2 and w are mass flow rates
x1, x2 and x are mass fractions of component A
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 23
 Assumptions:
1. w1 is constant
2. x2 = constant = 1 (stream 2 is pure A)
3. Perfect mixing in the tank
Control Objective:
Chapter 1

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
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 24
 Design Question. What value of w2 is required to have
x = xSP ?

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

Component A balance:

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
Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 25
 Equation 1-3 is the design equation for the blending
system.
If our assumptions are correct, then this value of w2 will keep x
xSP
at . But what if conditions change?

Control Question. Suppose that the inlet concentration x1

Chapter 1

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;
Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 26
 Manual control vs. automatic control
Proportional feedback control law,
w2 ( t ) = w2 + K c 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.
Chapter 1

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

the deviation from the set point, xSP x(t).

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 27

Chapter 1

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 28

 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:
Chapter 1

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

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 29

Chapter 1

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 30

 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.

Method 3. Measure x1 and x, adjust w2.

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

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.

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 31

Chapter 1

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 32

 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
Feedback Control:
Distinguishing feature: measure the controlled variable

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 33

 It is important to make a distinction between negative feedback
and positive feedback.
Engineering Usage vs. Social Sciences
Advantages:
Corrective action is taken regardless of the source of
Chapter 1

the disturbance.
Reduces sensitivity of the controlled variable to
disturbances and changes in the process (shown later).
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
Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 34
 Feedforward Control:
Distinguishing feature: measure a disturbance
variable
Advantage:
Correct for disturbance before it upsets the process.
Chapter 1

Disadvantage:
Must be able to measure the disturbance.
No corrective action for unmeasured disturbances.

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 35
 The key elements and principles of a feedback loop
Cause and Effect
Exercise: The key
elements and
principles of a
feedback loop
Chapter 1

What is being measured?

Is this a valid feedback
valve L control loop?
sensor
pump

pump valve
Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 36
 The key elements and principles of a feedback
loop Cause and Effect
Exercise: You want to control the level, but you can
only measure the flow in. What is your
strategy? Are you using feedback?
Chapter 1

sensor F

valve

pump

pump valve
Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 37
 The key elements and principles of a feedback
loop Cause and Effect
Exercise: The key elements and principles of a
feedback loop
What is being measured?
Chapter 1

Is this a valid feedback control loop?

Gas stream Gas stream

Empty vessel

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 38

 The key elements and principles of a feedback
loop Cause and Effect
Exercise: The key elements and principles of a
feedback loop
What is being measured?
Chapter 1

Is this a valid feedback control loop?

v8

F2 F5
v3
T5 P1
T4
F1 T1 T3 F3 T6 F4

L1
v1 v5 v6 L2
T7
v2 v7

T2 T8
T9 F6
Hot Oil Hot Oil

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury v4 39

 2. The key elements and principles of a
feedback loop Cause and Effect
Exercise: The key elements and principles of a
feedback loop
What is being measured?
Chapter 1

Is this a valid feedback control loop?

v8

F2 F5
v3
T5 P1
T4
F1 T1 T3 F3 T6 F4

L1
v1 v5 v6 L2
T7
v2 v7

T2 T8
T9 F6
Hot Oil Hot Oil

v4

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 40

 The key elements and principles of a feedback
loop Cause and Effect
Exercise: The key elements and principles of a
feedback loop
Chapter 1

Hot process fluid

into shell
Cooling water into
tubes
We want to
control the hot
outlet
temperature.

Add a sensor and a valve to make this possible.

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 41

 The key elements and principles of a feedback
loop Cause and Effect
Exercise: The key elements and principles of a
feedback loop
Chapter 1

Hot process fluid

Cooling water into shell
into tubes

We want to
control the hot
outlet
temperature.
TC

Add a sensor and a valve to make this possible.

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 42

 Figure 1.7 Hierarchy of
Chapter 1

process control activities.

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 43

Chapter 1

Figure 1.9 Major

steps in control
system development

Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury 44

 Acknowledgement

1. Prof. Nazmul Karim

2. Prof. T. Marlin
Chapter 1

for providing some of the slides

Dr.M.A.A.ShoukatChoudhury 45