OBJECTIVES

1. To identify the important components of the air pressure control system and to mark them
in the P&I Diagram.

2. To carry out the start-up procedures systematically.

3. To control the pressure in single capacity process using PID Controller.

INTRODUCTION & THEORY

Process control can be defined as the methods that are effectively used to control
process variables in product manufacturing in order to reduce variability, to increase efficiency,
to reduce cost and to ensure safety of the production processes (“Process Control
Fundamentals”, 2006). Process control applies the principles of automatic control to a physical
process. Many industrial activities rely on process control in areas as diverse as mining and
petrol refining to pharmaceuticals and semiconductor production. Meanwhile, process variable
can be defined as a condition of the process fluid that can change the manufacturing process
in ways.

In this experiment, the process variable involved is pressure since we were

investigating the air pressure process control (AP922) system. The AP922 system is used in
this experiment to identify the important components of the air pressure control system, to
carry out the start-up procedures systematically, and to control the pressure in single capacity
and two capacity processes using Proportional, Integral and Derivative (PID) Controller. This
system uses air to stimulate a gas phase pressure process and consists of air vessels, T91
with T92 associated with piping system, valves and fittings. This system can also be operated
as a single capacity system or as a two-capacity system. According to the theory, single
capacity process achieved maximum slope of response curve immediately after controlled
variable starts to increase while in two capacity process takes longer time to achieve maximum
slope after the controlled variable start to increase (“single and two-capacity processes.pdf,”
n.d.).
 Figure1: Response curve for single capacity process

Figure 2: Response curve for two capacity process

Apart from that, a load disturbance is an undesired change in input variable that can
affect the process variable measurement. For instance, in the temperature control loop, adding
cold process fluid to the vessel would be a load disturbance because it would lower the
temperature of the process fluid.

Pressure control is a primary requirement for all towers because of its direct influence
on the separation process. Columns are typically designed to operate at sub-atmospheric,
atmospheric or above atmospheric pressure. Tower pressure control configurations can also
be required to vent varying amounts of inert from the overhead accumulator. The venting of
inert or maintaining the desired operating pressure is often becomes the main problem in
process control.
RESULTS & DISCUSSION

I. MAJOR COMPONENTS IN PLANT

1) T91, T92 – Tank 91 and Tank 92

2) AR91 - process air supply pressure regulator

3) FI92 – variable area flow meter

4) PT91 – gauge pressure transmitter

5) PIC91 – pressure controller

6) PIC92 – on/off pressure controller

7) PCV91 - control valve, I/P converter, pneumatic positioner (PP)

8) PCV92 – on/off control valve with solenoid valve

9) PRV91, PRV92 – pressure relieve valve in T91 and T92

10) V – vent valve

11) MV91 – manual valve

12) MV91B, MVIII – process air inlet manual valves

13) MV92A, MV92B – discharge manual valves

14) PR91 – process recorder

 II. START-UP PROCEDURES

The PANEL, SCADA/DDC selector switch which is located at the front of cubicle was set
to PANEL, SCADA position before the main power supply was switched on. Then, the
instrument air supply regulator was set to the pressure indicated at the air regulators located
at the pneumatic control valves of PCV91 AND PCV92. The bottom drain valve at the AR91
was pushed to drain condensed water in the air regulators. The by-pass valves around the
control valves of PCV91 and PCV92 were fully shut while the pair of manual valves upstream
and downstream of these control valves are opened.

The control valve positioner of PCV91 was made sure to be connected and compressed
air was made sure to be available at the pressure inlet regulator AR91. Meanwhile, vent valve
(V) and bottom drain valve (D) of vessel T91, valves MV91B and MVIII and process inlet
manual valve MV91 were shut. The mode was set to manual (M) mode and the MV were set
to -6.3% to fully open the valve. The final discharge manual valve (VP) was fully opened.
Pipeline PLI and PLII, manual by-pass valve B92 of T92 were fully opened while manual
valves at inlet MVI and outlet MV92 of T92, valves MV92A and MV92B were fully shut.

Then, MV91 was slowly opened and the flow rate was regulated until it reached 35 Nm3/hr.
PCV91 from PIC91 was shut in manual (M) mode by adjusting MV to 106.3% to fully close the
valve and the pressure reading at vessel T91 was about 22-27 psig. Without changing the
manual (M) mode, PCV91 from PIC91 was fully opened by adjusting MV to -6.3% and it was
checked to be correctly set as the pressure was not more than 10 psig with FI92 reading value
of 35 Nm3/hr.
 III. ON/OFF CONTROLLER

On/off pressure control uses pressure controller PIC92 to control the high-pressure limit
of PIC91. The experiment was done by turn the PCV91 closed with MV=106.3% in manual
(M) mode while the pressure at vessel T91 was checked to be in the desired range of 22-27
psig. ON/OFF control happens when the proportional band is reduced to its minimum limit
which is 0%.

Figure1: ON/OFF pressure controller response

IV. SINGLE CAPACITY PROCESSES

Table 1 below shows the trial values that was done in this experiment.

Table 1: Data obtained based on trial 1,2 and 3.

TRIAL VALUES 1 2 3
SV (psig) 15 15 15
PB1 (%) 70 45 20
TI1 (sec) 40 30 10
TD1 (sec) 0 0 2
MV (%) 58.9 58.2 60.1
 Figure 2: single capacity processes’ response curve

After PID controller was set with the first trial values, it was let to become stable for a
few minutes before the MV value was decreased by 5 to 10% which is from 58.9% to 54.2%.
there were no constant oscillation and a dead band is observed. Since the response was too
slow, TI1 was reduced to 20 secs and the response curve produced constant oscillation and
frequency. Next, the second trial values were set on the PID controller before the MV values
was decrease by 5 to 10%. Since the response is oscillatory, the PB1% value was increased
by 5% and the response curve is observed.

Then, the third trial values were set. It is shown that the system operates at constant
oscillation and frequency. After that, the response curve was being observed as disturbance
was introduced in the system by manipulating the MV value from 60.1 to 57.0. It was found
that as the value of PB increases, the time taken for the response to reach set point increases,
this is due to the sensitivity and response of the reading. Higher PB values, will result a
steadier trend in reaching set point value. Next, as TD1 increases, the system becomes more
stable as its function is to eliminates the offset and increase the stability of the system.

In this experiment, set point is applied as command variable to measure the control
system performance. Process can be classified based on the number of resistance-
capacitance pairs that it has. Single capacity process contains one resistance-capacitance
pair while two capacity process contain two resistance capacitance pairs {Formatting Citation}.
In single capacity process, maximum slope of response curve occurs immediately when
controlled variable starts to increase.
 Next, disturbances were introduced to the system by changing the MV value in the PID
controller. The controller attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the process through use
of a manipulated variable. From the response curve obtained, it was shown that the
disturbances have affected the measurement of process variable as the amplitude will change
after the MV value has decreased. It takes some time for the system to return to its set point.
However, there are a few deadtime observed from the response curve when the MV value
was changed. Deadtime is the delay between the time when a process variable change and
the time when that changes can be observed in the response curve. Through this process,
Ziegler Nichols’ method was proven. This is because the amplitudes changes as disturbances
were introduced to the system and when the system achieve stability, the amplitudes of the
response curve does not have much variation and oscillates with constant oscillation and
frequency.

On the other hand, proportional band is defined as the amount of change in input or
deviation as a percent of span, required to cause the control output to change from 0% to
100%. So, in other words, proportional band can also be defined as the percentage error to
move the control valve from fully closed to fully opened condition. Since a narrow proportional
band gives greater output change for any given deviation, it will therefore make the control
performance more susceptible to oscillation. Furthermore, a narrower proportional band have
higher capability to reduce the offset compared to the wider one. From the results obtained, it
was shown that as the value of PB increases, the time taken for the response to reach set
point increases.

While conducting this experiment, it was observed there might be some errors
occurred that leads to inaccurate data obtained at the end of this experiment. For instance,
after start-up procedure have been done, it was observed that the pressure of the air flow was
constantly changing, and this might be the reason where accurate data were hard to be
obtained. Next, the valve that need to be fully open or closed was not closed or opened tightly
like stated in the manual to prevent any arising error from occurring.
CONCLUSIONS

The main objectives of this experiment are mainly to identify the important components
of the air pressure control system and to mark them in the P&I Diagram and carry out the start-
up procedures systematically besides to control the pressure in single capacity process using
PID Controller. For this experiment, process involved was single capacity process that
contains one resistance-capacitance pair which, the maximum slope of response curve occurs
immediately when controlled variable starts to increase. set point is applied as command
variable to measure the control system performance. Besides, disturbances were introduced
to the system by MV value changed in the PID controller which its attempt to minimize the
error by adjusting the process through use of a manipulated variable. It was shown that the
disturbances affected the process variable as the amplitude changed after MV value
decreased and it took some time for the system to return to its set point. However, there are
a few deadtime observed from the response curve when the MV value was changed. Through
this process, Ziegler Nichols’ method was proven due to amplitudes changes as disturbances
were introduced to the system and when tit achieved stability, the amplitudes of the response
curve does not have much variation with constant oscillation and frequency. From the results
obtained, it was shown that as the value of PB increases, the time taken for the response to
reach set point increases. To conclude, this experiment achieved its objectives.

While conducting this experiment, it was observed there might be some errors
occurred that leads to inaccurate data obtained at the end of this experiment. For instance,
after start-up procedure have been done, it was observed that the pressure of the air flow was
constantly changing, and this might be the reason where accurate data were hard to be
obtained. In order to avoid this error occurs in future, any abnormal activities of the equipment
must be reported to the person in-charged so that any inaccurate data are not to be taken and
any counter measure action can be taken to solve the problems. Next, the valve that need to
be fully open or closed was not closed or opened tightly like stated in the manual to prevent
any arising error from occurring and to minimize this error, all the valves must be checked to
be in correct position before starting any trials of the experiment to ensure all procedures in
the manual are taken correctly.
REFERENCES

 Agarwal, T. (2015). How Does a PID Controller Work? - Structure and Tuning
Methods. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-008-0514-5
 Didactic, F. (n.d.). Process Control - Process Control Air, Pressure, and Flow, Model
3533.
 Display, S., & Details, S. (n.d.). 6.4 Adjusting PID Manually, 24–29.
 single and two-capacity processes.pdf. (n.d.).

 Pressure Control System | Control Theory | Pressure Measurement. (n.d.). Retrieved

March 11, 2019, from https://www.scribd.com/document/287617200/Pressure-
Control-System