CHE 4400
Process Control
Process Dynamics, Modeling, & Control
Professor Cliff Henderson
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
An Introduction
oduc o too Process
ocess Co
Control
o
Steady state doesnt happen by
accident and it isnt always that
steady!
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Process Control
The goal of process control is:
maintain safe operation
meet required production rates
maintain product quality specifications
Three key components
monitoring/sensing
i i /
i
deciding on a control action
implementing the control action
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Variables in a Chemical Process
DISTURBANCES
Measured
Unmeasured
Measured
Chemical Process
Manipulated
a pu ated
INPUT
Variables
Unmeasured
OUTPUT
Variables
DISTURBANCES invariably make processes dynamic
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Degrees of Freedom Analysis
NF = NV - NE
NF = # off ddegrees off freedom
f d
NV = # of variables (input & output)
NE = # of equations (algebraic & differential)
>0
NF = 0
<0
under
under-specified
specified
exactly specified
over-specified
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
A Common Example
Your dorm room/apartment shower
Disturbances
water in the supply line is warming up or the
system begins to run out of hot water
your roommate or someone next door flushes
the toilet
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
A Common Example
Types of control
Feedback = as you sense the water temperature
changing you gradually adjust the hot & cold
valves
Feedforward = you hear the toilet flush, so you
increase the cold water
ater supply
s ppl
Override Control = you jump out of the
shower when you hear the toilet flush
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Terminology
Process
Sensor
Controlled Variable
Setpoint
Manipulated Variable
Actuator or Final Control Element
Controller
D dti
Deadtime
SISO and MIMO
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Feedback Control
DISTURBANCES
Measured
Unmeasured
OUTPUT
Variables
Manipulated
INPUT
Variables
Unmeasured
Chemical Process
Measured
Final
Control
Element
S
Sensor
Controller
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Importance of Process Control
PC directly affects the safety and reliability
of a process.
PC determines the quality of the products
produced by a process.
PC can affect how efficiently a process is
operated.
t d
Bottom Line: PC has a major impact on the
profitability of a process & i.e. a company.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Safety and Reliability
The control system must provide safe operation
Alarms, safety constraint control, start-up and
shutdown.
A control system must be able to absorb a
variety of disturbances and keep the process in a
good operating region:
Thunderstorms, feed composition upsets, temporary
l
loss
off utilities
tiliti (e.g.,
(
steam
t
supply),
l ) day
d to
t night
i ht
variation in the ambient conditions
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Benefits of Improved Control
Impurity
n
Concentration
Old Controller
Limit
Time
Controller has noisy
performance!
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Benefits of Improved Control
Limit
Time
New Controller
Impurity
n
Concentration
Impurity
n
Concentration
Old Controller
Limit
Time
Better controller tuning
reduces process variation.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Better Control Means Products
with Reduced Variability
F
For many cases, reduced
d d variability
i bilit
products are in high demand and have high
value added (e.g., feedstocks for polymers).
Product certification procedures (ISO 9000)
are used to gguarantee pproduct qquality
y and
place a large emphasis on process control.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Benefits of Improved Control
New Controller
Impurity
y
Concentratiion
Impurity
y
Concentratiion
Old Controller
Limit
Time
Limit
Time
Impurity
n
Concentration
Improved Performance
Limit
Time
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Maximizing the Profit of a Plant
Many times involves controlling against
constraints.
The closer that you are able to operate to
these constraints, the more profit you can
make.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Constraint Control Example
Consider a reactor temperature control example
for which at excessively high temperatures the
reactor will runaway and explode.
But the higher the temperature the greater the
product yield.
Therefore, better reactor temperature control
allows safe operation at a higher reactor
temperature and thus more profit.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Driving a Car: An Everyday
Example of Process Control
Control Objective (Setpoint): Maintain car in
proper lane.
Controlled variable- Location on the road
Manipulated variable- Orientation of the front
wheels
Actuator- Drivers arms/steering
g wheel
Sensor- Drivers eyes
Controller- Driver / Brain
Disturbance- Curve in road
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Schematic of Feedback Loop
Disturbance
Setpoint
+-
Controller
Actuator
Process
Controlled
Variable
Sensor
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Heat Exchanger Control:
ChE Control Example
Product
Stream
TC
Steam
TT
Feed
Condensate
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
10
Heat Exchanger Control
Controlled variablevariable Outlet temperature of
product stream
Manipulated variable- Steam flow
Actuator- Control valve on steam line
Sensor- Thermocouple on product stream
Disturbance- Changes in the inlet feed
temperature
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
FEEDBACK Control
The key feature of all feedback control
loops is that the measured value of the
controlled variable is compared with
the setpoint and this difference is used
to determine the control action taken.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
11
Types of Feedback Controllers
Manual Control- Used by operators and based on
more or less open loop responses
PID control- Most commonly used controller.
Control action based on error from setpoint.
Advanced PID- Enhancements of PID: ratio,
cascade, feedforward.
Model-based
M d l b dC
Controll Uses
U model
d l off the
h process
directly for control.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
A Career in Process Control?
Requires that engineers use all of their chemical
engineering
i
i training
t i i (i.e.,
(i provides
id an excellent
ll t
technical profession that can last an entire career)
Can become a technical Top Gun across
business units in a company
Allows engineers to work on projects that can
result
l in
i significant
i ifi
savings
i
for
f their
h i companies
i
(i.e., provides good visibility within a company)
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
12
A Career in Process Control
Provides professional mobility
mobility. There is a
shortage of experienced process control
engineers.
Is a well paid technical procession for
chemical engineers.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Evolution of Chemical Process Industries
Stone Age - 1960s Chemical Plant
process engineers
design engineers
control less important contracted out
1970s - Todays Chemical Plant
process engineers
control engineers
design done less on day-to-day basis contracted out
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
13
Duties of a Control Engineer
Tuning controllers for performance and
reliability
Selecting the proper PID mode and/or
advanced PID options
Control loop troubleshooting
Multi-unit
Multi unit controller design
Documentation of process control changes
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Characteristics of Effective
Process Control Engineers
Use their knowledge of the process to guide
their process control applications. They are
process control engineers.
Have a fundamentally sound picture of
process dynamics
d
i andd feedback
f db k control.
l
Work effectively with the operators, process
engineers, and management.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
14
Operator Acceptance
A good relationship with the operators is a
NECESSARY condition for the success of a
control engineer.
Build a relationship with the operators based on
mutual respect.
Operators are a valuable source of plant data and
experience.
A successful
f l controll project
j should
h ld make
k the
h
operators job easier, not harder.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Process Control and
Optimization
Control and optimization are terms that are
many times erroneously interchanged.
Control has to do with adjusting flow rates
to maintain the controlled variables of the
process at specified setpoints.
Optimization
O i i i chooses
h
the
h values
l
for
f key
k
setpoints such that the process operates at
the best economic conditions.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
15
Optimization and Control of a
CSTR
Temperature
Setpoint
O ti i
Optimizer
Flow Setpoint
Temperature
Controller
FC
Feed
FT
Steam
TT
Product
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Process Optimization
Typical optimization objective function, :
= Product values-Feed costs-Utility costs
The steady-state solution of process models is
usually used to determine process operating
conditions which yields flow rates of products,
feed, and utilities.
Unit costs of feed and sale price of products are
combined with flows to yield
Optimization variables are adjusted until is
maximized (optimization solution).
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
16
Overview of Course Material
Control loop hardware
Dynamic modeling
Transfer functions and idealized dynamic behavior
PID control
Advanced PID control
Control of MIMO processes
Model Based Control
Statistical Process Control
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Fundamental Understanding
and Industrially Relevant Skills
Fundamental Understandingg
Laplace tranforms and transfer functions
Idealized dynamic behavior
Frequency response analysis
More Industrially Relevant Skills
Control hardware and troubleshooting
Controller implementation and tuning
Advanced PID techniques
MIMO control
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
17
Illustrative Example
Fresh A
Feed
Fresh B
Feed
LC
TC
PT
LC
Steam
TT
TT
TC
LC
Steam
C Product
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Illustrative Example
(FB)sp
Fresh A
Feed
LS
R/F
Fresh B
Feed
S
LC
PC
TC
PT
LC
Steam
TT
TT
TC
L/F
LC
Steam
C Product
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
18
Overview
All feedback control loops have a controller, an
actuator, a process, and a sensor where the
controller chooses control action based upon the
error from setpoint.
Control has to do with adjusting flow rates to
maintain controlled variables at their setpoints
while for optimization the setpoints for certain
controllers are adjusted to optimize the economic
performance of the plant.
Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
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