Manufacturing Practice Basic Process Control

This document is an introduction to process dynamics and control for those who have
little or no contact or experience with process dynamics. The objective is to illustrate
where process control fits into the picture and to indicate its relative importance in
the operation, design, and development of a process plant.

1. INTRODUCTION

Any study of process control must begin by investigating the concept of a “process”.
It is generally thought of as a place where materials and most often, energy come
together to produce a desired product. From a control viewpoint the meaning is more
specific. A process is identified as leaving one or more variables associated with it
that are important enough for their values to be known and for them to be
controlled.

In order to understand the concept, let us consider an example of a heat exchanger

in which a process stream is being heated by condensing steam. The process is
sketched in Figure 1.1. The purpose of this unit is to heat the process fluid from its
inlet temperature Ti(t), to a certain desired outlet temperature, T(t). As mentioned,
the heating medium is condensing steam. The energy gained by the process fluid is
equal to the heat released by the steam, provided there are no heat losses to the
surroundings.

In this process there are many variables (e.g. Temperature of inlet stream, flow rate
etc) that can change, causing the outlet temperature T(t) to deviate from its desired
value. If this happens some action must be taken to correct this deviation. This
defines the control objective of the process to maintain the outlet process
temperature at its desired value.

One way to accomplish this objective is to measure the outlet temperature T(t),
compare this value to the desired value, and, based on this comparison, decide what
to do to minimize the deviation. The steam flow rate can be used to correct for
deviation. That is, if the temperature is above the desired value, the steam valve
canbe closed a little bit to cut the steam flow (energy) to the heat exchanger. If the
temperature is below the desired value, the steam valve could be opened a little bit
to increase the steam flow (energy) to the exchanger.

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Steam

Process Stream Heated Process Stream

3
T i(t),C,q(t),m /s T(t), C
Inlet Outlet

Temp. Mesurement

Figure 1.1: Heat Exchanger

Since all these can be done manually by an operator, and the procedure is fairly
straightforward, it should not create any problem. But in most of the process plants,
there are hundreds of variables that must be maintained at some desired value, in
that case, this correction procedure requires large number of operators, which is not
economically viable. Hence, we will like to accomplish this control automatically. That
is we want to have instruments that control the variables without requiring
intervention from the operator. That is what we mean by AUTOMATIC PROCESS
CONTROL and the devices, which decide what control action should be taken, are
called CONTROLLERS.

Laws of Process Control

First Law:

The simplest control system that will do the job is the best. Complex elegant process
control systems look great on paper but soon end up on “manual” in an industrial
environment. Bigger is definitely not better in control system design.

Second Law:

You must understand the process before you control it.

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Manufacturing Practice Basic Process Control

2. GENERAL CONCEPTS/TERMINOLOGY

2.1 Process Dynamics

It is concerned with analyzing the dynamic (i.e., time dependent) behavior of a

process in response to various types of inputs. In other words, it is the behavior of a
process as time progresses. Depending on the type of the process, the dynamic
response could be different for the same input.

Open loop Response

The behavior where controllers are not present in the system is called open loop
response. (In fact, controllers can be present but they are not taking any action
depending on feedback from the process.)

Closed loop Response

The dynamic behavior with feedback controllers (We’ll see the meaning in
following sections) controlling the process is called the closed-loop response.

2.2 Types of Process Variables

Disturbance Variables ( DVs) Unmeasured Controlled Variables

Inputs (u) Associated Variables ( AVs) Outputs (y)

PLANT
Manipulated Variables ( MVs)
Controlled Variables ( CVs)

Figure 1.2: Definition of Input and Output Variables for Control System Design

Manipulated Variables (MVs)

The variables in a process that we can change in order to control the plant.

Disturbance Variables (DVs)

Flow rates, temperatures, or composition of streams entering (or sometimes

leaving) the process. We are not free to manipulate them. They are set by
upstream or downstream parts of the plant. The control system must be able to
keep the plant under control despite the effects of these disturbances.

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Inputs

MVs and DVs are collectively termed as Inputs to the process

Controlled Variables (CVs)

Flow rates, compositions, temperatures, levels, and pressures in the process that
we control, either trying to hold them as constant at desired value or trying to
make them follow some desired time trajectory.

Set–Point

The desired value of the controlled variable.

Associated Variables (AVs)

Are the output variables which have no target (Set – points) but have a bound.(
Lower and upper)

Outputs

CVs and AVs together are referred as outputs. Some of them are measured for
feedback, while others are not.

Stability

Stability concerns the system’s ability to converge or stay close to equilibrium.

Deviation Variables

A deviation variable is defined as the difference between the value of a variable or

signal and its value at the operating point.

P(t) = p(t) – p’

Where

P(t) is the deviation variable

p(t) is the corresponding absolute value

p’ is the value of x at the operating point (base value)

In other words, the deviation variable is the deviation of a variable from its
operating or base value.

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State Variables:

The minimum set of variables essential for completely describing the internal
state (or condition) of a process. State variables are therefore the true indicators
of the internal state of the process system. The actual manifestation of these
internal states by measurement is what yields an output. Thus output variable is,
in fact, some calculated value of either a single state variable or a combination of
state variables.

For most processes, there are only three fundamental quantities: Mass,
Energy and Momentum.

Quite often, the fundamental dependent variables cannot be measured

directly and conveniently, and when grouped appropriately, they determine
the value of the fundamental variables.

Thus Mass, Energy and Momentum can be characterized by variables such as

density, concentration, temperature, pressure, and flow rate. These
characterizing variables are called state variables and their values define the
state of a system.

2.4 Degrees of Freedom

The degrees of freedom (f) of a process system are the independent variables that
must be specified in order to define the process completely. (I.e. to determine the
remaining process variables.) Consequently, the desired control of a process will be
achieved when and only when all the degrees of freedom have been specified.

For a specified system, its mathematical model is the basis for finding the degrees of
freedom under both dynamic and static conditions. To formulate control objectives
and to design a control system, it is necessary to select the appropriate number of
manipulated variables. In particular, the number of process variables that can be
manipulated cannot exceed the degrees of freedom.

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Degrees of freedom = (number of process variables) – (number of equations)

Case 1: Exactly Specified System (f = 0): unique solution

We have system of equations with equal number of variables. The solution of the E
equations yields unique values for the V variables.

Case 2: Underspecified by f equations (f > 0): Infinite solutions

We have more variables than equations. Multiple solutions result from the equations
since we can specify arbitrarily f of the variables. Here we need f additional equations
to have a unique solution.

Case 3: Overspecified by f equations (f < 0): No solution. We have more equations

than variables and in general there is no solution to the equations. In other words,
we need to remove f equations to have a solution for the system.

2.5 Degrees of Freedom and Process Controllers

In general, carefully modeled processes will posses one or more degrees of freedom.
Since for f > 0 the process will have an infinite number of solutions, the following
question arises:

How do you reduce the number of degrees of freedom to zero so that you can have a
completely specified system with unique behavior? It is clear that for an
underspecified system with f degrees of freedom, we need to introduce f additional
equations to make the system completely specified. There are two sources, which
provide the additional equations:

The external world

By specifying the values of the disturbances, removes as many degrees of

freedom as the number of disturbances.

The control system

Required to achieve the control objectives removes as many degrees of freedom

as the number of control objectives.

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2.6 Dead-Time or Time Delay

In most modeling examples, we assume that whenever a change takes place in one
of the input variables (disturbances, manipulated variables), its effect is
instantaneously observed in the state variables and the outputs.

The oversimplified picture given above is contrary to our physical experience, which
dictates that whenever an input variable of a system changes, there is a time interval
(short or long) during which no effect is observed on the outputs of the system. This
time interval is called dead time, or transportation lag, or pure delay, or distance-
velocity lag.

One final point of interest….

When we take up the issue of mathematical description of process systems, it is fairly

common to represent the process variables as follows:
y – the output variable
u – the input(control) variable
d – the disturbance variable, and
x – the state variable (whenever needed)

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3. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PROCESS CONTROL

Step 1: Assess the process and define control objectives.

The issues to be resolved in this step include the following:

(a) Why is there a need for control?

(b) Can the problem be solved only by control, or is there another alternative
(such as redesigning part of the process)?

(c) What do we expect the control system to achieve?

Step 2: Select the process variables to be used in achieving the control

objective articulated in Step 1.

Here we must answer the following questions:

(a) Which output variables are crucial and therefore must be measured in
order to facilitate efficient monitoring of process conditions?

(b) Which disturbances are most serious? Which ones can be measured?

(c) Which input variables can be manipulated for effective regulation of the
process?

Step 3: Select control structure.

What control configuration is chosen depends on the nature of the control problem
posed by the process system. The usual alternatives are: Feedback, Feedforward,
Open Loop (manual), Cascade, and others, which we shall discuss later.

Step 4: Design the controller.

This step can be carried out using varying degrees of sophistication, but it essentially
involves the following: Obtain a control law (By a control law we mean a set of rules
whereby the input to the process is transformed to its output) by which, given
information about the process (current and past outputs, past inputs and
disturbances, and sometimes even future predictions of the system output), a control
decision is determined which the controller implements on process by adjusting the
appropriate manipulated variables accordingly.

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4. THE CONCEPT OF CONTROL

4.1 Motivation

The process control system is the entity that is charged with the responsibility for
monitoring outputs, making decisions about how best to manipulate inputs so as to
obtain desired output behavior, and effectively implement such decisions on the
process. It is therefore convenient to break down the responsibility of the control
system into the following three major tasks:

§ Monitoring process output variables by measurement

§ Making rational decisions regarding what corrective action is needed on the

basis of the information about the past(Integral action takes into account the
past state of the process), current and desired state of the process

§ Effectively implementing these decisions on the process

When these tasks are carried out manually by a human operator, we have a manual
control system. A control system in which these tasks are carried out automatically
by a machine is known as an automatic control system; in particular, when the
machine involved is a computer, we have a computer control system.

4.2 Why process control?

Suppressing the influence of external disturbances: Disturbances are usually

out of the reach of the human operator. Consequently, we need to introduce a
control mechanism that will make the proper changes on the process to cancel the
negative impact that such disturbances may have on the desired operation of a plant.

Ensuring the stability of a process: To ensure that, for every bounded input, a
dynamic system produces a bounded output, regardless of its initial state.

Setpoint tracking: The control mechanism should be capable of making the process
output track exactly any changes in the set point.

Optimizing the performance of a plant: It is desirable that a plant should always

operate, at the point of minimum production cost or maximum profit. This can be
achieved by an optimizing control strategy which:

§ Identifies when the plant must be moved to a new operating point in order to
reduce the operating cost.

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§ Make the appropriate set point changes to bring the plant to the new optimum
operating point.

The above concepts can be explained using various examples in real life.

M an ip u la ted V a ria b les Co n tro lle d Va riab les

Han dles T arg ets

H ow it c an be in flue nc ed? W h at i t s houl d do?

Sy stem

A c tu ator S enso r
Dec is ion
A c tion Infor m a tio n
Co ntrol ler

Figure 1.3: Concept of Process Control

TABLE 1.1: Control System Examples

System CV MV Sensor Actuator

Car Direction Axle Position Human Steering Wheel
Speed Fuel Flow Speedometer Gas Pedal
Reactor Product Quality Temperature Meters Valves
Production Feed Rate
Home Lighting Voltage Photoelectrics Dimmers
Temperature Air Flow, Mix Thermostats AC Controls
DC Motor Speed Armature Current; Tachometer Armature
Field Current resistance

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5. BASIC COMPONENTS OF A CONTROL SYSTEM /

CONTROL SYSTEM HARDWARE

There are four basic components of all control systems:

5.1 Sensor

§ Also often called as Primary Element.

§ Acquires information about the status of the process variables.

§ Typical examples: thermocouples (for temperature measurements), differential

pressure cells (for liquid level measurements), gas/liquid chromatographs (for
composition measurement), etc.

5.2 Controller

§ The “brain” or “heart” of the control system (the decision maker).

§ It is the hardware element with “built-in” capacity for performing the only task
requiring some form of “intelligence.”

§ Typical examples: Pneumatic controller, Electronic controllers, digital computers

used as controller.

5.3 Transmitter

§ Secondary Element.

§ It has the responsibility of passing the information acquired by the sensor to

controller and sending the controller decision to the final control element.

§ Measurement and control signals may be transmitted as air pressure signals, or

as electrical signals.

§ Typical examples: Pneumatic transmitters, Electrical transmitters.

5.4 Final control element

§ Have the task of actually implementing the control command issued by the
controller on the process.

§ Typical examples: often a control valve but not always. Other common final
control elements are variable speed pumps, conveyors, and electric motors.

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The importance of these components is that they perform the three basic operations
that must be present in every control system. These operations are:

1. Measurement (M): Measuring the variable to be controlled is usually done

by the combination of sensor and transmitter.

2. Decision (D): Based on the measurements and the set point, the controller
must then decide what to do to maintain the variable at its desired value.

3. Action (A): As the result of the controller’s decision, the system must then
take an action. This is usually accomplished by the final control element.

The working principles of a control system can thus be summarized as “M, D, A”:

M refers to the measurement of process variables

D refers to the decision to be made based on the measurements of

process variables

A refers to the action to be taken based on the decision

F inal c ontrol elem ent Steam

S et Point Signal

C ontroller
TC

TT T rans m itt er

Inlet Sens or Outl et

S e n so r fo r T em p .
M e a su re m e n t

Figure 1.4: Heat Exchanger Control System

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