Modeling Case Study: Surge Tanks, Valves, Level sensors, and modeling

By Peter Woolf (pwoolf@umich.edu) University of Michigan Michigan Chemical Process Dynamics and Controls Open Textbook
version 1.0 Creative commons

Surge tank P&ID and model from previous lectures..

ODE model:

dh = F " k1v1h dt

h[0] = h0

What level sensor? LC1

What control line? What valve?

Manual valve Angle valve Ball valve

Type not specified On/off, reliable, inexpensive

On/off, easy clean, see Bleed port ball valve valve position Plug valve Similar to ball valve, more Bleed port plug valve $$, but more rugged Butterfly valve High capacity, economical, can have good flow control Diaphragm valve Used for abrasive, sanitary, & corrosive environments Flush bottom valve Drain tanks w/o dead space Gate valve High press. and high temp. environments Globe valve Good flow control, hard to clean Needle valve
Images courtesy of B. Barkel

Best flow control, low flow Allows flow only in 1 direction

Check valve

Name that valve!

(c) Need good rangability, flow resistance okay, robust shutoff needed

(a) Need to regulate the flow and robustly shut off if needed Globe valve?

Needle valve?

Gate valve?

(b) Low flow resistance when open, infrequently used but need reliability

Name that valve!

(e) Not a control valve, but vents if pressure is too high Safety valve (f) Prevent backflow Check valve (d) Low flow resistance with good control abilities Butterfly valve

Air operated control valve (Globe, needle, ball valves)

Solenoid operated valves (all valves except butterfly) Motor operated valves (all valves except butterfly)

Air operated butterfly valve (circle in middle indicates butterfly) Air operated shut off valves (ball, plug, etc)

Specify fail safe condition: FO: Fail Open FC: Fail Closed FL: Fail last position

Images courtesy of B. Barkel

Automatic solenoid valve

Name that valve!

Answer: Motor operated (hydraulic) ball valve

Movie from ChemE Visual Encyclopedia

How to pick a valve?

Type: Many kinds work, but some work better than others for specific applications. Materials: Can it withstand the pressure, temperature, pH, abrasiveness? Can it be cleaned? Does it leach? Size: Is the valve big enough?

Valve Sizing
For liquids, valves are characterized by their Cv factor:

Cv = Fmax

Gt "P

Note: Units are important! Fmax = maximum flow through valve in gallons per minute P = pressure drop across valve in psi Gt =liquids specific gravity.

Example table for a particular valve from a valve catalog

Table from http://www.thevalveshop.com/menu/auto/triaca/triacda/triac88da.pdf

Cv = Fmax

Gt "P

Note: Units are important! Fmax = maximum flow through valve in gallons per minute P = pressure drop across valve in psi Gt =liquids specific gravity.

Valve Sizing Example

You are to design a system to load 50% sodium hydroxide into a carbon steel tank in your plant. Sodium hydroxide is considered a hazardous material. It is not recommended to move 50% sodium hydroxide at velocities over 6 ft/sec in carbon steel piping. The supply pump at the plant can generate a flow of up to 250 gpm. The recommended maximum pressure drop across the valves in the system is 3 psi. Specific gravity of the sodium hydroxide solution is 1.52. Please specify a control valve for this service. Fmax=250 GPM Gt=1.52 P=3 psi

Cv = Fmax

1.52 Gt = 250 = 178 "P 3

You are to design a system to load 50% sodium hydroxide into a carbon steel tank in your plant. Sodium hydroxide is considered a hazardous material. It It is is not notrecommended recommended toto move move 50% 50% sodium hydroxide sodium hydroxideat at velocities velocities over over 66 ft/sec ft/sec inin carbon carbon steel steel piping. The piping. The supply supply pump pump at at the the plant plant can can generate generate a a flow flow of of up up to 250 gpm. The recommended maximum pressure drop across the valves in the system is 3 psi. Specific gravity of the sodium hydroxide solution is 1.52. Please specify a control valve for this service.

Cv = 178
Result: 5 inch valve or for a little bit more range, 6 inch valve
Table from http://controls.engin.umich.edu/wiki/index.php/ValveTypesSelection

You are to design a system to load 50% sodium hydroxide into a carbon steel tank in your plant. Sodium hydroxide is considered a hazardous material. It is not recommended to move 50% sodium hydroxide at velocities over 6 ft/sec in carbon steel piping. The supply pump at the plant can generate a flow of up to 250 gpm. The recommended maximum pressure drop across the valves in the system is 3 psi. Specific gravity of the sodium hydroxide solution is 1.52. Please specify a control valve for this service. What diameter pipe would correspond to a flow of 6ft/sec? 3
d=

Fmax=A*v A=r2= *(d/2)2 v=6 ft/sec Fmax=250! gpm=0.557 ft3/sec

4 Fmax = "v

4 # .557 ft / s = .344 ft = 4.1 in " # 6 ft / s

A pipe with a diameter over 4.1 inches should not exceed the 6 ft/sec requirement

Specification: 5 inch ball valve

Characterizing valve flows

Test 1: With constant pressure feed, open valve to many positions and measure flow rate through valve Saturating effect

Different shapes depending on fluid properties and valve geometry

Quarter turn No effect until threshold

Characterizing valve flows

Test 1: With constant pressure feed, open valve to many positions and measure Finite possible flow rate through valve
valve turns

quick opening valve Two turns Near linear valve

Modeling valve flows

Linear:

flow = k1 x
Quick opening

!
!

flow = k1 x
Equal %

flow = k1R x "1

Linear w/ threshold

flow =
Image from http://controls.engin.umich.edu/wiki/index.php/ValveModeling

! IF ( x > x min,, k1 ( x " x min ),0)

What level sensor? LC1

What control line? What valve?

Images courtesy of B. Barkel

Pneumatic line Electrical or thermocouple leads Multiplexed signal Pneumatic controls: Spark free control Control signal also provides power for valve Relatively short range and slower acting Common pressure signal range: 3 to 15 Psi Electrical controls: Fast and long range May pose a spark hazard Can be multiplexed to address many controllers at once Common signal range: 4-20 mA

What level sensor? LC1

What control line? What valve?

Level Sensors
Visual: sight tubes, inexpensive but not automatic Float: inexpensive but requires clean fluids and calm fluids Electronic: point detection, accurate, but may require regular cleaning

Image from http://controls.engin.umich.edu/wiki/index.php/LevelSensors

Level Sensors
Non-contact sensors Ultrasonic/microwave: accurate, works in harsher environments, needs smooth surface & moderately expensive Nuclear: read levels through walls, but very expensive

Level Sensors
Alternatives: Mass sensor: Weigh the tank Pressure sensor: Measure pressure at bottom of tank Temperature: thermal imaging of tank to detect liquid level
Cooler Cold Warmer Thermal image

Normal image

Approximate liquid level

Pressure relief valve

What level sensor? Three electronic LC1 sensors Pneumatic

What control line? What valve?

Bring it all together in a model! (1) Parameterize valve (2) Create sensor model (3) Create feed model (4) Create physical model (5) Simulate!

Air driven ball valve, characterized experimentally

Modeling Case Study: Surge Tanks, Valves, Level sensors, and modeling
By Peter Woolf (pwoolf@umich.edu) University of Michigan Michigan Chemical Process Dynamics and Controls Open Textbook
version 1.0 Creative commons

Pressure relief valve

What level sensor? Three electronic LC1 sensors Pneumatic

What control line? What valve?

Bring it all together in a model! (1) Parameterize valve (2) Create sensor model (3) Create feed model (4) Create physical model (5) Simulate!

Air driven ball valve, characterized experimentally

(1) Parameterize valve

What kind of model to use? Maybe equal percentage? Thresholds at ~3 and 15 psi?

(1) Parameterize valve

Equal % k1

flow = k1R x "1

Modified Equal %:
flow = IF p < pmin ,0, IF ( p > pmax , k1, k1R x "1 ) where p " pmin x= pmax " pmin

pmin

pmax

Estimate values from graph: Pmin~4, pmax~14, k1~10, R=??

Find parameters with regression! See tank.model.xls

(2) Create a sensor model

Elected to use 3 electronic sensors. Sensors report 1 if immersed in fluid or 0 if dry.
s3 s2 s1 IF(vol>20, s1=1,s1=0) IF(vol>50, s2=1,s2=0) IF(vol>80, s3=1,s3=0) Note: Sensor details often not provided in P&ID!
LC1

Modeling continued
(1) Parameterize valve (2) Create sensor model (3) Create feed model (4) Create physical model (5) Simulate!

See tank.model.xls

Take home messages

Your choice of instrumentation is process and application specific It is possible to develop accurate quantitative models of a process using numerical integration, IF..THEN.. statements, experimental data, and numerical optimization.