Chemical Process Control

Source : James B. Riggs

M. Nazmul Karim
CHE.TTE.EDU
 Chapter 1

Introduction to Process
Control
 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)
• Can become a technical “Top Gun”
• Allows engineers to work on projects that
can result in significant savings for their
companies (i.e., provides good visibility
within a company)
 A Career in Process Control
• Provides professional mobility. There is a
shortage of experienced process control
engineers.
• Is a well paid technical profession for
chemical engineers.
Chemical Process Industries (CPI)
• Hydrocarbon fuels
• Chemical products
• Pulp and paper products
• Agrochemicals
• Man-made fibers
 Bio-Process Industries
• Use micro-organisms to produce useful
products
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Ethanol from grain industry
 Importance of Process Control for
the CPI
• 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 efficient a process is
operated.
• Bottom Line: PC has a major impact on the
profitability of a company in the CPI.
 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 loss of utilities (e.g., steam supply),
day to night variation in the ambient conditions
 Benefits of Improved Control
Old Controller
Concentration

Limit
Impurity

Time
 Benefits of Improved Control
Old Controller New Controller
Concentration

Concentration
Limit Limit
Impurity

Impurity
Time Time
 Better Control Means Products
with Reduced Variability
• For many cases, reduced variability
products are in high demand and have high
value added (e.g., feedstocks for polymers).
• Product certification procedures (e.g., ISO
9000) are used to guarantee product quality
and place a large emphasis on process
control.
 Benefits of Improved Control
Old Controller New Controller
Concentration

Concentration
Limit Limit
Impurity

Impurity
Time Time
Improved Performance
Concentration

Limit
Impurity

Time
 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. For example, maximizing the
product production rate usually involving
controlling the process against one or more
process constraints.
 Constraint Control Example
• Consider a reactor temperature control
example for which at excessively high
temperatures the reactor will experience a
temperature 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.
Importance of Process Control for the
Bio-Process Industries

• Improved product quality.

• Faster and less expensive process validation.
• Increased production rates.
 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- Driver’s arms/steering wheel
• Sensor- Driver’s eyes
• Controller- Driver
• Disturbance- Curve in road
Logic Flow Diagram for a
Feedback Control Loop
 Temperature Control for a Heat
Exchanger: ChE Control Example
 Heat Exchanger Control
• Controlled variable- 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
DO Control in a Bio-Reactor
 DO Control
• Controlled variable- the measured dissolved
O2 concentration
• Manipulated variable- air flow rate to the
bio-reactor
• Actuator- variable speed air compressor
• Sensor- ion-specific electrode in contact
with the broth in the bio-reactor
• Disturbance- Changes in the metabolism of
the microorganisms in the bio-reactor
Logic Flow Diagram for a
Feedback Control Loop
Comparison of Driving a Car and
Control of a Heat Exchanger
• Actuator: Driver’s arm and steering wheel
vs. Control valve
• Controller: the driver vs. an electronic
controller
• Sensor: the driver’s eyes vs. thermocouple
• Controlled variable: car’s position on the
road vs. temperature of outlet stream
 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 and feedback control.
• Work effectively with the operators.
 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
experience.
• A successful control project should make
the operators job easier, not harder.
 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 chooses the values for key
setpoints such that the process operates at
the “best” economic conditions.
Optimization and Control of a CSTR
 Optimization Example
ABC
Mole balance on A :
Q C A0  Q C A  k1 exp[ E1 / RT ] C A Vr
Solving for C A
C A0
CA 
k1 exp[ E1 / RT ]Vr
1
Q
Likewise, C B and CC are calculated from mole
balances.
 Economic Objective Function

  Q C A VA  Q C B VB  Q CC VC  Q C A0 VAF

• VB > VC, VA, or VAF

• At low T, little formation of B
• At high T, too much of B reacts to form C
• Therefore, the exits an optimum reactor
temperature, T*
 Optimization Algorithm

• 1. Select initial guess for reactor

temperature
• 2. Evaluate CA, CB, and CC
• 3. Evaluate 
• 4. Choose new reactor temperature and
return to 2 until T* identified.
Graphical Solution of Optimum
Reactor Temperature, T*

2
Economic Objective

1.5

1
Function,

0.5 T*

0
250 275 300 325 350
-0.5
Reactor Temperature (K)
 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 
 Generalized Optimization
Procedure

Initial Estimate Numerical Optimum

of Optimization Optimization Operating
Variables Algorithm Conditions

Optimization Economic
Variables Function
Value
Model
Results Economic
Process Economic
Function
Model Parameters
Evaluation
Optimization and Control of a CSTR