The process of crude oil refining

Once crude oil is extracted from the

ground, it must be transported and
refined into petroleum products that
have any value. Those products must
then be transported to end-use
consumers or retailers (like gasoline
stations or the company that delivers
heating oil to your house, if you have an
oil furnace). The overall well-to-
consumer supply chain for petroleum
products is often described as being
segmented into three components
(shown graphically in Figure 2.1).

 Upstream activities involve

exploring for crude oil deposits and the
production of crude oil. Examples of
firms that would belong in the upstream
segment of the industry include
companies that own rights to drill for oil
(e.g., ExxonMobil) and companies that provide support services to the drilling segment of the industry (e.g.
Halliburton).

 Midstream activities involve the distribution of crude oil to refiners; the refining of crude oil into saleable
products; and the distribution of products to wholesalers and retailers. Examples of firms that would belong
in the midstream segment of the industry include companies that transport oil by pipeline, truck or barge
(e.g., Magellan Pipeline); and companies that refine crude oil (e.g., Tesoro).

 Downstream activities involve the retail sale of petroleum products. Gasoline stations are perhaps the most
visible downstream companies, but companies that deliver heating oil or propane would also fall into this
category.

Some companies in the petroleum industry have activities that would fall into upstream, midstream and
downstream segments. ExxonMobil is one example of such a firm. Others have activities that fall primarily into only
one segment. The KinderMorgan pipeline company is an example of a specialized petroleum firm, in this case
belonging to the midstream segment. Many regions have local gas station brands that would specialize in the
downstream segment of the industry. One of the best-known regional examples is the WaWa chain of gas stations
and convenience stores in eastern Pennsylvania, but large grocery stores and retailers like Costco and Wal-Mart are
increasingly involved in downstream sales of petroleum products.
Petroleum refineries are large-scale industrial complexes that produce saleable petroleum products from crude oil
(and sometimes other feedstocks like biomass). The details of refinery operations differ from location to location,
but virtually all refineries share two basic processes for separating crude oil into the various product components.
Actual refinery operations are very complicated. The link below will take you to a 10-minute long video that provides
more details on the various refining processes.

The first process is known as distillation. In this process, crude oil is heated and fed into a distillation column. A
schematic of the distillation column is shown in Figure 2.2. As the temperature of the crude oil in the distillation
column rises, the crude oil separates itself into different components, called “fractions.” The fractions are then
captured separately. Each fraction corresponds to a different type of petroleum product, depending on the
temperature at which that fraction boils off the crude oil mixture.
The second process is known as cracking and reforming. Figure 2.3 provides a simplified view of how these
processes are used on the various fractions produced through distillation. The heaviest fractions, including the
gasoils and residual oils, are lower in value than some of the lighter fractions, so refiners go through a process called
“cracking” to break apart the molecules in these fractions. This process can produce some higher-value products
from heavier fractions. Cracking is most often utilized to produce gasoline and jet fuel from heavy gasoils. Reforming
is typically utilized on lower-value light fractions, again to produce more gasoline. The reforming process involves
inducing chemical reactions under pressure to change the composition of the hydrocarbon chain.

The production of final petroleum products differs from refinery to refinery, but in general the oil refineries in the
U.S. are engineered to produce as much gasoline as possible, owing to high demand from the transportation sector.
Figure 2.4 shows the composition of output from a typical U.S. refinery.
Nearly half of every barrel of crude oil that goes into a typical U.S. refinery will emerge on the other end as gasoline.
Diesel fuel, another transportation fuel, is generally the second-most-produced product from a refinery,
representing about one-quarter of each barrel of oil.

Processing units used in refineries[edit]

 Crude Oil Distillation unit: Distills the incoming crude oil into various fractions for further processing in other
units.

 Vacuum distillation unit: Further distills the residue oil from the bottom of the crude oil distillation unit. The
vacuum distillation is performed at a pressure well below atmospheric pressure.

 Naphtha hydrotreater unit: Uses hydrogen to desulfurize the naphtha fraction from the crude oil distillation
or other units within the refinery.

 Catalytic reforming unit: Converts the desulfurized naphtha molecules into higher-octane molecules to
produce reformate, which is a component of the end-product gasoline or petrol.

 Alkylation unit: Converts isobutane and butylenes into alkylate, which is a very high-octane component of
the end-product gasoline or petrol.

 Isomerization unit: Converts linear molecules such as normal pentane into higher-octane branched
molecules for blending into the end-product gasoline. Also used to convert linear normal butane into
isobutane for use in the alkylation unit.

 Distillate hydrotreater unit: Uses hydrogen to desulfurize some of the other distilled fractions from the
crude oil distillation unit (such as diesel oil).

 Merox (mercaptan oxidizer) or similar units: Desulfurize LPG, kerosene or jet fuel by oxidizing
undesired mercaptans to organic disulfides.
  Amine gas treater, Claus unit, and tail gas treatment for converting hydrogen sulfide gas from the
hydrotreaters into end-product elemental sulfur. The large majority of the 64,000,000 metric tons of sulfur
produced worldwide in 2005 was byproduct sulfur from petroleum refining and natural gas
processing plants.[8][9]

 Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit: Upgrades the heavier, higher-boiling fractions from the crude oil
distillation by converting them into lighter and lower boiling, more valuable products.

 Hydrocracker unit: Uses hydrogen to upgrade heavier fractions from the crude oil distillation and the
vacuum distillation units into lighter, more valuable products.

 Visbreaker unit upgrades heavy residual oils from the vacuum distillation unit by thermally cracking them
into lighter, more valuable reduced viscosity products.

 Delayed coking and fluid coker units: Convert very heavy residual oils into end-product petroleum coke as
well as naphtha and diesel oil by-products.

Chemical processing
A chemical process plant is an integration of various processing units (eg. reactor, columns, exchangers, pumps etc.)
placed in a systematic manner whose overall objective is to convert a certain raw material into useful product in a
safe and economical manner.

I.1 Necessity for Process Control Applications

During its operation, a chemical process is required to satisfy several operational criteria imposed by the design
engineer. These criteria are set in order to meet various technical, economic and social demands. A brief account of
such criteria is given below in the order of their relative importance.

• Safety: In a plant operation, particularly in hazardous condition, safety has the top most priority. Human lives
are most important and a control engineer has to ensure maximum security for the people working inside the plant
while designing its control system. For an example, if a furnace has been designed to operate with maximum
allowable temperature of 1000°C, one needs to ensure that the controlled temperature is maintained much below
this value. Alarm switches of different warning levels are integral parts of a control system.

• Environmental regulations: Effluent management is a critical issue for any plant operation. Government
regulations are set in order to limit the release of toxic gas (in atmosphere) and wastewater (into river). A control
system is required to ensure that such regulations are strictly followed.

• Product specifications: Maintaining the quality of the final product is important. A poor quality product would
not be salable in the market and thus very purpose of the process plant would be defeated, unless this important
criteria is taken care of by the designer of the control system.

• Operational constraints: The operational constraints include various types of limitation that the associated
equipment may have. For example, a valve cannot open more than 100% even if the best operability demands so; a
pump has to maintain the NPSH; flooding of plates in a distillation column should be avoided; etc

• Economics: Target of any meaningful business is to maximize its profit. In order to achieve that, one needs to
minimize the production cost, losses, wastage, energy requirement and human labour. A good control system
should ensure an optimum level of performance that maximizes the profit conforming to all safety & environmental
regulations, product specifications and operational constraints.
All these criteria listed above demand the need for continuous monitoring of the process operation as well as
external intervention (control) to guarantee satisfactory performance. This is accomplished through rational
arrangement of paraphernalia (sensors, transducers, controllers, actuators, alarms, computers) and personnel
(engineers and operators), which together constitute the control system.

I.2 Conceptual Block Diagram of a Control System

A conceptual block diagram of a controlled chemical process is shown in Fig. I.1.

Fig; 1.1

The external influences, which have the potential to affect the dynamics of the process, are termed as process
inputs whereas the entities, which themselves are affected due to the changes in process behaviour, are called
process outputs. Flow rate of the feed stream is an example of process input that can influence the process
dynamics, whereas the purity of the product stream can be called a process output (as the purity is a direct
consequence of changes in process behaviour). In an ideal control configuration, process inputs are manipulated in a
calculated manner in order to maintain the process output at a predefined desired set point. Input of a process can
be of two types viz. Manipulated input and disturbance. Input, Which can be manipulated as per process
requivement, are named manipulated input. And the inputs which are outside the scope of any manipulation but
whose changes are difficult to avoid, are termed as disturbance. Feed flow rate and feed concentration are
examples of manipulated input and disturbance respectively. Output of a process can be of two types viz, measured
and unmeasured. Product flow rate and product concentration are examples of measured & unmeasured outputs
respectively.

I.3 Aspects of good control strategy

The development of a good control strategy would ideally consist of identifying the following aspects:
 • Control Objectives: The first and foremost aspect of control system design is to identify the
control objectives. In other words, the designer should find out the answer for “What needs to be
ensured that would lead to best operation of the process?” It is rather common to divide a large
process plant into several smaller segments and identify the control objectives of each segment
separately. However, it is not unusual to find some conflicting objectives that would promise
supposedly best operation. Hence, identifying control objective is not a trivial task.

• Operating Characteristics: One needs to find out whether the process runs on batch mode,
semi-batch mode or continuous mode. The operability issues at the time of start-up and
shutdown may also be scrutinized.

• Inputs and Outputs: As already discussed before in sec 1.2.

• Constraints: As already discussed before in sec 1.1

• Safety, environmental and economic considerations: As already discussed before in sec 1.1

• Control structure: The control system can be classified into two broad structures, (1) Feedback
(2) Feed forward. In feedback structure, the effect of disturbance is sensed by measuring the
process output and the same information is passed on to the controller, which eventually
compares it with the desired setpoint, calculates an appropriate action and dictates the actuator
to manipulate the input accordingly. On the other hand, in feed forward structure disturbance is
directly sensed by a measuring device and the same information is passed on to the controller,
which eventually calculates an appropriate action and dictates the actuator to manipulate the
input accordingly. Thus, a feed forward controller takes a control action even before the
disturbance is felt by the process. It does not mean that effect of disturbance on the process
would be nullified by feed forward controller, however, the effect would be greatly reduced
especially when the process demonstrate large delay. More on this would be discussed in Module
IV. At this point one should understand the concept of input/output pairing. In a simple control
system, if there is only one output to be controlled, one needs only one manipulated input for
that purpose and the system is called Single Input Single Output (SISO) process. However, there
might be several control objectives for a particular process which would ideally need more than
one output to be controlled using multiple manipulated inputs. Such processes are termed
as Multi Input Multi Output (MIMO) processes. A crucial decision at this juncture would be to
decide which output would be paired with which manipulated input for a MIMO process for the
best performance of the control system.

In order to understand the above aspects of control systems let us take an example of a “process”
that is experienced by all of us in winter season- taking hot water shower . The Fig. I.2 represents
the schematic of such a process.
Let us now identify the various aspects of a good control strategy for the above process in the following manner:
• Control objectives : The overall objective of the process of taking hot water shower is to
become clean and refreshed whereby the body dirt is removed and activity of a person
increases. Hence the control objectives of the process should be maintaining the temperature
and flow rate of the water from the shower head at an ideal level so that the overall objectives
are met.

• Operating characteristics : The process of taking shower is a 5-7 minutes job, hence it would
ideally be termed as a batch process which may be run once or twice a day. However, the
control objectives, i.e. ideal flow rate and temperature of warm water, cannot be reached
instantaneously. One needs to carefully balance between opening of two shower knobs (hot and
cold) so that sudden surge of hot/cold water flow is avoided which would otherwise risk
scalding/cold bite. The similar balanced operation is needed while closing the valves too. Hence,
the features of start-up and shutdown are observed in this process. Between the startup and
shutdown, the process becomes a continuous one as one would ideally take shower
continuously at an ideal flow rate and temperature of warm water.

• Inputs and Outputs : Tuning of two valves in the hot/cold water pipeline may be termed as
manipulated inputs of the process that can be set in order to achieve the ideal flow rate and
temperature of warm water. The orientation of the shower head and the position of the human
body are also tuned so that the body receives maximum flux of water flow. However, there are
two potential disturbances for the process, viz ., drop of pressure of hot water and/or change of
its temperature. It might so happen that a second tap of hot water is turned on by someone
while one is already ON, resulting in loss of temperature and pressure of hot water supply. On
the other hand, flow rate and temperature are the measured outputs. In this process, the
human body is the measuring instrument for flow rate/temperature.

• Constraints : The valves cannot be opened more than its “FULLY OPENED” condition even if
the process requirement demands so. Hence valve position is the hard constraint for this
process. On the other hand, temperature of warm water may be termed as soft constraints,
because a maximum/minimum limit of the temperature should be maintained to avoid
scalding/cold bite, however, slight overshoot/undershoot of that limit might be permissible

• Control structure : It is ideally a 2x2 multivariable process whereby flow rates of hot and cold
water are regulated in order to maintain the flow rate and temperature of warm water. It may
be obvious that valve of hot water pipeline may be paired with the temperature of warm water
while valve of cold water pipeline may be paired with its flow rate. For more complicated
processes, such paring may not be obvious. In such cases, some quantitative analysis such as
Relative Gain Array (RGA) can be used. This will be discussed in appropriate lecture module
later. The process can be both feedback as well as feedforward in nature. Once the human body
feels the loss of temperature in the warm water, one would increase the flow of hot water by
regulating the valve. This is feedback control. On the other hand, when a person, while taking
shower, hears someone else opening another tap of hot water and thereby anticipates loss of
temperature of the warm water and re-tunes the valve of his own hot water supply, the
operation can be termed as feedforward control.

With the above real life example of a process, three major classes of needs are identified as
follows:

• Suppressing the influence of external disturbance as soon as possible : Whenever the loss of
temperature or loss of supply of hot water is sensed , a quick control action in terms of
regulating the valves is advocated so that the temperature and flow rate of warm water reaches
the desired condition in minimum possible time.

• Ensuring the stability of the process : It is obvious that following a disturbed condition, the
warm water would not reach at the desired temperature/flow rate monotonically.
Overshoot/undershoot of temperature/flow rate is an obvious fall out for such a control action.
However, one should ensure that the stability condition (desired value) is reached in a
reasonably less time.

• Optimizing the performance : One should target to achieve a clean body by using minimum
water, least heating and spending minimum time

I.4 Classification of Process Variables

Not all the inputs are within the scope of measurement/manipulation. For an example, the specification of raw feed
(viz. concentration) does have the potential to affect the reaction dynamics of a chemical reactor however usually it
is neither desirable nor practical to manipulate concentration of raw feed. Nevertheless, quality of raw material is
likely to alter due to various facts which are beyond the control of a plant engineer. Thus, any change of this process
input is regarded as a disturbance to the process. Hence, process inputs are broadly categorized into two types (1)
Manipulated Input (2) Disturbance Input. Similarly, not all the outputs are within the scope of measurement/control.
For an example, temperature or flow rate of the outlet stream can be measured on-line through appropriate
measuring instruments whereas quality (concentration) of product is usually not measured on-line unless criticality
of process (such as drug delivery) demands stricter monitoring of quality (of medicine). Hence, process outputs are
broadly classified into two types (1) Measured Output (2) Unmeasured Output.

Let us take the example of a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) as shown in the Fig. I.3. Reactant A is entering
into the CSTR at concentration CAi , flow rate Fi and temperature Ti. Product is coming out of the CSTR at
concentration CA, flow rate F and temperature T. The tank volume isV. The reaction is exothermic and hence coolant
is passed through the cooling jacket at a flow rateFc. Coolant is entering the jacket at temperature Tci and exiting
at Tco

The process variables are as follows:

Process Modeling

A mathematical model of a process is a set of differential and algebraic equations whose solution yields the static
and dynamic behavior of the process. In other words, a mathematical model essentially describes the physical and
chemical phenomena of a process. Unarguably, performing experiments is the best way to gather information (data)
about a process. However, time, effort and cost associated with experimental approach of gathering information
may not be an easy option, especially for costly experiments. Mathematical model is a good alternative in such
situations. However, it should be noted that a model is never a perfect alternative to the real life process. There is
always a scope of error, however small it may be, between model and the process. Nevertheless, a reliable
modelling exercise needs to be adopted so that the process/model mismatch remains as small as possible.

A mathematical model is useful for various purposes in the process industries. A trainee operator can learn the
process details with the help of a process model. The operator needs to learn know-hows of critical situation and
perform what-if analysis for the process. Such critical situation is never advisable “to be created” in the real-life
plant operation. Hence, simulation of process model serves the purpose in this case. In fact the simulation of process
model is carried out for design, safety analysis and controller synthesis of that process. Trial of the controller on a
process model prior to the actual plant application is mandatory.
II.1 State variables and equations

The state variables are a set of fundamental dependent quantities whose values describe the natural state of a given
process. The state equations are set of differential equations which describe the progression of the states with time.
The state variables are primarily the fundamental quantities of a process viz., mass, energy and momentum,
whereas the state equations are generated out of conservation principle involving these fundamental quantities.

Let S be the fundamental quantity. The state equation can be written as:

II.2 Example of Modeling a Stirred Tank Heater

Consider the stirred tank heater in the Fig II.1 as shown below. The question is what would change in case a change
is occurred in the input condition (either in the manipulated variable or the disturbance). It is evident that inlet flow
rate and its temperature are the input condition which can undergo a change and in such situation the mass and
energy content (state variables) of the tank would show a progression. In normal situation, flow rate or temperature
of an inlet flow does not have a potential to displace the tank physically from its normal position. Hence, there is no
scope of progression of momentum of the tank. In other words, one need not carry out momentum balance
operation on this process, rather mass and energy balance operation would suffice.
 Fig II.1: Schematic of a stirred tank heater

Let us now apply the material balance and energy balance operation on this process that would yield the following
two equations:

II.2.1 Material balance

Rate of accumulation of water = rate of water inlet - rate of water outlet

Where
A is the
cross
sectional area of the tank. If we assume the density of water to be constant then the material balance equation
would take the final form as

For a free flow system,

Where c is a constant. Hence,

 (II.6)

II.2.2 Energy balance

Rate of accumulation of heat = rate of heat in - rate of heat out + rate of heat supplied

If we assume the density and specific heat of water to be constant and the reference temperature to be zero, then
the energy balance equation would take the form as

(II.7)

Equation II.6 and II.7 represent the mathematical model of the stirred tank heater.

II.2.3 Degrees of Freedom

The degree of freedom is defined by the total number. of independent variables that must be specified in order to
define the system completely. In other words, it is the minimum number. of independent variables required to be
specified so that the model equation(s) can be solved.

Let us analyze the case of the stirred tank heater:

 Total no. of variables :5
( )

Total no. of equations :2 (II.6 and II.7)

With only two equations in hand, one can solve for only two unknown variables in order to obtain a unique solution.
Hence, out of 5 variables, 3 needs to be specified before an unique solution of the equation can be attempted. It is
evident from the list of variables that one needs to specify and Q in order to solve for the state
variables h and T . Essentially the degree of freedom is calculated by subtracting the number. of equations from
number. of variables. Thus the degree of freedom of the stirred tank heater process is 3.

II.2.4 Simulation of the mathematical model of stirred tank heater

The model consists of two ordinary differential equations. Simulation of the model (i.e. solving these model
equations) with an “input condition” yields the data along with some percentage of error, which are otherwise
expected, from the real-time process operation at same “input condition”. Although equations are simple first order
ODEs, the nonlinear terms of those model equations may be hindrance against getting analytical solution of the
model. Numerical solution, on the other hand, is a popular approach for simulation of such model equations.
Various simulation software are available for easy use, e.g. MATLAB® and SIMULINK® to name a few. Following
subsection describes the model of stirred tank heater developed in SIMULINK® domain.

Fig. II.2: Model of stirred tank heater developed in SIMULINK® domain

In order to solve the model equation one needs to specify the model parameters and satisfy the degree of freedom.
Let us consider the following numerical values for the said parameters and

variables: . At steady state, left hand side of equations

II.6 and II.7 would be zero.

(II.8)
 (II.9)

Solution of equations II.8 and II.9 yields the steady state values of the state variables: and . The
values of h and T would stay at 1 and 30 respectively as long as there is no change in the input condition.

Let us analyze what would happen if the temperature of inlet flow increases from 29 to 30. Solution of equations II.8
and II.9 with yields a new steady state condition of state variables as and . That means a
disturbance in Ti would not change the height of the liquid inside the tank however it would increase the
temperature of the liquid to an increased new steady state. The transition of Ts from 30 to 31 can be observed (Fig
II.3) by simulating the model in SIMULINK® domain.

It is observed from the figure that the process takes 70 s to reach the new steady state of the liquid temperature
inside the stirred tank heater

II.3 Linearization of nonlinear model

From Eq II.8, we observe that the steady state value of when the inlet flow rate is maintained at .

Case I: Inlet flow rate undergoes a step change and new value is . As a result the h would attain a new steady
state value of 4. The gain of the system is defined as the ratio of change in output to change in input. Hence,

gain (K ) .

Case II: Inlet flow rate undergoes a step change and new value is . As a result the h would attain a new steady

state value of 9. Hence, gain (K ) .

It is observed that the gain of the system is not constant. The gain changes with various input conditions of the
system. This is the identity of a nonlinear process. In general, if a system follows the principle of superposition then
it is termed as linear process. Usually, a nonlinear process is identified with existence of a nonlinear term in its
model such as logarithmic, power, exponential, product etc. Existence of square root term with h yields nonlinearity
in the stirred tank heater process.

Most of significant developments in the control theories have occurred for linear processes as easy analytical
solutions are available for them. Unfortunately, most of the chemical processes are nonlinear in nature. Fig II.4
pictorially describes the effect of linearization of a nonlinear process.
 Fig. II.4: The domain of linearization

Suppose the blue line indicates the true dynamics of a nonlinear process. A steady state point is identified
on this line that represents the nominal point of operation of the process. If the process is linearized in the
neighborhood of the nominal operating point then the resulting gradient can be indicated by the red line. It is
evident from the figure that there lies a considerable portion of domain in the neighborhood of the nominal point of
operation over which the dynamics of both nonlinear and linearized process match. Hence, it can be argued that the
basic aim of a control system is to maintain the operation of the process at a predefined nominal point. Even if a
disturbance takes the process away from this nominal point, an ideal control system should ensure that the
departure of the process from its nominal point of operation remains within the limit of such neighborhood and the
process is eventually brought back at its nominal operating point within reasonable time. A linearized form of the
model is likely to cover sufficient domain around the nominal operating point so that its dynamics reasonably
matches with that of the actual nonlinear model. In such situation, it is customary to design a linear controller on
the basis of linearized model and apply it on the nonlinear process.

The linearization of model is carried out by using Taylor series expansion. The expansion of a
function around is given as

(II.10)

When the value of is very close to , then the power terms of are very small and hence can be
neglected. The resulting function will have the form:
 (II.11a)

The equation (II.11a) is a linear function. The linearization of a function around is given as

II.3.1 Linearization of stirred tank heater

Consider the equation (II.6) of the stirred tank heater. Only nonlinear term in the equation

is . Linearization of this nonlinear term would yield the following:

(II.12)

Hence the linearized form of model equation II.6 would be

Or

(II.13)

II.4 Deviation variables

As the aim of the control system is to maintain the process at a nominal operating point, the
deviation or dislocation of the state from its nominal point is a crucial variable to observe.
The deviation variable of a state describes the departure of the state from its nominal point
of operation.

Let us consider the linearized model of the stirred tank heater as given by Eq. II.13. At steady
state,

(II.14)

Subtracting Eq. II.14 from Eq. II.13 we obtain,

Or,

(II.15)
 Eq. (II.15) represents the deviation form of the model. The variables and represent the
deviation variables of the height of liquid in the stirred tank heater and that of the inlet flow
rate

III.1 Laplace Transform

Laplace Transform enables one to get a very simple and elegant method of solving linear
differential equation by transforming them into algebraic equations. It is well known that
chemical processes are mathematically represented through a set of differential equations
involving derivatives of process states. Analytical solution of such mathematical models in
time domain is not only difficult but sometimes impossible without taking the help of
numerical techniques. Laplace Transform comes as a good aid in this situation. For this
reason, Laplace Transform has been included in the text of this “Process Control” course
material though it is purely a mathematical subject.

III.1.1 Definition of Laplace Transform

Consider a function f(t). The Laplace transform of the function is represented by f(s) and
defined by the following expression:

( III.1 )

Hence, the Laplace Transform is a transformation of a function from the t -domain (time
domain) to s -domain (Laplace domain) where both t and s are independent variables.

III.1.2 Properties of Laplace Transform

• The variable s is defined in the complex plane as where .

• Laplace Transform of a function exists if the integral has a finite

value, i.e. , it remains bounded; eg . if , then f(s) exists only for , as the
integral becomes unbounded for .

• Laplace Transform is a linear operation.

IV.1 Introduction to Feedback Control

Feedback concept is how to adapt what is available with which is required

 So ,, Consider a chemical process plant shown in the Fig IV.1. It has an

output that needs to be maintained at a desired setpoint . The

process is subjected to unavoidable disturbance (load) . One input is
available in the process that can be manipulated in order to steer the
process to its desired setpoint . Hence, in the event of process
disturbance drifting the process output away from its desired setpoint,
the objective of feedback control is to steer the process output at its
setpoint by manipulating the process input.

Fig. IV.1: A conceptual block diagram of feedback control loop of a chemical process
A feedback control law consists of the following steps of action:

• Measurement of process output , such as pressure, temperature, flow, level, composition, using a suitable
measuring device.

• Comparison of process output and its desired setpoint and calculation of the deviation

error

• Feeding the value of deviation error to the controller, which calculates the appropriate control action to be
taken.

• Feeding the value of the control action to the final control element, that translates the control action into
manipulated form of process input .

Input variables Manipulated

Disturbance Measured

Unmeasured

Output variables Measured Primary All flows and temperatures

 Secondary

Unmeasured

Fig. I.3(a) : A process of Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor

The coolant flow rate (Fc) can be manipulated to control the temperature (T) . Inlet temperatures of reactant and
coolant (Ti,Tci) are disturbances which can be measured, however concentration of reactant (CAi) is an unmeasured
disturbance. Flow rates and temperatures can be measured and can be regarded as primary output whereas volume
of the liquid inside the tank can be estimated by measuring its level. Hence it is a secondary output. Outlet
concentration of product is an unmeasured output unless there is an on-line concentration analyzer in place.

Fig. I.3 (b) : A process of Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (with different arrangement of valve)

The position of valve in the reactant/product line decides the identity of Fi and F. If valve is placed at inlet, Fi is the
manipulated input and F is the measured primary output. If the valve is placed at the outlet line, F is the
manipulated input and Fi is the source of measured disturbance
IV.1.1 Process

Any equipment that serves the targeted physical/chemical operation of the plant is termed as a process. Reactors,
separators, exchangers, pressure vessels, tanks, etc. are examples of a process. Typically these processes are
connected in a logical fashion and the output of one process becomes input to the other. Any
disturbance/malfunction of one process may affect other processes in the downstream side (and upstream too, in
case recycle streams are used). Detailed discussions on these processes are not within the scope of this course,
however, the modeling techniques and related issues have already been discussed before. Process variables are
primarily pressure, temperature, flow rate, level, composition, etc . From the process control perspective, it is crucial
to study how the changes in one process variable affect the other, so that an educated measure of control action on
one variable can be taken in order to maintain the other.

IV.1.2 Measuring Instruments or Sensors

The success of any feedback control operation depends largely on accurate measurement of process variables
through appropriate sensors. There are a large number of commercial sensors available in the market. They differ in
their measuring principle(s) and/or their construction characteristics. Module VII accounts of a few of such
measuring instruments. Details of such devices may be found in technical booklets dedicated for those individual
items.

IV.1.3 Controllers

A controller is basically a mathematical function block that reads the error between desired setpoint and the
measured output and then computes the corrective action for the manipulated input that would steer process
towards the desired setpoint. There are three basic types of feedback controllers which are widely used in the
industry.

• Proportional (P) controller

• Proportional Integral (PI) controller

• Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller

Let us study each one separately

VII.1 Introduction

The instrumentation part refers mainly to the hardware of a control systems that includes various measuring
instruments, transmitters, valves etc . In this module, some basic knowledge on instrumentation symbols as well as
process drawings will be discussed.

VII.2 Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID)

The P&ID refers to the detailed drawing of plant layout that includes pictorial representation of entire piping and
instrumentation blocks used in a plant. It has been standardized by American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
and Instrument Society of America (ISA). Equivalent Indian Standard is also available, e.g. “ IEC/PAS 62424 Ed. 1.0 en
- Representation of process control engineering requests in P&I diagrams and data exchange between P&ID tools and
PCE-CAE tools ”. It describes and specifies how process control engineering requests are represented in a P&I
diagram. It also defines the exchange of process control engineering request relevant data between a process
control engineering tool and a P&I tool by means of a data transfer language (called CAEX). These provisions apply to
the export/import applications of such tools. Following are the components of P&ID:

• Plant equipment and vessels showing location, capacity, pressure, liquid level operating range, usage and so on
• All interconnection lines distinguishing between the types of interconnection, i.e. gas or electrical and operating
range of line

• All motors giving voltage and power and other relevant information

• Instrumentation showing location of instrument, its major function, process control loop number, and range

• Control valves giving type of control, type of valve, type of valve action, fail save features, and flow plus pressure
information

• The ranges for all safety valves, pressure regulators, temperatures, and operating ranges

• All sensing devices, recorders, and transmitters with control loop numbers

P&ID can run into multiple sheets as it is not always possible to code them all in a single sheet. Each drawing should
have a part list and that should be properly numbered. It should also have an area for revisions, notes and approval
signature. More importantly they should always be up-to-date

VII.3 Process Flow Diagram (PFD)

Process Flow Diagram, on the other hand, shows the relationships between the major components in the system.
PFD also tabulates process design values for the components in different operating modes, typical minimum, normal
and maximum. Following figure shows a typical PFD.

Fig. VII.8: A typical process flow diagram

A PFD should include

• Major equipment symbols, names and identification numbers

• Control, valves and valves that affect operation of the system

• Interconnection with other systems

• Major bypass and recirculation lines

• System ratings and operational values as minimum, normal and maximum flow, temperature and pressure

• Composition of fluids

However it should never include

• Pipe class

• Pipe line numbers

• Minor bypass lines

• Isolation and shutoff valves

• Maintenance vents and drains

• Relief and safety valve

• Code class information

• Seismic class information

In other words, PFD has that information which are not contained in P&ID

VII.4 Actuators

The introduction on actuators has been provided in Module IV. Few types of such actuators will be discussed in the
following subsections.

VII.4.1 Pneumatic Valve

*** Pneumatic control

Pneumatic controllers use the force-balance principle. One or more input signals (in the form of pneumatic
pressures) exert a force on a beam by acting through diaphragms, bellows, and/or bourdon tubes, which is then
counter-acted by the force exerted on the same beam by an output air pressure acting through a diaphragm,
bellows, or bourdon tube. The self-balancing mechanical system “tries” to keep the beam motionless through an
exact balancing of forces, the beam’s position precisely detected by a nozzle/baffle mechanism.

Throughout this section i will make reference to a pneumatic controller mechanism of my own design. This
mechanism does not directly correspond to any particular manufacturer or model of pneumatic controller, but
shares characteristics common to many. This design is shown here for the purpose of illustrating the development of
p, i, and d control actions in as simple a context as possible:
The action of this particular controller is direct, since an increase in process variable signal (pressure) results in an
increase in output signal (pressure). Increasing process variable (PV) pressure attempts to push the right-hand end
of the beam up, causing the baffle to approach the nozzle. This blockage of the nozzle causes the nozzle’s pneumatic
backpressure to increase, thus increasing the amount of force applied by the output feedback bellows on the left-
hand end of the beam and returning the flapper (very nearly) to its original position. If we wished to reverse the
controller’s action, all we would need to do is swap the pneumatic signal connections between the input bellows, so
that the PV pressure was applied to the upper bellows and the SP pressure to the lower bellows. Any factor
influencing the ratio of input pressure(s) to output pressure may be exploited as a gain (proportional band)
adjustment in this mechanism. Changing bellows area (either both the PV and SP bellows equally, or the output
bellows by itself) would influence this ratio, as would a change in output bellows position (such that it pressed
against the beam at some difference distance from the fulcrum point). Moving the fulcrum left or right is also an
option for gain control, and in fact is usually the most convenient to engineer.

Automatic and manual modes

A more practical pneumatic proportional controller mechanism is shown in the next illustration, complete with
setpoint and bias adjustments, and a manual control mode:
“Bumpless” transfer between automatic and manual modes is accomplished by the human operator paying
attention to the balance indicator revealing any air pressure difference between the output bellows and the output
adjust pressure regulator. When in automatic mode, a switch to manual mode involves adjusting the regulator until
the balance indicator registers zero pressure difference, then switching the transfer valve to the “manual” position.
The controller output is then at the direct command of the output adjust pressure regulator, and will not respond to
changes in either PV or SP. “Bumplessly” switching back to automatic mode requires that either the output or the
setpoint pressure regulators be adjusted until the balance indicator once again registers zero pressure difference,
then switching the transfer valve to the “auto” position. The controller output will once again respond to changes in
PV and SP.

Derivative and integral actions

Interestingly enough, derivative (rate) and integral (reset) control modes are relatively easy to add to this pneumatic
controller mechanism. To add derivative control action, all we need to do is place a restrictor valve between the
nozzle tube and the output feedback bellows, causing the bellows to delay filling or emptying its air pressure over
time:
If any sudden change occurs in PV or SP, the output pressure will saturate before the output bellows has the
opportunity to equalize in pressure with the output signal tube. Thus, the output pressure “spikes” with any sudden
“step change” in input: exactly what we would expect with derivative control action.

If either the PV or the SP ramps over time, the output signal will ramp in direct proportion (proportional action), but
there will also be an added offset of pressure at the output signal in order to keep air flowing either in or out of the
output bellows at a constant rate to generate the force necessary to balance the changing input signal. Thus,
derivative action causes the output pressure to shift either up or down (depending on the direction of input change)
more than it would with just proportional action alone in response to a ramping input: exactly what we would
expect from a controller with both proportional and derivative control actions.

Integral action requires the addition of a second bellows (a “reset” bellows, positioned opposite the output feedback
bellows) and another restrictor valve to the mechanism1:
This second bellows takes air pressure from the output line and translates it into force that opposes the original
feedback bellows. At first, this may seem counter-productive, for it nullifies the ability of this mechanism to
continuously balance the force generated by the PV and SP bellows. Indeed, it would render the force-balance
system completely ineffectual if this new “reset” bellows were allowed to inflate and deflate with no time lag.
However, with a time lag provided by the restriction of the integral adjustment valve and the volume of the bellows
(a sort of pneumatic “RC time constant”), the nullifying force of this bellows becomes delayed over time. As this
bellows slowly fills (or empties) with pressurized air from the nozzle, the change in force on the beam causes the
regular output bellows to have to “stay ahead” of the reset bellows action by constantly filling (or emptying) at some
rate over time.

To better understand this integrating action, let us examine a simplified version of the controller. The following
mechanism has been stripped of all unnecessary complexity so that we may focus on just the proportional and
integral actions. Here, the PV and SP air pressure signals differ by 3 PSI, causing the force-balance mechanism to
instantly respond with a 3 PSI output pressure to the feedback bellows (assuming a central fulcrum location, giving a
controller gain of 1). The reset (integral) valve has been completely shut off to begin our analysis:
With 0 PSI of air pressure in the reset bellows, it is as though the reset bellows does not exist at all. The mechanism
is a simple proportional-only pneumatic controller.

Now, imagine opening up the reset valve just a little bit, so that the output air pressure of 3 PSI begins to slowly fill
the reset bellows. As the reset bellows fills with pressurized air, it begins to push down on the left-hand end of the
force beam. This forces the baffle closer to the nozzle, causing the output pressure to rise. The regular output
bellows has no restrictor valve to impede its filling, and so it immediately applies more upward force on the beam
with the rising output pressure. With this greater output pressure, the reset bellows has an even greater “final”
pressure to achieve, and so its rate of filling continues.

The result of these two bellows’ opposing forces (one instantaneous, one time-delayed) is that the lower bellows
must always stay 3 PSI ahead of the upper bellows in order to maintain a force-balanced condition with the two
input bellows whose pressures differ by 3 PSI. This creates a constant 3 PSI differential pressure across the reset
restriction valve, resulting in a constant flow of air into the reset bellows at a rate determined by that pressure drop
and the opening of the restrictor valve. Eventually this will cause the output pressure to saturate at maximum, but
until then the practical importance of this rising pressure action is that the mechanism now exhibits integral control
response to the constant error between PV and SP:
The greater the difference in pressures between PV and SP (i.e. the greater the error), the more pressure drop will
develop across the reset restriction valve, causing the reset bellows to fill (or empty, depending on the sign of the
error) with compressed air at a faster rate2, causing the output pressure to change at a faster rate. Thus, we see in
this mechanism the defining nature of integral control action: that the magnitude of the error determines
the velocity of the output signal (its rate of change over time, or dmdt ). The rate of integration may be finely
adjusted by changing the opening of the restrictor valve, or adjusted in large steps by connecting capacity tanks to
the reset bellows to greatly increase its effective volume.

The action of this particular controller is direct, since an increase in process variable signal (pressure) results in an
increase in output signal (pressure). Increasing process variable (PV) pressure attempts to push the right-hand end
of the beam up, causing the baffle to approach the nozzle. This blockage of the nozzle causes the nozzle’s pneumatic
backpressure to increase, thus increasing the amount of force applied by the output feedback bellows on the left-
hand end of the beam and returning the flapper (very nearly) to its original position. If we wished to reverse the
controller’s action, all we would need to do is swap the pneumatic signal connections between the input bellows, so
that the PV pressure was applied to the upper bellows and the SP pressure to the lower bellows. Any factor
influencing the ratio of input pressure(s) to output pressure may be exploited as a gain (proportional band)
adjustment in this mechanism. Changing bellows area (either both the PV and SP bellows equally, or the output
bellows by itself) would influence this ratio, as would a change in output bellows position (such that it pressed
against the beam at some difference distance from the fulcrum point). Moving the fulcrum left or right is also an
option for gain control, and in fact is usually the most convenient to engineer

*** Pneumatic valves are air-operated valves that are used for regulating fluid flow through a pipeline (Fig VII.9).
Varying air pressure (3 to 15 psig) is used as an actuating signal for the pneumatic valves. Usually control signal is
generated and transmitted in electrical form (4 to 20 mA) from the controller. Hence, a current to pressure converter
(I/P) converts an analog signal (4-20 mA) to a proportional linear pneumatic output (3-15 psig). Its purpose is to
translate the analog output from a controller into a precise, repeatable pressure value to control pneumatic
actuators/operators, pneumatic valves, dampers, vanes, etc .

(a) Fail Open (b) Fail Closed

Fig. VII.9: Pneumatics Valves

The bottom portion of the pneumatic valve has an orifice that separates the upstream and downstream flows. A
tapered plug, capable of blocking the orifice in varying proportion, is attached to a stem that is connected to a
diaphragm in the top portion of the valve. A spring restricts the movement of the stem. When air pressure above
the diaphragm forces the stem to move downwards, the plug starts reducing the aperture of the orifice and
eventually blocks the orifice at high air pressure. As a result the flow of fluid through the orifice is gradually
decreased from “FULL FLOW” to “NO FLOW” condition. As the air pressure at the top of the diaphragm is released,
the plug moves back to its original position resulting in full flow of fluid. This is called “FAIL OPEN” valve (Fig. VII.9(a))
because when the control signal fails to provide enough air pressure, the valve remains in fully open condition.
Similarly the “FAIL CLOSED” valve is shown in Fig VII.9(b) where the shape of the plug is opposite.

The dynamics of a typical pneumatic valve is usually second order in nature. The position of stem (or plug)
determines the size of the aperture of the orifice that consequently determines the fluid flow rate. The position of
the stem is determined by balancing all the forces acting on it. These forces are:

• Force exerted by the compressed air at the top of the diaphragm

• Force exerted by the spring

• Force exerted due to friction between stem and the valve packing

Hence,

(VII.1)

Where, pressure exerted by the compressed air, area of the diaphragm, displacement of
stem, Hooke's constant of the spring, coefficient of friction between stem and the packing, mass of
stem and its attachments.
Rearranging the eq. (VII.1), we obtain

The transfer function between stem position and the actuating pressure is

(VII.3)

which is indeed a second order dynamics. However, the movement of stem is always aided by proper lubrication
which eventually reduces its coefficient of friction. Moreover, mass of the stem and its attachments are very small
compared to the Hooke's constant ( and ) . Hence the dynamics of pneumatic valve can be
neglected and movement of stem can be regarded as instantaneous in response to change of air pressure.

(VII.4)

Flow rate of non-flashing liquid is given by

(VII.5)

Where, flow rate of liquid, pressure drop across the upstream and downstream side of the
valve, density of liquid, flow coefficient that depends on valve size, flow characteristic curve of
the valve which is a function of the stem position .

The shape of the flow characteristic curve depends on the shape of plug of the valve. There are five major types of
flow characteristics used for designing the valve:

• Linear,

• Square root,

• Equal percentage,

• Hyperbolic,

• Quick opening,

Where, design constant. The types of plug are given in Figs. ( VII.10) .
Fig. VII.10: Types of plugs of a pneumatic valve

The typical flow characteristics curves are given in Fig. ( VII.11) .

Fig. VII.11: Flow capacity characteristics of various pneumatic valves

VII.4.2 Hydraulic actuator

Hydraulic actuators employ hydraulic pressure to move a target device. These are used where high speed and large
forces are required. Pressure applied to a confined incompressible fluid at any point is transmitted throughout the
fluid in all directions and acts upon every part of the confining vessel at its interior surfaces. Fig. VII.12 represents
the schematic of a hydraulic actuator
Fig. VII.12: Hydraulic Actuator

According to Pascal's Law, since pressure applied on an area yields a force , given as, , if a force is
applied over a small area to cause a pressure in a confined fluid, the force generated on a larger area can be made
many times larger than the applied force that created the pressure.

VII.4.3 Electric actuator

Electric actuators can be of the following forms: Electric current/voltage, Solenoid, Stepping Motor and DC/AC
Motor.

Current or voltage can easily be regulated to adjust the flow of energy into the process, e.g. heater, fan speed
regulator etc . Energy supplied by the heater element is , where current, resistance, time
of heating. The current/voltage can be regulated using
Fig. VII.13: A schematic of Rheostat

potentiometer (or rheostat), amplifier or a switch.

A rheostat is a device that has variable resistance to current flow (Fig. VII.13). The current flowing through the circuit
is , where can be varied by suitably sliding the pointer. The power transmitted to the heater
would be . As the pointer slides towards a lesser value of , heater receives more power for heating

Fig.
VII.14: A schematic of Switch

A switch ( Fig. VII.14) is a device which has two states of operation viz ., ON and OFF. The duration of the switch to
remain in either state can be modulated as per requirement. If and are the switch on and switch off time
respectively, then duty cycle of the switch is defined as where is kept
constant for any operation. This methods is often called as Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). Transistor and Thyristor
are the examples of switches.

A solenoid is a coil wound into a tightly packed helix which produces a controlled magnetic field when an electric
current is passed through it. Solenoids can be used as electromagnets which convert electromagnetic energy into
linear motion of some mechanical part. It is often used as a valve which actuates a piston to restrict a flow in a
pneumatic/hydraulic pipeline

Fig. VII.15: A schematic of Solenoid

Fig. VII.15 shows a schematic of a solenoid valve. The blue bar indicates an electromagnet that gets energized on
flowing current through the helix. The red colored piston is a metallic object whose movement is controlled by the
duration of energization of electromagnet. In normal situation the spring forces the piston to move far and block the
fluid flow in the pipeline. As the electromagnet gets energized, the piston is pulled back yielding the fluid to flow
unrestricted.

VII.5 Sensors

The introduction on sensors has been provided in Module IV. Few types of such sensors will be discussed in the
following subsections.

VII.5.1 Temperature Measuring Devices

Most common devices for relatively low temperature measurement are thermocouples and resistance
thermometers. Radiation pyrometers are used for high temperature measurements. Other temperature
measurement devices are filled system thermometers, bimetal thermometers, oscillating quartz crystals, etc .

VII.5.1.1 Thermocouple

Thermocouples are the most popular temperature sensors. They are inexpensive, interchangeable, have standard
connectors and can measure a wide range of temperatures. Their main limitation is accuracy as the system errors of
less than 1°C can be difficult to achieve. Following figure represents internal construction of thermocouple and its
circuitry
 (b) Circuit

(a) Internal Construction

Fig. VII.16: Thermocouple

A thermocouple is constructed of two dissimilar metal wires joined at one end. It works on the principle of “Seabeck
effect” whereby electromagnetic force is generated when two dissimilar metals are joined at two different
temperature ends. When one end of each wire is connected to a measuring instrument, the thermocouple becomes
a sensitive and highly accurate measuring device. Heating the measuring junction of the thermocouple produces a
voltage which is greater than the voltage across the reference junction. The difference between the two voltages is
proportional to the difference in temperature and can be measured on the voltmeter (in mV). Thermocouples may
be constructed of several different combinations of materials. The most important factor to be considered when
selecting a pair of materials is the "thermoelectric difference" between the two materials. A significant difference
between the two materials will result in better thermocouple performance

VII.5.1.2 Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD)

The RTD incorporates pure metals or certain alloys that increase in resistance as temperature increases and,
conversely, decrease in resistance as temperature decreases. RTDs act somewhat like an electrical transducer,
converting changes in temperature to voltage signals by the measurement of resistance. The metals that are best
suited for use as RTD sensors are pure, of uniform quality, stable within a given range of temperature, and able to
give reproducible resistance-temperature readings. RTD elements are normally constructed of platinum, copper, or
nickel. These metals are best suited for RTD applications because of their linear resistance-temperature
characteristics.

(VII.6)
The above equation represents the Resistance vs. Temperature relationship where R is the resistance and
temperature T , with reference Resistance and coefficient of resistance as The coefficient of resistance is the
change in resistance per degree change in temperature, usually expressed as a percentage per degree of
temperature.

VII.5.2 Pressure Measuring Devices

Most common devices for pressure measurement are differential pressure transducer

VII.5.2.1 Differential Pressure Cell

The differential pressure cell (DPC) measures the difference between two or more pressures introduced as inputs to
its sensing unit. The sensing unit consists of a diaphragm and a pressure cavity to create a variable capacitor which
detects strain due to applied pressure. The following figure presents a schematic of the sensing unit of the DPC.

Fig. VII.17: Schematic of a Differential Pressure Cell

The cell contains two compartments separated by a diaphragm. The differential pressure acting on the diaphragm,
due to pressures exerted on its two sides, results in displacement of the diaphragm. This displacement of diaphragm
is transduced to electrical signal which is transmitted and recorded through appropriate instrumentation. The
displacement of diaphragm is usually linearly calibrated to the differential pressure acting on it. The ends of the DPC
are capillary tubes. Compartment is filled with some liquid ( e.g . silicone oil) of mass m. The ends are connected to
processing units of which the differential pressure needs to be measured. Often the End 2 is left open to the
atmosphere when the pressure at only one end needs to be measured. The following force balance will be in place

Force due to pressure p1 at End 1- Force due to pressure p2 at End 2 - Resistance exerted by the diaphragm - Viscous
frictional force exerted by the capillary liquid = Mass of capillary liquid x Acceleration of capillary liquid towards the
direction of motion

We consider the capillary liquid to be incompressible so that the displacement of capillary liquid is same as the
displacement of diaphragm. Now the above force balance can be expressed through the following equation:

(VII.7)

where A= cross-sectional area of the capillary tube, K= Hooke's constant of diaphragm which acts like a
spring, x= displacement of diaphragm/capillary liquid, C= damping coefficient of capillary liquid.

Rearranging the above, we obtain

 (VII.8)

In Laplace domain,

(VII.9)

The value of x is linearly transduced to electrical signal that indicates the actual measurement variable. Hence the
output of DP cell maps a second order behavior with the differential pressure

VII.5.2.2 Bellows Resistance Transducer

Bellows Resistance Transducer is resistance type transducers which has moving contacts (slide wire variable
resistors). The pressure change causes a resistance change due to the distortion of the wire. The value of the
pressure can be found by measuring the change in resistance of the wire grid. Eq.(VII.10) shows the resistance
relationship.

(VII.10)

Where R is resistance of the wire grid (in ohms) K is resistivity constant for the particular type of wire grid, L is the
length of wire grid and A is the cross sectional area of wire grid.

Fig. VII.18: Schematic of a Bellows

Resistance Transducer

Fig. VII.18 shows the schematic of a Bellows Resistance Transducer. As pressure changes, the bellows will either
expand or contract. This expansion and contraction causes the attached slider to move along the slide wire,
increasing or decreasing the resistance, and thereby indicating an increase or decrease in pressure

VII.5.3 Flow Measuring Devices

Various flow measurement devices are already taught in the relevant course of Fluid Mechanics such as
Orificemeter, Venturimeter, pitot tube, rotameter etc . A few other types of flow meters are discussed here.

VII.5.3.1 Hot-wire anemometer

The hot-wire anemometer, consists of an electrically heated, fine platinum wire which is immersed into the flow. As
the fluid velocity increases, the rate of heat flow from the heated wire to the flow stream increases. Thus, a cooling
effect on the wire electrode occurs, causing its electrical resistance to change.

Fig. VII.19: Schematic of a Hot-wire anemomete

In a constant-current anemometer, the fluid velocity is determined from a measurement of the resulting change in
wire resistance. In a constant-resistance anemometer, fluid velocity is determined from the current needed to
maintain a constant wire temperature and, thus, the resistance constant. Typically, the anemometer wire is made of
platinum or tungsten and is 4 µ in diameter and 1 mm in length. Typical commercially available hot-wire
anemometers have a flat frequency (< 3 dB) up to 17 kHz at the average velocity of 30 ft/s, 30 kHz at 100 ft/s, or 50
kHz at 300 ft/s. Due to the tiny size of the wire, it is fragile and thus suitable only for clean fluid. In liquid flow or
rugged gas flow, a platinum hot-film coated on a 25 ~ 150 mm diameter quartz fiber or hollow glass tube can be
used instead, as shown in the schematic. Another alternative is a pyrex glass wedge coated with a thin platinum hot-
film edge tip, as shown schematically.

VII.5.3.2 Nutating Disc displacement meter

In a displacement flowmeter, all of the fluid passes through the meter in almost completely isolated quantities. The
number of these quantities is counted and indicated in terms of volume or weight units by a register. The most
common type of displacement flowmeter is the nutating disk, or wobble plate meter. A typical nutating disk is
shown in Fig.VII.20.

Fig. VII.20: Schematic of a Nutating disk displacement meter

The movable element is a circular disk which is attached to a central ball. A shaft is fastened to the ball and held in
an inclined position by a cam or roller. The disk is mounted in a chamber which has spherical side walls and conical
top and bottom surfaces. The fluid enters an opening in the spherical wall on one side of the partition and leaves
through the other side. As the fluid flows through the chamber, the disk wobbles, or executes a nutating motion.
Since the volume of fluid required to make the disc complete one revolution is known, the total flow through a
nutating disc can be calculated by multiplying the number of disc rotations by the known volume of fluid. To
measure this flow, the motion of the shaft generates a cone with the point, or apex, down. The top of the shaft
operates a revolution counter, through a crank and set of gears, which is calibrated to indicate total system flow.

VII.5.4 Level Measuring Devices

The differential pressure ( P ) detector method is also used for liquid level measurement which uses a P detector
connected to the bottom of the tank being monitored. The higher pressure, caused by the fluid in the tank, is
compared to a lower reference pressure (usually atmospheric). This comparison takes place in the P detector. In
addition to this a couple of other level detectors are discussed below.

VII.5.4.1 Ball float

The ball float method is a direct reading liquid level mechanism. The most practical design for the float is a hollow
metal ball or sphere. However, there are no restrictions to the size, shape, or material used. The design consists of a
ball float attached to a rod, which in turn is connected to a rotating shaft which indicates level on a calibrated scale
(Fig.VII.21)

Fig. VII.21: Schematic of a ball float level mechanism

The operation of the ball float is simple. The ball floats on top of the liquid in the tank. If the liquid level changes, the
float will follow and change the position of the pointer attached to the rotating shaft.

VII.5.4.2 Magnetic Bond Level Indicator

The magnetic bond mechanism consists of a magnetic float which rises and falls with changes in level. The float
travels outside of an on-magnetic tube which houses an inner magnet connected to a level indicator.

Fig. VII.22: Schematic of a magnetic bond level indicator

When the float rises and falls, the outer magnet will attract the inner magnet, causing the inner magnet to follow
the level within the vessel (Fig.VII.22).
Question and answer

Q.1.

Consider two tanks in series as

shown in the
figure. F , h and Arepresent the
liquid flow rate, height of liquid
and cross sectional area of tank
respectively. Assume that the flow
rate of an effluent stream from a
tank is proportional to the cubic
root of the liquid height.

(a) Starting from usual material balance, develop a time domain mathematical model for this process.

(b) Identify all the state(s), manipulated input(s), disturbance input(s) and process output(s).

(c) It is intended to control height of liquid in the second tank. Develop a Laplace transfer function based model
relating input-output variables.

Q.2.

Find the transfer function of vs. in the following electrical network:

Q.3.

For the transfer function given below :

Draw the corresponding block diagram, identify the poles and zeros of the transfer function, plot (qualitatively) the
process response to a unit step input change, determine the ultimate response, to a sinusoidal
input .

Answer to Q.1

It is understood that the outlet flow of a tank is proportional to the cubit root of the height of the liquid in that tank.
Hence the outlet flows of the tanks are written as:

(a) The material balance on the tanks would yield the following equations:

Hence the time domain model for the whole process can be written as:

(b) The process has two states viz ., h1 and h2 , two inputs viz. F1 and F4 and two outputs viz ., h1and h2 . One control
valve is attached with input F1 and hence it can be manipulated as and when desired. Whereas, F4 is not associated
with any such tool and hence it is a source of potential disturbance in the process. Thus F1 is the manipulated input
and F4 is the disturbance input.

(c) As h2 is the output to be controlled and F1 is the only manipulated variable available with the process, the desired

transfer function is .

The only nonlinear part in the above model is with F2 and F3 . Linearizing these portions, we obtain
The models can be re-written as

Taking Laplace Transform,

Rearranging the above,

Hence the desired transfer function is

Answer to Q.2

Suppose the current flowing though two segments are i1 and i2 respectively. i1 flows in two branches as i11 and i12 . Let
us assume the following:

Kirshoff's law can be applied in the following manner:

or
Solving further,

Further,

or

or

Similarly in the other loops,

or

Answer to Q.3

The process is a combination of two first order processes, one with a dead time and the other without a dead time.
The block diagram is as follows:
Using Pade' approximation,

the transfer function can be simplified as

Hence, the poles of the system are {-5,-2,-3.33} whereas zeros are {-3,47,0.72}.

The step response of the process would demonstrate inverse response due to the presence of positive zero {0.72}.
The first subsystem shows a delayed (by 1 sec) response in the positive direction whereas the second subsystem
shows a response in the negative direction without any time delay. However, the overall static gain of the system
is 10-5=5 Hence, the process will initially show a move towards negative direction as only the second subsystem
would be active up to 1 sec and after 1 sec, it would start moving in the positive direction as the first subsystem
would be active by then. It eventually would stabilize at the value of 5. The qualitative plot would look like the figure
presented below.

The blue line indicates the response of subsystem 1, green line indicates the response of subsystem 2 and the red
line indicates the inverse response of the overall transfer function.
The Laplace Transform of sin(2t) is

Taking inverse Laplace transform we obtain,

After sufficiently long time, exponential functions of time will vanish and thereby the final expression would be