Lecture 1.

Introduction to
Process Control
CH158P Process Dynamics and Control
Contents
• The Whats and Whys of Process Control
• Control Systems

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The Whats and Whys
of Process Control

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Whats and Whys of Process Control
Chemical or biochemical processing plants are rational and systematic arrangements of integrated
unit operations and processes.
Generally, all plants aim to convert raw materials into desired products using available sources
of energy.
During operation, plants must satisfy
several requirements imposed by its
designers and other conditions in the
presence of ever-changing external
influences, or disturbances.

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Whats and Whys of Process Control
Some of these major requirements to be met by all plants are:
process safety
precautions in place to ensure the well-being of plant workers and the plant’s operation; now,
automated control is better
product specifications
the desired quantity and quality of final products
environmental regulations
laws that place limits on temperatures, chemical compositions, and flow rates of plant effluents
operational constraints
inherent constraints in the various types of equipment used
process economics
conformity with existing market conditions and more efficient use of raw materials and energy

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Whats and Whys of Process Control
process safety
product specifications
All of these demand continuous monitoring of plant
environmental regulations operation and external intervention (control) to guarantee
operational constraints satisfaction of the operational objectives.
process economics

This is accomplished by rationally arranging equipment such as measuring devices, valves,

controllers, and computers and the (minimal) intervention of plant designers and operators, which
altogether makes up a control system.

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Control Systems

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Control Systems
Control systems are used to maintain process conditions at their desired values by manipulating
certain process variables to adjust the variables of interest.
There are three general classes of needs that a control system needs to satisfy:
• suppressing the influence of external disturbances (disturbance rejection)
This is the most common objective of controllers in a chemical plant. These disturbances are
usually out of the reach of human operators and must be addressed automatically.
• ensuring the stability of a chemical process
Some systems have unstable responses to disturbances and require external control for
stabilization.
• optimizing the performance of a chemical process
Once safety and specifications are met, it is desired that plant operational parameters are able
to be changed smoothly to optimize process economics. (set point tracking)

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Control Systems – Ensuring Stability

response of a stable system alternative responses of

an unstable system

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Control Systems – Ensuring Stability

instability of the middle steady state

heat removed by the coolant

heat released by the
exothermic reaction

stability of the other two steady states

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 Control Systems – Optimizing Performance
Only steam flow rate Q can be changed freely to
maximize profit. Q(t) affects T, which in turn affects
reaction rates

If max Q(t): initially high yields of B, high steam,

eventual high yields of C

If min Q(t): low steam cost, no production of B

Operate at an optimal steam flow rate for max profit!

𝒕𝑹
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 = 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝑩 − 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝒅𝒕
𝟎
− 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝑨

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Control Systems
The following are examples of control systems from everyday life.

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Control Systems
Control systems can be viewed in the following general manner (called a block diagram and
indicates the flow of information around the control system and the function of each part of the
system):

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Control Systems

The controller compares the measurement signal of the controlled variable to the
set point (desired value). The difference between the two values is called the error.
error = set point value − measurement signal of controlled variable

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Control Systems

Depending upon the magnitude and sign of the error, the controller takes appropriate
action by sending a signal to the final control element, which provides an input to
the process to return the controlled variable to the set point.

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Control Systems
The concept of using information about the deviation of the system from its desired state to control
the system is called feedback control.
The control system shown is termed a closed-loop feedback control system, because the
deviation is fed back to the controller in a closed loop, which then acts automatically. Open-loop
control systems have measurement signals disconnected from the controller, so control has to be
manual.

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Control Systems

block diagram of the water heater control system

a water heater

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Control Systems

another feedback temperature control

water heater for a water heater
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Control Systems

alternative liquid-level control

schemes for a water heater

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Control Systems – Design Aspects
In attempting to design control systems for different processes, the following have to be addressed:

Question Design element being addressed

What are the operational objectives that the
definition of control objectives
control system is called upon to achieve?
What variables should we measure in order to
selection of measurements
monitor the operational performance of a process
What are the manipulated variables to be used to
selection of manipulated variables
control the process?
What is the best control configuration for the
selection of control configuration
given process control situation?
How is the information, taken from the
measurements, used to adjust the values of the design of controller
manipulated variables?

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 Lecture 1.1

Introduction to
Process Control
CH158P Process Dynamics and Control
-end-