Process Dynamics and Control – CH351

Tutorial – 2
1. A thermometer having a time constant of 0.2 min is placed in a temperature bath, and
after the thermometer comes to equilibrium with the bath, the temperature of the bath
is increased linearly with time at a rate of 1°/min. Find the difference between the
indicated temperature and the bath temperature.
a. 0.1 min after the change in temperature begins
b. 1.0 min after the change in temperature begins
c. What is the maximum deviation between indicated temperature and bath
temperature, and when does it occur?
d. Plot the forcing function and response on the same graph. After a long enough time,
by how many minutes does the response lag the input?
2. A thermometer having first-order dynamics with a time constant of 1 min is placed in
a temperature bath at 100°F. After the thermometer reaches steady state, it is suddenly
placed in a bath at 110°F at t = 0 and left there for 1 min, after which it is immediately
returned to the bath at 100°F.
a. Draw a sketch showing the variation of the thermometer reading with time.
b. Calculate the thermometer reading at t = 0.5 min and at t = 2.0 min.
3. A mercury thermometer, which has been on a table for some time, is registering the
room temperature, 75°F. Suddenly, it is placed in a 400°F oil bath. The following data
are obtained for the response of the thermometer. Give two independent estimates of
the thermometer time constant.
Time, s Thermometer Reading, °F
0 75
1 107
2.5 140
5 205
8 244
10 282
15 328
30 385
4. The mercury thermometer of problem 3 is again allowed to come to equilibrium in the
room air at 75°F. Then it is placed in the 400 °F oil bath for a length of time less than
1 s and quickly removed from the bath and reexposed to the 75°F ambient conditions.
It may be estimated that the heat-transfer coefficient to the thermometer in air is one-
fifth that in the oil bath. If 10 s after the thermometer is removed from the bath it reads
98°F, estimate the length of time that the thermometer was in the bath.
5. a). A thermometer having a time constant of 1 min is initially at 50°C. It is immersed
in a bath maintained at 100 °C at t = 0. Determine the temperature reading at t = 1.2
min.
b). A stirred-tank heating system is used to preheat a reactant containing a suspended
solid catalyst at a constant flow rate of 800 kg/h. The volume of in the tank is 1.6 m3,
and the desnity and specific heat of the suspended mixture are, respectively, 980 kg/m3
and 4.2 kJ/kg °C. The process is initially is operating with the inlet and outlet
temperatures of 110 and 140 °C, respectively. The steady state energy input is 34.89
kW. The transfer function is
1⁄ 1
𝑇 ′ (𝑠) = 𝑚 𝑤𝐶 𝑄 ′ (𝑠) + 𝑚 𝑇𝑖′ (𝑠)
𝑤𝑠+1 𝑤𝑠+1
 Process Dynamics and Control – CH351
Tutorial – 2
i. What are the values of K and Ƭ
ii. If the heater input is suddenly increased by +30%, how log will it take for the
tank temperature to achieve 99% of the final temperature change? What will be
the outlet temperature at the final steady state?
iii. If the inlet temperature is increased suddenly from 110 to 130 °C, how long will
it take before the outlet temperature at the final steady state?
6. Derive the transfer function H(s)/Q(s) for the liquid-level system of Fig. 1 when
a. The tank level operates about the steady-state value of hs = 1 ft
b. The tank level operates about the steady-state value of hs = 3 ft
The pump removes water at a constant rate of 10 cfm (cubic feet per minute); this rate
is independent of head. The cross-sectional area of the tank is 1.0 ft2, and the resistance
R is 0.5 ft/cfm.

Figure 1. Liquid level in a tank with pump output flow.

7. A tank having a cross-sectional area of 2 ft2 is operating at steady state with an inlet
flow rate of 2.0 cfm. The flow-head characteristics are shown in Fig. 2.
a. Find the transfer function H(s)/Q(s).
b. If the flow to the tank increases from 2.0 to 2.2 cfm according to a step change,
calculate the level h two minutes after the change occurs.

Figure 2. Relation between q0 and height in the tank

8. The liquid-level process shown in Fig. 3 is operating at steady state when the following
disturbance occurs: At time t = 0,1 ft3 water is added suddenly (unit impulse) to the
tank; at t = 1 min, 2 ft3 of water is added suddenly to the tank. Sketch the response of
the level in the tank versus time, and determine the level at t = 0.5, 1, and 1.5 min.
 Process Dynamics and Control – CH351
Tutorial – 2

Figure 3. Liquid level in a tank with a resistance and disturbance

9. The two-tank mixing process shown in Fig. 4 contains a recirculation loop that transfers
solution from tank 2 to tank 1 at a flow rate of αq0.
a. Develop a transfer function that relates the concentration c2 in tank 2 to the
concentration x in the feed, that is, C2 (s)/X(s) where C2 and X are deviation
variables. For convenience, assume that the initial concentrations are x = c 1 = c2 =
0.
b. If a unit-step change in x occurs, determine the time needed for c2 to reach 60
percent of its ultimate value for the cases where α = 0,1, and ∞.
c. Sketch the response for α = ∞
Assume that each tank has a constant holdup volume of 1 ft3. Neglect transportation lag
in the line connecting the tanks and the recirculation line.

Figure 4. Two tanks in series with recirculation

10. A composition sensor is used to continually monitor the contaminant level in a liquid
stream. The dynamic behaviour of the sensor can be described by a first-order transfer
function with a time constant of 12 s,
′
𝐶𝑚 (𝑠) 1
′
=
𝐶 (𝑠) 12𝑠 + 1
′ ′
Where 𝐶 is the actual contaminant concentration and 𝐶𝑚 is the measured. Both are
expressed as deviation variables (e.g. 𝐶 = 𝐶 − 𝐶 ). The nominal concentration is 𝐶̅ =
′ ̅
5 ppm. Both the C and Cm have values of 5 ppm initially (i.e., the values at t = 0).
An alarm sounds if the measured value exceeds the environmental limit of 7 ppm.
Suppose that the contaminant concentration C gradually increases according to the
expression C(t) = 5 + 0.2 t, where t is expressed in seconds. After the actual contaminant
concentration exceeds the environmental limit, what is the time interval, Δt, until the
alarm sounds?