Process Control System
Process Control System
READING COMPREHENSION
Control system provide a means of replacing human operators in many industrial processes. They are widely used to monitor and control
pressure, temperature, motor speed, the flow of a liquid, or any physical variable. They must be capable of fulfilling a number of functions. First,
the physical variable to be controlled, such as the air temperature in a factory or the pressure of a hydraulic system, must be measured. Then its
value must be compared with the desired value. Next, action has to be taken to reduce to zero the difference between the actual and desired
value.
The basic components of a control system are an input transducer, an error sensor, a controller and an output transducer. The input transducer
converts changes in the physical variable into electrical signals. Figure 1 shows one type of transducer which converts changes in pressure to
frequency changes. Pressure changes move the diaphragm in or out, thus altering the position of the ferrite core in L1 which forms part of a
tuned circuit. This causes the frequency of the oscillator. The output is then fed to an error sensor.
The error sensor measures the deviation between the actual and desired values for the variable. The controller into whatever form of energy is
required to change the physical variable. It may be a valve, a heater, a motor or any electrically operated piece of equipment. An example is a
motor-operated valve which controls the flow of fluid in a pipeline.
Let us take as an example a process system for controlling the speed of a dc motor. The input transducer measures the speed and converts into
a voltage. The error sensor compares this voltage with the voltage across a speed-setting potentiometer. The error sensor output is fed to the
controller which sends a signal to the power supply of the motor. This increases or reduces the supply of current to the motor, thus controlling
its speed.
The operation of a process control system is summarized in figure 2 which shows a closed-loop sysetm. In such a system the results of the action
of the controller are constantly fed back to it.
MEANING FROM THE CONTEXT