Laboratory Exercise No.

2
Basic Concepts of Process Dynamics and Control

1. Objective:
The activity aims to understand the basic concepts of process dynamics and control.
2. Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):
The students shall be able to:
2.1 Determine the input and output in the different chemical processes.
2.2 Provide instrumentation requirements for a chemical process.
2.3 Identify the different process variables in a chemical process.
2.4 Specifiy the controlled variables (CVs), manipulated variables (MVs) and disturbance variables
(DVs) from the different chemical processes.
3. Discussion:
Most chemical processing plants were run essentially manually prior to the 1940s. Only the most
elementary types of controllers were used. Many operators were needed to keep watch on the many
variables in the plant. Large tanks were employed to act as buffers or surge capacities between various
units in the plant. These tanks, although sometimes quite expensive, served the function of filtering out
some of the dynamic disturbances by isolating one part of the process from upsets occurring in another
part.

With increasing labor and equipment costs and with the development of more severe, higher-capacity,
higher-performance equipment and processes in the 1940s and early 195Os, it became uneconomical and
often impossible to run plants without automatic control devices. At this stage feedback controllers were
added to the plants with little real consideration of or appreciation for the dynamics of the process itself.
Rule-of-thumb guides and experience were the only design techniques.

In the 1960s chemical engineers began to apply dynamic analysis and control theory to chemical
engineering processes. Most of the techniques were adapted from the work in the aerospace and electrical
engineering fields. In addition to designing better control systems, processes and plants were developed or
modified so that they were easier to control. The concept of examining the many parts of a complex plant
together as a single unit, with all the interactions included, and devising ways to control the entire plant is
called systems engineering. The current popular buzz words artificial intelligence and expert systems
are being applied to these types of studies.

The rapid rise in energy prices in the 1970s provided additional needs for effective control systems. The
design and redesign of many plants to reduce energy consumption resulted in more complex, integrated
plants that were much more interacting. So the challenges to the process control engineer have continued
to grow over the years. This makes the study of dynamics and control even more vital in the chemical
engineering curriculum than it was 30 years ago.

Feedback control. The traditional way to control a process is to measure the variable that is to be
controlled, compare its value with the desired value (the set-point to the controller) and feed the difference
(the error) into a feedback controller that will change a manipulated variable to drive the controlled variable
back to the desired value. Information is thus fed back from the controlled variable to a manipulated
variable, as sketched in the figure below.

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Feed-forward control. The basic idea is shown in the figure below .

The disturbance is detected as it enters the process and an appropriate change is made in the manipulated
variable such that the controlled variable is held constant. Thus we begin to take corrective action as soon
as a disturbance entering the system is detected instead of waiting (as we do with feedback control) for the
disturbance to propagate all the way through the process before a correction is made.

4. Resources:
Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes
Process Modeling, Simulation and Control for Chemical Engineers
5. Procedure:
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 1. Explain each of the chemical processes that chemical engineers usually encounter in chemical
plants with a corresponding block diagram noting what enters into it and what comes out. Tabulate
your answers in Table 1.

2. Consider the heat exchanger as shown below:

An oil stream passes through the tube side of a tube-in-shell heat exchanger and is heated by condensing
steam on the shell side. The steam condensate leaves through a steam trap ( a device that only liquid to
pass through, thus preventing blow through of the steam vapor). To control the temperature of the oil
leaving in the heat exchanger, a thermocouple is inserted in a thermowell in the exit oil pipe. The
thermocouple wires are connected to a temperature transmitter, an electronic device that converts the
millivolt thermocouple output into a 4- to20-milliampere control signal. The current signal is sent into a
temperature controller, an electronic or digital or pneumatic device that compares the desired temperature
(the setpoint) with the actual temperature, and sends out a signal to a control valve. The temperature
controller opens the steam valve more if the temperature is too low and closes it a little if the temperature is
too high.

In order to provide automatic control of some variable in a process, in the above case temperature,
determine the requirements/instrumentation that must be installed in the system. Also, provide explanation
of its role in the automation. Tabulate your answers in Table 2.

3. Consider the simple schematic sketch of the process configuration and its control system, as
shown below:

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Two liquid feeds are pumped into a reactor in which they react to form products. The reaction is exothermic,
and therefore heat must be removed from the reactor. This is accomplished by adding cooling water to a
jacket surrounding the reactor. Reactor effluent is pumped through a pre-heater into a distillation column
that splits it into two product streams.

Identify the different process variables that must be controlled and provide available instrumentation for
each process variable. Tabulate your answers in Table 3.
4. For the heat exchanger in Procedure 2, determine the type of the different variables in the system
as Manipulated Variables (MV), Controlled Variables (CV), Uncontrolled Variables (UV) and Load
Disturbances (LD) or Disturbance Variables (DV). Tabulate your answers in Table 4.

5. For the distillation column in Procedure 3, determine the type of the different variables in the
system as Manipulated Variables (MV), Controlled Variables (CV), Uncontrolled Variables (UV) and
Load Disturbances (LD). Tabulate your answers in Table 4.

6. Consider the schematic diagram of a heat exchanger as shown below:

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A process fluid on the tube side is cooled by cooling water on the shell side, determine the type of the
different variables in the system as Manipulated Variables (MV), Controlled Variables (CV), Uncontrolled
Variables (UV) and Load Disturbances (LD). Tabulate your answers in Table 6.
7. Consider the schematic diagram of continuous-stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) as shown below:

If the reaction is highly exothermic, it is necessary to control the reactor temperature by manipulating the
flow rate of coolant in a jacket or cooling coil. Determine the type of the different variables in the system as
Manipulated Variables (MV), Controlled Variables (CV), Uncontrolled Variables (UV) and Load Disturbances
(LD). Tabulate your answers in Table 7.
8. Consider the thermal cracking furnace as shown below:

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Crude oil is broken down (cracked) into a number of lighter petroleum fractions by the heat transferred
from a burning fuel/air mixture. Determine the type of the different variables in the system as Manipulated
Variables (MV), Controlled Variables (CV), Uncontrolled Variables (UV) and Load Disturbances (LD).
Tabulate your answers a Table 8.
9. Consider the schematic diagram of a batch or semi-batch reactor as shown below:

An initial charge of reactants is brought up to reaction conditions, and the reactions are allowed to proceed
for a specified period of time or until a specified conversion is obtained. Batch and semi-batch reactors are
used routinely in specialty chemical plants, polymerization plants ( where a reaction by-product typically is
removed during the reaction), and in pharmaceutical and other bio-processing facilities (where a feed
stream, e.g. glucose, is fed into the reactor during a portion of the cycle to feed a living organism, such as a
yeast or protein). Determine the type of the different variables in the system as Manipulated Variables
(MV), Controlled Variables (CV), Uncontrolled Variables (UV) and Load Disturbances (LD). Tabulate your
answers in Table 9.

10. Consider a schematic diagram of a batch digester in a pulp mill as shown below:

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Both continuous and semi-batch digesters are used in paper manufacturing to break down wood chips in
order to extract the cellulosic fibers. The end-point of the chemical reaction is indicated by the kappa
number, a measure of lignin content. Determine the type of the different variables in the system as
Manipulated Variables (MV), Controlled Variables (CV), Uncontrolled Variables (UV) and Load Disturbances
(LD). Tabulate your answers in Table 10.

Course: ECE 006 Laboratory Exercise No.: 2

Group No.: Section: CH42FB1
Group Members: Joseph I. Villanueva Date Performed: November 18, 2017
Date Submitted: November 25, 2017
Instructor: Engr. Crispulo G. Maranan

6. Data and Results:

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1.
Table 1. Different Chemical Processes, Its Block Diagram and Explanation

Chemical Process Block Diagram

1 Absorption

Explanation:

In chemistry, absorption is a physical or chemical phenomenon or a

process in which atoms, molecules or ions enter some bulk phase
liquid or solid material. This is a different process from adsorption,
since molecules undergoing absorption are taken up by the volume,
not by the surface (as in the case for adsorption). A more general
term is sorption, which covers absorption, adsorption, and ion
exchange. Absorption is a condition in which something takes in
another substance.

2 Condensation

Explanation:

Condensation is the change of the physical state of matter from gas

phase into liquid phase, and is the reverse of evaporation. The word
most often refers to the water cycle. It can also be defined as the
change in the state of water vapour to liquid water when in contact
with a liquid or solid surface or cloud condensation nuclei within the
atmosphere. When the transition happens from the gaseous phase
into the solid phase directly, the change is called deposition (or
desublimation, see Sublimation (phase transition).

3 Crystallization

Explanation:

Crystallization is the (natural or artificial) process by which a solid

forms, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a
structure known as a crystal. Some of the ways by which crystals
form are precipitating from a solution, melting, or more rarely
deposition directly from a gas. Attributes of the resulting crystal
depend largely on factors such as temperature, air pressure, and in
the case of liquid crystals, time of fluid evaporation.

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4 Distillation

Explanation:

Distillation is the process of separating the components or

substances from a liquid mixture by selective evaporation and
condensation. Distillation may result in essentially complete
separation (nearly pure components), or it may be a partial
separation that increases the concentration of selected components
of the mixture. In either case the process exploits differences in the
volatility of the mixture's components. In industrial chemistry,
distillation is a unit operation of practically universal importance, but it
is a physical separation process and not a chemical reaction.

5 Drying

Explanation:

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 An operation in which a liquid, usually water is removed from a wet
solid in equipment termed a dryer.

6 Evaporation

Explanation:

Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs from the

surface of a liquid into a gaseous phase that is not saturated with the
evaporating substance. The other type of vaporization is boiling,
which is characterized by bubbles of saturated vapor forming in the
liquid phase. Steam produced in a boiler is another example of
evaporation occurring in a saturated vapor phase. Evaporation that
occurs directly from the solid phase below the melting point, as
commonly observed with ice at or below freezing or moth crystals
(napthalene or paradichlorobenzene), is called sublimation

7 Extraction

Explanation:

Extractions are a way to separate a desired substance when it is

mixed with others. The mixture is brought into contact with a solvent
in which the substance of interest is soluble, but the other
substances present are insoluble.
Extractions use two immiscible phases (these are phases that do not
mix, like oil and water) to separate the substance from one phase
into the other.
8 Filtration

Explanation:

Filtration is a technique used either to remove solid impurities from

an organic solution or to isolate an organic solid. The two types of
filtration commonly used in organic chemistry laboratories are gravity
filtration and vacuum or suction filtration.

9 Flash Vaporization

Explanation:

Flash evaporation is the partial or total vaporization that occurs when

a saturated liquid stream undergoes a reduction in pressure by
passing through a throttling valve or other throttling device. This

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 process is one of the simplest unit operations.

10 Heat Exchange/ing

Explanation:

11 Stripping

Explanation:

Stripping is a physical separation process where one or more

components are removed from a liquid stream by a vapor stream. In
industrial applications the liquid and vapor streams can have co-
current or countercurrent flows. Stripping is usually carried out in
either a packed or trayed column.

2.
Table 2. Different Instrumentation Requirements and Its Explanation

Requirements/Instrumentation Explanation

3.
Table 3. Different Process Variables and Its Instrumentation

Process Variable Instrumentation

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 Manipulated Variable

Controlled Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Load Disturbance Variable

4.
Table 4. Types of the different process variables for a heat exchanger

Process Variable MV/CV/UV/LD

oil feed flow rate F uv

oil inlet temperature TO mv

steam flow rate F ld

oil exit temperature T cv

5.
Table 5. Types of the different process variables for a distillation column

Process Variable MV/CV/UV/LD

feed flow rate

feed composition

Reflux

steam

cooling water

distillate

bottoms flow rates

distillate product composition

bottoms product composition

column pressure

base liquid level

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 reflux drum liquid level

compositions on all the trays

temperatures on all the trays

6.
Table 6. Types of the different process variables for a heat exchanger

Process Variable MV/CV/UV/LD

Exit temperature of the process fluid

Cooling water flow rate

Variation in inlet temperature

Process fluid flow rate

7.
Table 7. Types of the different process variables for a continuous-stirred-tank reactor (CSTR)

Process Variable MV/CV/UV/LD

Feed composition

Feed flow rate

Feed temperature

8.
Table 8. Types of the different process variables for a thermal cracking furnace
Process Variable MV/CV/UV/LD

Furnace temperature

Amount of excess air in the flue gas

Fuel flow rate

Fuel/air ratio

Crude oil composition

Heating quality of the fuel

9.
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 Table 9. Types of the different process variables for a batch or semi-batch reactor
Process Variable MV/CV/UV/LD

Reactor temperature

Coolant flow rate

End-point (final) concentration of the batch

Desired temperature

Flow of reactants (for semi-batch

operation)

Cycle time

10.
Table 10. Types of the different process variables for a batch digester in a pulp mill

Process Variable MV/CV/UV/LD

End-point (final) concentration of the batch

Digester temperature

Digester pressure

Cycle time

7.Conclusion:

8. Further Readings:
Seborg Dale E., Edgar, Thomas F., and Mellichamp Duncan A. (2004). Process Dynamics and
Control. Singapore: Wiley.
Wiley.
Knopf, F. C. (2012). Modeling, analysis and optimization of process and energy systems.Hoboken,
New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
Velten, K. (2009). Mathematical modeling and simulation: introduction for scientists and engineers.
Singapore: Wiley-VCH.

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9. Assessment (Rubric for Laboratory Performance):
TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES
RUBRIC FOR MODERN TOOL USAGE
(Engineering Programs)
Student Outcome (e): Use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering
practice in complex engineering activities.
Program: Chemical Engineering Course: CHE 506 Section: _______ ____Sem SY ________
Performance Unsatisfactor Developing Satisfactory Very Satisfactory Score
Indicators y 2 3 4
1
1. Apply Fails to identify Identifies Identifies modern Recognizes the
appropriate any modern modern techniques and is benefits and
techniques, techniques to techniques but able to apply constraints of
skills, and perform fails to apply these in modern
modern discipline- these in performing engineering tools
tools to specific performing discipline-specific and shows
perform a engineering discipline- engineering task. intention to apply
discipline- task. specific them for
specific engineering engineering
engineering task. practice.
task.
2. Demonstrate Fails to apply Attempts to Shows ability to Shows ability to
skills in any modern apply modern apply fundamental apply the most
applying tools to solve tools but has procedures in appropriate and
different engineering difficulties to using modern effective modern
techniques problems. solve tools when solving tools to solve
and modern engineering engineering engineering
tools to problems. problems. problems.
solve
engineering
problems.
3. Recognize Does not Recognizes Recognizes the Recognizes the
the benefits recognize the some benefits benefits and need for benefits
and benefits and and constraints of and constraints of
constraints constraints of constraints of modern modern
of modern modern modern engineering tools engineering tools
engineering engineering engineering and shows and makes good
tools. tools. tools. intention to apply use of them for
them for engineering
engineering practice.
practice.
Total Score
Mean Score = (Total Score / 3)
Percentage Rating = (Total Score / 12) x 100%
Evaluated by: Engr. Crispulo G. Maranan June 17, 2017
Printed Name and Signature of Faculty Member Date
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