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ll ion
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BOUrJll·IIHllllh. L"f.\. I~};-';Ii

PARAMETRIC TRANSFER FUNCTIONS FOR

BINARY TRAY-DISTILLATION COLUMNS
J. B. Edwards* and M. H. N. Tabrizi**
' '/)1'/1111'/1111'11/ vI COII/ro/ ElIgillenillg, Ullil'frsi/y IIf Sheffield, UK
""COII/I'O/ CI'I//rl'. L'lIil'ersit\' oI MIII/ clies/fr, il/s/i/u/e IIf
S\'.I/I'III,I
S,.il'll(l' & Tee/lIlO/og)·. UK

Abstrac t

Starting from famil iar assumptions for dynamic analysis , a transfer-fun c ti on-matrix
(T .F.M) model for long, symmetrical, binary distillation columns is derived
completely analytically. The model relates twin output composition changes to
perturbations in the internal liquid and vapour flow rates. The model is intended for
use in controller design and, being expressed in terms of plant parameters and operating
cond itions should provide useful common ground between con tr ol engineer and plant
designer . Though derived precisely for a symmetrical plant , it is expected that the
model should apply more ge nerally as a good approximation. Experimental data is given
supporting this claim. Inverse Nyquis t loci are generated in precise and approximate
form and compare favou r ably with computed step responses . They accord broadly with
previous, part - empirical, part-numerical research results. A second companion paper
is devoted to packed-co lumn analysis .

Keywords. Chemical variab l es control , Distillation, Fluid composition contr ol, Freq.~esp­
~, Modelling , ttultivariab le system~,Nyquist criterion, fartial differential equations.

INTRODUCTION cie~icn (since the parameter formulae inclu~e real

n12r,t ~~,r;Hi1eters
and operat i ng conditions).
The accurate calculation of transfer - function mat-
rices (THI' s) f or the composition dynamics of col - In the present papers we mode l the primary driving
umns, by completely a nalytical methods , has not forces only , i.e. those thermodynamic dri ves which
been achieved hitherto despite several decades of make the column distil rather than secondary phen-
column resear ch worldwide. TFlI ' s have been ei ther en" such as heat loss and hydrodynamics . He there-
experimen tall y or part-analytically derived. foremodel i deal co l umns bu t, having stated our
Experimental data has been used to ove rcome diffi - initial idealing assumptions, we proceed without
cult steps in the analysis so that the range of further app r oximation to generate what we believe
mode l application to vary i ng plan t s and operating are important benchmark mode l s for small- signal
conditions is l imited. It is common experience (i.e . linear) behaviour. Space restrictions allow
that dif feren t co lumn s differ enormous l y, ye t uS to inc lu de only a few intermediate results of
inexplicably, in their behaviour, especially if the straightforward but lengthy manipulations .
trials are allowed to run for the full settling- (Edwards and Tabrizi, 1986) .
time. The difficulties arise from the complexity
of the expressions which develops early in the ana- 2. SYSTEM EQUATIONS AND IDEALISATIONS
lysis of even the simplest hypothetical system
because of nonline arity, spatial distribution and 2.1 Equilibrium assump ti ons
from the two-sta ge construction of co lumns and the
associated boundary conditions. To simplify the We approximate the mixture's equilibrium curve by
equations, apparently small terms are often discar - the two s trai ght lines:
ded but this can be disasterous because their effe-
rectifier (1)
cts cannot be properly judged a pri ori. Column dyn -
am i cs are driven by small differences in large and y' = a X ' , stripping sect i on (2)
terms . Other, late, approximations may involve e
where Ye is the equi l ibrium vapour mol -fraction of
lumping of spatial variables and relaxation of
~e light component associated with a l iquid of
boundary conditions. Reasonable ag reement with
mol - fraction
experiment has been achieved on trials on one - off
X whi l st Xe ' is the equilibrium liquid mol -
plants but it can be difficult to tell whether
frac tion associated with a vapour of mol - fraction
success is due t o the quality of the analysis or
the incorporation of empirical data often derived y'. Slope parameter a is chosen such that l < ~ < B =
from the same, or similar plant to that used for the relative volatility and the lines cross on the
final mo del valida tion. -45 0 line . Such piecewise linearisation has often
been used in earlier dynamic analyses, and notably
by Wilkinson and Armstrong (1957) et al . In tray
Despite the difficulties of derivation, the need
columns it is usuall y assumed that theoretical
for paramet ri c TFX's remain for fou r main reasons:
trays ope rat e in equilibrium so tha t
(a) to test detailed column simulations (which are
fraught with numerical pitfal ls). Y(h;t) = Ye( h ;t) (3) and X\h', t ) = X~( h',t) (4)
(b) as a base for cont r o l system design.
where h ' is the distance from the top and bottom of
(c) t o check coa r se TFM models obtained theoreti -
ca ll y or by exper i ment, and the tower respectively. As in introductory texts
(d) t o allow contro l design to influence plant (Judson King, 1971) on steady- state design, each

189
190 J. B. Ec!l"ards a nd M. H. :"I. Tabrizi

tray is assumed ideal. The non-attainment of equi- are governed by

librium can have important dynamic results however,
as shown in the companion paper. (11)
so that the quiescent comp osition gradients are
2.2 Heat-and mass-balances
constant, giving uniform loading throughout each
The plant variables and parameters are shown in section; a good operating condition. Furth e rmore,
Fig.l. For the heat balance, we neglect sensible for
heat changes, vapour compression and assume adiabatic
- aY/ oh ' = aX' /a h' = G constant > 0 ( 12)
operation as in introductory steady-state analyses
des i gned to yield insight rather than to generate then, nominally, V =L (~V) , V =L (13)
r 5 s r
detail. With equal latent heats per mol of the two
components theref o re,rates of evaporation and con- and vapour and liquid feeds must equate, i.e.
densation on any given tray will balance so that the F = F (~ F) (14)
vapour and liquid flow rates Vr,Vs,L r and Ls will be v t
independent of h': The well kn own cons tant-molar- yielding equa l output r~ te s, Vr - Lr.and .Ls - Vs =
overflow used by many in vestigators including F at t op and bottom. Flnally t o avold plnch effe-
Jawson (1965) Voetter (1957) Rosenbrock (1966), cts, the feed mixture should be in equilibrium as
Friedly (1974), Edwards (1977) . In common with regards both sections, i.e. satisfy Eq. (1) and (2)
others, we neglect vapour capacitance in comparison so that vapour and liquid feed compositions z and
to the molar liquid capacitances H£o h and Hioh of Z should be:
each rectifier and stripping section tray. The mass
z = a /(l +o)and Z = 1/(1+ 0) (15)
balance for the li ghter component . on a typical tray
therefore yields a simple differential equation in- Solution is thus confined to a range of spe cial
volving finite differences w.r.t h", to which Taylor's cases but this is not unduly restrictive as it is
theorem may be applied assuming a large number of a range of ideals for whi ch pra c tic a l desi gn should
trays at small spacing oh. This, and eliminating strive. Even tray-loading is but one attribute of
X(h' ,t) in favour of Y(h' ,t ) using Eq. 1 gives the this special- case range and is a condition which
partial differential equation (pde) has often been assumed implicitly in other column
studies, both dynamic and steady-state .
a(H t Y) ay
~ ~
oh+! (aLr+V r )
oh= -( a Lr-V r ) 2.5 Normalisation
2
a y (O h/ (5) Inserting the forego in g operating conditions in
( ah' )2 pde's (7) and (8) and normalising by setting
whi lst f or the stripping section we deduce: h = h' / oh , T = t /T (16)
n
a(H ' x' ) ax' where base time T is the time for liquid to tr a vel
_ £_ - oh (L - a V ) ~ oh+I(Ls+ aV ) base- distance oh ~.e.
at s s s
2 T aH oh / V = Ht oh / L ( 17)
a x' 2 ( oh) 2 (6)
n t r
we obtain the greatly simplified forms
(ah' )
2 2
ay/h a Y/a h - (G / V) (v - af) (18)
Criteria for the implied long column assumption (i.e.
2 2
trunkating at Sh 2 are investigated in Section 4. and ax'/ a, a x'/ ah + (G / V) (£- ov) (19)
2.3 Linearisation for small perturbations Their solution requires knowledge of inputs vC,)
and £(,) and also stead y- state composition gradient
Linearisation of non linear pde's (5) and (6) is
G (see Section 2.7) and the process boundary
essential at the outset for T.F.M ' s derivation.
conditions considered next.
Linearisation about the steady-state , for constant
Ht and H£ ' produces the following p.d.e's relating
2.6 Boundary conditions (large -si gnal)
small variations y and x' in Y and X' to small per-
turbati ons v and £ in vapour and retlux rates viz: 2.6 .1 Accumulator and reboiler. Denoting accumul-
2 ator and r ebo il e r mol-fractions by Y(o), and X(o)
a a a v
aH -l oh = - (aL -v ) -Z,
oh+l ( aL +V ) ~ and Y'(o), X'( o) respectively mass balances on
t at r r ah r r ( ah ') 2 2 these vessels may be written:
ay /Y 2 ( ch)
~ oh (a t -v) + I - - 2 ( oh) (a£+v) (7) a{ H Y(o)} ay IO h
(O h' ) o :t = V {c - EY(O) + ---, } (20)
r ah h'=o
, ,
H' o X
ox' !( 02 ",
t ~h=(Ls -aV s ) ~ oh+ Ls+aV s ) ( ah,)2 and a\lL .X' (o) } I
b L {- X'(o) c+ ~ oh} (21)
2 at s ah h'=o
ax '
+ -dh' oh U - av) +1
a x' 2
( oh) ( t +av) ( 8)
~2 if E = a'-l (22)

and if v and t are kept sufficiently small, steady- normaising to: aI TaY(O) } aYI (23)
s tate values may be substituted for all the capital =E( l-Y (o ) }+-
a, oh h=o
variables in (7) and (8) thus yielding linear rel-
ationships between y,x' and v, t . a {TbX' (o) }

2.4 Operating conditlons and plant parameter

- EX' (0) +~I
ah h=o
(24)

cons train ts
where Ta = Ha / H£O h and Tb = Hb / H6h
Solution of pde's (7) and (8) is practical only if
they and their boundary condi tions are rendered Ha and Hb being t~e molar capacitances of the acc-
symmetrical by appropriate choice of plant para- umulator and r eboller.
meters and quiescent operating condit ions. \~e ther-
2.6.2 Feed-trays. A mass balance on the rectifier
efore make L' and oh the same for the rectifier and
stripping section and set feed tray yields

a Ht = H't (~H) (9) aHt X(L)

Y'(L ) - V Y(L)-L ~ IOh (26)
oh = F z+V
Now if, nominally, aLr = Vr and aVs =L s (10)
at s r r ah' h'=L'
then, from (5) and (6), steady state compositions on applying a first - orde r Taylor expansion and from
 Binary Tray-Distillation Columns 191

Eq. (10), (13) and (14) we deduce that Eqs. (32) - (36). Their symmetry allows the ready
diagonalisation of the system if we adopt the out-
F ~ E V (27)
put and input vectors:
so that substituting for F and z in (26) gives,
)l(h,C) - x' (h, c)] (37) and
after normalisation q(h, , )
[ y(h,c) + x' (h,,)
~(L) _2_ + x' (L)+ \l-Y(L) }- -aY\
(28)
a, Cl+l h=L oh rv(,) + £(,)l
tiC ,) = Q (3B)
and, similar treatment of the stripping section's - V lv(,) £ (,)J
feed tray yields
Lapla~e transforming the pde's in s w.r.t. h and in
,.z,~. :JL)= _2__ X' (L)- {l-Y(L)} + oX' \ (29) p w.r.t. , gives
h Cl+1 ar;- h=L

2.7 Large-signal steady-state solution: - s (39)

justifying symmetry.
where q(s,p) is the double transform of q(h,,),
Subject to boundary Eqs. (23), (24), (28) and (29) .q(o) is tne transform of q(o,,) w.r.t. ,~~ that of
and setting 0 / 0' = 0, the large signal steady state u',) and q(o) that of oq/3h at h = o. The-end
Eqs. (11) may be readily solved to produce the sol- vessel conditions (32) and (33) yield, if Ta=Tb=T,:
ution for Y(h) and X' (h) from which we note the
constant value of slope; T p 3,(0) (40)
G = 2 E/ { ( Cl+l) (2£L+Cl +l) }
and the fact that X' (h) = 1 - Y(h)
(30)
(31)
~
so: (s 2 -p)~ - (s+ E -Tp)~(o)+ s-l [OE 0]-
-(0+1)
~=0(4l)

The results are necessary for substitution in the and inversion back to the h,p domain, and setting
solution to our linearised small-signal model (lB) h L therefore yields
and (19) but have a strong practical appeal in them-
selves . The constancy of G, leading to even tray ilL) - Ql(L)i(o) - Q2(L)~ = 0 (42)
loading, has already been anticipated and discussed where Ql(L) = {ipcosh/p L + (E+Tp)sinh 'pL}!/lp(43)
but equation (31) represents another important att-
ribute of the special case we have adopted. It
indicates that, from a 50/50 mixture of components an d Q2 (L) =
cosh/p L-I
-"-"-::":":"p-'--"-'::'
- E 0l (44)
(z + Z = 1.0), a symmetrical plant and operating [ o a+lJ
regime produces top and bottom products that are Now the feed Eqs. (36) and (37) may be expressed:
equally pure, nominally. In cases where the feed
o
composition were richer (weaker) then, to avoid
pinch effects, this would be entered nearer to the
+ -
oh i(h) Ih=L = ~i!. (45)
accumulator (reboiler) so approaching a single-
stage situation, capable of easier analysis (e.g.
Armstrong and Wood (1961». ~ereQ3 = ~P+2
o
'J
,p
Q = [0.5E
and ~
0 -0.5(30+.1)
(46) 0J
2.B Small signal boundary conditions. allowing unknown q(L) tobe eliminated between (42)
and (45) giving
These are derived from the large signal boundary
equations (20), (21) and (26) (and a similar equa- ~(o) = Q(o,p)~ (47)
tion for the stripper feed tray) and the assumed G(o,p) relating and compositions to flow rates
(symmetrical) operating conditions. For the acc-
umulator for instance we get, on implicit different-
iation:

ClH oy(o) =v{-Y(O)E+E~, \ 6h}+V .. {-Ey(0)4, \ ch}

"::::,:i:t:;:: :;~ [~-QJQ2 _:~211J -2
h=L
(4B)

a 0 t oh h' =0 r oh h' =0 The matrices of Eq. (4Y) are all diagonal so that

0J
~o
the first-term of the R.H.S. being zero in steady ll(O'P)
state so that normalising we get simply Q(o,p) = (49)
g22(o,P)
T oy(o) = _ EY(O) + Oy\ (32) and knowing Ql ... Q4' we quickly obtain expressions
a o't oh 11=0 for the,transfer fu~ctions gll(o,P) and g22(o,P),
these beIng, respectIvely:
whilst for the stripping section we obtain
h ' (0) _ d (p+2) (cosh/pL-l) /p+(sinh/pL) IIp+0.5} (50)
Tb -0-,-- = - EX' (0)+ OX'
oh
Ih=o (33) {(1+T)p+2+E}cosh/pL+{(p+2) (E+Tp)+p)(sinh/pL)/lp
(0+1) (cosh/p L-l)+(a+l) (sinh/pL)llp+0.5(30+l)
From feed tray Eq. (26) and noting, from the steady (51)
state solution, that: (p(l+T) + EJcosh/p L + Ip(l + E + Tp)sinh/p L
Y' (L) - yeLl = -G(cx+l)/2 (34) the limiting values for p = 0 are:
2
we deduce gll(o,o) = E(L + L + 0.5)/(2EL+o+ 1) (52 )

- - - v + Cl£) - ~I
~2'(L) _ G (- ( Cl+1)
+x' (L)-y(L) (35) and g22(o,o) = -{(o+l)L + 0.5(30 +l)}/E (53)
dT V 2 oh h=L
r
4. PREDICTION OF COLUMN BEHAVIOUR
Similarly, the stripper feed equation is found to
be: A completely analytic T.F.I!. model relating the
~(L) behaviour of y(6,,), x' (0,,) to V(T), q,) has thus
-G {- a v+ - - 1. }- -OX'I
( a+l) +y(L)-x' (L) (36) been derived in terms of normalised complex fre-
dT Vr 2 oh h=L
quency p and normalised column length L, both read-
ily converted to real frequency p' and real length
3. SOLVING FOR THE T. F.11. L' by the formulae
The small signal behaviour of the column given the
flow disturbances v(t), l et) is now completely spe- p' = P L/(H£ oh) (54) and L' Loh (54)
cified by p.d.e's (lB) and (19) and boundary
 J. B, Ech,'ards and
The real time constant T' of the end vessels is ob -
tainable from its normalised value thus:
(55)
In terms of y,x , v and ~ , the model may be expressed:
ry(o,p) - x' (o,pll -Jg ll (o,p) 0JrV(Pl+£(pn
~(o,P)+~ ' (O'P)J =C Vr lo g22(o,P) l;:;(p) -~ (pJ
(56)
where composition gradient C readily obta~ned from
a and L via Eq. (30) . Some aspects of dynamic be -
haviour are now obvious whilst others require an
examination of the formu l ae for gll and g22. Of
the former, we note that, over the entire frequency
range, composition - tilt, y(h,T) - X'(h,T) is driven
noninteractively by average circulating flow {v (T)
+ ~ (T) }/2 whilst composition - total y(h,T) + x' (h, T)
is driven purely by take off rate VeT) - ~ (T). We
note also that the tilt gain gll(O ,0) is positive
whilst g22 0 ,o)is negative and that for low- relative
volatility mixtures (E « 1.0) requiring long col-
umns (L »l.O - see steady state solution), then
Igll(o,o) 1«lg22(o,o) I· These findings accord well
with simulation experience (Rosenbrock, 1966).
Rademaker ' s deductions (1975) and Shinskey ' s empi -
rical data (1963) . They, reported that separation
is influenced predominantly by Ve T) but our conclu -
sions are in close accordance for low- relative
volatiles where large reflux ratios are needed , so
allowing I(v + n l » Iv - £ 1.
4.1 Inverse Nyquis t Loci
Typical loci of gli(O,j w) and g2~(o,j w ) computed
from (50) and (51) are shown in Figs. 2 and 3 for
a = 1.1 ( E = 0.1), L = 10, T = 1 . 0 (corresponding
to a separation 2 CL = 0.46). Their near - vertical
nature over a wide range of w , predicts a nearly
exponential step response as confirmed by the sim-
ulation results of Fig.4. The observed static gains
(= 2 . 6 and - 225.0) and time constants (= 25 and
140) accord closely with those predicted by the
loci (i.e . gains of 0.37 - 1 and - 0.0048 - 1 and time
constants of 0 . 04 - 1 and 0.0077 - 1 ). The broadly
first - order lag nature of the responses, may be de -
duced analytically from Eqs. (50) and (52) however,
without recourse to precise computation by examin -
ation of the expressions for gl l and g22 at large
p: Considering the band
1.0 » l p O.51» l/L (57)
which is (a wide band for long columns), only the
lowest powers of p outside the hyperbolic functions
need be retained so t hat
gll (o,p) -+E {2/p + 1/vp }/{2 + E + 2E//p} (58)
and g22 (0 ,p)-+-( a +l) (l+l//p) /{p(l+T)+E+/p(l +s+Tp) }
(59)
Now for mix t ures of low S (E « 1.0 and requiri -
ng L »1.0) therefore:
-1
gll(o,P)
(60)
-1
and g22(o,P) - ap/(l+a)
The system therefore tends to integrate over a wide
range of frequency as observed, though its behav -
iour does bec ome more complicated at highe r frequ -
encies. The band considered is wi de since in the
region, L-l« wO. 5 « 1.0
-1 -1
Ig (o,j <.; ) I :: ", 1£ and Ig (o , j w) I :: w/2 (61)
ll 22
and these values are large compared to the static
inverse gains
-1 - -1 -
Igll(o,o)1 - 2/L and Ig (o,o) 1 - E/2L (62)
22
The near first-order lag nature of the systems
responses is thus predicted quanti t ively , for any
long column without computation. The predicti~
accords qualitatively with pcevious experience.
~1. H, :\, Tahrizi
4.2 Effect of terminal capacitance
Since T drops out of the high- frequency analysis
above it follows that only the final portion of the
step - response is influenced by changes in T. This
is indeed confirmed by the simulation result of
Fig.5 fo r E = 0.1, L = 10 with T = 1 , 20 and 50 .
5. APPROXIMATE ~ruLTIVARIABLE FIRST - ORDER LAC MODEL
One of the motiva t ions for deriving C(o,p) has been
to validate simpler models. Because-the system is
class - O and tends to an integrating process the
multivariable first - order lag approximant, CA(O,P)
of Owens (1975) would seem to be applicable-where
-1
~A (o,p) = ~l + ~ P (63 )
- 1
where ~l = Lim ~ Lim {p- lC-l(o,p)}
' (o,p) and ~
p-+o Ip I-+<» -
l
Here we should strictly replace Ip l-+<» by L- «
IpO.s l « 1.0 but the approximant should still app -
ly for controller design provided excessive gains
are avoided. Now ~l and ~ are readily derived
analytically. ~l merely involves solution of the
small - signal spatial differential equations obtai -
ned by setting a / aT = 0 in (18) and (19) yielding
s~tic gain formulae (5 2 ) and (5~) directly. ~ can
be estimated even more simply f rom (18) and (19) by
ignoring after transformation all but the p- depend -
ent coefficients of the dependent variables giving
I-E, 01 ~, r -1 ~
- 1£ ,
- p -'l -
lo , a +1J
A
--Q
- lo -1 1
- ( a +1) ~
(64)
T~I verti c al loci thus obtained for the elements
gAll(o,j w) and gA~2(o,j w ) of CA1(o,j w) are shown
alongside the corresponding elements of C- l(o,j ", )
in Figs, 2 and 3. The agreement is clearly ade -
quate over the very wide frequency range considered.
~is is not so with packed columns:). It is inter-
esting that ~o unlike ~l has not required use of
the boundary conditions for its approximate deter -
mination above. This indicates that boundary cond-
itions affect only the low frequency behaviour of
the system, in accordance with our observations and
deductions concerning the effect of terminal c apac -
itance in Sect i on 4 . 2.
Controllers designed on the basis of the m.v. Ist -
order lag derived from simulated asymmetric, tray-
column step responses have been successfully tested
in simulation by Edwards and Owens (1977) for gains
which increase the speed of response by up to five
or six times .
6. CORRELATION WITH PILOT PL~~T DATA
Although the paper is intended prima r ily as a theo-
retical contribution, some comparison with earlier
experimental data has been possible. Step- tests
carried out on the 7m, 15 kw, 12-tray, water - etha-
nol pilot column at Sheffield produced the compo -
sition changes, shown in Fig . 6, measured on trays 1
and 10 with a liquid feed F = 8.8 mole/min @ Z =
0 . 16 into tray 6 . The vapour rate changes from 5.0
to 8.0 mole/min at a constant reflux ratio of 2:1
making v = 3.0 and 1 = 2.0. Steady- state output
compositions of 0.52 and 0.08 yield an average for
2CL of 0.44 and hence C = 0.0367. from which an
effective value of E = 1.88 (a=2.88) is obtained
via Eq. (30). (This suggests an effective relative
volatility of about 4.0 which produces an ideal
equilibriumcurve coarsely approximating the true
ethanol/wat er curve). ~ow for v = 3, ; = 2 we
deduce from our linearised model that
y = {- l g22 1+5 Ig11 1}G/2V and x'= ! - l g22 1- 5 jgll ' }C/2V
and calculating the steady - state gains from (52)
and (53), therefore predicts y = zero (the g22 and
gll contributi ons nearly cancelling one another) No , 2 , p. 177 .
and x = - 0.069: in remarkabl y c lose accordance with llc~lorran , P. D. (1971) ' Application of the inverse
the measu red change . ~yquist method t o a distillation column model',
Proc . of 4th [ .K. A.C . Contro l Conven t i on p.122.
The pilot column has l a r ge t ermin a l capac it ances of
Dwens , D.H. (lY75) Firs t and second - order- lik e
some 330 moles yielding a non - normalised value for
s tru ctures in linear multivariable con trol
T' = 62 mins. ~ow whe re end - capaci t ances dominate
system desisn, Proc. l.E.E., 122, (9),
it is readil y shown f r om (50) and (51) that
pp. 935 - 94l.
EL Rademaker, 0 . , Rijnsdorp , J.E. and Maarleveld , A.
Lim {p hl (o,p» ) 2T an d Lim {p g2?(o , P) ' (197 5) ' Dynam i cs a nd control of contin uous
-1 -- 1 -1 - 1-
L » p»T L » p»T dist i lla ti on units ' , Elsevier, Ams terdam.
Rosenb r ock , H.H. and St orey , C. (1966) ' Compu t at -
i onal te chniques for chemical en gineers,
Pe r gammon , Lond on .
Shi n skey , F . G. ( 19 67) Pro cess con tr o l systems (~e w
and f rom this latter formula and th e static ga in
York: McGraw- Hil l).
g22(o , o) , a time con stant of 42 min is predicted
St ai nth orp , F . P . and Searson, H.M . (1973) Trans.
for the x' response . The predicted near - exponen -
Inst . Chem. Eng r s. 51 , 42 .
tial response for x' shown in Fi g . 6 i s clear l y most
Voette r, H. (1Y57) ' Plant and process dynami c
encou r aging as is the ve r y smal l devia ti on of the
charac teri sti c s '. But terwor th s , London.
y- trace, in accord wi th pred i ct i on . The transient
Wilkinson , W. L. and Arms tr ong , W.D. (1957) Chem.
in iti a l reversal of this tra ce i s not unreasonable
Eng. , Sci . , 7(1/2) .
since , in the near coun ter-b a l ance situation bet -
ween the ffects of gl l and g22 ' it is quite poss -
ib l e , with slight parameter- change , fo r the high -
Fi g .l. The comp let e s ys tem
frequency re sponse t o differ in sign t o that of
th e ultimate response.

CONC LUS I ONS

A TFM model rel a tin g output compos ition chan ges y Accumulator
and x ' to chan ges v and Z in vapour and liquid
flow - rate has been found analytically. It s para-
V - L
meters are derived-functions of plant parameters r r
and opera tin g conditions . Wh il st its purpose is Top
Product
con tr o ller design, it should al l ow dial ogue between
con tr ol engineer and plant designer at an ea rl y Y(6h , t)
s t age in a project. Our assumptions are those fre - h'=o
quent l y made in dynamics studies , (usually implici-
tl y) . These a r e : a piecewise - lin ear equilibrium
curve , spatially independent flow rat es , cons t ant
tray l oadin g and holdup , zero vapou r capacitance ,
tray e quil i brium and symme tr y . The model shou l d
Y(h' , t)
Rectifier
X(h' , t)
I
l'
h'

be suff i cient l y robust t o apply, as a good

approxi mation, t o well - desi gned and non-symmetrical
plants . The TFMb e tween [y - x ' , y+x '] and [v+£ ,
v - ~J i s diagonal and the indi vidu a l trans fer - fu n ct -
Y\L ' , t) X(L ' , t )
1
F , Z
ions predict near-first - order lag behaviour and a v
rapid method for dete rmin in g such approx i mants has
bee n demon s tr ated . These findings accord with Feed (vapour and h'=L '
earl i e r, part empirical, r esearch. More complex liquid)
y' (L ' ,t) x' ,L ', t)
behaviour at very high frequency i s , however, pr e -
dicted and a compan i on paper on packed columns

n
s hows t ha t first - orde r lag behaviour is not always
a safe assumption . Terminal ca pa ci t ance is proved
to a ffec t only the low- frequency end of th e system ' s
f r equency r esponse . :Iany more predictions could be ~ L'

made and expe rimen t s pl ann ed using the model as a

basis.
f 6h .1 t
h
,
s
X~h ' =O
8. REFEREKCES y ' (0 . t)

Armstrong, W.D. and Wood, R.II. (1961) ' An intro - Bottom

duc t i on t o the the o r e ti cal evalua ti on of the product
frequency re sponse of a di st i lla ti on column to
a change in r eflux fl ow rate ' , Trans . lnstn. L -v
s s
Chem. Engrs. , Vo1.39 pp. 80- 85. - - --- -
Reboi ler
Edwa rds, J.B. and Jassim, H . J . (1977) 'An analy ti -
ca l study of th e dynamics of binary distilla-
ti on col umns ' , Trans . Inst . Chem . Engrs . , 1977,
55 , pp. 17 - 29 .
Edwards, J .B. and Dwens D.H. (1977) First-order
type models for multivariable process control,
Proc. LE.E., 124 , (11) , pp . 1)83 - 1088.
Jawson, M.A. and Smith. W. (1965) Counter curren t
transfer processes in non - steady state, Proc.
~oya l Soc., (London) , A225 , p . 226. ---
Judson King, C. (1971) ' Separation Pr ocesses '
McGraw Hill, New York.
Kim, C. and Friedly , J.C . (1976) ' App r ox i ma t e
dynamic modelling of large stage d systems', Ind.
Eng . , Chem . , Pro ce ss Des. Develop. , Vol. 13,
194 J B. Edwards and M. H . \I . Tabrizi

Fig.2. Accurate and 1st-order lag loci for Fig.4 Unit step responses
gJl-l (o,ju)

0 300 600 900 1200

Im

10j r
I
I
w = 0.91

Accurate
8u

8
\ (o,p)
- 50

I
I
- .... ... 1st Order la g
!!'w = 0.2
11
L - 10, T '" 1
-100

8j 1 0.72 Im
I -1 50
I 8
22
(O,P)

I 0 •• ) 0 , 039

\
6j
0 .5 4 8
22
0.5

0.2) W 0 .02 0 60 120 180

E
240
4j
0.36

I Fig.S Effect of Terminal Capacitance

2j

r-
:0/ I

-,
I
0.2 0.' Re

S\l

1
0 I
L _ _ -, 4
2.·0

Fig.3. Accura t e and 1st-order l ag loci for ( .. 0.1

-l( .)
£22 O,Jw
L • 10

Im

-0.01
o 400 800 1200 1600
Re

Fig.6 Pilot plant response to V- change

Y(tray 10)
w = 0.01 O.Olj

I 0.525
1
0.032 I 0.02j 0 . 520

I
+ 0 . 515

I KEY
0.03)
1 measured

I y
- predicted
step applied
X'ltra /
I
L .04j
0.080
I ,
0.085 0.05j

0.010 --------

50 loo , 200

t (min)

(w-values same on both l oci)