Process Control Laboratory Assignment #1 Caroline B.

Basilla 5ChEA

1. What is process control? Process control is the management of inputs to ensure a uniform output, no matter how many times a process is repeated. It is the active changing of the process based on the results of process monitoring. 2. Give some advantages and industrial applications of process control. Through process control, processes are monitored, variables noted, and reengineering methods are created in order to identify flaws and reduce variation among products. Process control systems help businesses create guidelines for future processes that, ideally, aid employees in their efforts to create valued goods and services. Some industrial applications of process control systems are in oil refining, paper manufacturing, chemicals, power plants, water industry and many more. 3. What are the functions of the following elements: Sensor, Controller, Actuator, Transducer, Servo & Solenoid valves? - A sensor measures the primary disturbance or load in a system [1]. It is responsive to changes in the quantity to be measured, for example, temperature, position, or chemical concentration [3]. - The controller is the master of the process control system. It accepts a set point and other inputs and generates an output or outputs that it computes from a rule or set of rules that is part of its internal configuration. The controller output serves as an input to another controller or, more often, as an input to a final control element [1]. - An actuator is a device that applies the force (torque) necessary to cause a valves closure member to move. Actuators must overcome pressure and flow forces as well as friction from packing, bearings or guide surfaces, and seals; and must provide the seating force. Actuators often provide a fail-safe function. In the event of an interruption in the power source, the actuator will place the valve in a predetermined safe position, usually either fullopen or full-closed [1]. - A transducer converts sensor measurements into electrical signals, which, usually amplified, can be fed to instruments for the readout, recording, or control of the measured quantities. It converts an input energy into output energy. Usually, the output energy is a different kind of energy than the input energy [3]. - A servo is a device or combination of devices that automatically controls a mechanism or a source of power or energy. It automatically compares the controlled output of a mechanism to the controlling input. The difference between the settings or positions of the output and the input is called the error signal, which regulates the output to a desired value [3]. Solenoid valves are used to pressurize or vent the actuator casing for on/off control valve application and safety shutdown applications [1]. 4. Discuss and give a schematic diagram of the different types of control systems (e.g. feedback). - Feedback control (Fig.1) utilizes a loop structure with negative feedback to bring a measurement to a desired value, or setpoint. Changes in setpoint move the process to a new value for the controlled variable, whereas changes in load affect the process resulting in a disturbance to the controlled variable. The control loop must respond to either a change in

Process Control Laboratory Assignment #1 Caroline B. Basilla 5ChEA

setpoint or a change in the load, by manipulating the valve in a manner that affects the process and restores the controlled variable to its set point. Reacting to setpoint changes is called servo operation, and reacting to load changes is called regulator operation [2]. FB control would correct for unmeasurable disturbances and modeling errors [1].

Figure 1. Feedback and feedforward control diagrams.

Feedforward control (Fig.1) measures the primary disturbance or load (D) via a sensor and the manipulated variable (U) is adjusted so that deviations in the controlled variable from the set point are minimized or eliminated. By taking control action based on measured disturbances rather than controlled variable error, the controller can reject disturbances before they affect the controlled variable Y [1]. FF control therefore attempts to eliminate the effects of measurable disturbances. 5. What is a Process Flow Diagram (PFD) and Block Flow Diagram (BFD)? - A process flow diagram embodies the material and energy balances and includes the sizes of major equipment of the plant. They include all vessels, such as reactors, separators, and drums; special processing equipment; heat exchangers; pumps; and so on. Numerical data include flow quantities, compositions, pressures, and temperatures. [2] - A block flow diagram provides an overview of a complex process or plant through a drawing made with rectangular blocks to represent individual processes or groups of operations, together with quantities and other pertinent properties of key streams between the blocks and into and from the process as a whole. [2] 6. Give the different elements and symbols used in a Piping/Process and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID).

Process Control Laboratory Assignment #1 Caroline B. Basilla 5ChEA

7. Enumerate the steps in creating an Instrument Flow Sheet. The symbols are placed in circles on a flow diagram. A line from the circle to the flow line indicates its location. The first symbol indicates what is being measured (like pressure, level) and the following letters indicate what is to be done with the measured value (such as record, control, transmit). The number given in the circle together with letters identifies the specific instrument. The numbers are usually assigned to the instruments in the same way as assigned to equipments. A horizontal line through the center of the circle indicates that the instrument is mounted on a panel board. Absence of such a line indicates that the instrument is mounted on or near the thing it is monitoring.

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