Process Control

Overview

STAFF

NAME CONTRIBUTION

Dr. M. Blesic m.blesic@qub.ac.uk
Instrumentation and Computer Control Systems (14 hours);4 Tutorials.
Mrs Evans LABS (2 hours)
Dr. H. Manyar h.manyar@qub.ac.uk
Module Co-Ordinator
Process Control (35 hours); 8 Tutorials; 3 Seminars; Modelling of Chemical Processes (8 hours); 4 Tutorials.

Process Control (25 hours):
Incentives for process control in chemical plants.
Design aspects of a process control system.
Hardware for a process control system.
Analysis of the dynamic behaviour of a chemical system.
Process dynamics.
Transfer functions.
Response to first, second and higher order systems.
Analysis and design of feedback control systems by frequency response-Bode plot.
Block diagrams.
Closed loop transfer functions.
Stability.
Rooth’s criterion.
Root locus plot.
Nyquist plot.
Feedforward and ratio control.

Modelling of Chemical Processes (8 hours):
Introduction to process modelling.
The development of a mathematical model.
State Variables and State Equations for a Chemical Process.
Dead-Time.
Examples of Mathematical Modeling.
Degrees of Freedom and process controllers.
The dynamic and static behaviour of chemical processes.
Laplace transforms.
Solutions of ordinary differential equations.
Partial fraction expansions (classical and Heaviside’s methods).

Instrumentation and Computer Control Systems (14 hours):
Basic principles of measurement and control.
Control system instrumentation.
Signal processing.
Accuracy in instrumentation.
Single-loop regulatory control.
On-off controllers.
Proportional control.
Integral control.
Derivative control.
PID control.
Enhanced control strategies.
Feed-forward control.
Cascade control.
Ratio control.
Split-range control.
Override control.
Interlock control.
Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams.
Control strategies at the process unit level.
Batch process control.
Batch control systems.
Sequential function charts.
Ladder logic diagrams.
Applications.
S88.01 standard.
Recipe control.
Procedural control.
Coordination control.
Digital computer control.
Direct digital control systems.
Programmable logic controllers.
Distributed control systems.
Process control in biochemical reactors.
Methods of instrumental analysis.

Tutorials/Seminars (17 Hours):
The students are provided with tutorial, worked examples, seminar, SIMULINK assignments and laboratory experiments related to the above lecture material. Tutorials will take place both in class and in small groups. During the tutorials, the students will work through the problems with focus on design of control strategies, instrumentation, stability analysis and computational methods for development of plant wide process control while seminar will include a tour to combined heat and power (CHP) plant, an assignment concerning process control, safety and risk assessment of CHP plant.

LABS (2 hours):
Students will be divided into groups. Each group will carry out following experiment:
 1.Temperature Control in a Process Vessel (2 hours)
 Both an individual pre-lab report and an individual post-lab report will be submitted for each experiment as indicated in the lab manual (to be handed out in the beginning of the term

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the module the student should be familiar with developing an awareness of the control and instrumentation required in chemical process operations, should be competent in setting fundamental procedures for process units and should gain skills to develop the control strategy and instrumentation required in the process plant operations. By the end of the module the students should:

• Identify and describe various control systems
• Describe various hardware of process control design;
• Analyse the dynamic behaviour of a chemical system;
• Predict and calculate the response to first, second order and higher order systems;
• Design feedback, feedforward and ratio-control systems by using stability criteria of Bode, Nyquist and root locus plots;
• Construct and analyse control loops using Simulink;
• Produce piping and instrumentation diagrams;
• Apply various control systems: discrete control; batch control; digital computer control and distributed control systems.

Skills

Skills acquired with module:
An appreciation of the fundamental principles of process control and instrumentation in chemical engineering design.

Assessment

Assessment Profile Element type Element weight (%)
1. Examination (3hrs) 70
2. Continual Assessment (class test, workshop, labs) 30

Course Requirements:
Attendance at 80 %.
Lab report submission at 100 %.
Examination Mark Veto at 40 %.
Lab Mark Veto at 40 %.
Continual Assessment Mark Veto at 40 %.
Module Pass Mark Veto at 40 %.