MODULE 1

BATCH PROCESS AND CONTINUES PROCESS

Batch Processes
Batch processes are familiar to most people since we use them in everyday life. For
instance, when we bake a cake, we follow a recipe that involves adding ingredients, stirring
the mixture, pouring it into baking pans, putting the pans into the oven for a specific time at a
specific temperature, etc. Industrial batch processes are similar to the process of baking a
cake but scaled up to produce a larger quantity of material. A variety of products are
produced using batch processes. Food, beverages, pharmaceutical products, paint, fertilizer,
and cement are a few of the categories of products produced using batch processes. Some
products such as food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals require precise tracking of batch
information for safety and regulatory purposes.

Continuous Processes
Continuous processes are less understood by most people; however, they have some
similarities to batch processes. Ingredients must be combined in precise ways at precise
points in the process. Precise control of process conditions must be maintained to ensure
product quality and safety of operations. Some industries, such as chemical and
petrochemical industries, use continuous processes extensively. Many other industries,
however, use continuous processes as some part of their operations, purifying air and water,
treating waste products, etc.

Both batch and continuous processes use many of the products discussed thus far.
However, there are some unique characteristics of batch and continuous processes that either
require the use of additional types of equipment or require some of the equipment previously
discussed to be applied differently.

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COMPARISON OF BATCH AND CONTINUOUS PROCESS

CONTROL SYSTEM STRATEGIES

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 The purpose of a process control system is to maintain some process variable at the
setpoint. The configuration and complexity of process control system depend on the
characteristics of process under control.

Single Variable Process Control:

It is the most elementary type process control. In this strategy there is only a single
variable. The variable is measured directly and maintained at the set point regardless of any
other process variables. It is the simplest and cheapest process control strategy.

In the above example, there is process tank. Water is fed through an inlet tube. Water
is taken out through an outlet tube. There is a flow controller to maintain constant flow
through the inlet tube. The water inside the tank is heated. There is a temperature control
system to maintain the tank temperature.

Consider the flow control system. The flow is measured directly and maintained at the
set point with the help of a flow controller. The flow is not affected by any other control
loops.

Independent Single Variable Control:

In certain processes, the control of one variable may be effected by the manipulation
of some other variable. In this case the controlled variable is called the dependent variable
and the manipulated variable is also known as the independent variable. The controlled
variable depends on the independent variable.

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 In the example, there is a process tank in which water is collected. Water is fed in to
the tank through an inlet tube. There is an outlet tube to carry water out of the tank. There is a
level sensor in the tank. The level controller maintains the water level by manipulating the
inlet flow. Here the water level in the tank depends on the inlet flow rate.

Interactive variable control system:

In certain processes, there may be more than one control loops. In certain cases, the
action of a control loop may affect the other loops. The loops may interact. In this case the
controller design becomes complicated. The corrective action of one loop disturbs the other
loop

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 In the above example, there is process tank. Water is fed through an inlet tube. Water
is taken out through an outlet tube. There is a flow controller to maintain constant flow
through the inlet tube. The water inside the tank is heated. There is a temperature control
system to maintain the tank temperature.

Under nominal conditions, the flow in to the tank is held constant and the temperature
is also held constant. If the setpoint of the flow control system changes, the flow control loop
adopts a new flow rate, which will appear as a load change to the temperature control system.

Compound Variable Control System:

The word compound means combination of more than one variable. In compound
variable control system, more than one process variables are measured. The variables are
combined and used to maintain a single variable under control. Ratio control system is an
example of compound control system.

In this example the control system maintains the ratio of two reactants A and B. One of the
flow rates is measured but allowed to float (that is, not regulated), and the other is both
measured and adjusted to provide the specified constant ratio. The flow rate of reactant A is
measured and added, with appropriate scaling, to the measurement of flow rate B. The
controller reacts to the resulting input signal by adjustment of the control valve in the reactant
B input line.

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CASCADE CONTROL

Figure: General features of a cascade process-control system.

The inherent interaction that occurs between two control systems in many
applications is sometimes used to provide better overall control. One method of
accomplishing this is for the setpoint in one control loop to be determined by the
measurement of a different variable for which the interaction exists. A block diagram of such
a system is shown in Figure above. Two measurements are taken from the system and each is
used in its own control loop. In the outer loop, however, the controller output is the setpointof
the inner loop. Thus, if the outer loop controlled variable changes, the error signal that is
input to the controller effects a change in setpoint of the inner loop. Even though the
measured value of the inner loop has not changed, the inner loop experiences an error signal,
and thus new output by virtue of the setpoint change. Cascade control generally provides
better control of the outer loop variable than is accomplished through a singlevariable system.

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 An example of a cascade control system not only shows how it works, but suggests
how control is improved. Consider the problem of controlling the level of liquid in a tank
through regulation of the input flow rate. A single-variable system to accomplish this is
shown in Figure above. A level measurement is used to adjust a flow-control valve as a final
control element. The setpoint to the controller establishes the desired level. In this system,
upstream load changes cause changes in flow rate that result in level changes. The level
change is, however, a second-stage effect here. Consequently, the system cannot respond
until the level has actually been changed by the flow rate change.

Figure below shows the same control problem solved by a cascade system. The flow
loop is a single-variable system as described earlier, but the setpoint is determined by a
measurement of level. Upstream load changes are never seen in the level of liquid in the tank
because the flow-control system regulates such changes before they appear as substantial
changes in level.

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FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM
Figure below shows basic elements of a feedback control system as represented by a
block diagram. The functional relationships between these elements are easily seen. An
important factor to remember is that the block diagram represents flow paths of control
signals, but does not represent flow of energy through the system or process.

Figure: Feedback Control System Block Diagram

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Below are several terms associated with the closed-loop block diagram.

 The plant is the system or process through which a particular quantity or condition is
controlled. This is also called thecontrolled system.

 The control elements are components needed to generate the appropriate control
signal applied to the plant. These elements are also called the "controller."

 The feedback elements are components needed to identify the functional relationship
between the feedback signal and the controlled output.

 The reference point is an external signal applied to the summing point of the control
system to cause the plant to produce a specified action. This signal represents the
desired value of a controlled variable and is also called the "setpoint."

 The controlled output is the quantity or condition of the plant which is controlled.
This signal represents the controlled variable.

 The feedback signal is a function of the output signal. It is sent to the summing point
and algebraically added to the reference input signal to obtain the actuating signal.

 The actuating signal represents the control action of the control loop and is equal to
the algebraic sum of the reference input signal and feedback signal. This is also called
the "error signal."

 The manipulated variable is the variable of the process acted upon to maintain the
plant output (controlled variable) at the desired value.

 The disturbance is an undesirable input signal that upsets the value of the controlled
output of the plant.

Figure below shows a typical application of a block diagram to identify the operation
of a temperature control system for lubricating oil. (A) in Figure below shows a schematic
diagram of the lube oil cooler and its associated temperature control system.

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Figure:Lube Oil Cooler Temperature Control System and Equivalent Block Diagram

Lubricating oil reduces friction between moving mechanical parts and also removes
heat from the components. As a result, the oil becomes hot. This heat is removed from the
lube oil by a cooler to prevent both breakdown of the oil and damage to the mechanical
components it serves.

The lube oil cooler consists of a hollow shell with several tubes running through it.
Cooling water flows inside the shell of the cooler and around the outside of the tubes. Lube
oil flows inside the tubes. The water and lube oil never make physical contact.As the water
flows through the shell side of the cooler, it picks up heat from the lube oil through the tubes.
This cools the lube oil and warms the cooling water as it leaves the cooler.The lube oil must
be maintained within a specific operating band to ensure optimum equipment performance.
This is accomplished by controlling the flow rate of the cooling water with a temperature
control loop.
The temperature control loop consists of a temperature transmitter, a temperature controller,
and a temperature control valve. The diagonally crossed lines indicate that the control signals
are air (pneumatic).

The lube oil temperature is the controlled variable because it is maintained at a

desired value (the set point). Cooling water flow rate is the manipulated variable because it is
adjusted by the temperature control valve to maintain the lube oil temperature. The
temperature transmitter senses the temperature of the lube oil as it leaves the cooler and sends

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an air signal that is proportional to the temperature controller. Next, the temperature
controller compares the actual temperature of the lube oil to the set point (the desired value).
If a difference exists between the actual and desired temperatures, the controller will vary the
control air signal to the temperature control valve. This causes it to move in the direction and
by the amount needed to correct the difference. For example, if the actual temperature is
greater than the set point value, the controller will vary the control air signal and cause the
valve to move in the open direction.
This results in more cooling water flowing through the cooler and lowers the temperature of
the lube oil leaving the cooler.

(B) in Figure above represents the lube oil temperature control loop in block diagram
form. The lube oil cooler is the plant in this example, and its controlled output is the lube oil
temperature. The temperature transmitter is the feedback element. It senses the controlled
output and lube oil temperature and produces the feedback signal.
The feedback signal is sent to the summing point to be algebraically added to the reference
input (the setpoint). Notice the setpoint signal is positive, and the feedback signal is negative.
This means the resulting actuating signal is the difference between the setpoint and feedback
signals.

The actuating signal passes through the two control elements: the temperature
controller and the temperature control valve. The temperature control valve responds by
adjusting the manipulated variable (the cooling water flow rate). The lube oil temperature
changes in response to the different water flow rate, and the control loop is complete.

FEED FORWARD CONTROL SYSTEM

Feed-forward, sometimes written feedforward, is a term describing an element or
pathway within a control system that passes a controlling signal from a source in its external
environment to a load elsewhere in its external environment. This is often a command signal
from an external operator.
A control system which has only feed-forward behavior responds to its control signal
in a pre defined way without responding to how the load reacts; it is in contrast with a system
that also has feedback, which adjusts the output to take account of how it affects the load, and
how the load itself may vary unpredictably; the load is considered to belong to the external
environment of the system.
In a feed-forward system, the control variable adjustment is not error-based. Instead it
is based on knowledge about the process in the form of a mathematical model of the process
and knowledge about or measurements of the process disturbances.
Some prerequisites are needed for control scheme to be reliable by pure feed-forward
without feedback: the external command or controlling signal must be available, and the
effect of the output of the system on the load should be known (that usually means that the
load must be predictably unchanging with time). Sometimes pure feed-forward control
without feedback is called 'ballistic', because once a control signal has been sent, it cannot be
further adjusted; any corrective adjustment must be by way of a new control signal. In
contrast, 'cruise control' adjusts the output in response to the load that it encounters, by a
feedback mechanism.
With feed-forward or Feedforward control, the disturbances are measured and
accounted for before they have time to affect the system. In the house example, a feed-

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forward system may measure the fact that the door is opened and automatically turn on the
heater before the house can get too cold. The difficulty with feed-forward control is that the
effects of the disturbances on the system must be accurately predicted, and there must not
be any unmeasured disturbances. For instance, if a window was opened that was not being
measured, the feed-forward-controlled thermostat might let the house cool down.
There are three types of control systems: open loop, feed-forward, and feedback. An
example of a pure open loop control system is manual non-power-assisted steering of a motor
car; the steering system does not have access to an auxiliary power source and does not
respond to varying resistance to turning of the direction wheels; the driver must make that
response without help from the steering system. In comparison, power steering has access to
a controlled auxiliary power source, which depends on the engine speed. When the steering
wheel is turned, a valve is opened which allows fluid under pressure to turn the driving
wheels. A sensor monitors that pressure so that the valve only opens enough to cause the
correct pressure to reach the wheel turning mechanism. This is feed-forward control where
the output of the system, the change in direction of travel of the vehicle, plays no part in the
system. See Model predictive control.

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 If you include the driver in the system, then they do provide a feedback path by
observing the direction of travel and compensating for errors by turning the steering wheel. In
that case you have a feedback system, and the block labeled "System" in Figure(c) is a feed-
forward system.In other words, systems of different types can be nested, and the overall
system regarded as a black-box.
Feedforward control is distinctly different from open loop control
and teleoperator systems. Feedforward control requires a mathematical model of the plant
(process and/or machine being controlled) and the plant's relationship to any inputs or
feedback the system might receive. Neither open loop control nor teleoperator systems
require the sophistication of a mathematical model of the physical system or plant being
controlled. Control based on operator input without integral processing and interpretation
through a mathematical model of the system is a teleoperator system and is not considered
feedforward control.

Benefits of feed forward control system

The benefits of feedforward control are significant and can often justify the extra cost,
time and effort required to implement the technology. Control accuracy can often be
improved by as much as an order of magnitude if the mathematical model is of sufficient
quality and implementation of the feedforward control law is well thought out. Energy
consumption by the feedforward control system and its driver is typically substantially lower
than with other controls. Stability is enhanced such that the controlled device can be built of
lower cost, lighter weight, springier materials while still being highly accurate and able to
operate at high speeds. Other benefits of feedforward control include reduced wear and tear
on equipment, lower maintenance costs, higher reliability and a substantial reduction
in hysteresis. Feedforward control is often combined with feedback control to optimize
performance.

A feedback controller responds only after it detects a deviation in the value of the
controlled output from its desired set point. On the other hand, a feedforward controller
detects the disturbance directly and takes an appropriate control action in order to eliminate
its effect on the process output.

Consider the distillation column shown in Figure below. The control objective is to
keep the distillate concentration at a desired set point despite any changes in the inlet feed
stream.

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(a) Feedback control configuration

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 (b) Feedforward control configuration

Fig: Feedback and Feedforward control configuration of a distillation column

Figure above (a) shows the conventional feedback loop, which measures the distillate
concentration and after comparing it with the desired setpoint, increases or decreases the
reflux ratio. A feedforward control system uses a different approach. It measures the changes
in the inlet feed stream (disturbance) and adjusts the reflux ratio appropriately. Figure above
(b) shows the feedforward control configuration.

COMPARISON OF FEEDBACK AND FEEDFORWARD CONTROL SYSTEM

Figure: The comparative schematic of feedback and feedforward control structure

Figure above shows the general form of a feedforward control system. It directly measures
the disturbance to the process and anticipates its effect on the process output. Eventually it
alters the manipulated input in such a way that the impact of the disturbance on the process
output gets eliminated. In other words, where the feedback control action starts after the
disturbance is “felt” through the changes in process output, the feedforward control action
starts immediately after the disturbance is “measured” directly. Hence, feedback controller
acts in a compensatory manner whereas the feedforward controller acts in
an anticipatory manner.

Feedback is reactive: there must be an error before corrective actions are taken.
However, in some circumstances, it is possible to measure a disturbance before the
disturbance has influenced the system. The effect of the disturbance is thus reduced by
measuring it and generating a control signal that counteracts it. This way of controlling a
system is called feedforward.

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RATIO CONTROL SYSTEM
Ratio control system is a technique where in variable is manipulated to keep it as a
ratio proportional to another ratio control system is a special type feed forward control system
widely used in the process industries. The objective of ratio control system is to maintain the
ratio of two variables at a specified value.

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In this figure the ratio control system consists of the flow transmitter which senses the flow
rate of the first pipe and second flow control. The flow controller controls the flow of the
second pipe with respect to the flow in the first pipe.

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Example of ratio control system
A common example is when the ratio of two reactants must be controlled is shown in the
figure. One of the flow rates is measured but allowed to float, that is, not regulated.

The outer flow rate is both measured and adjusted. The outer flow rate is both
measured and adjusted to provide the specified control ratio. The flow rate of reactant A is
measured and added with appropriate scaling, to the measurement of flow rate B. the
controller reacts to the resulting input signal by adjustment of the control valve in the reactant
B input line.

Application of ratio control system

 Blending operations
 For holding the fuel-air ratio of reactants of the optimum.
 Maintaining a stoichiometric ratio of reactance of a reactor.
 Keeping a specified reflux ratio for a distillation column etc.

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ADAPTIVE CONTROL
It is understood in the previous chapters that task of controller design for a process is
very much domain specific. First the model of the process is linearized around a certain
nominal point and the controller is designed on the basis of that linearized model and finally
implemented on the process. Hence, the controller is applicable for certain domain around the
nominal operating point around which the model has been linearized. However, if the process
deviates from the nominal point of operation, controller will lose its efficiency. In such cases,
the parameters of the controller need to be re-tuned in order to retain the efficiency of the
controller. When such retuning of controller is done through some “automatic updating
scheme”, the controller is termed as adaptive controller. The technique can be illustrated with
the following figure.

Figure: Adaptive control

One of the most popular adaptive control techniques is gain scheduling technique. The
overall gain of an open loop process is usually given as

It is customary to keep the overall gain constant. In case of changes in the process (or valve
characteristics or measuring element), Kc should be tuned in such a manner that overall gain
remains constant.

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The above is called the gain scheduling control law.

When the process is poorly known, one cannot rely much on the correctness of the value
of KÞ In such cases, the self-adaptive control may be helpful. A self-adaptive controller
optimizes the value of certain objective function (criterion) in order to obtain updated
controller parameters. Two examples of self-adaptive controllers are Model Reference
Adaptive Control (MRAC) and Self-Tuning Regulator (STR)

Model Reference Adaptive Control

The following figure shows the schematic of a Model Reference Adaptive Controller.

Figure: Model Reference Adaptive control

It contains of two loops. The inner loop contains the regular feedback mechanism whereas
the outer loop contains an ideal reference model which the process needs to follow. The
process and model outputs are compared and the error function is minimized through a
suitable optimization routine in order to arrive at the re-tuned controller parameters.

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Self Tuning Regulator

Self-Tuning Regulator on the other hand estimates the model parameters by measuring
process inputs and outputs. The re-tuned model eventually guides the controller parameter
adjustment mechanism. Figure below shows the schematic of Self Tuning Regulator.

Figure: Self Tuning Regulator

SPLIT RANGE CONTROL SYSTEM

Split-range control is used when a single controller is employed to control two final-control
elements (two valves for example).

In such a system, the controller struggle to keep one controlled variable at the set point using
two manipulated variables.

Typically, split-range control is found in temperature control applications, but split-range

control applications extend far beyond temperature control.

Split Range Control Working Principle

The concept of split-range control is easier to understand when illustrated using applications
such as a temperature control.

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In such an application, the process needs to be heated or cooled depending of the product
temperature.

The below figure shows how the temperature transmitter, the controller, and the two control
valves are connected for split-range control in a typical temperature control application.

In the diagram above, the 0% to 100% range of the controller output is split in two
between the two valves. If the controller output is between 0% and 50%, it is the cooling
valve that operates.

This valve is fully open when the controller output is 0% and fully closed when the controller
output is 50%. If the controller output is between 50% and 100%, it is the heating valve that
is in operation.

At 50%, the heating valve starts to open and it is fully open at 100% of the controller output.

In a split-range control installation, there are different ways to connect the valves so that they
operate on two different ranges.

In the example above, the current to pressure converters are used to split the controller output
in two ranges.

The first converter responds to a current from 4 mA to 12 mA, while the other operates in a
range from 12 mA to 20 mA.

When using this type of wiring, no special controller or configuration is required for split-
range control.

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Split Range Control Using Pneumatic Signals

The below figure shows a setup that performs the same split-range control but, in this case,
the signal from controller is a pneumatic signal. In such a setup, the two valves are
mechanically different.

The spring/diaphragm actuators of the two valves are selected so that their ranges of
operation are different.

The spring of the cooling valve is selected to allow the valve to open and close over a range
of 20.7 kPa (3 psi) to 55.2 kPa (8 psi), while the heating valve closes and opens over a range
of 55.2 kPa 8 psi to 89.6 kPa (13 psi).

The opening and closing of the valves follow the same rules for both of the setups shown
above.

The graph shows the relationship between the opening of the valves and the controller output.

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