FAB38404
Process Control
Lecture 3
Mathematical Model
Reference :
Chemical Process Control, An Introduction to Theory And Practice, G. Stephanopoulos
Chapter 1
Our goal is to develop a control system for a chemical process which will
guarantee that the operational objectives of our process are satisfied in the
presence of disturbances.
Then why do we need to develop a mathematical model for the process we
want to control?
The physical equipment of the chemical process we want to control have not
been constructed. So we cannot experiment to determine how the process
reacts to various inputs and therefore we cannot design the appropriate
control system.
Even if the process equipment is available for experimentation, the
procedure is usually very costly.
Therefore we need a simple description of how the process reacts to various
inputs and this is what the mathematical models can provide to the control
designer
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Figure 1: A General system and its interactions with the external world
FAB38404 Process Control
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d ( A ) d (c AV )
c Ai Fi c Aj F j rV
dt
dt
i:inlet
j:outlet
dE d (U K P)
i Fi hi j F j h j Q Ws
dt
dt
i:inlet
j:outlet
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Example: State variables and state equations for a stirred tank heater
Consider the stirred tank heater in Figure 2.
The fundamental quantities about the heater are :
a) The total mass of the liquid in the tank
b) The total energy of the material in the tank
c) Its momentum
total mass V Ah
Where the density of liquid, V the volume of liquid, A the cross-sectional area
of the tank and h the height of the liquid level
FAB38404 Process Control
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E U K P
But since the tank does not move, dK/dt = dP/dt = 0 and dE/dt = dU/dt
dU dH
dt
dt
Where H is the total enthalpy of the liquid in the tank. Furthermore
H Vc p (T Tref )
Ahc p (T Tref )
Where cp = heat capacity of the liquid in the tank
Tref = reference temperature where the specific enthalpy of the liquid is
assumed to be zero
Conclusion for the stirred tank heater:
State variables: h and T
Constant parameter: , A, cp, Tref
FAB38404 Process Control
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To develop the state equations, we apply the conservation principle on the two
fundamental quantities: total mass and total energy
Total mass balance:
accumulation of
total mass
time
Or
input of output of
total mass total mass
time
time
d ( Ah)
Fi F
dt
dh
A
Fi F
dt
Where Fi and F are the volumetric flow rate [ i.e ft3/min or m3/min] for the inlet
and outlet streams respectively. Assuming constant density, the equation
becomes
dh
Fi F
dt
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time
time
time
time
or
d Ahc p (T Tref )
F c
i p
dt
(T Tref ) Fc p (T Tref ) Q
Where Q is the amount of heat supplied by the steam per unit of time. The
equation above can take the following simpler form. Assuming that Tref = 0, the
equation becomes
d (hT )
Q
FiTi FT
dt
c p
or
Ah
FAB38404 Process Control
dT
Q
Fi Ti T
dt
c p
Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysia France Institute
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Ah
dh
Fi F
dt
dT
Q
Fi Ti T
dt
c p
State variables: h, T
Output variables : h, T (both measured)
Input variables
Disturbances: Ti, Fi
Manipulated variables: Q, F (for feedback control)
Fi (for feedforward control)
Parameters: A, , cp
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