Lecture 1

Introduction
Course Organisation

Process Control
Prof. Kannan M. Moudgalya
kannan at iitb dot ac dot in

IIT Bombay
Monday, 23 July 2013

Slides used in the course CL-417 in Autumn 2013

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Outline

I What is process control?

I Examples
I Fluid heater
I Distillation column
I Mixing system
I Flow system
I Single Board Heater System (SBHS)
I Types of variables from control point of
view
I Applied to the above examples
I Course organisation

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Birds Eye View of Plant Operation

Plant level: what to make, how much to make

Goal: Overall profitability
Possible tool: Linear Programming
Unit level: Fixing the levels of different variables
Flow rate of coolant, reflux ratio, etc.
Possible tool: Model predictive control
Variable level: Achieving intended levels
How to get a specified flow rate, etc.
Possible tool: PID control
Will study mainly the last part in this course

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What is Process Control?

I It is an area that deals with control of

processes
I Objective: maintaining variables at
desired values
I If deviation, manipulate some other
quantities

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Benefits of Process Control

I Safety
I Performance: maximising profits, etc.
I Being good to environment

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Example Processes

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Fluid heater

Heats the process stream with the help of a

heating medium

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Distillation Column
PT
LT hD
Coolant Exit AT

Reflux, R Distillate: D, xD
Feed

Heat
hB
LT
AT
Bottoms: B, xB

Maintain compositions at desired values

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Mixing Process

Control
Mixture Valve
A, B
x1 , w1
Pure A
x2 = 1
w2 =?

x, w
Mix two streams to get a desired
concentration

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Flow System

Qi (t)

h(t)

Q(t) = x(t)h(t)
Maintain height by adjusting valve

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Plant in the Single Board Heater System
Heater

Plant

Fan

Maintain temperature by heating/cooling

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System

We will use the words process and system

interchangeably

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Variables from Control Perspective

Disturbance
Controlled
System
Manipulated

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How the variables are used

I Manipulated variables are adjusted

I to remove the effect of disturbance
variables
I on the controlled variables

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Controlled, Disturbance, Manipulated
Variables
Controlled variable (CV): Variable to be
controlled.
I We wish to maintain this at a

particular value.
Disturbance variable (DV): Variables that cause
changes in CV.
I We have no handle on these.

Manipulated variable (MV): Variables that can

offset DV.
I Also known as control effort.

MV are not free - have to pay.

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Variables from input-output point of view

Input Output
Disturbance
Controlled
System
Manipulated

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Examples

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Fluid heater: heats a process stream

Temperature of the process stream at the exit

is a
1. Controlled variable
2. Manipulated variable
3. Disturbance variable
Answer: Controlled variable

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Fluid heater: heats a process stream

Temperature of the process stream at the

inlet is a
1. Controlled variable
2. Manipulated variable
3. Disturbance variable
Answer: Disturbance variable

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Fluid heater: heats a process stream

The flow rate of the heating medium used is a

1. Controlled variable
2. Manipulated variable
3. Disturbance variable
Answer: Manipulated variable

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Fluid heater: A Summary

Heats the process stream with a heating

medium
I Controlled variable (CV): Temperature of

the exit stream on process side - set point

I Disturbance variable (DV): Inlet

conditions on process fluid

I Manipulated variable (MV): Temperature

or flow rate of the heating medium

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Schematic of Distillation Column

PT
LT hD
Coolant Exit AT

Reflux, R Distillate: D, xD
Feed

Heat
hB
LT
AT
Bottoms: B, xB

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Recall our variables

I Manipulated variables are adjusted

I to remove the effect of disturbance
variables
I on the controlled variables

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Distillation Column: A Control Strategy

PT
hD LT
Coolant Exit
AT

Reflux, R Distillate: D, xD
Feed

Heat
hB ?
LT
AT
Bottoms: B, xB

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Distillation Column: A Control Strategy

I Bottoms withdrawal rate controls

bottoms level
I Distillate rate controls top drum level
I Reflux rate controls top composition
I Example of a multivariable system

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Mixing Process
I Mixing of two
streams
Control I Variable
Mixture Valve
A, B stream has
composition
x1 , w1
(x1 ) varying
Pure A I Want output
x2 = 1 composition
w2 =? constant
I Control
x, w streams flow
can be
changed
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Feed concentration

I Feed concentration is, in general, a

1. Manipulated variable
2. Disturbance variable
3. Controlled variable
I Answer: Disturbance variable
I Feed temperature is similar
I Feed flow rate is decided by other
considerations, however!

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Course Organisation

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Textbooks and References

I Process Dynamics and Control

Seborg, Edgar & Mellichamp
Wiley (2006)
I Digital Control
Kannan M. Moudgalya
John Wiley & Sons (2007)
I Last few years video course and slides

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Distribution of Marks

Assignment 10
Discussion (classroom and Forum) 10
Scilab programming 10
Labs 10
First quiz (1 hour) 5
Second quiz (1 hour) 10
Midsem exam (2 hour) 20
Endsem exam (2 hour) 25
Total 100

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Scilab

I A good open source alternative to Matlab

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What is Scilab?
I Advanced computational environment
I Uses state of the art numerical
computational engines, such as, linpack,
eispack, lapack, odepack and dassl
I Has a large number of built-in functions
(c/fortran)
I eigenvalue, eigenvector computations,
decompositions (svd), inverses
I numerical solution of differential equations
I etc.
I Has a built-in high level language:
scilab:c = c:assembly
I Has several functions built using the high
level language
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CNES Talk

I Scilab is used extensively in CNES

I CNES launches Ariane rockets
I Ariane has placed several of our satellites
in orbit
I See the talk:
Use of Scilab for Space Mission Analysis
and Flight Dynamics Activities
I by Thierry Martin
I Senior Manager, CNES

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Scilab

I Story of cost of Matlab to SMEs

I People with Scilab knowledge are in short
supply
I May be useful to get jobs
I Useful to entrepreneurs also
I Visit http://scilab.in - run by us
I Close to 200 textbook companions
I Can also execute them on the GARUDA
cloud

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Lab

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Picture of the single board heater system

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What does this system do?

Controlling the temperature of a plant

I by heating with current

I by cooling with a fan

More details here

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What does SBHS have?

I Plant
I Micro controller
I Sensor - temperature
I Actuator - current

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Sample Control Experiments
I Step and ramp response identification
I Frequency testing, leading to Bode plots
I P, PI, PID tuning
I 2-DOF pole placement controller
I Internal model controller
I Self tuning and simple adaptive controller
I Auto tune testing
I Minimum and generalised minimum
variance controller
I PRBS and closed loop identification
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Pricing

I Available for Rs. 3,000

I Design is available as open source with
bill of materials
I Can be built for less than Rs. 2,000

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Virtual Experimentation

I 40 units are available

I Accessible through Internet
I 40 students can work simultaneously
I Each can try out their algorithm

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Time Slots

I Time constant = 30 seconds

I Possible to do one experiment within 7-8
minutes
I One hour is enough for experimentation
I 24 one hour slots in a day
I For 40 SBHS, there are 960 slots in a day!

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Slot Booking System
I A student books a slot through Moodle
I Chooses a SBHS (amongst 40) also
I Tries to access this SBHS at the
appointed time
I Python server validates
I eligibility to access that SBHS
I calculates the balance time available
I If validated, informs the balance time
available
I Connection is established
I Up to 40 people can access the machines
in this way
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Slot booking rules

I Will be explained later

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Part of Virtual Lab

I Potential users can try remotely

I If convinced of its use, can acquire
sufficient numbers for hands on training

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What is learnt today

I Introduction to Process Control

I Variables
I Set point
I Controlled (= output) variable
I Manipulated (= control effort, input) variable
I Disturbance variable (= input)
I Process Examples
I Heat exchanger
I Distillation column
I Mixing
I Course organisation

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Thanks

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Details of single board heater system
I Designed and developed at IIT Bombay
I Consists of a heater assembly, fan,
temperature sensor, microcontroller
(ATmega16) and associated circuitry
I Heater assembly
I Consists of an iron plate placed at a distance
of about 3.5 mm from the nichrome coil
I Gets heated on passage of current
I Computer fan
I Positioned below the plate
I Meant for cooling the assembly
I The temperature is sensed by the
temperature sensor, AD590
I Reading in Kelvin scale
To return, click here

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ATmega16
I Is a 8-bit Microcontroller with advanced
RISC Architecture
I Provides Up to 16MIPS throughput at
16MHZ
I Has 16K bytes (8K X 16) of In-system
programmable Flash, 512 bytes of
EEPROM and 1K byte of internal SRAM
I Two 8-bit Timer/Counter and one 16-bit
Timer/Counter
I Four PWM channels
I 8-channel, 10-bit ADC
I Programmable serial USART
I Operating voltage: 4.5-5.5V
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What is special about this system?
I The time constant is less than 1 minute
I Can see meaningful (and noisy)

measurements with naked eye

I Can do a realistic experiment in 10

minutes
I Suitable for carrying out ALL experiments

of a few control courses

I Only need 220V power supply and a PC

I Easy to carry

I Costs only Rs. 3,000

I Design is open source!

To return, click here

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Thanks

I kannan@iitb.ac.in

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