Part 1: P&ID Diagrams (10 marks)

Add the missing instruments and then draw a Process and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID)
for the below distillation column. Attach your drawing to your assignment.

Answer:
Control Schemes of Distillation Column:
In distillation column control any of following may be the goals to achieve.

 Overhead composition.
 Bottom composition
 Constant overhead product rate.
 Constant bottom product rate.
Any one or any combination of following may be the manipulated variables

 Steam flow rate to Reboiler.

 Reflux Rate.
 Overhead product withdrawn rate.
 Bottom product withdrawn rate
 Water flow rate to condenser.
Loads or Disturbances:
Following are typical disturbances

 Flow rate of feed

 Composition of feed.
 Temperature of feed.
 Pressure drop of steam across reboiler.
 Inlet temperature of water for condenser.
Feed control:
Action:
Increase the flow rate of the feed if the rate is less than set point and decrease the flow rate of
the feed if the rate is more than set point.
Table 1: Distillation Column Flow Control

Process Flow rate of feed stream

Controller Automatic (PIC)
Controlled variable Flow rate
Measuring element Orifice
Manipulated element Valve
Regulating element Valve
Load variable Leakage and valve characteristics friction in pipe

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Operation:
If the feed flow increases the (FC) will send signal by (FT) to the controller. The controller also
send signal to the valve which will drive the control valve to close. If the feed flow decreases
the (FC) will send signal by (FT) to the controller. The controller also send signal to the valve
which will drive the control valve to open.

Top pressure control:

Reason for control distillation column pressure is that any change in the operating pressure will
affect the separation efficiency. We control the top pressure by controlling the flow rate of
vapor outlet from the top of the column.

Operation:
The manometer measures the pressure of the top and the transmitter sends the measured value
to the controller to compare it to the set point, if the pressure is increased above 1 bar the flow
rate of the cooling water in the condenser must be increased, and if it is decreased below 1 bar
decrease the cooling water flow rate.

Table 2: Distillation Column Pressure Control

Process Flow rate of feed stream

Controller Automatic (P)
Controlled variable Pressure
Measuring element Manometer
Regulating element Valve (pneumatic)
Manipulated element Vapor flow rate
Load variable Feed flow rate temp. change in the ratio of gas to
liquid, valve characteristic

Drum level control:

The drum level in the top section is controlled by changing the distillate flow rate using a valve.
Set point: 85% of the holdup volume.

Operation:
If the drum level sis higher than the set point decreases the distillate flow rate. And if it is lower
than the set point then increases the distillate flow.

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 Table 3: Distillation Column Level Control

Process Flow rate of feed stream

Controller Automatic PID
Controlled variable Drum level
Measuring element Orifice
Regulating element Valve
Manipulated element Distillate flow rate
Load variable Feed flow rate temp. change in the ratio of gas to
liquid, valve characteristic

PT = Pressure Transmitter
TT = Temperature Transmitter
LT = Level Transmitter
FT = Flow Transmitter

PC = Pressure Controller
TC = Temperature Controller
LC = Level Controller
FC = Flow Controller

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 PT
P
Cooling Water Outlet

Overhead Condenser

Cooling Water Inlet

V-2

Reflux Drum LT

TT AT
Distillate
Distillation Product
Column
V-4 V-3
Reflux
Reflux Pumps

Feed
V-1

LT
PT = Pressure Transmitter
TT = Temperature Transmitter
Reboiler LT = Level Transmitter
FT FT = Flow Transmitter
AT = Composition Transmitter
Heating Medium V-5 AT
Bottoms
V-6

Bottoms Pumps

Figure 1: Process & Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) of a Typical Distillation Column.

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 Cooling Water Outlet

PT

Set Point Overhead Condenser

PC

Cooling Water Inlet

V-2

Reflux Drum

LT

TT LC
Set Point
Distillation
TC Set Point
Column

V-3
Reflux V-4 Distillate
Reflux Pumps Product
Feed

V-1

Set Point
TC TT LT PT = Pressure Transmitter
TT = Temperature Transmitter
Set Point LT = Level Transmitter
FC
FT = Flow Transmitter
FT Reboiler LC Set Point PC = Pressure Controller
TC = Temperature Controller
Heating Medium V-5 LC = Level Controller
FC = Flow Controller
Bottoms
V-6
V-1, V-2,...V-5 = Valves (Final Control Element)

Bottoms Pumps
Part 2: First Order Temperature Sensor (10 marks)
Below are the readings that we got from a temperature sensor. The sensor was at 19 oC initially
and was introduced into a fluid at 80oC.

Temperature (oC) Time (S)

19 0
57 1
69 2
73 3
75 4
77 5
78 6
79 7
79.6 8
79.8 9
80 10

We will approximate the temperature sensor by a first order process.

a) Use the provided data above to provide the equation of the first order process (its transfer
function).
b) Plot on the same diagram the measured temperatures and the estimated ones from the equation
you found in a)

Answer:
The ways in which an element responds to sudden input changes are termed its dynamic
characteristics, and these are most conveniently summarized using a transfer function G(s).
The dynamic behavior is described by the heat balance equation:
Rate of heat inflow − Rate of heat outflow = Rate of change of sensor heat content

𝑄∆𝑡𝑠 = 𝑚 𝐶𝑝 ∆𝑇𝑠 + 0
As we know TF > Ts, then the rate of heat outflow will be zero, and the rate of heat inflow Q
will be proportional to the temperature difference (TF − Ts).

𝑄 = ℎ𝐴𝑠 (𝑇𝐹 − 𝑇𝑠 )
Where:
TF = Temperature of fluid = 80 oC
Ts = Temperature of Sensor = 19 oC
Putting value of Q from Eq. 2 in heat balance equation:

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 ℎ𝐴𝑠 (𝑇𝐹 − 𝑇𝑠 )∆𝑡 = 𝑚 𝐶𝑝 ∆𝑇𝑠
ℎ𝐴𝑠
∆𝑇𝑠 = (𝑇 − 𝑇𝑠 )∆𝑡
𝑚 𝐶𝑝 𝐹
We know that
𝑚 𝐶𝑝
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 = 𝜏 =
ℎ𝐴𝑠
So, above equation becomes:
1
∆𝑇𝑠 = (𝑇𝐹 − 𝑇𝑠 )∆𝑡
𝜏
or
𝑑∆𝑇𝑠
𝜏 = 𝑇𝐹 − 𝑇𝑠
𝑑𝑡
This is linear first-order differential equation.
The transfer function based on the Laplace transform of the differential equation provides a
convenient framework for studying the dynamics of multi-element systems.
Transfer function for a first-order element:
∆𝑇(𝑠) 1
𝐺(𝑠) = =
∆𝑇𝐹 1 + 𝜏𝑠

−𝑡
𝑓𝑜 (𝑡) = 1 − exp( )
𝜏
Calculating for τ final Eq:
𝑡
𝜏=
61
ln( )
𝑇𝐹 − 𝑇𝑠
Now Calculated ∆Ts by putting all values in Eq:
1
∆𝑇𝑠 = (𝑇𝐹 − 𝑇𝑠 )∆𝑡
𝜏
𝑇𝑠 𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑛 + 1 = 𝑇𝑆 𝑎𝑡 𝑧𝑒𝑟𝑜 + ∆𝑇𝑠 + 𝑇𝑠 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑛

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 Table 1: Calculated results from formula

𝝉 ∆𝑻𝒔 Ts
o o
t (Sec) TS( C) TF ( C) TF-TS Estimates
0 19 80 61 inf 0 19
1 57 80 23 1.025 22.43 60.43
2 69 80 11 1.71 6.43 66.86
3 73 80 7 1.38 5.07 71.93
4 75 80 5 1.59 3.14 75.07
5 77 80 3 1.65 1.86 76.93
6 78 80 2 1.75 1.14 78.07
7 79 80 1 1.70 0.58 78.65
8 79.6 80 0.4 1.59 0.25 78.9
9 79.8 80 0.2 1.57 0.12 79.02
10 80 80 0 inf 0 79.02

First Order Temperature Sensor

90

80

70
Temperature (oC)

60

50

40 Ts Values (Given)
Ts Estimated Values
30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (S)

Figure 2: Graph Between measured temperatures and the estimated ones from the equation