CHAPTER

Instrumentation &

Process Control of

the Reactor
 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

7.0 Introduction

Instruments are provided to monitor the key process variables during plant operation.

They may be incorporated in automatic control loops, or used for the manual monitoring

of the process operation. They may also be part of an automatic computer data logging

system.

Instruments monitoring critical process variables will be fitted with automatic alarms to

alert the operators to critical and hazardous situations.

It is desirable that the process variable to be monitored be measured directly; often,

however, this is impractical and some dependent variable, that is easier to measure, is

monitored in its place. For example, in the control of distillation columns the continuous,

on-line, analysis of the overhead product is desirable but difficult and expensive to

achieve reliably, so temperature is often monitored as an indication of composition. The

temperature instrument may form part of a control loop controlling, say, reflux flow; with

the composition of the overheads checked frequently by sampling and laboratory

analysis.

Experience over the past few decades has shown that digital control provides many

advantages over analog systems, including greater flexibility to create and change

designs on line, a wider range of control functions, and newer functions, such as

adaptation. But digital computation is not naturally continuous like the analog controller.

The digital approach requires sophisticated support software. The basic issues of carrying

out continuous control in the digital environment, emphasizing the characteristics that

must be addressed in the design of operationally natural control algorithms should be

known.

For the mathematical analysis of control systems, it is sufficient to regard the controller

as a simple computer. For example, a proportional controller may be thought of as a

device that receives the error signal and puts out a signal proportional to it. Similarly, the
 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

final control element may be regarded as a device that produces corrective action on the

process. The corrective action is regarded as mathematically related to the output signal

from the controller.

Up to about 1960, most controllers were pneumatic. Although pneumatic controllers are

still in use and function quite well in many installations, the controllers being installed

today are electronic or computer-based instruments.

7.1 TYPICAL CONTROL SYSTEMS

Level control

In any equipment, where an interface exists between two phases (e.g. liquid vapour),

some means of maintaining the interface at the required level must be provided. This may

be incorporated in the design of the equipment, as is usually done for decanters, or by

automatic control of the flow from the equipment.

Pressure control

Pressure control will be necessary for most systems handling vapour or gas. The method

of control will depend on the nature of the process.

Flow control

Flow control is usually associated with inventory control in a storage tank or other

equipment. There must be a reservoir to take up the changes in flow-rate.

To provide flow control on a compressor or pump running at a fixed speed and supplying

a near constant volume output, a by-pass control would be used.

Cascade control

With this arrangement, the output of one controller is used to adjust the set point of

another.Cascade control can give smoother control in situations where direct control of

the variable would lead to unstable operation. The “slave” controller can be used to

compensate for any short-term variations in, say, a service stream flow, which would
 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

upset the controlled variable; the primary (master) controller controlling long-term

variations.

Ratio control

Ratio control can be used where it is desired to maintain two flows at a constant ratio; for

example, in reactor feeds. In this case, the ratio controller is used in the hydrolyzation

reactor. The main components in the feed streams to the reactor contain benzyl chloride

as organic phase and aqueous sodium carbonate as hydrolyzing phase. They are fed in the

pre calculated proportion to the reactor. The proper ratio is maintained between the two

streams by ratio controller.

Also, the water stream from the washing unit which is entering from top maintains a

specific ratio with the aqueous sodium carbonate as hydrolyzing phase by ratio

controller. In the bottom section, the toluene is fed with a proper ratio with the organic

benzyl chloride inlet. The pressure is controlled in the reactor by controlling the organic

outlet stream by pressure controller. Pressure is usually held constant. Reactor

temperature will normally be controlled by temperature controller.

Control Valve

The control valve contains a pneumatic device (valve motor) that moves the valve stem

as the pressure on a spring-loaded diaphragm changes. The stem positions a plug in the

orifice of the valve body. As the pressure increases, the plug moves downward and

restricts the flow of fluid through the valve.

This action is referred to as air-to-close. The valve may also be constructed to have air-

to-open action. Valve motors are often constructed so that the valve stem position is

proportional to the valve-top pressure. Most commercial valves move from fully open to

fully closed as the valve-top pressure changes from 3 to 15 psig.

 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

Key Components of a Control Valve:

Valve Body: The main part of the valve where the flow takes place.

Actuator: The mechanism that moves the valve to open or close, responding to control

signals. Common actuators are pneumatic, electric, or hydraulic.

Valve Stem: A component that connects the actuator to the valve plug or disc, allowing

movement.

Valve Plug (or Disc): The part of the valve that directly controls the flow of fluid by

varying the opening size.

Positioner: A device that ensures the valve reaches and maintains the desired position,

enhancing precision in flow control.

Controller in the system

The element linking the measurement and the final control element is the controller.

Before the advent of computers, the controllers are usually single-loop PID controllers.

These are manufactured to execute PID control functions. These days, the controllers

can do a lot more; however, easily 80 to 90% of the controllers are still PID controllers.

The proportional controller acts on the logic where the response is proportional to error.

A considerable improvement may be obtained over the proportional control system by

adding integral control. The controller is now instructed to change the input by an

additional amount proportional to the time integral of the error.

The control hardware required to control any parameter say the temperature of a stream

leaving a heat exchanger are

Transducer (temperature to current).

Controller-recorder (current to current).

Converter (current to pressure).

Control valve (pressure to flow rate).

 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

7.2 Modes of control

Modern industrial controllers are usually made to produce one, or a combination of,

control actions (modes of control). These include (1) on-off or two-position control, (2)

proportional control, (3) proportional plus integral control, (4) proportional plus

derivative (rate action) control, and (5) proportional plus integral plus derivative (PID)

control.

On/Off Control

An on/off controller is used for manipulated variables having only two states. They

commonly control temperatures in homes, electric water-heaters and refrigerators, and

pressure and liquid level in pumped storage systems. On/off control is satisfactory where

slow cycling is acceptable because it always leads to cycling when the load lies between

the two states of the manipulated variable.

The cycle will be positioned symmetrically about the set point only if the normal value of

the load is equidistant between the two states of the manipulated variable. The period of

the symmetrical cycle will be approximately 4t, where t is the dead-time in the loop. If

the load is not centered between the states of the manipulated variable, the period will

tend to increase, and the cycle follows a saw tooth pattern.

Every on/off controller has some degree of dead band, also known as lockup, or

differential gap. Its function is to prevent erratic switching between states, thereby

extending the life of contacts and motors.

Instead of changing states precisely when the controlled variable crosses set point, the

controller will change states at two different points for increasing and decreasing signals.

The difference between these two switching points is the dead band; it increases the

amplitude and period of the cycle, similar to the effect of dead time.
 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

A three-state controller is used to drive either a pair of independent on/off actuators such

as heating and cooling valves, or a bidirectional motorized actuator. The controller is

actually two on/off controllers, each with dead band, separated by a dead zone. When the

controlled variable lies within the dead zone, neither output is energized. This controller

can drive a motorized valve to the point where the manipulated variable matches the

load, thereby avoiding cycling.

Proportional Control

This type controller moves its output proportional to the deviation in the controlled

variable from set point. In some controllers, proportional gain Kc is expressed as a pure

number; in others, it is set as 100/P, where P is the proportional band in percent. The

output bias b of the controller is also known as manual reset.

The proportional controller is not a good regulator, because any change in output to a

change in load results in a corresponding change in the controlled variable. To minimize

the resulting offset, the bias should be set at the best estimate of the load and the

proportional band set as low as possible. Processes requiring a proportional band of more

than a few percent will control with unacceptable values of offset.

Proportional control is most often used for liquid level where variations in the controlled

variable carry no economic penalty, and where other control modes can easily destabilize

the loop. It is actually recommended for controlling the level in a surge tank when

manipulating the flow of feed to a critical downstream process. By setting the

proportional band just under 100 percent, the level is allowed to vary over the full range

of the tank capacity as inflow fluctuates, thereby minimizing the resulting rate of change

of manipulated outflow. This technique is called averaging level control.

 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

Proportional-plus-Integral (PI) Control

Integral action eliminates the offset described above by moving the controller output at a

rate proportional to the deviation from set point. Although available alone in an integral

controller, it is most often combined with proportional action in a PI controller: I is the

integral time constant in minutes; in some controllers, it is introduced as integral gain or

reset rate in repeats per minute.

The PI controller is by far the most commonly used controller in the process industries.

The summation of the deviation with its integral in the above equation can be interpreted

in terms of frequency response of the controller

Proportional-plus-Integral-plus-Derivative (PID) Control

The derivative mode moves the controller output as a function of the rate-of-change of

the controlled variable, which adds phase lead to the controller, increasing its speed of

response.

Digital control system

This type controller is generally considered to be superior to an analog controller.

However, if it is used to emulate an analog controller, the digital device may be less

effective because of phase (or delay) and resolution errors introduced by sampling and

converting. The digital controller’s advantage is its algorithmic flexibility and precision

with respect to both calculations and logic, thereby facilitating on-line restructuring and

parameter adaptation.

A digital control algorithm utilizes samples of its input signals which are discrete in both

magnitude and time. Usually, continuous signals are sampled at a constant rate. Sampling

the controlled variable introduces phase lag (effective delay) into the feedback loop

because of
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Low-pass filtering

Computation and transmission

Output holding between updates

Effective delay or parasitic lag, whether in the digital or the analog portion of a feedback

loop, has an adverse effect on performance.

Loop delay, measurement noise, and output saturation determine the performance

achievable with feedback control. Minimum integrated absolute error in response to an

unmeasured load increases in proportion to the delay time for a dominant-delay process

and in proportion to the square of delay for a dominant-lag process. Consequently the

sampling-related delays should be made a small fraction of the total loop delay by using a

small sampling interval.

Selective control and Override Control

If there are more controlled variables than , a common solution to solve this problem is

to use a selector to choose the appropriate process variable from among a number of

available measurements. Selectors can be based on either multiple measurement points,

multiple final control elements, or multiple controllers, as discussed below. Selectors are

used to improve the control system performance as well as to protect equipment from

unsafe operating conditions.

One type of selector device chooses as its output signal the highest (or lowest) of two or

more input signals. This approach is often referred to as auctioneering. On

instrumentation diagrams, the symbol HS denotes high selector and LS a low selector.

For example, a high selector can be used to determine the hot-spot temperature in a

fixed-bed chemical reactor. In this case, the output from the high selector is the input to

the temperature controller. In an exothermic catalytic reaction, the process may run away

due to disturbances or changes in the reactor. Immediate action should be taken to

 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

prevent a dangerous rise in temperature. Because a hot spot may potentially develop at

one of several possible locations in the reactor, multiple (redundant) measurement points

should be employed. This approach minimizes the time required to identify when a

temperature has risen too high at some point in the bed.

The use of high or low limits for process variables is another type of selective control,

called an override. The feature of anti-reset windup in feedback controllers is a type of

override. Another example is a distillation column with lower and upper limits on the

heat input to the column reboiler.

Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams

The piping and instrumentation (P&I) diagram provides a graphical representation of the

control configuration for the process. The P&I diagrams illustrate the measurement

devices that provide inputs to the control strategy, the actuators that will implement the

results of the control calculations, and the function blocks that provide the control logic.

The symbology for drawing P&I diagrams generally follows standards developed by one

of the following organizations:

International Society for Measurement and Control (ISA). The chemicals, refining,

and foods industries generally follow this standard.

Scientific Apparatus Manufacturers Association (SAMA). The fossil-fuel electric

utility industry generally follows this standard.

Both organizations update their standards from time to time, primarily because the

continuing evolutions in control-system hardware provide additional possibilities for

implementing control schemes.

Although arguments can be made for the advantages of each symbology, the practices

within an industry seem to be mainly the result of historical practice with no indication of

any significant shift. Most companies adopt one of the standards but then tailor or extend
 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

the symbology to best suit their internal practices. Such companies maintain an internal

document and/or drawing that specifies the symbology used on their P&I diagrams. Their

internal personnel and all contractors are instructed to adhere to this symbology when

developing P&I diagrams.

ALARMS

The purpose of an alarm is to alert the process operator to a process condition that

requires immediate attention. An alarm is said to occur whenever the abnormal condition

is detected and the alert is issued.

An alarm is said to return to normal when the abnormal condition no longer exists.

Analog alarms can be defined on measured variables, calculated variables, controller

outputs, and the like. For analog alarms, the following possibilities exist:

1. High/low alarms. A high alarm is generated when the value is greater than or equal to

the value specified for the high-alarm limit. A low alarm is generated when the value is

less than or equal to the value specified for the low-alarm limit.

2. Deviation alarms. An alarm limit and a target are specified. A high deviation alarm is

generated when the value is greater than or equal to the target plus the deviation alarm

limit. A low deviation alarm is generated when the value is less than or equal to the target

minus the deviation alarm limit.

3. Trend or rate-of-change alarms. A limit is specified for the maximum rate of change,

usually specified as a change in the measured value per minute. A high trend alarm is

generated when the rate of change of the variable is greater than or equal to the value

specified for the trend alarm limit. A low trend alarm is generated when the rate of

change of the variable is less than or equal to the negative of the value specified for the

trend alarm limit.

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Most systems permit multiple alarms of a given type to be configured for a given value.

For example, configuring three high alarms provides a high alarm, a high-high alarm, and

a high-high-high alarm.

One operational problem with analog alarms is that noise in the variable can cause

multiple alarms whenever its value approaches a limit. This can be avoided by defining a

dead band on the alarm. For example, a high alarm would be processed as follows:

1. Occurrence. The high alarm is generated when the value is greater than or equal to the

value specified for the high-alarm limit.

2. Return to normal. The high-alarm return to normal is generated when the value is less

than or equal to the high alarm limit less the dead band.

As the degree of noise varies from one input to the next, the dead band must be

individually configurable for each alarm.

Discrete alarms can be defined on discrete inputs, limit switch inputs from on/off

actuators and so on. For discrete alarms, the following possibilities exist:

1. Status alarms. An expected or normal state is specified for the discrete value. A status

alarm is generated when the discrete value is other than its expected or normal state.

2. Change-of-state alarm. A change-of-state alarm is generated on any change of the

discrete value.

The expected sequence of events on an alarm is basically as follows:

1. The alarm occurs. This usually activates an audible annunciator.

2. The alarm occurrence is acknowledged by the process operator.

When all alarms have been acknowledged, the audible annunciator is silenced.

3. Corrective action is initiated by the process operator.

4. The alarm condition returns to normal.

However, additional requirements are imposed at some plants.

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Sometimes the process operator must acknowledge the alarm’s return to normal. Some

plants require that the alarm occurrence be reissued

Distributed Control Systems

A distributed control system (DCS) is a computerized control system for a process or

plant usually with many control loops, in which autonomous controllers are distributed

throughout the system, but there is no central operator supervisory control. This is in

contrast to systems that use centralized controllers; either discrete controllers located at a

central control room or within a central computer. The DCS concept increases reliability

and reduces installation costs by localizing control functions near the process plant, with

remote monitoring and supervision.

Some knowledge of the distributed control system (DCS) is useful in understanding

electronic controllers. A DCS is a process control system with sufficient performanceto

support large-scale real-time process applications. The DCS has (1) an operations

workstation with a cathode ray tube (CRT) for display; (2) a controller subsystem that

supports various types of controllers and controller functions; (3) an I/O subsystem for

transducing data; (4) a higher-level computing platform for performing process

supervision, information processing, and analysis; and (5) communication networks to tie

the DCS subsystems, plant areas, and other plants systems together.

COMPUTERS AND MICROPROCESSORS IN PROCESS CONTROL

Computers are being increasingly used for data logging, process monitoring and control.

They have largely superseded the strip charts and analogue controllers seen in older

plant. The long instrument panels and “mimic” flow-chart displays have been replaced by

intelligent video display units. These provide a window on the process. Operators and

technical supervision can call up and display any section of the process to review the
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operating parameters and adjust control settings. Abnormal and alarm situations are

highlighted and displayed. Historical operating data is retained in the computer memory.

Averages and trends can be displayed, for plant investigation and trouble shooting.

Software to continuously update and optimize plant performance can be incorporated in

the computer control systems.

Programmable logic controllers are used for the control and interlocking of processes

where a sequence of operating steps has to be carried out: such as, in batch processes,

and in the start-up and shut down of continuous processes.

7.3. Equipment Control

There are examples are presented some usual control methods for the more widely

occurring equipment in chemical processing plants. Other methods often are possible and

may be preferable because of greater sensitivity or lower cost. Also it should be noted

that the choice of controls for particular equipment may depend on the kind of equipment

it is associated with. Feed forward control should always be considered when superior

control is needed, the higher cost is justified, and the process simulation is known.

Another relatively expensive method is composition control, which has been emphasized

for reactors and fractionators, but its possible utility always should be borne in mind. The

complete instrumentation of a plant also includes detectors and transmitters as well as

indicators of various operating conditions. Such indications may be input to a computer

for the record or for control, or serve as guides for manual control by operators who have

not been entirely obsolesced.

Control in reactor(hydrolyzer) :

The Hydrolyzer is a vertical reactor maintained at 180oC temperature. The excess heat

generated in the reactor is removed by heating of water. The flow rate is controller to

keep the temperature in the reactor to a fixed value by temperature controller.

 Chapter 7 Instrumentation and process control of the reactor

The different feed streams are controlled by ratio controller. The progress of a given

reaction depends on the temperature, pressure, flow rates, and residence times. Usually

these variables are controlled directly, but since the major feature of a chemical reaction

is composition change, the analysis of composition and the resetting of the other

variables by its means is an often used means of control. The pressure is maintained at

the high value by controlling the outlet organic flow rate by using the control valve at the

outlet.

Safety in Instrumentation and Control Systems

Never to be taken lightly are those features that must be engineered into control systems

on behalf of protecting plant personnel and plant investment, and to meet legal and

insurance standards. This is a major factor of concern to users and suppliers alike. Even

with efforts made toward safety design perfection, accidents can happen.

Care should be taken and suitable techniques can be used to reduce explosion hazards,

including design for intrinsic safety, the use of explosion proof housings, encapsulation,

sealing, and pressurization systems.