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Block Diagram of A Chemical-Reactor Control System

1) The document describes a two-tank chemical reactor system used to maintain the concentration of reactant A leaving the second tank at a desired level despite variations in the inlet concentration. 2) Material balances are used to derive transfer functions for each reactor and other system components, including a control valve, measuring element, controller, and transducer. 3) These transfer functions are combined in a block diagram that models the response of the overall control system to changes in the inlet concentration.

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552 views13 pages

Block Diagram of A Chemical-Reactor Control System

1) The document describes a two-tank chemical reactor system used to maintain the concentration of reactant A leaving the second tank at a desired level despite variations in the inlet concentration. 2) Material balances are used to derive transfer functions for each reactor and other system components, including a control valve, measuring element, controller, and transducer. 3) These transfer functions are combined in a block diagram that models the response of the overall control system to changes in the inlet concentration.

Uploaded by

کبری ادریس رسول
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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You are on page 1/ 13

CHAPTER 10

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A CHEMICAL-REACTOR CONTROL SYSTEM


To tie together the principles developed thus far and to illustrate further the procedure for reduction of a physical control system to
a block diagram, we consider in this chapter the two-tank chemical-reactor control system of Fig. 10–1 . This entire chapter
serves as an example and may be omitted by the reader with no loss in continuity.

FIGURE 10–1
Control of a stirred-
tank chemical
reactor.

26/12/2016 Dr. ARKAN JASIM HADI 1


10.1 DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM
A liquid stream enters tank 1 at a volumetric flow rate F cfm and contains reactant A at a concentration of C0 mol A /ft3. Reactant
A decomposes in the tanks according to the irreversible chemical reaction

The reaction is first-order and proceeds at a rate rA = - kc

where rA = rate of formation of A, (mol A )/(ft3 · time)


c = concentration of A, mol A /ft3
k = reaction rate constant (a function of temperature), time -1
( k1 = tank 1, k2 = tank 2)
The reaction is to be carried out in a series of two continuous stirred-tank reactors. The tanks are maintained at
different temperatures. The temperature in tank 2 is to be greater than the temperature in tank 1, with the result that
k2, the reaction rate constant in tank 2, is greater than that in tank 1, k1. We will neglect any changes in physical
properties due to chemical reaction.

The purpose of the control system is to maintain c2, the concentration of A leaving tank 2, at some desired value in
spite of variations in the inlet concentration co. This will be accomplished by adding a stream of pure A to tank 1
through a control valve. We wish to produce a block diagram for the process so that we can simulate its response
to changes in inlet concentration.

26/12/2016 Dr. ARKAN JASIM HADI 2


10.2 REACTOR TRANSFER FUNCTIONS
We begin the analysis by making a material balance on A around tank 1; thus

where m = molar flow rate of pure A through valve, (lbmol/min)


𝜌𝐴 = density of pure A (lbmol/ft3)
V = holdup volume of tank, a constant (ft3)

It is assumed that the volumetric flow of A through the valve m/𝜌𝐴 is much less than the inlet flow rate F, with the
result that Eq. (10.1) can be written

This last equation may be written in the form

26/12/2016 Dr. ARKAN JASIM HADI 3


where 𝜏 = residence time for each tank = V/F, (time)

𝜏1 = effective time constant for tank 1 =

At steady state, dc1\ dt = 0, and Eq. (10.3) becomes

where s refers to steady state.

Subtracting Eq. (10.4) from Eq. (10.3) and


introducing the deviation variables
give

Taking the transform of Eq. (10.5) yields the transfer function of the first reactor:

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A material balance on A around tank 2 gives

Rearranging gives

As with tank 1, Eq. (10.7 a) can be written in terms of deviation variables and arranged to give

where C2 is the deviation variable for tank 2, C2 = c2 - c2s, and 𝜏2 is the effective time constant for tank 2,

Taking the transform of Eq. (10.8) gives the


transfer function for the second reactor:

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To obtain some numerical results, we will assume the following data to apply to the system:

From Eq. (10.4), we can calculate


the steady-state concentration of A in
tank 1.

26/12/2016 Dr. ARKAN JASIM HADI 6


We can calculate the steady-state concentration of A in tank 2 by using Eq. (10.7 a) written at steady state (when
dc2 / dt = 0).

10.3 CONTROL VALVE


The air-to-open control valve selected for the process has the following characteristics.
The flow of A through the valve varies linearly from 0 to 2 cfm as the valve-top pressure varies from 3 to 15 psig. The
time constant tv of the valve is so small compared with the other time constants in the system that its dynamics can
be neglected. From Eq. (9.2) the transfer function for a fast valve is

From this relationship, and remembering that Q and P are deviation variables, we can compute the valve gain using
the given data

the normal operating pressure on the valve is

𝑚
𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒= 𝜌 𝑠
𝑝𝑠 = 𝑝𝑚𝑖𝑛 + 𝑚𝑎𝑥.𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒−𝑚𝑖𝑛.𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ
𝐴
𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒 (max 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒−𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒)

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Since our mole balances for the tanks are written in terms of molar flow rates instead of volumetric flow rates (cfm),
we would like the valve equation to be written in terms of molar flow rates as well. Realizing that the volumetric flow
rate (cfm) can be written as m/𝜌𝐴 , we can write the equation for the control valve as (see Fig. 10–2 )

and finally

In terms of deviation variables, this can be written

where

Taking the transform of Eq. (10.12) gives

as the valve transfer function.

FIGURE 10–2
Control valve sensitivity.
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10.4 MEASURING ELEMENT
For illustration, assume that the measuring element converts the concentration of A to an electronic signal.
Specifically, the output of the measuring element varies from 4 to 20 mA as the concentration of A varies from 0.01 to
0.05 lbmol A/ft3. We will assume that the concentration measuring device is linear and has negligible lag. The
sensitivity (or gain) of the measuring device is therefore

Since c2s is 0.0244 lbmol/ft3 , the normal signal from the measuring device is

The equation for the measuring device is therefore

where b is the output current (milliamperes) from the measuring device. In terms of deviation variables, Eq. (10.14)
becomes

The transfer function for the measuring device is therefore

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A measuring device that changes the type of signal between its input and output is called a transducer; in the
present case, the concentration signal is changed to a current signal. A thermocouple is another example of a
transducer. It changes an input temperature signal to an output electrical signal (millivolts).

10.5 CONTROLLER
For convenience, we will assume the controller to have proportional action and produce a current output signal. The
relation between the controller output signal (milliamperes) and the error (milliamperes) is

where cR = desired current signal (or set point), mA


Kc = controller gain, mA/mA
𝜀 = error = cR - b, mA
In terms of deviation variables, Eq. (10.17) becomes
The transform of this equation gives the transfer function of the controller

Assuming the set point and the signal from the measuring device to be the same when the system is at steady state
under normal conditions, we have for the reference value of the set point

The corresponding deviation variable for the set point is


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10.6 CONTROLLER TRANSDUCER

The output from the controller is an electronic current signal ranging from 4 to 20 mA.
The signal that the control valve requires is a pneumatic signal of 3 to 15 psig. A transducer is required to convert the
current signal from the controller to the pneumatic signal required by the control valve. We will assume that the
transducer is linear and has negligible lag. The transfer function for the transducer is merely a gain that is given
by Eq. (10.20).

10.7 TRANSPORTATION LAG


A portion of the liquid leaving tank 2 is continuously withdrawn through a sample line, containing a concentration
measuring element, at a rate of 0.1 cfm. The measuring element must be remotely located from the process, because
rigid ambient conditions must be maintained for accurate concentration measurements. The sample line has a length
of 50 ft, and the cross-sectional area of the line is 0.001 ft2 .
The sample line can be represented by a transportation lag with parameter

The transfer function for the sample line is, therefore

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10.8 BLOCK DIAGRAM
We have now completed the analysis of each component of the control system and have obtained a transfer function
for each. These transfer functions can now be combined so that the overall system is represented by the block
diagram in Fig. 10–3 .

FIGURE 10–3 Block diagram for a chemical-reactor control system.

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An equivalent diagram is shown in Fig. 10–4 in which some of the blocks have been combined.

FIGURE 10–4
Equivalent block diagram for a chemical-reactor control system
( CR is now in concentration units).
Numerical quantities for the parameters in the transfer functions are given in Fig. 10–4 . It should be
emphasized that the block diagram is written for deviation variables. The true steady-state values, which are
not given by the diagram, must be obtained from the analysis of the problem.

26/12/2016 Dr. ARKAN JASIM HADI 13

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