Process Control

&
Automation
If you have a smart project, you can say "I'm an engineer“

Lecture 5

Staff boarder
Dr. Mostafa Elsayed Abdelmonem
Process Control & Automation

 Lecture aims:
 Understand the types Flow Diagrams
 Development of a Block Flow Diagram (BFD)
 Development of Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID)
 Types of Flow Diagrams

1. Block Flow Diagram (BFD) and Block Plant Flow Diagram (BPFD)
2. Process Flow Diagram (PFD)
3. Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID, Process control, equipment
dimensions etc.)
4. Additional Diagrams (Specifications: For equipment design requirements)
5. Three-dimensional drawing of the process
6. Three-dimensional plant model
 B LO C K FLOW DIAGRAM (BFD)

1. Block Flow Process Diagram

1. Operations shown by blocks.

2. Major flow lines shown with arrows giving direction of flow.
3. Flow goes from left to right whenever possible (recycles go right to left).
4. Light stream (gases) toward top with heavy stream (liquids and solids) toward bottom.
5. Critical information unique to process supplied.
6.If lines cross, then the horizontal line is continuous and the vertical line
is broken.

7. Simplified material balance provided.

2. Block Flow Plant Diagram
E a c h block represents a complete chemical process (compressors and turbines are trapezoids), and a
block flow process diagram could be drawn for each block.
 P RO C E S S FLOW DIAGRAM (PFD)
The PFD contains the bulk of the chemical engineering data necessary for the design of a
chemical process.

A typical commercial PFD contains:

1. All the major pieces of equipment in the process. E a c h piece of equipment will have a
unique equipment number and a descriptive name.

2.All process flow streams will be shown and identified by a number. A description of the
process conditions and chemical composition of each stream will be included. These data
will be either displayed directly on the PFD or included in an accompanying flow summary
table.

3.All utility streams supplied to major equipment that provide a process function will be
shown.

4. Basic control loops, illustrating the control strategy used to operate the process during
normal operations, will be shown.
The basic information provided by a PFD can be categorized into:

1. Process topology

2. Stream information

3. Equipment information
 1. Process Topology
The location of and interaction between equipment and process streams are
referred to as the process topology.

Equipment is
represented
symbolically by
“icons” that
identify specific
unit operations.
Symbols
for
Drawing
Process
Flow
Diagrams
 T
Conventions Used for Identifying P

Process Equipment

P-101A/B
P-101A/B identifies the equipment as a
pump.

P-101A/B indicates that the pump is located

in area 100 of the plant.

P-101A/B indicates that this specific pump is

number 01 in unit 100.

P-101A/B indicates that a backup pump is

installed. Thus, there are two identical
pumps, P-101A and P-101B. One
pump will be operating while the other is idle.
2. Stream Information

E a c h of the process streams is identified by a number in a diamond box located on the

stream. The direction of the stream is identified by one or more arrowheads.

Utilities are needed services that are available at the plant.

Chemical plants are provided with a range of central utilities that include:
- Electricity, compressed air, cooling water, refrigerated water, steam, condensate
return, inert gas for blanketing, chemical sewer, wastewater treatment, and flares.
Conventions
for
Identifying
Process and
Utility
Streams
Information Provided in a Flow
Summary Table
3. Equipment Information
Equipment Descriptions for PFD and P&IDs
• Equipment Type Description of Equipment
➢ Towers
Size (height and diameter), Pressure, Temperature
Number and Type of Trays Height and Type of Packing Materials of
Construction
➢ Heat Exchangers
Type: G a s - G a s , Gas-Liquid, Liquid-Liquid, Condenser, Vaporizer
Process: Duty, Area, Temperature, and Pressure for Both Streams
Number of Shell and Tube Passes
Materials of Construction: Tubes and Shell
➢ Tanks and Vessels
Height, Diameter, Orientation, Pressure,
Temperature, Materials of Construction
3. Equipment Information
Equipment Descriptions for PFD and P&IDs
Equipment Type
Description of Equipment
 Pumps

Flow, Discharge Pressure, Temperature, ΔP, Driver Type, Shaft Power, Materials of
Construction

 Compressors

Actual Inlet Flowrate, Temperature, Pressure Inlet and Outlet, Driver Type, Shaft
Power, Materials of Construction
 Heaters (Fired)

Type, Tube Pressure, Tube Temperature, Duty, Fuel, Material of Construction

 Other

Provide Critical Information

PIPING & INST RUMENTATION
(P&IDs)
• The process flow-sheet shows the arrangement of the major pieces of equipment
and their interconnection. It is a description of the nature of the process.

• The Piping and Ins trument diagram (P&ID) sh ows the engineering details of the
equipment, instruments, piping, valves and fittings; and their arrangement.

• It is often called the E ngineering Flow -S h eet, E ngineering Line Diagram or

Mechanical Flow Diagram (MFD).

• The P&I diagram will resemble the process flowsheet, but the process information
is not shown.

• The same equipment identification numbers should be used on both diagrams.

P&ID should include:

1. All process equipment identified by an equipment number. The equipment should be

drawn roughly in proportion, and the location of nozzles shown.

2.All pipes, identified by a line number. The pipe size and material of construction should
be shown. The material may be included as part of the line identification number.

3.All valves: control and block valves, with an identification number. The type (gate, plug,
ball, globe, diaphragm, etc.) and size should be shown. The type may be shown by the
symbol used for the valve or included in the code used for the valve number.

4.Ancillary fittings that are part of the piping system, such as inline sight-glasses,
strainers, and steam traps, with an identification number.

5. Pumps, identified by a suitable code number.

6. All control loops and instruments, with an identification number.

Information found on a P&ID
Equipment Piping Instruments Utilities
Backup units Size (Use Standard Sizes) Indicators Entrance utilities
Parallel units Schedule (Thickness) Recorders Exit utilities
Materials of construction Controllers Exit to waste treatment
Insulation (thickness and Show instrument lines
type)

Exclusions from P&IDs

 Symbols and Layout

The sym bols u sed to sh ow the equ ipm ent, valves , instru ments and control loops
will depend on the practice of the particular design office.

The equipment symbols are usually more detailed than those used for the process
flow-sheet.

Standard symbols for process equipment, pumps, controllers and valves are defined
by international (International Society of Automatization-ISA) and national (British
Standard B S 1646, German Standard DIN 28004, American National Standards
Institute-ANSI) standards.
ISA-5.1-1984
(R1992)

BS 1646

It represent all types of control Locally mounted means that Main panel means that
valve, and both pneumatic and the controller and display is they are located on a panel
electric actuators. located out on the plant near in the control room.
to the sensing instrument
location.

Except on small plants, most controllers would be mounted

in the control room.

S e e Appendix-A in Sinnott, Towler for a large list of equipment and piping systems.
All process information that can be measured at the
plant is indicated by a circle mark on the P&ID.
Piping Connection Symbols
From Process Flow Sheet to P&ID
Biodiesel Production
P&ID for Benzene
Distillation
 CO N T RO L AND INSTRUMENTATION
INSTRUMENTS

• Instruments are provided to monitor the ke y process variables during plant operation.
• They may be incorporated in automatic control loops, or used for the manual monitoring
of the process operation.
• In most modern plants, the instruments will be connected to a computer control and 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 that is to be monitored should be measured
directly; however, this is often 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 composition 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.
INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL O B J E C T I V E S

1. Safe plant operation

(a) To keep the process variables within known safe operating limits.
(b)To detect dangerous situations as they develop and to provide alarms and automatic
shut-down systems.
(c) To provide interlocks and alarms to prevent dangerous operating procedures.

2. Production rate
To achieve the design product output.

3. Product quality
To maintain the product composition within the specified quality standards.

4. Cost
To operate at the lowest production cost, commensurate with the other objectives.

5. Stability
To maintain steady, automatic plant operation with minimal operator intervention.
AUTOMATIC CONTROL SCHEMES
in P&IDs
Control loops needed for steady process operation
(a)Level controls
(b)Flow controls
(c)Pressure controls
(d)Temperature controls

Basic rules of process control

• There can only be a single control valve on any given stream between unit operations.
• A level controller is needed anywhere where a vapor-liquid or liquid-liquid interface is
maintained.
• Pressure control is more responsive when the pressure controller actuates a control valve on a
vapor stream.
• Two operations cannot be controlled at different pressures unless there is a valve or other
restriction (or a compressor or pump) between them.
• Temperature control is usually achieved by controlling the flow of a utility stream (such as
steam or cooling water) or a bypass around an exchanger.
•The overall plant material balance is usually set by flow controllers or flow ratio controllers on
the process feeds. There cannot be an additional flow controller on an intermediate stream
unless there is provision for accumulation (surge); such as, an intermediate storage tank.
Preparat ion of a
Process Control
Loop
 TYPICAL CONTROL SYSTEMS
L E V E L CON T ROL

Level Alarm: High/Low

Level Valve

Typical arrangement for the level control at the base of a column. The control valve should be
placed on the discharge line from the pu m p.
P R E S S U R E CON T ROL
FLOW CONT ROL

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, as shown in (a).
The use of variable speed motors as shown in (c) is more energy efficient than the traditional arrangement shown in
(b), and is becoming increasingly common.
TEM PE R ATUR E
CONT ROL
RE B OIL E R & VAPORIZER CON T ROL

Level control is often used for vaporizers; the controller controlling the steam supply to the heating
surface, with the liquid feed to the vaporizer on flow control, as shown in Figure above. An increase in
the feed results in an automatic increase in steam to the vaporizer to vaporize the increased flow and
maintain the level constant.
DISTILLATION COLUMN CON T ROL
R E A C TO R
CON T ROL

The schemes used for reactor control depend on the process and the type of reactor. If a reliable online
analyzer is available, and the reactor dynamics are suitable, the product composition can be monitored
continuously and the reactor conditions and feed flows controlled automatically to maintain the
desired product composition and yield.
 3-D PLANT M O D E L
After the PFD, P&ID and other diagrams of the facility are drawn, a three-dimensional
drawing is made to see the visuality and equipment layout in perspective.

Isometric View of Preliminary 3-D Plant Layout Model

for Dimethylether (DME) Process (Aveva P D M S
Software)