OBJECTIVES

1. To identify the important components of the level and flow control system.

2. To carry out the start-up procedures systematically.

3. To study level control system using PID controller.

4. To study Level-Flow cascade control.

INTRODUCTION

In this experiment which is Level Flow Cascade Process Control were used water to
stimulate liquid physical processes where the level and flow can be controlled with PID
controllers. The single-loop PID controllers were not enough when the system suffers from
fluctuating inflow and a more precise control of level was required. To smooth the fluctuating
inflow by using a secondary or a slave loop, the cascade controller must be employed. The
level controller became the main or primary controller and its control output remotely sets
(cascades) the set point of the secondary controller. The only one control valve was installed
at the inflow.

THEORY

Basically, in level control system, the control of liquid levels applied in a process tank
where it is an important function. Typically, different types of level control systems are used in
industry which is covering a wide range of processes. The types of final control signals that
will be used to operate pumps or valves appropriate to the application are float operated,
hydrostatic, differential pressure, magnetic, torsion, steel rope capacitance, ultrasonic and
microwave radar. There are three main methods of achieving level control which are non-
adjustable in/off, adjustable on/off and modulating.

For part flow control system, feed-forward systems on boiler plant where the rate of
steam flow from the boiler will influence other control points. There are two types of processes
occurred in flow control system which are rehydration process and batch process. Rehydration
process where it is known to measure quantity of steam (water) was injected into a product
which has been dried for transportation or storage while batch processes where it is known to
measure quantity of steam will produce the desired result on the product

For part cascade control system, feed flow rate must be adjusted to control liquid level
to produce high performance disturbance rejection. Feed flow rate increase by a precise

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amount because of header pressure changes can affect the opening and closing of the valve.
Based on Figure 1 above showed the level flow cascade process control where an inner
secondary sensor measures the feed flow rate while an inner secondary controller receives
this flow measurement and adjusts the feed flow valve. The primary level controller called for
a decreased liquid feed flow rate rather than simply a decrease in valve opening if the liquid
level was too high. The flow controller decided whether this means opening or closing the
valve and by how much.

Figure 1 Flow diagram of level to flow cascade control

Based on the diagram in Figure 2, the level controller output signal (CO1) became the
set point for the flow controller (SP2). Any disruption caused by changing header pressure to
the benefit of the primary level control process could be minimized by the secondary flow
controller that quickly detected and addressed of the header pressure disturbances.

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Figure 2 Block diagram of formal level to flow cascade structure

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 Pressure relief valve
Flow control system

Vent Level flow control valve

Pump

Pressure gauge Tank

Drain

Figure 3 Process flow diagram of level flow cascade process control

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RESULT

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DISCUSSION

This experiment of Level Flow Plant Control (WLF922) were to identify the important
components of the level and flow control system, to carry out the start-up procedures
systematically, to study the level control system using PID controller and to study Level-Flow
cascade control. This equipment used water as the raw material to stimulate liquid phase
physical processes. The variable that involved in this experiment are volumetric flow rate and
level.

The experiment started with all related valves were opened and closed. After that, the
main switch on the control panel was switched on. Then, the identification of major
components in the plant was made. In addition to that, the open tank operation (self-regulating
process) was also conducted accordingly. The Level-Flow cascade, open tank and self-
regulating control were carried out in a proceeding manner. Procedures including settings
related to the experiment were followed accordingly as shown in the laboratory manual.

Cascade controller when compared with PID controller, has a much shorter retention
time. Cascade controller took less time to settle and stabilize because it depends on the slave
(secondary) loop to control the parameter of the master (primary) loop. It can be observed on
the resulted chart, for PID controller, when the flow rate of the process is being manipulated,
the level and the flow started stabilizing simultaneously. However, the level’s oscillation did
not settle as fast as the flow’s oscillation. Furthermore, whereas for Cascade controller, both
parameters, level and flow, oscillates and stabilizes simultaneously.

Theoretically speaking, in comparison with the controllers’ performances, the Cascade

control is mainly used to achieve fast rejection of disturbance before it propagates to the other
parts of the plant. The simplest cascade control system involves two control loops (inner and
outer) of which also called the ‘master’ and ‘slave’ loops. On the other hand, the PID control
refers to a generic control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial
control systems. It usually calculates an 'error' value as the difference between a measured
process variable and a desired set point. It attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the
process control inputs. The instrument works by control cycle response mechanism. PID
controllers are mainly used in Temperature Controller systems.

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 There were two parts of experiment that has been done during the lab. The first part is
the open tank operation of tank (T31) under self-regulating test. The set point was set at PV
= ±400mm. The top vent and overflow drain valve were opened to make sure water overflow
back into the tank and the condition in atmospheric pressure. The initial MV was 60% and was
changed manually to 30%. From the chart it shows that the flow decreasing to setpoint which
is ±400mm and it showed step input before it stabilized. The result shown that it is self-
regulating process because of the flow decelerate to a new steady state operating point which
is due to negative feedback within the process (McMillan, 2015).

The second part for this experiment was done to study the level control system using
PID controller and level flow cascade control. Based on the result obtained, the water level is
continuous increase when in manual mode in it reach level 650 mm and it turn decrease to
desire set value after the mode of controller change to auto. The level is constant as set value
desire. For the trial 2, the level of the water is increased where the water continuous flow into
the tank. After that, the level is decrease after the mode turn to auto (A) mode. This is because
the system will stop the entering water into tank and the valve will be open in order to achieve
the desire set value. There is make the result of water level constant.

For the second part is PID level control using PID tuning. The PID tuning was
performed in order to make it stable, responsive and to minimize overshooting (Cross, 2019).
The SV1 was setup to 400 mm and for MV1 was setup for 50%. The value of SV2 was set to
1.8 m3/hr. Based on the observation, there flow of water (Green Pen) is remain constant and
steady without any oscillating. The response was observed for a minute to access whether
the level is self-regulating at its flow rate. After that, the value of SV2 was manipulated to 1.5
m3/hr. The response was observed is steady until the reading of flow water is oscillating and
continuously repeating the oscillation. For the water is shown the maximum amount since the
water flow are continuous entering the tank.

There are several possibilities that might have contributed to the errors that occurred
during the experiment. One of those errors is physical errors (human error). The instrument
could have a leakage at the pipelines, and it could affect the results or readings of the flow
ratio. While running the experiment, the configuration of the valves has to be followed
accordingly. For example, a few valves need to be opened but they are still set as closed. This
will lead the results or readings of the experiment to an abnormal trend. Next, the parameters
weren’t allowed to be stabilized first when the readings were recorded, which could lead to an
abnormal trend of results. Not just that, the parameter in the field of another parameter might
have been recorded due to lack of focus. By doing so, the recordings will be inaccurate, and
it will result in abnormality. Thus, the ideal expected results could not be achieved.

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CONCLUSION

The aim for conducted this experiment are to identify the important components of the
level and flow control system, to carry out the start-up procedures systematically, to study the
level control system using PID controller and to study Level-Flow cascade controller. Two
experiment were conducted during the lab sessions. One is the open tank operation of tank
(T31) under self-regulating self and another one is to study the level control system using PID
controller and level flow cascade control. The first experiment was done by setting the set
point at PV= ±400mm. The MV were changed from its initial 60% to 30% manually. The chart
provided shows the flow decreasing to the set point which is ±400mm and step input presence
before it stabilized. The second part of experiment shows the water level is continuously
increase when manual mode reaches 650 mm and then decrease accordingly to the desire
set value after auto mode take place. While the level remains constant as set value desire. At
second trial, the water level started to decrease after the auto mode takes place in experiment.
Lastly, PID level control using PID tuning is done to make it stable, responsive and to minimize
overshooting. 400 mm for SV1 and 50% for MV1 were setup respectively. While the value for
SV2 was set to 1.8 m3/hr. From the experiment, it can be observed that the flow of water is
remain constant without any oscillation. When the SV2 was set to 1.5 m3/hr, the response
observed still in steady state at first until it shows some oscillation and then it continuously
repeating the oscillation.

RECOMMENDATION

There are several possibilities that can lead to gain inaccurate data from the result.
Some of the error are physical error that are come from the experimenter error. The instrument
has not been starting up accurately based on laboratory manual. Maybe some of the valve not
fully closed or fully opened according to lab manual. Not only that, the experimenter must be
setting the value inaccurately based on lab manual that can lead to gain the best fit result that
follows the theory. So, to prevent this error does not happen again, the experimenter must
read the laboratory manual before entering the lab and waited for the technician to brief about
the experiment before start conducted the experiment. The experimenter should get the
overview how the machine running from the laboratory manual and should have some basic
knowledge to obtain correct reading.

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REFERENCES

Capacitive Level Sensor. (n.d.). Level Sensor Solutions. Retrieved from

http://www.levelsensorsolutions.com/capacitive-level-sensor

EngineersGarage. (2012). Level Sensors. Www.Engineersgarage.Com. Retrieved from

https://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/what-is-level-sensor

Learn about steam. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2019, from

https://beta.spiraxsarco.com/Learn-about-steam

McMillan, G. (2015). Better Process Control by Understanding Self-Regulating Process

Dynamics. Retrieved August 19, 2019, from https://automation.isa.org/how-to-improve-
automation-by-understanding-self-regulating-process-dynamics/

Roy, G. J. (Gordon J. (2013). Notes on instrumentation and control. Elsevier. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com/?id=efL8BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA23

The Cascade Control Architecture – Control Guru. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2019, from
https://controlguru.com/the-cascade-control-architecture/