Training Module

Describe Basic
Instrumentation
and Control Strategies
controlled variable
inputs

Process

manipulated
variable

primary
element

di
st

ur
b
st

final
control
element

an
ce
ur
ba s
nc
es

measure

di

act

outputs

transmitter
setpoint controller

decide

Human Development
Consultants Ltd.

Describe Basic Instrumentation

and Control Strategies

2000 and 2013 by HDC Human Development Consultants Ltd.

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ISBN 1-55338-002-9
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
1. Feedback control systems. 2. Feedforward control systems. I. HDC Human Development
Consultants.
TS156.8.D48 2000 629.83 C00-900655-9
This training kit consists of the following parts:
Training Module and Self-Check
Blank Answer Sheet
Knowledge Check and Answer Key
Published by HDC Human Development Consultants Ltd.
Published in Canada

HDC Human Development Consultants Ltd.

Website:
E-mail:
Phone:
July, 2013

www.hdc.ca
marketing@hdc.ca
(780) 463-3909

Describe Basic Instrumentation

and Control Strategies

Contents
Training Objectives

1
2

Introduction

Instrumentation

2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4

5
6
7
8

Pressure Instrumentation
Temperature Instrumentation
Level Instrumentation
Flow Instrumentation

Process Control Loop Strategies

3.1 Feedback Control

3.2 Feedforward Control

11
17

Combination Control Loop Strategies

26

4.1 Feedback-Feedforward Control

4.2 Cascade Control

26
30

Common Process Control Loop Configurations

32

Signal Comparison & Selection

37

Summary

43

Self-Check

44

Self-Check Answers

51

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

and Control Strategies

Training
Objectives

Upon completion of this training kit, you will be able to:

Describe the purpose and importance of process
instrumentation
Describe the purpose and importance of process control
systems
Describe process control loop strategies:
feedback
feedback-feedforward
feedforward
cascade
Describe the components and operation of process
control loops
Describe signal comparison and selection

1 Introduction
Process industries produce consumer products from raw
materials and chemical feedstocks. These process industries
include:
oil and gas processing
chemical manufacturing
pulp and paper
mining
pharmaceuticals
food and beverage processing
In industrial process facilities, each process operation has
numerous process variables. Typical process variables include
pressure, temperature, level, and flow rate. Process variables
must be measured accurately by reliable instruments and
maintained at specific, desired values to enable safe, stable,
and efficient process operation:
safe process operation:
safeguards the lives of personnel
prevents loss-of-control incidents and loss-of-product
containment
maintains environmental compliance by preventing
contamination
protects process equipment and facilities from damage

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

and Control Strategies

stable process operation:

maintains the production of sales products that meet
contractual sales specifications
counters disturbances to prevent process upsets
efficient process operation minimizes costs and
contributes towards profitability by:
using energy efficiently
processing feed streams into the most valuable
combination of sales streams according to current market
demand
optimizing the operation and usage of process equipment
during part-load conditions
operating processes reliably to ensure that production and
sales obligations will be met
maintaining process operations within legislated limits to
ensure regulatory compliance
In processing facilities, the following process complexities exist:
many process variables must be measured and controlled
significant interactions between process variables can result
in many possible types of process upset
time delays in the response of processes to disturbances
stringent operational, environmental, and legal constraints
on process variables and equipment operation
sales products must meet the strict product quality
specifications demanded by customers
These process complexities are managed by automated
process control systems to ensure safe, reliable, and costeffective operation. For uniform operation within well-defined
control and equipment limits, automated process controls are
ideally suited to monitor and adjust processing operations and
correct those process variables that have strayed from their
ideal values.
Well-designed automated process control systems also
incorporate the informed actions and observations of operating
personnel. Operations personnel oversee process operations to
ensure the automated controls are effectively operating the
process. As well, operating personnel use their observations to

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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interpret how well a process is operating. When control

systems are designed, the process flexibility benefits of
allowing manual control are weighed against the potential
hazards resulting from incorrect manual control actions:
Where risk is high, safeguarding interlocks are implemented
to limit manual control actions. For example, heater firing
controls incorporate safe interlocks to ensure that personnel
cannot relight the heater until a purge interval has expired.
(The purge interval is an explosion prevention precaution to
ensure the heater is free of unburned fuel.)
Where process flexibility is required, operations personnel
have the ability to manually intervene and override
automated process controls. For example, tank level
controls can be manually overridden if personnel wish to
drain a tank, establish a new tank level, or increase the flow
rate from the tank to meet sudden customer demands.
In processing operations, it is usually not necessary to have
control loops monitor and control each process variable at work
in the system. However, only process variables that are
monitored can be directly controlled; process variables that are
not monitored cannot be directly controlled.
This module describes the following:
process instrumentation
process control loop strategies
combination control loop strategies
common process control loop configurations
control signal comparison and selection

NOTE

July, 2013

This training kit is an introduction to basic instrumentation and

process control and is a prerequisite to the training kit titled
Describe Process Control Modes and Process Control
Technology.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

and Control Strategies

2 Instrumentation
Industrial processes are fitted with instruments to provide
detection and measurement data to both process control
systems and process operations personnel. Instruments must
provide reliable data because critical operating and safety
decisions are based on the data. Errors in measurement lead to
errors in process control and errors in decision making.
In processing industries, instrumentation personnel typically
maintain instruments. Instrumentation maintenance includes:
calibrationinstruments are periodically calibrated to
ensure accurate measurement of process conditions
diagnosis and troubleshootingproblematic instruments
must be investigated to determine the origins of poor or
erratic operation so that reliable measurement can be
restored
repair and installationinstruments may at times require
specialty repair away from the process facility. The
instruments must be removed from operation, dismantled,
serviced, reinstalled, calibrated, and then returned to
service
In processing operations, instruments are commonly used to
measure four types of process variables:
pressure
temperature
level
flow

NOTE

July, 2013

Instruments are also used to measure other variables such as

position, rpm, vibration, pH, conductivity, and chemical
composition.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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2.1 Pressure Instrumentation

The following table lists the typical instrument types used to measure pressure.
Pressure Instrument Type

manometer
low pressure

A double-leg liquid column gauge that

shows the difference between two
pressures.

calibrated scale

high pressure

Description

A pressure tube filled with pressured gas or

liquid. The tube straightens as the pressure
increases. The bending motion drives a
pressure indicator needle via gear linkage.

Bourdon tube

pressure
scale

needle
motion

link
Bourdon
tube
pressure

diaphragm/bellows element

A flexible element that deforms in response

to a change in pressure.

flexible
element
pressure

piezoelectric element

July, 2013

A pressure-sensing technology that converts

pressure directly to an electrical signal.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

and Control Strategies

2.2 Temperature Instrumentation

The following table lists the typical instrument types used to measure
temperature.
Temperature Instrument Type

Description

An electrical device that detects the

temperature-induced voltage
between two dissimilar metals.

thermocouple
millivoltmeter
beaded junction
of two dissimilar
metals

sheathed, insulated
thermocouple cable

resistance thermometer

An electrical device that detects the

temperature-induced change in a
metals resistance.

filled bulb liquid thermometer

A tube filled with a liquid that

expands when heated to show the
temperature on an adjacent scale.

bimetal strip

A coiled strip of two bonded metals

(bimetal element) that expand at
different rates when heated. This
action causes uncoiling of the metal
strip; the uncoiling motion drives a
temperature indicator needle.

(front view)

(side cutaway view)

bimetal
element
scale

temperature
indicator needle

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2.3 Level Instrumentation

The following table lists the typical instrument types used to measure level.
Level Instrument Type

float devices
float

Description

A buoyant element that floats on a liquid

and pivots a mechanical linkage that
indicates level.

level scale

sealed
bearing

displacer devices
torque tube

level
scale

displacer
rod

displacer

differential pressure devices

seal
liquid

A heavier-than-liquid element (known as

the displacer and immersed in the liquid)
that is subjected to changing buoyancy
forces as the liquid level changes. The
changing buoyancy forces on the
displacer are transferred as a twisting
torque that indicates level. Displacers
can also be submerged at the interface
between two different liquids to indicate
the interface level.

A flexible diaphragm that deforms in

response to the difference in hydrostatic
pressure between the top and bottom of
a tank. This pressure difference
correlates into the tanks liquid level.

flexible diaphragm
differential pressure element

radar level detectors

July, 2013

A level sensing technology that directs

radio waves at a liquid surface and
determines the liquid level.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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2.4 Flow Instrumentation

The following table lists the typical instrument types used to measure flow.
Flow Instrument Type

orifice plate
orifice plate

Description

A flow restriction plate inserted into a

flowstream that causes a pressure drop
related to the flow rate.

flow
direction

pressure drop across orifice

is related to flow rate

turbine meter

A meter with a turbine wheel spun by a

flowstream. The spinning velocity of the
turbine wheel is proportional to the flow
rate.

vortex meter

A bluff object inserted into a flowstream

from which vortices are shed. The
frequency of the flow vortices is related to
the flow rate.

;;
;;

shed vortex

flow
direction

bluff body

ultrasonic meter

July, 2013

sensor to detect
vortex shedding
frequency

A flow sensing technology that beams

sound waves across a flowstream and
determines the flow rate from the sound
waves that are reflected back.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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3 Process Control Loop Strategies

A process uses specialty equipment to convert inlet products
and materials into output products and materials. As an
example, a papermaking process:
requires a supply of raw materials (trees) and inlet products
(treatment chemicals)
uses processing equipment to produce consumer-quality
paper
A process must reliably produce output products despite the
disturbances that affect the process. Examples of process
disturbances include:
changing process feed rates
changing inlet product composition
changing product demand
plant equipment failure
changing weather
A basic process without process control is shown in Figure 1.
In this process, the outputs are not controlledthe process
outputs change in response to the changing inputs and
disturbances. As an example of a process without control,
Figure 1 also shows a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger
uses a flow of cooling water to reduce the temperature of a
hot process stream. With no process control, the hot process
stream cannot be cooled to a specific temperature. The
hot process streams outlet temperature will instead be
influenced by:
the temperature of the incoming hot process stream
the flow rate of the hot process stream
the temperature of the incoming cooling water
the flow rate of the cooling water
the condition (e.g., internal leakage, fouling) of the heat
exchanger

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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Figure 1
No Process
Control

Basic Process Without Process Control

inputs

outputs

di
s

tu
rb
an
ce
s

Process

Example: Heat Exchanger Without Process Control

cooling water out
heat exchanger
hot process
stream in

cooled process
stream out

cooling water in

A process control loop is the configuration of instrumentation

and control equipment that monitors a process and takes
corrective action to counter disturbances and maintain a
process variable at a desired value.
To control process operations, there are two basic process
control loop strategies:
feedback control
feedforward control

NOTE

July, 2013

In the following sections, the heat exchanger example from

Figure 1 is shown fitted with different types of control loops.
Although the control loops function differently, their common
objective is to maintain the process stream at a specific
cooled temperature by manipulating the flow of cooling water.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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3.1 Feedback Control

Industrial process facilities have important process variables
that must be maintained at specific, desired values to enable
safe, stable, and efficient process operation. A feedback control
loop monitors an important process variable and determines
the corrective process actions required to maintain the process
variable at the desired value. By directly monitoring the
important process variable, a feedback control loop directly
monitors the effects of its control actions.

Feedback Control Loop: Operating Strategy

Figure 2 is an overview schematic showing the fundamental
operation of a feedback process control loop.
Figure 2
Fundamental
Operation:
Feedback
Control

process variable (controlled

variable) to be maintained at
desired value (setpoint)

outputs

inputs

Process
ure

manipulated
variable

di

act

st

ur

ba

nc

es

as
me

de

ci
de

As shown in Figure 2, the fundamental operation of a feedback

control loop is as follows:
measurethe important process variable that must be
maintained at a desired value is measured. This important
variable:
is either within the process or at the process outlet
is known as the controlled variable. The controlled
variables desired value is known as the setpoint.
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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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decidethe controlled variable is compared with its

setpoint to determine the difference (if any). Based on the
difference, a decision is made regarding the corrective
action needed to restore the controlled variable to its
setpoint.
actthe corrective action is implemented. The corrective
action adjusts the manipulated variable. The manipulated
variable is the variable that is adjusted to produce the
desired process changes required to bring the controlled
variable back to setpoint.
EXAMPLE OF FEEDBACK CONTROL
In this example, a heat exchanger (such as the one in Figure 1) is
equipped with feedback control
measurethe cooled process stream outlet temperature is
measured.
decidethe cooled process stream outlet temperature is
compared to setpoint to decide the corrective action that is
needed:
the cooled process stream outlet temperature is found to be
below setpoint
the decided corrective action is that less cooling of the process
stream is required.
actthe decided corrective action is implemented. To provide
less cooling, the flow of cooling water is decreased so that the
cooled process stream outlet temperature rises back to setpoint.

Maintaining Controlled Variable at Setpoint

Practical process controls cannot instantly restore a controlled
variable to setpoint when a disturbance occurs. When
disturbances impact a process, the controlled variable deviates
as the process controls work to restore the controlled variable
to setpoint. As shown in Figure 3, processes have some margin
(between upper and lower limits) for allowable deviation from
setpoint.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

and Control Strategies

Figure 3
Setpoint and
Limits

controlled variable

excessive deviation from setpoint

where safe, stable, and efficient
process operation is endangered

upper limit
setpoint
lower limit

time

range of
allowable
deviation
from
setpoint

If the process controls allow a controlled variable to deviate too

far above or below setpoint, the following losses to personnel,
equipment, the environment, and the business operation can
result:
the safe operation of the process may be impaired
the outlet products from the process may not meet stringent
sales specifications and may therefore be non-marketable
or of lower sales value
the production of off-spec products could trigger the
production of unwanted chemical by-products, process
equipment damage, and environmental contamination
the off-spec products from the process may upset the
steady operation of downstream processes and trigger
costly facility downtime

Feedback Control Loop Components

Figure 4 on the next page shows the individual components of
a feedback process control loop.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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Figure 4
Feedback
Process Control
Loop

controlled variable

;;
;;

outputs

inputs

Process

manipulated
variable

setpoint controller

decide

nc
es
st
ur
ba

final
control
element

primary
element

di

corrective action output

signal to operate final
control element

act

measure

transmitter

controlled variable input signal

setpoint of the
controlled variable

The individual components of a feedback process control loop,

as illustrated in Figure 4, work according to the following
continuous cycle:
controlled variablethe process variable that is to be kept
at setpoint
manipulated variablethe process variable that is
adjusted to counteract the disturbance so that the controlled
variable is maintained at setpoint
primary elementmeasures the value of the controlled
variable. Examples of primary elements are the pressure,
temperature, level, and flow instruments described in
section 2.
transmitterconverts the measured reading from the
primary element to an input signal that is understood by the
controller
controllerdecides the corrective action needed to return
the controlled variable to setpoint:
The input signal arrives at the controller from the
transmitter. The controller uses this input signal as an
indication of the present value of the controlled variable.
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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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The controller then compares the present value input
signal with the setpoint. Based on the error (i.e., the
difference between the setpoint and the present value),
the controller determines the corrective action required to
eliminate the error and restore the controlled variable to
the setpoint value.
This corrective action is issued by the controller as an
output signal to the final control element.
final control elementusing the corrective action output
signal issued by the controller, the final control element
adjusts the manipulated variable to bring the controlled
variable back to setpoint

Application of Feedback Control

To illustrate feedback control, the heat exchanger example
from Figure 1 is shown in Figure 5, modified with manual and
automatic feedback control. The control objective in both
examples is to cool the hot process stream to a setpoint
temperature by manipulating the flow of cooling water.
The two examples in Figure 5 are as follows:
Manual feedback controlAt the heat exchanger, the
human process operator serves the role of:
transmitterthe operator reads the thermometer to obtain
the indicated temperature
controllerthe operator mentally compares the
temperature with a memorized setpoint and decides the
required corrective action. The operator then manually
opens or closes the valve to adjust the flow rate of the
cooling water.
Automatic feedback controlThe heat exchangers
automatic feedback control is as follows:
The controller receives the measured process stream
outlet temperature from the transmitter.
The controller compares the measured temperature with
the setpoint. Based on the error (i.e., the difference
between the setpoint and the current value), the controller
determines the required corrective action.
The corrective action is issued to the coolant water valve
to restore the temperature of the cooled process stream to
setpoint.

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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Figure 5Feedback Process Control Loop

Manual Feedback Control

FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:
cooling water out

controlled
variable

heat exchanger
hot
process
stream in

manipulated flow rate of inlet

cooled
process
coolant water
variable
stream out

thermometer

human
process
operator

primary
element

thermometer at
outlet of heat
exchanger

transmitter

human process
operator

controller

adjust
cooling water flow
via cooling water valve
to hold cooled process
stream at setpoint
temperature
cooling
water
valve

temperature of
cooled outlet
process stream

human process
operator

final control manually adjustable

coolant valve
element

cooling water in

Automated Feedback Control

FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP:

cooling water out

controlled
variable

heat exchanger
hot
process
stream in

cooled
process
manipulated flow rate of inlet
stream out variable
temperature
coolant water
sensor/transmitter

controller

July, 2013

temperature sensor
at outlet of heat
exchanger
as shown

controller

automated controller
as shown

setpoint

corrective action to
automatically operate
coolant valve
cooling water in

primary
element

transmitter

temperature signal
to controller
cooling
water
valve

temperature of
cooled outlet
process stream

final control automatically adjustable coolant valve

element

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Describe Basic Instrumentation

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With feedback control, a disturbance is able to affect the entire

process before the controller detects that the controlled variable
has deviated from setpoint. It is only after the process is
affected (and the deviation is detected) that the controller is
able to initiate corrective action to counteract the
disturbance.

3.2 Feedforward Control

Some processes may have a very narrow margin in which the
controlled variable can deviate from setpoint. Feedback control
may not be satisfactory for these processes because feedback
control can only respond to disturbances after they have
impacted the process and driven the controlled variable from
setpoint.
For processes with little tolerance for deviation, more proactive
control can be initiated with feedforward control. Feedforward
control is a control loop method where the disturbance
impacting a process is monitored. A corrective action can then
be taken to counteract the disturbance before the disturbance
upsets the process. This early response to the disturbance
minimizes controlled variable deviations.

Feedforward Control Loop: Operating Strategy

For a process using feedforward control, the control objective is
to maintain the controlled variable at setpoint. However, this

End of Sample
A full licensed copy of this kit includes:
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