ABB Instrumentation

A pplication
G uide
Drum Level Control Systems
in the Process Industries
Drum Level Control Systems are used extensively throughout the process industries and the Utilities
to control the level of boiling water contained in boiler drums on process plant and help provide a
constant supply of steam.
If the level is too high, flooding of steam purification equipment can occur.
If the level is too low, reduction in efficiency of the treatment and recirculation function.
Pressure can also build to dangerous levels.
A drum level control system tightly controls the level whatever the disturbances, level change, increase/
decrease of steam demand, feedwater flow variations.
Suitable ABB products for use in Drum Level Control systems are:
COMMANDER 300 Controller (for single-element systems)
COMMANDER 1900 Controller (for single, two and three-element systems)
MOD 30ML (for single, two and three-element systems)
MODCELL
Drum Level Control Systems in the Process Industries
Drum Level Control
Systems
In the process industries, boiling w ater to m ake steam is a very im portant procedure.
The control of w ater level is a m ajor function in this process and it is achieved
through a w ater steam interface established in a cylindrical vessel called the drum
w hich is usually lying on its side and located near the top of the boiler.
Providing tight w ater level control in a drum is accom plished by utilizing one of
three types of drum level control: single-elem ent, tw o-elem ent, or three-elem ent. A ll
three types of control strategies can be provided for utilizing one M O D 30M L
C ontroller and supporting field products such as A B B electronic differential pressure
transm itters (type 621D ) and W ED G E flow elem ents.
M aintaining the correct w ater level in the drum is critical for m any reasons. A w ater
level that is too high causes flooding of the steam purification equipm ent; resulting
in the carry over of w ater and im purities into the steam system . A w ater level that is
too low results in a reduction in efficiency of the treatm ent and recirculation function.
It can even result in tube failure due to overheating from lack of cooling w ater on the
boiling surfaces. N orm ally drum level is expected to be held w ithin 2 to 5cm of the
set-point w ith som e tolerance for tem porary load changes.
U nder boiling conditions, steam supporting field products such as bubbles exist
below the w ater/steam level interface. These bubbles have volum e and therefore
displace w ater to create a m isrepresentation of the true w ater level in the drum .
A nother effect upon drum level is pressure in the drum . B ecause steam bubbles
com press under pressure (if the drum pressure changes due to load dem ands), the
steam bubbles expand or contract respective to these pressure changes. A higher
steam dem and w ill cause the drum pressure to drop, and the steam bubbles to
expand to give the appearance of a w ater level higher than it truly is. This fictitious
higher w ater level causes the feedw ater input to be shut dow n at a tim e w hen m ore
w ater is really required. A surge in w ater level as a result of the drum pressure
decreasing is called 'sw ell'. A w ater level decrease due to drum pressure increase
is called 'shrink'.
Figure 1 depicts three types of drum level control strategies w ith typical applications
for each. W hile single-elem ent drum level control is acceptable for steady boiler
load conditions; as load changes becom e m ore frequent, unpredictable, or severe;
this type of level control cannot respond quickly enough to com pensate. M ore
inform ation m ust be included and processed to predeterm ine the am ount of w ater
to be added to the drum to com pensate for load changes. The addition of elem ents
(flow and transm itter devices) enables the controller to predict the am ount of w ater
added to the drum to m aintain drum level set-point.
Figure 1 Application Chart for Drum Level Control System
The Boiler Drum
Components Affecting
Drum Water Level
Level Control
Strategies
System Classification Load Change Capabilities Typical Applications
Magnitude Rate
Single-element Moderate Slow Institutional and industrial heating plants
Steady process conditions
Two-element Moderate Moderate Industrial plants with essentially continuous
type processes and good feedwater
pressure regulation
Three-element Wide Fast Combination of batch and continuous type
operations such that plant steam load
characteristics varies continuously and
usually unpredictably. Most industrial power
applications fall into this category.
Drum Level Control Systems in the Process Industries
Single-Element Drum
Level Control
Figure 2 depicts the control schem e for single-elem ent drum level control. In this
configuration, only the w ater level in the drum is being m easured (hence the term "
single elem ent" ) . LT- 1 is an electronic differential pressure transm itter w ith a high
static pressure range. The high side of the transm itter is connected to the bottom of
the drum . B ecause of the drum 's static pressure, the low side of the transm itter is
connected to the top of the drum above the w ater/steam interface. This provides a
reference for the transm itter by cancelling the static pressure effect and allow ing
only the w ater hydrostatic head to be m easured.
A constant head reservoir is required to m aintain a consistent head in the reference
leg of the transm itter. This is often referred to as a ''w et leg" The output of the electronic
D P transm itter is the process Input for the M O D 30M L C ontroller, (LC -1), and the
output is then com pared to a drum level set-point. A ny discrepancy betw een set-
p oint and d rum level causes an outp ut from the M O D 30M L controller in
com pensation. B ecause controller action is reverse, as the drum level Increases, a
resultant output signal w ill decrease to close the feedw ater control valve. The output
of the C ontroller is fed to the feedw ater control valve (FC V-1). If the feedw ater valve
is pneum atic, an lP (current-to-pressure) converter is required to change the
C ontroller current output to accom m odate the pneum atic valve.
N ote that the response from the controller to the feedw ater control valve is reactive;
i.e. feedw ater is added only in response to a drop in drum level. This type of control
is acceptable if steam load changes are not dram atic because the controller can
respond w ell to steady dem ands. In applications w here steam load changes becom e
frequent and unpredictable, a reactive strategy is better suited. This type of system
requires m ore field devices for input.
LX
1
FCV
1
LT
1
LC
1
FK
1
Steam
Water/Steam
Interface
Water with
Steam Bubbles
Boiler
Drum
Feedwater
Control
Valve
Constant Head
Reservoir
Drum Level
Transmitter
Drum Level
Controller
A
M
Feedwater
Figure 2 Single-element drum level control system
Drum Level Control Systems in the Process Industries
A tw o-elem ent drum level control system is capable of providing close adherence
of drum level to its set-point under steady-state conditions as w ell as being capable
of providing the required tight control during a transient. Its perform ance during
transient conditions perm its its use on m any industrial boiler applications. Such
applications are characterized by adequately-sized drum s used w ith load changes
of m oderate rate and degree. These characteristics are usually found in plants w ith
continuous-type processes, and those w ith m ixed heating and processing dem ands.
C aution should be exercised in its use on system s w ithout reasonably constant
feedw ater pressure.
The term 'tw o-elem ent' is derived from tw o variables: steam flow and drum level
influence on the feedw ater valve position. It is often classified as a com bination
'feed-forw ard-feedback' system because the steam flow dem and is fed forw ard as
the prim ary index of the feedw ater valve position. The drum level signal becom es
the feedback w hich is used to constantly trim the accuracy of the feed-forw ard
system and provide final control of the w ater/steam interface in the drum .
R efer to Figure 3 for the control schem e of a tw o-elem ent drum level control. N ote
the left side of the doted line is identical to that used in single-elem ent control.
A dditional equipm ent required for tw o-elem ent drum level control consists of a steam
flow m easuring device, a differential pressure transm itter, a square root extractor, a
feedw ater flow com puter and a feedw ater flow m ode transfer station. A t first this
m ay appear like a large investm ent in order to gain stable drum level control, but as
you w ill see this is not necessarily true.
How it works:
Steam flow is m easured by the steam flow transm itter (FT-1), its signal is fed to the
feedw ater flow com puter (FC -1) after processing through the square root extractor
(FY-1). A s in the single-elem ent level control, the drum level is m easured by the
level transm itter (LT-1) and its signal is transm itted to the drum level controller (LC -
1). In the drum level controller, the process signal is com pared to the drum level set-
point, w here a required corrective output signal to m aintain the drum level is
produced. This corrective signal is sent to the feedw ater flow com puter. The
feedw ater flow com puter com bines the signal from the tw o variables, and produces
an output signal to the feedw ater control valve (FC V-1). A uto/M anual transfer of the
feedw ater control valve is accom plished via FK -1.
N early all of the load change w ork is done by the feed-forw ard system , for exam ple,
a pound of feedw ater change is m ade for every pound of steam flow change. The
drum level control system is used for com pensation only.
It is expected that the drum level w ill be m aintained very closely to the set-point
value. This is true in spite of the low -to-m oderate volum e/throughput ratio and a
w ide operating range. A s a result, integral response (reset) is a necessary function
in the drum level controller.
U sing one M O D 30M L C ontroller, four of the functions in the tw o-elem ent control
schem e are accom plished: level control (LC -1), square root extraction (FY-1),
feedw ater flow com putation (FC -1), and feedw ater flow m ode transfer (FK -1). The
M O D 30M L C ontroller is a m ulti-functional controller providing level control for
LC -1. U tilizing the linearization block in the M L w ill provide the required square root
function to obtain a linear signal from the steam flow transm itter. A m ath block in the
C ontroller enables feedw ater flow com putations. Finally, a feedw ater flow transfer
Two-Element Drum
Level Control System
Drum Level Control Systems in the Process Industries
LX
1
FCV
1
LT
1
LC
1
FT
1
FE
1
FY
1
FC
1
FK
1
Steam
Water/Steam
Interface
Water with
Steam Bubbles
Boiler
Drum
Feedwater
Control
Valve
Constant Head
Reservoir
Flow
Transmitter
Square Root
Extractor
Feedwater Flow
Computer
Feedwater Flow
Mode Transfer
Station
Steam
Feedwater
Drum Level
Transmitter
Drum Level
Controller
A
M

Figure 3 Two-element drum level control system

Two-Element Drum
Level Control System
station is easily provided for w ith an operator-accessible A uto/M anual button on the
C ontroller display. O nce in m anual, the controller output is ram ped up or dow n by
an operator using keys on the controller display. Should a totalized steam flow be
req uired , the
M O D 30M L C ontroller provides an eight-digit display of the totalized value.
FT-1 is an A B B electronic transm itter providing accuracy of 0.2% and is rugged
enough to handle static pressures up to 6000 PSI.
Drum Level Control Systems in the Process Industries
In m ost drum level control applications, the tw o-elem ent drum level control w ill
m aintain the required w ater/steam interface level even under m oderate load
changes. H ow ever, If an unstable feedw ater system exists exhibiting a variable
feed header-to-drum pressure differential, or if large unpredictable steam dem ands
are frequent, a three-elem ent drum level control schem e should be considered. A s
im plied from the previous inform ation, this control strategy supplies control of
feedw ater flow in relationship to steam flow .
The perform ance of the three-elem ent control system during transient conditions
m akes it very useful for general industrial and utility boiler applications. It handles
loads exhibiting w ide and rapid rates of change. Plants w hich exhibit load
characteristics of this type are those w ith m ixed, continuous, and batch processing
dem ands. It is also recom m ended w here norm al load characteristics are fairly steady;
but upsets can be sudden, unpredictable and/or a significant portion of the load.
How it works:
Figure 4 show s the control schem e for three-elem ent drum level control. To the left
of the dotted line, the instrum entation is the sam e as that for the tw o-elem ent drum
level control, w ith one exception: the output of the feedw ater flow com puter now
becom es the set-point of the feedw ater flow controller (FIC -2). Equipm ent required
to com plete our three-elem ent drum level control schem e includes an additional
flow device (FE-2) and differential pressure transm itter (FT-2).
The area to the left of the dotted line in figure 4 functions the sam e as that of a tw o-
elem ent drum level control. W e can pick up the operation for this schem e w here the
output signal of the feedw ater flow com puter (the com bination of steam flow and
drum level) enters the feedw ater controller (FIC -2).
This in effect becom es the set-point to this controller. Feedw ater flow Is m easured
by the transm itter (FT-2). The output signal of the feedw ater flow transm itter is
linearized by the square root extractor, (FY-2). This signal is the process variable to
the feedw ater controller and is com pared to the output of the feedw ater flow com puter
(set-point). The feedw ater flow controller produces the necessary corrective signal
to m aintain feedw ater flow at its set-point by the adjustm ent of the feedw ater control
valve (FC V-1).
A s in the tw o-elem ent drum level control schem e, nearly all of the w ork necessary to
com pensate for load change is done by the feed-forw ard system (i.e. a pound of
feedw ater change is m ade for every pound of steam flow change). The drum level
portion of the control schem e is used only in a com pensating role. D espite low -to-
m oderate volum e/ throughput ratio and a w ide operating range, it is expected the
drum level w ill be m aintained very close to set-point. A chieving this requires use of
the integrating response and reset in both the drum level and feedw ater controllers.
This application m ay suggest that an additional controller is required for the feedw ater
flow controller, how ever this Is not true. The M O D 30M L C ontroller is a m ulti-loop
unit. A n easily-configured feed-forw ard com m and in the M O D 30M L m eans no
additional w iring is required to have the drum level controller and feedw ater controller
w orking together. Feedw ater flow com putations are effortlessly done in the m aths
block of the controller, all square root functions are perform ed w ithin.
The feedw ater flow elem ent (FE-2), is an A B B W ED G E unit. A reliable, rugged, yet
accurate m easuring device that w ill be in service for m any years. M any m odels
include the option of m ounting the transm itter on the W ED G E itself, thus elim inating
the need for expensive lead lines, valves and flanges.
Three-Element Drum
Level Control System
Drum Level Control Systems in the Process Industries
The feedw ater flow transm itter (FT-2), is an A B B electronic differential pressure
transm itter. If the system is appropriately designed. FT-1. FT-2, and LT-1 m ay be the
sam e type of transm itter. This m eans stocking only one type of transm itter In the
case of a transm itter failure.
Three-Element Drum
Level Control System
LX
1
FCV
1
LT
1
LC
1
FT
1
FE
1
FY
1
FY
3
FIC
2
FY
2
FK
1
FT
2
FE
2
Steam
Water/Steam
Interface
Water with
Steam Bubbles
Boiler
Drum
Feedwater
Control
Valve
Constant Head
Reservoir
Flow
Transmitter
Flow
Transmitter
Square Root
Extractor
Feedwater Flow
Computer
Feedwater Flow
Mode Transfer
Station
Feedwater Flow
Element
Steam
Feedwater
Drum Level
Transmitter
Drum Level
Controller
A
M

Figure 4 Three-element drum level control system

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ABB Kent-Taylor Ltd.
St. N eots
C am bs.
England, PE19 3EU
Tel: + 44 (0) 1480 475321
Fax: + 44 (0) 1480 217948
ABB Instrumentation Inc.
PO B ox 20550, R ochester
N ew York 14602-0550
U SA
Tel: + 1 716 292 6050
Fax: + 1 716 273 6207
ABB Kent-Taylor SpA
22016 Lenno
C om o
Italy
Tel: + 39 (0) 344 58111
Fax: + 39 (0) 344 56278
The Company's policy is one of continuous product
improvement and the right is reserved to modify the
information contained herein without notice.
ABB 1997 (8.97)