ENCH 617 - MODELLING AND IDENTIFICATION FOR

ADVANCED CONTROL

TUTORIAL #3 - To be held 4:00 – 5:15 PM on October 22, 2021.

Liquid level in a vertical 30 m3 cylinder is to be regulated by manipulating the effluent

flow control valve position. Liquid flows into the vessel at volumetric flowrate Fin (t ) and
is pumped out at the rate Fout (t ). The height of liquid in the tank is to be denoted by the
symbol h (t ).

Fin(t)

Y(t)
LT LC Ysp(t)

h(t)
U(t)

Fout(t)

At steady-state, the inlet and outlet flows are 5 m3/min with accumulated liquid at a level
of 1 m. The installed characteristics of the control valve are linear with a range of 0 – 10
m3/min corresponding to 0 – 100% controller output. The height of the tank is 2 m.
Dynamics associated with the level sensor/transmitter and flow control valve can be
neglected.

(a) Should the action of the level controller be direct (i.e. increase-increase) or reverse
(increase-decrease)? The flow control valve is air-to-open.
(b) Simulate 3 hours of proportional-only level control using MATLAB/Simulink. Step
changes of +0.625 m3/min and -1.25 m3/min in the inlet flowrate are to be introduced at
times t = 30 and t = 90 minutes, respectively. Choose a value of the proportional gain K c
which will ensure that the tank level remains in the range 25 – 75% (the maximum inlet
flowrate is also 10 m3/min). The level setpoint may be assumed constant at 50% of scale.
Write a program which plots the tank level and setpoint in the upper subplot and the inlet
and outlet flowrates in the lower subplot. Quantify the offset observed in response to the
feed flow disturbances.

(c) Using the value of the proportional gain determined in part (b), simulate 3 hours of
proportional-only level control, introducing step changes in setpoint of +10% at time t =
30 minutes and –20% at t = 90 minutes. What offset is observed in response to the variation
in level setpoint?

(d) Repeat part (b) for the situation where the LC is a proportional-integral controller.
Specify the integral time TI as five minutes. Comment upon the behaviour of the
manipulated outlet flowrate following the step changes in feedrate.

(e) Repeat part (c) for the situation where the LC is a proportional-integral controller. Use
the PI tuning constants determined in (d). Comment upon the behaviour of the controlled
level and manipulated effluent flow following the step changes in setpoint.

(f) Simulate 3 hours of proportional-integral level control of three identical 30 m3 tanks in

series. Introduce step changes in the inlet flowrate to the first tank of +0.625 m3/min at
time t = 30 minutes and -1.25 m3/min at t = 90 minutes. Would you recommend that
proportional-integral control be employed to regulate the levels in a distillation train?