Report Number: 2

Group Number: 5

Plant Design 2

Report Title: Vertical Separator Control and instrumentation

Plant name: Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4)

Date of submission: 24 July 2022

Time of submission: 05:00 pm.

Submit to: Dr. Ayham Al Rahawi

Student Name ID

Rahma Khamis Al Mughairi 16-0088

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4

2. Objective .............................................................................................................................................. 4

3. Control system...................................................................................................................................... 4

4. Controlled parameters .......................................................................................................................... 5

4.1. Temperature Control ............................................................................................................................ 5

4.2. Pressure ................................................................................................................................................ 5

4.3. Flow ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

4.4. Level controllers in liquid vertical saparetor ........................................................................................ 7

5. Instruments control loops in vertical separator .................................................................................... 8

5.1. First loop (Flow control mechanism) ................................................................................................... 8

5.2. Temperature control mechanism .......................................................................................................... 8

5.3. Second loop (level control loop mechanism) ....................................................................................... 9

5.4. Third loop (pressure control mechanism) .......................................................................................... 10

6. Final P&ID diagram ........................................................................................................................... 11

7. Reference ............................................................................................................................................ 12

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List of Figures
Figure 1 resistance temperature detector component [1] ........................................................................................ 5
Figure 2 pressure relive valve [2] ............................................................................................................................ 6
Figure 3 types of valves [3] ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 4 level controllers inside separator................................................................................................................ 7
Figure 5 flow control loop for feed strem in separator ............................................................................................. 8
Figure 6 level control loop ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 7 pressure control loop 1 ............................................................................................................................ 10
Figure 8 pressure control loop 2 ............................................................................................................................. 10
Figure 9 P&ID Diagram ......................................................................................................................................... 11

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 1. Introduction
The vertical separator is theoretically a simple process where a mixture enters the vessel and gets
separated into gas and liquid streams. The gas stream leaves the separator from the top while the
liquid is removed from the bottom of the vessel. Controlling the units in any process is a must, the
separator is an essential part of the carbon tetrachloride production process. Controlling level of
mixture inside the separator, pressure, temperature, and flow ensures the process safety and ability
to produce efficiently. Throughout this report, the control system of a vertical separator in the
carbon tetrachloride production process would be presented. The report would also cover the
piping and instrumentation diagram of the vertical separator.

2. Objective
This report will cover the control and instrumentation part of the two-phase vertical separator for
carbon tetrachloride plant. The most important parameters that must be controlled in the separator
are gas and liquid flowrates, level, and pressures.

3. Control system
The brine of any process plant is the control system. The main strategy for control system is to
maintain and manipulate the process parameters for all plant equipment, by regulate the quantity
and process condition to reach or stay at the desirable value also called setpoint by using
controllers. Best process control will lead to better efficiency and maximize the product yield.
Safety and environmental protection are another reason for control system to prevent accidents and
any human mistakes. There are four key components for any control system which are process,
controllers, measuring elements or sensors and final control element.

Feedforward and feedback are two methods for control mechanism used to ensure that the values
of the process parameter remain within the require range, if the values begin to change due to any
disturbance, the controllers work to return them to the set point. The difference between them is
due to the variation in the pathways. In practice applications, feedback and feedforward control
systems are usually used together for better control of the process.

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4. Controlled parameters

4.1. Temperature Control

The temperature of a process should always be known to accurately control it. Most common
temperature sensor used in industry is thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors (RTDs).
The thermocouple is constructed of two different metals that are soldered together at the end.
Where the thermocouple lead wires connect to the controller, a cold junction or reference junction
is made. When the measuring and reference junctions are at different temperatures, voltage is
created. The electrical resistance of the RTD varies with the temperature it detects. RTDs are
normally made of platinum. Some materials, like nickel have been also used to detect temperature
changes. The figure below illustrates RTD component.[1]

Figure 1 resistance temperature detector component [1]

4.2. Pressure

Pressure control is extremely important to the safe performance of applications that applies
pressurized flow. Although many industrial applications involve toxic gases and liquid, thus
ensuring a controlled pressure to prevent leakage or possibly explosion is necessary. The pressure
control is done by pressure regulators or valves. The Pressure control valves are present in almost
every pneumatic and hydraulic systems. The pressure valves work to keep the system below the
defined limits or keeping a certain pressure level in system. The pressure valve functions by
adjusting the flow though the valve to the desire flow placed on it with keeping a fixed output
pressure. Pressure relief and pressure reducing valves are the most practical.

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 Figure 2 pressure relive valve [2]

4.3. Flow

Flow control is necessary in process plants, flow control is a mechanism for controlling flow or
pressure for fluid, control valves are used to successfully manage flow control. Liquid flow is
regulated by signals generated from independent devices such as and flow meters. Some of the
most used flow controls are globe valve, butterfly valve and diaphragm valve [3].

Figure 3 types of valves [3]

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4.4. Level controllers in liquid vertical saparetor

A level control system is a system that is specifically developed to control the fluid level in tanks.
These systems primary goal is to control the rate at which the fluid distributes to the tank so that it
can meet the desired level inside the tank in our case a vertical separator. Inside a separator there
are different controllers which are responsible for indicating the level, alarming and lastly tripping
the process if no action to overcome the disturbance in fluid level has occurred. One of the
controllers that attached to the separator is level Trip and Alarm (High High) (LZAHH). Works on
reading the level of fluid and sending the values to the control room. This controller sends initial
alarms when a small variation in the fluid level is indicated, either it being by an increase or
decrease from the preferred level. When the level inside the separator continues to increase above
the allowed range the system will trip the process when it reaches the high high controller (LZAHH),
an alarm will be sent to inform the worker.

This controller is an essential part of control and safeguard of the separator. It is needed to
overcome the problems which appear due to overflow of fluid, one of these problems is having
liquid enter the gas section causing problems to the rest of the plant. The separator will trip if the
level of fluid reaches (LZAHH) point. It is also used to ensure no gas enters the liquid output
pipeline. Having gas enter the liquid flow will cause overpressurization in the coming units after
the separator in addition to the loss of containment.

HH

Figure 4 level controllers inside separator

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5. Instruments control loops in vertical separator
Process plants are made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of control loops that work together to
create a product that can be sold. Each of these control loops is intended to maintain a critical
process parameter such as pressure, flow, level, temperature, and so on. Within a certain operating
range to assure the quality of the final product each of these loops gets and internally generates
disturbances that have a negative impact on the process variable and contact with other loops in
the network generates disturbances that have an impact on the process parameter. [4]

5.1. First loop (Flow control mechanism)

Controllers are devises that act according to the received signals. To handle the increase of the
separator a flow control loop is needed. Flow control loop made up of a flow transmitter (FT) and
flow controller (FC), the flow transmitter detected the flowrate in the system (pipe) and send out
signals related to the sensed flow. The flow controller is used detected the signals from transmitter
and decide the control valve movement. the (FT) sends singles to the (FC) which compares it to
the set point to determine whether to close or open the valve, if the flowrate was higher than the
set point the valve will closed conversely if the flowrate was lower the valve will open.

Figure 5 flow control loop for feed strem in separator

5.2. Temperature control mechanism

This loop is designed regulate and control the temperature of process, the main elements are
temperature transmitter (sensor) which is either RTDs or thermocouple as mentioned earlier,
temperature controller and final control element. The control mechanism is similar to the flow loop
in which, the temperature sensor will detect and transmits the signals to the temperature controller
which will start the controlling action. The controller will compare the current temperature we
need to control with the temperature set value. The different value or the error is used to determine
the require amount of heating or cooling is needed to get to the set value, this is done by final
control instrument which could be heater, fan or usually control valve.

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 It was unnecessary to use a temperature loop around the separator as this is already achieved in
the system via use of a heater which in our case 351.01 K , which is responsible for the control
of the feed stream temperature. The heater is placed before the separator in the process.

5.3. Second loop (level control loop mechanism)

Controlling the level with a flow control valve in a loop with a level detector is an alternative
option see figure below. The controller gets data from the process separator’s level detector, since
it is electronically controlled, this type of arrangement is simple to modify. The essential
components of the level control system are, fluid separator or vessel, is a container that has a
specific amount of fluid. Sensors that detect the amount of fluid in the vessel. The controller is
used to keep the desired level by opening or closing the final controller when the measurement
system provides information.

Figure 6 level control loop

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5.4. Third loop (pressure control mechanism)

The design pressures 7.2

The main elements in pressure control loop are pressure indicator, pressure controller and control
valve. The principle of any control loop is usually similar in our case it’s a feedback control loop,
at first sensors or a transmitter (PT) will measure the variable (pressure in the separator) then a
controller (PC) that compares the "process variable" received from the transmitter to the "set
point," or the desired process condition. Finally, to the final control instrument which is in most
cases valve that will take an action according to the received signals.

In pressure loop 1 which is the feed stream, the pressure of the separator has to be controlled in
order to achive the best performance of CH4 separation process. In pressure loop 2, the controller
is used to prevent the column from overpressurization, the pressure must not exceed 7.2 bar.

Figure 7 pressure control loop 1

Figure 8 pressure control loop 2

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6. Final P&ID diagram

Figure 9 P&ID Diagram

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 7. Reference
[1]"Components of RTD", Instrumentationtools.com, 2022. [Online]. Available:

https://instrumentationtools.com/components-of-rtd/. [Accessed: 24- Apr- 2022].

[2]"Relief Valves", Northridgepumps.com, 2019. [Online]. Available:

https://www.northridgepumps.com/article-178_relief-valve. [Accessed: 24- Apr- 2022].

[3]"Hydraulic And Manual KSB Globe Valve", indiamart.com, 2022. [Online]. Available:

https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/ksb-globe-valve-19049364197.html. [Accessed: 24- Apr-

2022].

[4]"W. S., "Control Valves and their Principles of Operation", Wermac.org, 2022. [Online].

Available: https://www.wermac.org/valves/valves_control-valves_principles-of-operation.html.

[Accessed: 24- Apr- 2022].

[5]J. Stenerson, Industrial Automation and Process Control, 1st ed. Prentice Hall, 2002.

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