7/25/2019 A Process Control Experimen
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A Process Control Experiment Designed for a StudioCourse
B. Wayne Bequette, Brian Aufderheide, Vinay Prasad and
FranciscoPuerta
The Howard P. Isermann Department of hemica! "n#ineerin#
$ensse!aer Po!ytechnic Institute, Troy, %& '(')*+-*/ (***,
B. Wayne Bequette
Prepared for presentation at the (*** AIh" Annua!
0eetin#1npu2!ished
AIh" 3ha!! %ot Be $esponsi2!e For 3tatements or 4pinions
ontainedin Papers or Printed in its
Pu2!ications.
AbstractA studio+2ased process contro! course com2ines !ectures,
discussions,simu!ation e5ercises and e5periments in a sin#!e
c!assroom. In this
paper we present a chemica! process contro! e5periment
de6e!opedspeci7ca!!y for a studio+2ased course. The e5periment is a
simp!emi5in# process in6o!6in# fresh water and a sa!t so!ution. The
o28ecti6eof the e5periment is to re#u!ate three measured process
6aria2!es9!e6e!, temperature and conducti6ity: at desired setpoint
6a!ues, 2ymanipu!atin# three input 6aria2!es 9freshwater ;ow rate,
concentratedsa!t so!ution ;ow rate and heater power: 6ia
feed2ac< contro!. Thee5periment is descri2ed in detai!, and its
incorporation intounder#raduate and #raduate contro! courses are
descri2ed.
The Control Studio Concept
Durin# the past decade there has 2een a ma8or mo6e from a
teacher+centered !ecture en6ironment to a student+centered
!earnin#en6ironment in en#ineerin# education. A particu!ar type of
student+2ased !earnin# is the studio approach. In studio teachin#
an instructorpro6ides moti6atin# mini+!ectures, and poses pro2!ems
to 2e discussedand so!6ed in c!ass. The instructor ser6es as the
=#uide on the side>rather than the =sa#e on the sta#e>. A
percei6ed pro2!em with thisapproach, when computer+2ased too!s are
used for pro2!em so!6in#, isthat students are often !earnin# how to
use software rather than howto formu!ate and so!6e en#ineerin#
pro2!ems. The particu!ar 6iew at$ensse!aer is to ta
7/25/2019 A Process Control Experimen
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Chemical Process Control ExperimentThe chemica! process contro!
e5periment, shown in Fi#ure ', mimicsthe 2eha6ior of a typica!
chemica! process. Fresh feed water, re#u!atedwith a contro! 6a!6e,
;ows into a 6esse! containin# an e!ectric heater. A
concentrated sa!t so!ution from a reser6oir then mi5es with the
heatedfeed water in a mi5in# tan< that contains a temperature
pro2e. Theout!et from the tan< dischar#es throu#h a conducti6ity
sensor into asin of rou#h!y square feet:, so that it can 2e used in
thestudio c!assroom. The e5periment is used at the 2e#innin# of
thecourse to moti6ate students on the importance of feed2ac<
contro!.
3tudents attempt to re#u!ate the three measured outputs
manua!!y, 2ymanipu!atin# the three inputs@ they 7nd that this is a
cha!!en#in# tas was usedin $ensse!aerJs =Desi#n &our Future
Day>. In Fi#ure , ProfessorBequette is shown discussin# the
e5periment with two of theparticipants. A!thou#h these students do
not ha6e a processen#ineerin# 2ac
inputs. 1n!i
