Controlling element

The obtained graph is the basis for evaluating the stress while applying the probe to controlled elements made of the same material and subjected to identical thermal processing as the reference sample... 

Fig. 4. Selection of fan size where the soHd line represents a typical setting and the dashed lines the operating extremes, (a) Desirable sizing. The system resistance curve intersects the fan curve near its maximum efficiency. Changes in system resistance from a flow-control element also intersect the fan curve at desirable points for good flow control. The dashed curves also intersect system resistance curves at desirable locations, (b) A fan essentially too large for the system. The intersection of the system curve near the peak of the fan curve results in poor system flow control and perhaps surging.

G = current-to-pressure transducer(I/P) H = actuator and I = final control element. Some devices combine A, B, and C, and (--) represents the line... 

Once the desired control action has been transformed to an analogue signal, it is transmitted to the final control element over the transmission lines. However, the final control element s actuator may require a different type of signal and thus another transducer may be necessary. Many control valve actuators utilise a pressure signal so a current-to-pressure (I/P) transducer is used to provide a pressure signal to the actuator. 

Control Valves and Other Final Control Elements. Good control at any hierarchial level requites good performance by the final control elements in the next lower level. At the higher control levels, the final control element may be a control appHcation at the next lower control level. However, the control command must ultimately affect the process through the final control elements at the regulatory control level, eg, control valves. 

George W, Gassmari/ B S M E / Senior Re.search Specialist, Final Control Sy.stems, Fisher Controls International, Inc., Marshalltown, lA. (Controllers, Final Control Elements, and Regulators)... 

Selective and Override Control When there are more controlled variables than manipulated variables, a common solution to this problem is to use a selector to choose the appropriate process variable from among a number of available measurements. Selec tors can be based on either multiple measurement points, multiple final control elements, or multiple controllers, as discussed below. Selectors are used to improve the control system performance as well as to protect equipment from unsafe operating conditions. 

Other types of selective systems employ multiple final control elements or multiple controllers. In some applications, several manipulated variables are used to control a single process variable (also called split-range control). Typical examples include the adjustment of both inflow and outflow from a chemic reactor in order to control reactor pressure or the use of both acid and base to control pH in waste-water treatment. In this approach, the selector chooses from several controller outputs which final control element should be adjusted (Marlin, Process Control, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995). 

Figure 8-41 includes two conventional feedback controllers G i controls Cl by manipulating Mi, and G o controls C9 by manipidating Mo. The output sign s from the feedback controllers serve as input signals to the two decouplers D o and D91. The block diagram is in a simplified form because the load variables and transfer functions for the final control elements and sensors have been omitted. 

External control of the process is achieved by devices that are specially designed, selected and configured for the intended process-control application. The text below covers three very common function classifications of process-control devices controllers, final control elements, and regufators. 

The process controller is the master of the process-control system. It accepts a set point and other inputs and generates an output or outputs that it computes from a rule or set of rules that are part of its internal configuration. The controller output seiwes as an input to another controller or, more often, as an input to a final control element. The final control element is the device that affects the flow in the piping system of the process. The final control element seiwes as an interface between the process controller and the process. Control valves and adjustable speed pumps are the principal types discussed. 

Regulators, though not controllers or final control elements, perform the combined function of these two devices (controller and final control element) along with the measurement function commonly associated with the process variable transmitter. The uniqueness, control performance, and widespread usage of the regulator make it deseivang of a functional grouping of its own. 

The resulting motion of the beam is detected by the pneumatic nozzle amphfier, which, by proper sizing of the nozzle and fixed orifice diameters, causes the pressure internal to the nozzle to rise and fall with vertical beam motion. The internal nozzle pressure is routed to the pneumatic relay. The relay, which is constructed like the booster relay described in the Valve Control Devices subsection, has a direct hnear input-to-output pressure characteristic. The output of the relay is the controller s output and is piped away to the final control element. 

Positioner Application Positioners are widelv used on pneumatic valve actuators, VIore often than not, thev provide improved process-loop control because thev reduce valve-related nonlinearitv, Dvnarnicallv, positioners maintain their abilitv to improve control-valve performance for sinusoidal input frequencies up to about one half of the positioner bandwidth. At input frequencies greater than this, the attenuation in the positioner amplifier netvv ork gets large, and valve nonlinearitv begins to affect final control-element performance more significantlv. Because of this, the most successful use of the positioner occurs when the positioner-response bandwidth is greater than twice that of the most dominant time lag in the process loop. 

In a process loop with a pneumatic controller and a large process time constant. Here the process time constant is dominant, and the positioner will improve the linearitv of the final control element, Some common processes with large time constants that benefit from positioner application are liquid level, temperature, large volume gas pressure, and mixing,... 

A regulator is a compact device that maintains the process variable at a specific value in spite of disturbances in load flow. It combines the functions of the measurement sensor, controher, and final control element into one self-contained device. Regulators are available to control pressure, differential pressure, temperature, flow, hquid level, and other basic process variables. They are used to control the differential across a filter press, heat exchanger, or orifice plate. Regulators are used for monitoring pressure variables for redundancy, flow check, and liquid surge relief. 

An interlock is a protec tive response initiated on the detection of a process hazard. The interlock system consists of the measurement devices, logic solvers, and final control elements that recognize the hazard and initiate an appropriate response. Most interlocks consist of one or more logic conditions that detect out-of-hmit process conditions and respond by driving the final control elements to the safe states. For example, one must specify that a valve fails open or fails closed. 

These tests must encompass the complete interlock system, from the measurement devices through the final control elements. Merely simulating inputs and checking the outputs is not sufficient. The tests must duplicate the process conditions and operating environments as closely as possible. The measurement devices and final control elements are exposed to process and ambient conditions and thus are usually the most hkely to fail. Valves that remain in the same position for extended periods of time may stick in that position and not operate when needed. The easiest component to test is the logic however, this is the least hkely to fail. 

Quality control elements required by the instrumental analyzer method include analyzer calibration error ( 2 percent of instrument span allowed) verifying the absence of bias introduced by the sampling system (less than 5 percent of span for zero and upscale cah-bration gases) and verification of zero and calibration drift over the test period (less than 3 percent of span of the period of each rim). 

Field current is an important control element. It controls not only the power factor but also the pullout torque (the load at which the motor pulls out of synchronism). For example, field forcing can prevent pullout on anticipated high transient loads or voltage dips. Loads with known high transient torques are driven freqiiently with 80 percent power-factor synchronous motors. The needed additional field supplies both additional pullout torque and power-factor correc tion for the power system. When high pullout torque is required, the leading power-factor machine is often less expensive than a unity-power-factor motor with the same torque capabihty. 

Another concept is brushless excitation, in which an ac generator (exciter) is direc tfy coupled to or mounted on the motor shaft. The ac exciter has a stator field and an ac rotor armature which is directly connected to a static controllable rectifier on the motor rotor (or a shaft-mounted drum). Static control elements (to sense synchronizing speed, phase angle, etc.) are also rotor-mounted, as is the field discharge resistor. Changing the exciter field adjusts the motor field current without the necessity of brushes or slip rings. Brushless excitation is suitable for use in hazardous atmospheres, where conventional brush-type motors must have protective brush and slip-ring enclosures. 

Proportional-action governor is a governor with inherent regulation and a continuous hnear relation between the input (speed change) and the output of the final control element, the governing valve. 

Solenoid valve actuator Electric motor, AC A Atmospheric outlet FC Control element closes on failure of auxiliary energy supply FO Control element opens on failure of auxiliary energy supply O Silencer... 

The pulsation control elements can have several forms, such as plain volume bottles, volume bottles with baffles, bottles and orifices, and proprietary acoustical filters. See Figure 3-26 for an example of a compressor with a set of attached volume bottles. Regardless of which device or element is selected, a pressure loss evaluation must be made before the selection is finalized because each of these devices causes a pressure drop. 

Final Control Element-A device that directly changes the value of the variable used to control a process condition. 

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