A supplement to PLANT ENGINEERING

and Control Engineering magazines

A supplement to PLANT ENGINEERING
and Control Engineering magazines
AAM1206_Cover_V2msFINAL.indd 1 5/29/12 2:44 PM
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Applied Automation June 2012 A3
A4 Understanding process elasticity
Lessons learned cooking french fries can teach much about
process control strategy. The objective to create a consistent
product with minimal operator intervention can apply in
many areas.
A8 Optimizing strategy for boiler
drum level control
Avoid trips and maximize steam output by reviewing your
control equipment, strategy, and tuning. A few improvements
can bring a significant performance boost.
A12 Challenges of motor selection and sizing
The range of sizes, types, and configurations of electric motors can
seem endless. Here are a few ideas for navigating the choices.
Contents
A12
COMMENT
D
oes this months cover make your mouth
water? Maybe just a little? There arent
many situations where we get to do our
own food photography, but when an arti-
cle is about french fries, I couldnt resist. Perhaps
you think the topic is a bit trivial, but according
to PotatoPro.com (theres a magazine or website
for every industry), consumption of french fries
may have declined, but they are still served with
more than 13% of restaurant meals, so its dif-
ficult to imagine how many deep fryers are in use
across the country.
When Chuck Maher offered me this story, I
was a little skeptical, but he has written some
interesting insights into PID loop tuning (which
you can read on his website, www.embededde-
signservices.net), so it seemed like an intriguing
possibility.
Maybe trying to get a sliver of potato to cook
nicely without burning or soaking up too much
fat doesnt seem like a huge challenge, but if you
scale up production and you want consistency
with minimal waste, the process has to be pretty
airtight. McDonalds says it has 33,000 locations
around the world, and I imagine pretty much all
of them have a fryer or several. Now add in all
those others that compete in that arena, and the
numbers are mind-boggling.
Moreover, as Maher observes, many of the
individuals running those fryers are doing it with
little training or experience, so the process has to
depend on automation to make up for operators
that have too much to do or are unqualified to
judge the cooking process. Consequently, having
a system that is self-adjusting is paramount. If
this sounds a lot like what happens when you put
some feedstocks in a reactor and hit go, you
get the point.
Think about it the next time you are enticed by
the aroma of a fresh batch of fries.
Control strategy of french fries? Are you serious?
Peter Welander
Edi t or
Time (seconds)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
(

d
e
g
r
e
e
s

F

)
Time
End
Ideal
time
Fig. 2: Compensated cook curve
Usable
range
DT
L
LO
DP
LI
Drum
level
transmitter
High
Drum
Saturated
steam
Water
Water
0
level
Low
A4
A8
AAM1206_Contents_V3msFINAL.indd 3 5/29/12 3:06 PM
A4 June 2012 Applied Automation
Understanding Process Elasticity
Lessons learned cooking french fries can teach much about process control strategy.
Editor s note: While this story is
specifically about french fries, the same
concepts of control strategy apply to many
types of processes, particularly batch pro-
cesses. For example, the amount of time
feedstocks have to spend in a reactor can
vary according to all sorts of variables,
and an effective control strategy has to be
able to measure those variables and com-
pensate automatically to ensure the cor-
rect outcome. The solutions in this case
may help you find your own.
H
ow many times have you stood in line at a
McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, or the like,
and listened to a loud cacophony of beeps,
buzzes, and other assorted noises that seem to
be calling attention to something urgent. They
are, of course, alarms of various sorts. Quick-
service restaurants (they seem to prefer this title over fast
food) have an ingenious collection of microprocessor-
based controllers on all their cooking appliances. They
need them to fulfill their corporate goals of consistent food
quality and ease of operation due to high a turnover in
personnel, and to minimize the number of people needed
to staff the restaurant and service customers. These chal-
lenges sound like those encountered in many process
plants these days.
McDonalds boasts that the french fry (FF) you get in New
York City is the same as the one you get in Beijing. This is,
for the most part, true because much science and testing
has gone into the process of cooking FFs. It may seem trivi-
al at first: You take the raw fries out of a package and dump
them in hot oil, wait a while, and take them out, right? Its
actually a complex process not all that different from many
found in various phases of chemical manufacturing.
Consider these questions:
What is the best cooking temperature for the oil?
How long should you cook a batch?
How much does batch size affect the cooking time?
Are the potatoes frozen or slacked (defrosted)?
Most people know through either intuition or experience
that things cook faster at a higher temperature than at a
lower one, but the product can also burn
or become inedible if you go too far.
A mentor once told me, Cooking is
all about boiling water. This is true in
general and particularly so with deep fat
frying. When a batch of FFs is lowered
into a vat of hot oil, there is a rapid drop
in temperature. Potatoes contain water
on the surface and internally that turns
to steam, so it is similar to many types
of endothermic reactions. It is the latent
heat of vaporization absorbed from the
hot oil that causes this rapid drop in tem-
perature. If the controller cant heat the
oil quickly enough to compensate, the
cooking rate slows down.
The fryer controller has two primary functions. One is to
control the temperature of the oil, and the other is to time
the cooking interval. Both functions are directly related.
Legend has it that in the early 1960s when McDonalds
was becoming more widely established, company chefs
undertook an extensive set of experiments in the test lab
where small amounts of FFs were cooked at one-degree
temperature intervals. These FFs were then rated as to
their degree of doneness.
Determining ideal conditions
A properly cooked FF will be crisp on the outside,
snapping when you bend it. Its center will be pulpy and
not dried out. The outside color will be a pleasing brown
and, above all, it must taste good. There must not be any
unpleasant flavor transmitted from the cooking oil. That is
why fryers that cook fish should never be used for cook-
ing FFs. The net result of all these tests was a so-called
optimum cook curve of time versus temperature for FFs.
(See Figure 1.) The lower the temperature, the longer the
product had to be cooked, but if the oil temperature stayed
too low for too long, then the product was unacceptable. It
was undercooked, limp, greasy, and pale in color.
Assume that the resulting curve showed that the opti-
mum oil temperature to start a batch cooking is 350 F
and that when cooking a small batch of FFs a cook time of
150 sec (2.5 min) produces a very good product. Problem
solved? Now lower a basket with 5 lbs of frozen potatoes
into the fryer and watch the upheaval.
The oil temperature will plummet in seconds to around
300 F or lower. If you remove the FFs after 2.5 min,
theyre garbage. You must lengthen the time based on the
Chuck Maher
PROCESS CONTROL STRATEGY
AAM1206_Feat01_ElasticTime_V3msFINAL.indd 4 5/29/12 2:49 PM
drop in temperature. The same applies to
all sorts of chemical reactions where the
rate is a function of temperature. This need
is referred to by several different names:
elastic time, comp time, load compensa-
tion, and other similar terms to describe the
effect.
In the early to mid-1970s the first micro-
processors were still almost a decade
away. Electronic cooking controllers were
being implemented using a combination
of discrete logic (gates and counters) and
monolithic analog components (transistors
and operational amplifiers). The Fairchild
709 monolithic IC op amp came on the
scene in 1965 and was quickly put to use in
cooking controllers.
In 1978, U.S. Patent number 4,362,094
was issued, titled Cooking Time Control
System. It made use of discrete monolithic
components only. There is no microcon-
troller and therefore no firmware. It was all
hardwired. This patent describes a pulse
train that is feeding a counter that has its
frequency changed based on a cooking rate.
All about heat flow
The cooking rate is defined as the rate
of heat flow into the product being cooked.
This heat flow is known to be a function of
the differential temperature between the hot
oil and the product being cooked. This rela-
tionship is not a linear one. However, the
patent states that this nonlinear region can
be closely approximated by a constant over
a narrow range of oil temperature. The pat-
ent specifies using a platinum RTD sensor
for this application because of its linearity,
accuracy, and stability.
As the temperature drops, the frequency
of the pulse train to the counter is lowered,
effectively increasing the cooking time since
it takes longer to count the predetermined number of puls-
es. While not perfect, this technique proved quite effective
in improving the quality and consistency of the final prod-
uct. This and similar techniques were used until the first
microprocessors became available.
We should all be familiar with cook timers around the
kitchen. You set the time interval for which you want
a product to cook and start it running. It usually starts
counting down so that you can see the time remaining.
When the count reaches zero, a bell or chime will go off
to tell you that the time has elapsed. Another clever engi-
neer in this period before the advent of microcontrollers
noticed that the cook curve closely resembled that of the
resistance-versus-temperature curve of a negative-slope
thermistor. He then used a thermistor to measure the
oil temperature and used its value of resistance, which
increases as the temperature drops and vice versa to vary
the frequency of a pulse train operating a cook timer. In
this way he was able to implement the elastic time fea-
ture very effectively. With the advent of microcontrollers it
became much easier to use things like lookup tables and
such to implement the desired cook curve in firmware and
to use different algorithms for implementing the elastic
time feature.
A very common way to program a timer is to load an
internal register (or counter) with a preset number and
Applied Automation June 2012 A5
Time (seconds)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
(

d
e
g
r
e
e
s

F

)
Fig.1: Cook curve
Usable
range
Time (seconds)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
(

d
e
g
r
e
e
s

F

)
Time
End
Ideal
time
Fig. 2: Compensated cook curve
Usable
range
The ideal cook time reflects the optimum oil temperature and assumes that tem-
perature does not fall during the cook. The shaded area represents the accumulat-
ed heat flow into the product, which is a function of the differential temperature
between the hot oil and the product. The compensated cook curve recognizes that
the oil temperature does normally drop until the controller senses the change
and turns the heading element on and it begins to rise again. Ultimately, the area
below the two curves should be roughly the same.
The cook curve shows that there is a range of usable time and temperature com-
binations that will result in an acceptable final product. However if the tempera-
ture is too high the outside cooks too fast, and if it is too low, it will not be crisp.
AAM1206_Feat01_ElasticTime_V3msFINAL.indd 5 5/29/12 2:49 PM
A6 June 2012 Applied Automation
then periodically decrement or increment it and test the
result to see if you have reached zero or the desired
count. The secret to variable timing is the period of the
pulse that is doing the counting up or down.
For example, if your pulse period is 1 sec and if you want
to cook for 2.5 min, you would preset the counter to the
binary equivalent of 150. If you doubled the period with the
same preloaded count, then the cook would last for 5 min.
Every microcontroller has a built-in time tick. This tick
may be in microseconds, milliseconds, or in some cases
even seconds. It is generally not an integer but rather
some non-integer number and requires some type of scal-
ing to get it into the units you need. The cook curve can
be translated into a table format where the table is entered
with a temperature and exited with a count that represents
the time for that interval and at that temperature. The
lower the temperature is, then the larger the number and
vice versa.
A simpler way to implement elastic time is to realize that
if you multiply the ideal cook temperature for a specific
product by its ideal cook time, then the result is in effect
the energy absorbed during an ideal cook of that product.
If the actual oil temperature is measured at a constant
interval and continually added to a register, the value in
that register will be the actual integrated time/temperature.
This number can be compared to that of the ideal cook,
and when equal or slightly greater, the cook will be ended.
This approach loads a register with the ideal energy
(ideal cook temperature multiplied by the ideal cook time)
and then as the batch cooking progresses, it periodically
PROCESS CONTROL STRATEGY
W
hen I first began learning about controls, the
emphasis seemed to be all about making
sure the system was as accurate as possible
while meeting its dynamic specifications. That is still
important, but consider a unique situation that I ran
into many years ago. It was in the mid 1990s and I
was working on the design of a microcontroller-based
product to operate a line of commercial electric and
gas-fired deep fat fryers.
The manufacturer was the second largest in the
country and did not make its own controllers. The
problem grew from the fact that the company wanted a
unit with some rather unique features that the current
supplier was not willing to provide. The controllers at
that time had to be tuned individually to operate with
one of 17 different model fryers. This created many
logistical problems in the field with interchangeability
and replacement parts.
I wracked my brain for quite a while. Clearly some
sort of adaptive approach was called for, and it
dawned on me that in this particular application, tight
temperature control while idling was not a require-
ment. Plus or minus a couple of degrees would not
adversely affect any products final quality.
I decided to use a forced-limit cycle technique. I
would compel the temperature to fluctuate 2 F while
idling and in the steady state. This is not too different
from the way a common household thermostat works.
Almost all fryers operate from a power relay that oper-
ates either a sophisticated gas valve or a bank of
three-phase electric heaters.
The algorithm I used was unusual. I later received a
patent (USP 5,575,194) for it. The technique consists
of closing the heat source relay for an adjustable on
time when the falling temperature crosses the set-
point. The power stays on for a predetermined length
of time and then turns off.
It stays off unless the temperature fails to rise back
above the setpoint. If this should happen, then another
pulse is initiated and its duration is lengthened by a
fixed amount of time. The program periodically mea-
sures the slope of the temperature curve. In this way,
it can tell if the temperature is rising, falling, or if it
has peaked or bottomed out.
Four flags are key to the operation of this control.
One is set if the temperature is above the setpoint,
another if it is below, a third if it is falling, and the
fourth if it is rising. Any time one flag is set, its oppo-
site is automatically reset since they are mutually
exclusive. In addition to these four flags, the maximum
(peak) and the minimum (lowest) values are also deter-
mined and saved.
The whole idea of this approach is to establish a
fixed minimum to maximum temperature swing and
maintain it. As the temperature is falling from its peak,
the difference between the maximum and minimum
temperatures for the previous cycle is calculated:
If the swing was less than it should be, then the
pulse count is incremented.
If it is right on, then no change is made.
If it is too wide, then the pulse count is decremented.
In this way, the limit cycle band about the setpoint
is maintained while the fryer is idling. Once the con-
trolled temperature has peaked it will start to fall.
The rate at which it falls is less than the rate at which
it rises when the heat has been turned on. The net
result of this is an asymmetrical oscillation about the
nominal setpoint. Initially a provision was made in the
program to gradually adjust the nominal setpoint while
in operation in order to make the oscillation symmetric
about the nominal setpoint. Subsequent actual opera-
tion of the control showed that this was an unneces-
Adaptive control of deep fat fryers
AAM1206_Feat01_ElasticTime_V3msFINAL.indd 6 5/29/12 2:50 PM
Applied Automation June 2012 A7
samples and adds the actual tem-
perature to a register, thus integrating
the temperature as described above.
The program then compares the con-
tents of this register to that containing
the ideal time/temperature, and when
the ideal is exceeded, it signals the
end of the process.
Figure 2 shows how this works.
The crosshatched area at the begin-
ning of the cook represents the ideal cook energy, and the
unshaded area below the actual temperature curve is the
additional energy (cooking time) needed in order for the
actual energy to be equal to or slightly greater than that
used during an ideal cook. Clearly the cook time has been
stretched.
Another interesting fact was that
the same cook curve developed
for cooking FFs was equally effec-
tive when baking biscuits in an
oven. The cook time needed to be
stretched based on how many trays
of uncooked biscuit dough were
present in the oven. The same con-
cept can apply to countless chemical
processes and reactions.
Chuck Maher is an automation consultant and owner of
PER Associates in Mustang, Okla. www.embededdesign-
services.net
http://www.embededdesignservices.net/
sary complication.
It was fascinating to watch
this algorithm at work. On
average it took about 5 to 10
min for the control to adapt
itself to any given fryer and
reach an equilibrium state.
What was equally interesting
was the information con-
tained in the resulting tran-
sient wave form. The negative
slope of the falling tempera-
ture is a measure of the rate
of heat loss to the environ-
ment, and the positive slope
is a measure of the heat gain.
Fryers have some interesting
needs. The use of solid short-
ening, while not as prevalent
today as in the past, requires the use of a melt cycle dur-
ing start-up. You cannot just turn the heat full on and go.
The heat must be pulsed at a rate which will allow the
shortening to melt gradually and turn to liquid.
When it has been determined that the melt cycle
is over, either by looking at the temperature change
or just on the basis of elapsed time, the heat comes
full on and stays on until the oil comes up to set-
point. Many controllers will measure the saturated
rate of heat rise during this phase and compare it to
that measured during the previous start. In this way
its possible to detect any deterioration in the heat-
ing apparatus. Gas valves may need adjusting if for
some reason the heat content of the gas supply may
have changed. Electrical heating elements can foul or
be compromised in other ways. Our adaptive control
shut the heat off during the start-up phase at a pro-
grammed number of degrees below the setpoint, and
then measured the overshoot. If the overshoot was
higher than the value for the maximum overshoot,
then the cutoff point was adjusted to a lower value or
vice versa.
Cooking appliances using even eight-bit microcon-
trollers are not working very hard. Unless there is a lot
of external communication going on, there is ample
time to perform other tasks such as diagnostic test-
ing. For example, the controller described here has a
feature where it looks during start-up for the oil tem-
perature to stall at 212 F. This is, of course, the boil-
ing point of water. Sometimes after a fryer has been
cleaned, operators forget to drain the water and add
fresh shortening. Careless operators like that have
been scalded by the roiling water when they start the
fryer without thinking.
Min
On
Off
Time
Max
Setpoint
Cooking medium
temperature
Adjusted idle
on setpoint
Heating
element
signal
If you multiply the ideal cook
temperature for a specific
product by its ideal cook time,
then the result is in effect the
energy absorbed during an
ideal cook of that product.
The asymmetrical oscillations are caused by the difference in heat flow rate between the heating
element operating and loss of heat to the surrounding environment.
AAM1206_Feat01_ElasticTime_V3msFINAL.indd 7 5/29/12 2:50 PM
A8 June 2012 Applied Automation
Optimizing Strategy for
Boiler Drum Level Control
Avoid trips and maximize steam output by reviewing your control
equipment, strategy, and tuning.
I
nadequate control of drum level in a natural-circulation
boiler can cause trips on a frequency ranging from a
few times a year to once a day. Each boiler trip gener-
ates expenses that can cost from tens-of-thousands
to hundreds-of-thousands of dollars depending on the
circumstances. Control engineers can substantially
improve level control performance by following a struc-
tured approach to troubleshooting the boiler drum level
control system including reviewing the control equipment,
the strategy, and the controller tuning. This approach can
substantially reduce the number of
boiler trips, providing a substantial
financial benefit.
Drum level control basics
Natural-circulation boilers are
widely used in various chemical
processing and related industries.
The design principle uses the dif-
ference in density between cooler
water in the downcomer and the
steam/water mixture in the riser
to drive the steam/water mixture
through the tubes. The boiler drum
separates steam from water and
contains inventory to accommo-
date operational changes. Water
enters the riser tube, is heated,
and undergoes a transition from a
single-phase liquid to a mixture of
saturated liquid and steam. As heat input increases, the
proportion of steam vapor in the riser tube increases.
A high-priority challenge to the control engineer is
the ability to control the water level in the drum very
precisely. When the water level gets too high it can
result in water carryover into the superheater or turbine,
potentially causing damage or outages in the turbine or
boiler. A level that is too low can expose the water tubes
where they connect to the drum, causing them to crack
or break. A boiler trip interlock is supposed to prevent
these types of damage, but boiler trips can take consider-
able time to clear,
during which the
expensive produc-
tion equipment is
often forced to sit
idle.
Shrink
and swell
The void frac-
tion is the per-
centage of steam
by volume in the
riser tube. The
quality is the percentage of steam by weight in the riser
tube. As the quality increases, so does the void fraction.
Faster changes in the void fraction are seen at lower
steam quality and lower steam pressure. Increasing the
boiler firing rate increases the void fraction, which in turn
pushes water out of the riser tube into the drum, increas-
ing the level of the drum. This effect is known as swell.
Likewise, reducing the boiler firing rate reduces the void
fraction and water flows downward from the drum into the
riser tube, reducing the level of the drum. This effect is
known as shrink.
If the steam flow out of the boiler increases, the drum
pressure will drop and the boiling rate will increase,
increasing the void fraction in the tubes and drum. The
increase in the void fraction will push water into the
drum, causing swell. The inventory of the boiler must be
reduced to accommodate the increased void fraction. The
opposite effect is seen when the steam flow out of the
boiler decreases or when cold feedwater is added to the
drum. The resulting reduction in drum pressure causes
the boiler level to shrink.
While the control engineer must pay careful attention
to shrink and swell in determining the boiler drum level
control strategy, he or she may be surprised to find that
changes in these factors sometimes have the opposite
effect as was expected. For example, an increase in cold
feedwater flow would be expected to increase the inven-
tory in the boiler and increase the drum level. But in the
short term, increasing feedwater flow tends to quench
Andrew W. R. Waite
PROCESS CONTROL
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
20 40 60 80 100
Quality, x, % by weight
V
o
i
d

f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
,

3200 psi (22.1 MPa)
3000 psi (20.7 MPa)
2100 psi (14.5 MPa)
1250 psi (8.6 MPa)
650 psi (4.14 MPa)
250 psi (1.72 MPa)
14.7 psi (0.1 MPa)
Figure 1: Natural-
circulation boiler
drum level process.
Figure 2: Steam quality and void fraction.
AAM1206_Feat02_Boiler_V8msFINAL.indd 8 5/29/12 2:52 PM
Applied Automation June 2012 A9
the boiling in the drum and also potentially in the tubes.
As shown in Figure 3, this may result in a temporary
drop in the boiler drum level. Eventually the drum level
increases due to increasing inventory. On the other hand,
a decrease in feedwater flow tends to increase boiling in
the drum and tubes. The result is a temporary rise in the
boiler drum level. If the feedwater temperature is higher,
close to the drum temperature, these effects will be less
noticeable and may disappear completely.
Drum level
measurement
Naturally, the
control engi-
neers first step in
maintaining drum
level control is to
ensure accurate
boiler drum level
measurement.
However, this may
be complicated by
the fact that the steam drum itself may not be perfectly
level. Even at steady state conditions, turbulence in the
drum can cause the level to fluctuate. A changing rate of
water inflow and steam outflow adds to the potential for
measurement error. Measurement of boiler steam drum
level using a differential pressure transmitter must take
into account the physical properties of the fluid. The drum
contains a two-phase mixture of water and steam at satu-
ration conditions. The densities of water and steam vary
with saturation temperature or pressure. The density of
saturated steam above water must be considered, as well
as the density of saturated water in the drum. Suppliers
of boiler drum level transmitters will provide instructions
for calibrating transmitters that take these factors in
account.
Understanding response dynamics
Tuning the control loops requires an understanding
of the response
dynamics. Open-
loop step test-
ing as shown
in Figure 5 can
help provide this understanding. The feedwater valve is
stepped while monitoring the response of the feedwater
flow, boiler drum level, and steam flow. In the example
shown in Figure 6, the feedwater flow does not respond
well to changes in the feedwater valve at the points
indicated by the red marks. The problem is a sticky
valve. The controller cannot be tuned to fix this problem.
FT
101
FT
101
LT
100
LIC
100
2900
3.500
4.125
4.750
5.375
6.000
40.65
46.87
53.09
2311-FT.PV-Cascade
2304-LT.PV-Cascade
LUC204AB.dat 12/14/2004
LUC204AA.dat 12/14/2004
WHB fow
WHB level
inch
pph
DY= (0.125 inch/Div)
DU= (1.244 pph/Div) Bump 10
2934 2969 3003 3038 3072 3106 3141 3175
Sec x=(3.438 Sec/Div)
Change in feedwater fow setpoint
Transition period
Steady state
operation-after
Steady state
operation-before

i
T i
SS
e
o
900
68.02
60.01
52.01
44.00
0 1800
Mean=356752 2Sig=7.74e+004 (21.7%)
Mean=55.1361 2Sig=11.13 (20.2%)
2699 3599
900 0 1800 2699 3599
Sec
Sec
Lbs/Hr
% Open
Var 04 HRFT2100 (HP2 Feed water fow)
Var 03 HRFV2100 (HP2 Feed water value)
060621 1040Tuning Unit2 1040-1140 AM_C09.dat 06/21/2006 10:40
060621 1040Tuning Unit2 1040-1140 AM_C08.dat 06/21/2006 10:40
1% Steps
420093
362127
304161
246196
DT
L
LO
DP
LI
Drum
level
transmitter
High
Drum
Saturated
steam
Water
Water
0
level
Low
1600
16.00
16.80
17.00
17.20
17.40
26.40
26.60
26.80
1750 1900 2050 2200 2350
0.1% Steps
2500 2650 2800
Sec dX=(15 Sec/Div)
m3/h
% Bump 01
DY=(0.04 m3/h/Div)
DU=(0.02 %/Div)
Figure 3: An increase in feedwater initially has the opposite of the
expected effect due to shrink.
Figure 4: Measuring drum level.
Figure 5: Basic instru-
mentation for boiler
level drum control
showing sensors that
should be monitored
when performing
open-loop step tests
Figure 6: Step test on valve with 4% backlash
Figure 7: Step test on a valve with less than 0.1% backlash.
700
2.029
0.976
-0.078
-1.131
400 1000
Mean=60.0812 2Sig=4.963 (8.26%)
Mean=0.0309193 2Sig=1.16 (3.75e+003%)
1300 1600
700 400 1000 1300 1600
Sec
Sec
Inches
% Open Var 06 HRFV1100 (HP1 Feed water value) 060620 1627HRSG1 Tuning FWBumps 02_C08.dat 06/20/2006 16:27
Var 05 HRLC12SC (HP1 Drum level (composite) 060620 1627HRSG1 Tuning FWBumps 02_C05.dat 06/20/2006 16:27
64.00
60.67
57.33
54.00
Figure 8: The drum level shows very good response to the feedwa-
ter valve.
AAM1206_Feat02_Boiler_V8msFINAL.indd 9 5/29/12 2:52 PM
A10 June 2012 Applied Automation
Instead, the control valve needs to be fixed. Of course,
its not possible to make a control valve that responds
perfectly, but it should respond to 0.5% steps or smaller
in the controller output. Figure 7 shows a flow control
valve that responds well to control signals.
After the feedwater loop is operating correctly, its time
for the control engineer to focus on the drum level. The
goal is to achieve sharp transitions in the level slope in
response to a change in feedwater flow rate because
dead time or delay is destabilizing. Figure 8 shows a
good example of a response without any delays. The
dynamics of the boiler may include dead time that can-
not be eliminated, so to maintain stability in this case, the
tuning of the controller must be slowed down.
Types of level control systems
Single-level element control as shown in Figure 9 uses
only the level measurement and the feedwater valve. The
controller responds to a proportional signal from the drum
level transmitters by generating a proportional output to
the boiler feedwater valve when needed. This approach
is often used when starting up a boiler and there is no
steam flow or when a flowmeter has failed. The drawback
of this strategy is that the level is subject to uncontrolled
disturbances from the steam header and the feedwater.
For example, if the feedwater header pressure rises,
the feedwater flow to the boiler also increases. Without
a feedwater control loop, this situation would be uncor-
rected until the level changes. In addition, the installed
characteristics of the feedwater valve may compromise
level control performance over a large operating range.
Two-element level control as shown in Figure 10 adds
the steam flow as a feedforward element to the level con-
troller output. A steam mass flow rate signal is used to
control the feedwater flow so that feedwater demand can
be adjusted immediately in response to load changes.
The level controller is used to correct any imbalance
between the steam mass flow out of and the feedwater
mass flow into the drum. This approach delivers more
effective drum level control than a single element. It is
well suited for use on a single boiler with a single feed-
water pump using a constant feedwater pressure. A
potential weakness is that the installed characteristics of
the feedwater valve may compromise level control perfor-
mance over a large operating range. In addition, steam
feedforward may need to be characterized when using
this approach.
Three-element level control as shown in Figure 11 is
the most common boiler drum level control strategy. A
feedwater flow loop slave is added to the two-element
strategy. Three-element level control linearizes the feed-
water flow with respect to the steam flow and the level
controller output. The control loop now requests volumet-
PROCESS CONTROL
FT
101
FT
101
LT
100
LIC
100
FT
101
FT
101
FT
101
LT
100
LIC
100
dX=(5 Sec/Div)
900 950 800
1311-FT.PV
1304-LT.PV
West WHB feedwater fow
West WHB level
LUC408AC.dat 12/16/2004
LUC408AA.dat 12/16/2004
850 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200
Sec
2.000
3.000
4.000
5.000
6.000
50.00
46.00
42.00
38.00
34.00
30.00
Inch
pph
DY=(0.2 Inch/Div)
DU=(0.8 pph/Div)
Bump 01
FT
101
FT
101
LT
100
LIC
100
Figure 9: Single-element level control.
Figure 11: Three-element level control.
Figure 12a: Open-loop drum level step test. Figure 10: Two-element control.
AAM1206_Feat02_Boiler_V8msFINAL.indd 10 5/29/12 2:53 PM
Applied Automation June 2012 A11
ric flow change, not just a change in the valve position.
This strategy attempts to compensate for changes or
disturbances in steam flow and feedwater flow based on
the principle that flow in equals flow out. The installed
characteristics of the feedwater valve are no longer an
issue because the flow controller can compensate. Using
this approach, the steam feedforward element can be a
simple gain without requiring characterization.
Tuning the control loop
The recommended procedure for level control tuning
is to tune the feedwater flow loop first to ensure that its
fast, stable, and does not overshoot. Then the control
engineer should perform open-loop tests on the drum
level loop, being careful to start small. Evaluate the
response for a number of step tests. Figure 12 shows a
well-behaved drum level process without any dead time.
The lambda tuning method for controllers usually pro-
vides stable control loops. The blue line in Figure 13
shows the response provided by lambda tuning to correct
for a disturbance. The lambda value () is the arrest time
where the level deviation is maximum and represents 1/6
of the total recovery time. The lambda tuning equation is
T
ARR
is the arrest time, which is equal to lambda. The
greater the process dead time, the greater the lambda
value that is required.
Feedforward is generally set up to maintain a 1:1 mass
relationship between steam flow and feedwater. If both
flow meters are set up for the same span in engineering
units, e.g., pounds per hour, then the feedforward gain is
normally set to 1.0. Also, consider accounting for other
input and output flows that consume steam, such as soot
blowing and blow down. A dynamic feedforward approach
may be more beneficial than a straight gain.
Handling disturbances
Various types of disturbances can create level control
challenges for the control engineer. For example, Figure
14 shows a disturbance caused by variations in process
steam demand. In this particular application, the steam
flow disturbance is an inherent part of the process so it
cannot be corrected. The three-element drum level con-
trol is kept busy reacting to the variations in steam flow
to maintain the drum level at a relatively constant value.
Substantial variations in the level are seen when the
drum level control goes into manual.
If a steam flow increase causes the drum to swell, the
level will increase but the feedforward signal will increase
feedwater, potentially compounding the problem. Most
boilers do not show appreciable shrink or swell from
feedwater because it is heated and drum baffling is used.
The level controller will attempt to counteract the effect of
the feedforward. The solution in many cases is to filter or
delay the feedforward steam signal. This accommodates
the change in boiler inventory that is occurring.
Drum level control problems can cause production inef-
ficiencies, product quality issues, production limits, and
in some cases can even create safety risks. In extreme
cases, level control problems have resulted in costs of
millions of dollars per year. Proven methods are available
to substantially improve drum level control. The control
engineer can perform a simple but systematic analysis of
the control system to establish the root cause of the con-
trol problem and reestablish effective drum level control.
Andrew W. R. Waite is principal process control consul-
tant for Emerson Canada.
www.emersonprocess.com
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
%
S
p
a
n
Time (sec.)
0.0 1750.0 3500.0 5250.0 7000.0
Sec
Mean=18.9479 2Sig=3.41 (18%)
Var 04 FI-236-069_A12.PV (Main steam fow)
Steam fow
Output Into manual
15.00
18.00
21.00
24.00
27.00
21.00
19.00
17.00
15.00
13.00
Mg/hr
Mg/hr
Mean=17.5918 2Sig=4.807 (23.2%)
Var 01 LIC-236-050_PID3.OP (Drum level control_3 element) - Bump MCC0011-027 - LIC-236-050_PID3_PV.dat 05/28/2010 15:24:11
10.00
5.00
-5.00
-10.00
0.00
cm
Mean=0.0592658 2Sig=3.907 (6.59e+003%)
MCC0011-028 - LIC-236-050_PID3_PV.dat 05/28/2010 15:24:11
MCC0011-036 - LIC-236-069_A12_PV.dat 05/28/2010 15:24:11
Level
dX=(5 Sec/Div)
900 950 800
1311-FT.PV
1304-LT.PV
West WHB feedwater fow
West WHB level
LUC408AC.dat 12/16/2004
LUC408AA.dat 12/16/2004
850 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200
Sec
2.000
3.000
4.000
5.000
6.000
50.00
46.00
42.00
38.00
34.00
30.00
Inch
pph
DY=(0.2 Inch/Div)
DU=(0.8 pph/Div)
Bump 01
du
Slope 1 Slope 2 Dead time ?
Kp=(slope2-slope1)/du
Figure 12b: Open-loop drum level step test.
Figure 13: Lambda tuning.
Figure 14: Disturbance caused by variation in process steam demand.
AAM1206_Feat02_Boiler_V8msFINAL.indd 11 5/29/12 2:53 PM
A12 June 2012 Applied Automation
Challenges of
Motor Selection and Sizing
The range of sizes, types, and configurations of electric motors can seem endless.
Here are a few ideas for navigating the choices.
Example: Driving a chain conveyor
with a gear motor and VFD.
SEW Eurodrive
Input data: A chain conveyor is to transport wooden
boxes up a slope of = 5 at a speed of 0.5 m/s. There
is a maximum of four boxes each weighing 500 kg on the
conveyor. The chain itself has a weight of 300 kg. The
friction factor between chain and base is specified at =
0.2. A mechanical stop is mounted at the end of the chain
conveyor which aligns the boxes before they are pushed
onto a second conveyor belt. During this process, the box
slides on the chain with a friction factor of = 0.7.
The application calls for a helical-worm gear unit that is
frequency-controlled up to approximately 50 Hz.
Velocity: v = 0.5 m/s
Incline: = 5
Weight of transported material: m
L
= 2,000 kg
Weight of chain: m
D
= 300 kg
Friction factor between chain and base:
1
= 0.2
Friction factor between box and chain:
2
= 0.7
Jack Smith
MOTORS
P
aradoxically, electric motors are simple, yet
complex. Their simplicity comes from having
a single purpose: to convert electrical energy
into mechanical energy. Their complexity
comes from myriad applications where motors
are used. A motors usefulness is in how it is
applied. A spinning motor with nothing connected to its
shaft is a waste of time, money, and energy.
However, the value of a motor is how efficiently and
effectively its mechanical energy operates conveyors, fans,
pumps, and other types of industrial equipment. To specify
and apply electric motors, engineers must thoroughly
understand the electrical and physical characteristics of
the motors and the applications in which they are used.
Terms such as torque, horsepower, inertia, friction,
acceleration, and load come to mind when designing
motorized equipment. And there are formulas that apply to
every parameter. For example, the relationship between
horsepower, torque, and speed is fairly straightforward and
is calculated using simple mathematics:
Horsepower = (torque in pound-feet x motor speed in
RPM)/5,250
Torque and speed can be found by changing the formula
algebraically. However, nothing happens unless the motor
actually starts spinning, which requires it to overcome iner-
tia of both the motor and its load. This is why pre-EPAct
(Energy Policy Act of 1992) motors require five or six times
their full-load amps (FLA) to come up to speed, and NEMA
premium efficiency motors can require eight to 10 times
FLA to reach operating speed.
Inertia and friction work together to resist starting a still
motor. Although coefficient of friction is another frequently
used motor application term, it cant be found through
direct calculations; it must be measured experimentally.
The ratio of friction force to normal force is a simplified
definition of the coefficient of friction.
While the coefficient of friction depends on the proper-
ties of two materials that come into contact as with motor
shaft and bearings, for example, there are other factors that
come into play. Temperature, velocity, atmosphere, shape,
and lubrication affect the coefficient of friction as well.
Obviously, lowering friction increases motor efficiency.
Motors are used in a plethora of applications. While
many books about motor design and applications have
been written, they barely scratch the surface of possibili-
ties. One of the sidebars with this article gives you an idea
of how complex the calculations can be if you want to con-
sider all the relevant variables connected to an application.
If you read this article online, there is additional detail and
a second example.
Jack Smith is an industry consultant and writer, and
served as an editor for Plant Engineering. Reach him at
jacksmith.writes@gmail.com.
AAM1206_Feat03_Motor_V3msFINAL.indd 12 5/29/12 3:02 PM
Applied Automation June 2012 A13
Desired acceleration: a =0.25 m/s
2
Sprocket diameter: D =250 mm
Starting frequency: 10 cycles/hour and 16 hours/day
Calculating the optimum motor size depends on consid-
ering all the variables and following the right equations.
For example, simply calculating the total resistance that
the motor has to overcome involves the weight and friction
of the conveyor itself carrying the load, additional friction
when a box hits the stop, plus the efficiency of the gear
unit itself attached to the motor.
Here is the calculation for determining the resistance
force of the conveyor, half the weight of the chain, and the
maximum load of boxes:
Here is the calculation for the additional resistance when
a box hits the stop:
This is just the beginning since making a complete
analysis of the application includes a number of additional
factors:
Efficiency of the worm-gear unit
External moment of inertia
Load torque on the motor
Acceleration torque on the motor
Conveyor speed relative to motor RPM
Gear unit ratio
Service factor, and
Static power
Ultimately, once the conveyor is built and operating in
real-world conditions, it will be a simple task to measure
the performance of the motor and verify the accuracy of
your starting assumptions.
Read this article online at www.controleng.com to see
the full set of calculations for this example and another.
Making good motor decisions
Joe Kimbrell
Correctly sizing an ac motor is important; overloaded
motors can overheat and under-loaded motors waste ener-
gy. Because a motors energy usage accounts for more
than 95% of its lifetime cost, achieving maximum energy
efficiency is crucial.
But this doesnt guarantee that the latest highest effi-
ciency motor is the best solution for every application.
While premium efficiency motors are important, its equally
important to size the motor correctly. Otherwise, optimal
energy efficiency wont ever be realized. In addition, there
are times when older efficiency motors can be rewound
and actually improve their efficiency.
Sizing and output speed
The two most important factors when sizing any type of
motor are torque and output speed. Finding the required
output speed is relatively easy and can be determined by
the design specifications. Determining the correct torque
is typically more problematic.
Many motors in use today are oversized as this is often
a substitute for more precise up-front engineering. For
example, if an application really requires slightly more
than 5 hp at infrequent intervals, a 7.5 hp motor is often
installed. In this situation, the 7.5 hp motor will definitely
work, but it will be running well below full-load torque (fur-
ther down the efficiency curve) and wasting a lot of energy.
In applications that only require the motor to operate
above full load for short periods of time, a better solution
may be to pick the right-size motor with a higher service
factor. For example, if a motor has a 1.15 service factor,
it can handle an additional 15% load occasionally without
damaging the motor.
Conducting a motor survey
The best way to correctly size a replacement motor is by
conducting a motor survey, which begins by reviewing and
cataloging the nameplate information on the current motor
to check rated speed, efficiency, full-load current, etc.
Next, monitor the current the motor is drawing by using
a clamp-on meter. In most systems, there are many
unknown factors, such as friction and mechanical trans-
mission efficiencies, which affect motor loading. Therefore,
getting an actual measurement of the current going into
the motor helps determine the true required motor size
needed.
Determining the load requirement accurately is important
because motors operate most efficiently near full load.
Best efficiency is achieved above 70% of full-load torque.
Below 60%, efficiencies start to drop off dramatically.
The motor nameplate
is the first step of a
motor survey because
it supplies valuable
information, such as
speed rating and full-
load current, to help in
determining the cor-
rect motor size.
AAM1206_Feat03_Motor_V3msFINAL.indd 13 5/29/12 3:02 PM
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A14 June 2012 Applied Automation
There are several websites that pro-
vide information on how to determine
motor load size, such as the U.S.
Dept. of Energy.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/
manufacturing/tech_deployment/
pdfs/10097517.pdf
Rewind or replace?
If a motor fails before a motor survey
can be performed, examining the age
and type of the motor helps to deter-
mine if the motor should be repaired
or replaced. If the failed motor isnt an
EPAct motor, the repair-versus-replace
MOTORS
decision is easy, since the motor
should be replaced in most cases.
If an EPAct motor fails, then rewind-
ing should be considered. It used
to be that rewinding a motor often
meant losing efficiency, but thats no
longer the case. In most instances the
original motor efficiency can be main-
tained. In some cases, the rewound
motor can actually achieve increased
efficiency. An efficiency discussion
with your local motor repair shop can
help determine the options. The con-
siderations on whether to repair or
replace also include the type of motor
involved, how often the motor is run-
ning, and its efficiency.
If the failed motor is a special
or custom motor, additional fac-
tors determine whether to repair or
replace (longer lead times for custom
motors, higher costs, etc.). For many
custom motors, rewinding is a more
attractive proposition. For standard
motors, replacement is often the bet-
ter way to go.
If the motor is running constantly,
the return on investment (ROI) for a
new, premium-efficiency motor will
happen faster. If the motor is run spo-
radically, then the cost calculations
for replacing versus rewinding require
more careful analysis. Once again,
there are several websites, such as
the Department of Energy site listed
above, that can help with these cal-
culations. The Dept. of Energy also
provides a free software package,
MotorMaster+, which assists in creat-
ing a motor survey and helps with
motor repair/replace decisions.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/manu-
facturing/tech_deployment/software_
motormaster.html
When trying to cut costs by increas-
ing energy efficiency, selecting the
right-sized motor is as important
as the energy efficiency of the new
motor. Conducting a thorough motor
survey is the best method for deter-
mining the right-size motor, as well as
for making the correct replace-versus-
rewind decision.
Joe Kimbrell is product manager
of drives, motors, and motion for
AutomationDirect.
www.automationdirect.com
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