Level Control Experiment

No Control Answers


  • You should have noticed that opening the valve tended to reduce the level in the tank to a new steady state and closing the valve brought the level to a higher steady state. Taken to the extremes, as the valve is closed, the tank will overfill and as the valve is opened, the tank will empty. Clearly, both of these possibilities are unacceptable indicating the need for some sort of control.

  • Likewise, increasing the flow (for a set valve position) brings the tank level to a new higher steady state and decreasing the inlet flow reduces the level to a new steady state. It should be noted that as the flowsheet shows to overfill line, the tank could overfill at high flows. Decreasing the flow could, in the extreme, drain the tank. This is as a result of the mass balance. (ie like filling or emptying a bath!)

  • Increasing or decreasing the flow to the tank will require a larger or smaller valve respectively (assuming no control) and the range of control is limited by the size of this valve.


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