Distillation column control using DCS

Crude oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful by-products. The crude oil is not sent directly into the distillation column, instead it is heated to a high temperature and then passed to the column. The characteristics of the refinery products are dependent on the furnace´s outlet temperature and the parameters of the distillation tower. The Furnace´s outlet crude oil temperature depends on the inlet crude oil flow and the fuel flow. The furnace inputs are air, gas, steam and oil. By controlling these input parameters using DCS we are going to overcome the unstable furnace outlet temperature. In Distillation tower, the level and the temperature of the tray should be maintained in order to overcome frequent tray level changes and dependency between temperature and level. Both these parameters are maintained by controlling the flow of the recycled water from the tray.