Control system simulators for gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone separators

The control system performance of gas liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC(C))( 1) separators can be considerably improved by adopting suitable control str ategy and optimizing the design of the controller PID settings. Dynamic sim ulators have been developed in this study, based on Matlab/Simulink(R) soft ware for evaluation of several different GLCC control philosophies for two- phase flow metering loop and bulk separation applications. Detailed analysi s of the GLCC control system simulators indicates that for integrated liqui d level and pressure control strategy, the level control loop compliments t he operation of the pressure control loop, nod vice versa. This strategy is ideal for reducing the pressure fluctuations in the GLCC. At severe sluggi ng conditions, the integrated liquid level control is more desirable becaus e of its faster response. However, there is no control of the GLCC pressure fluctuations. The results also show that the simulators are capable of rep resenting the dynamic behavior of real physical systems. [S0195-0738(00)005 04-5].