CN3121 Process Dynamics and Control is a 4 MC module which deals with control systems that are required for chemical processes like heat exchangers, reactors, separation processes and storage systems etc. I would say this module is not an easy module to understand in the first few weeks of lectures. The first half of the module is on process dynamics (unsteady state processes) and it isn't easy to link the chapters together and everything just seems so confusing. You can only sort of see the big picture of the entire module at like the second half of the semester when process control is covered. As the second lecturer explains the use of control systems, you'll then only begin to understand the purpose of learning the content covered in the first half of the module. Soooo, it is perfectly fine to be lost in the first half of the module hahaha.
We are also required to use MATLAB and Simulink to simulate control processes for the projects.
We are also required to use MATLAB and Simulink to simulate control processes for the projects.
Assessment
20% Project 1 (First half of module)
20% Project 2 (Second half of module)
60% Finals (Open book, 6 structured questions, 2 hours)
20% Project 2 (Second half of module)
60% Finals (Open book, 6 structured questions, 2 hours)
Lecturer:
Prof Wang Xiaonan (Weeks 1 - 7)
Prof Chiu Min Sen (Weeks 8 - 13)
Prof Wang Xiaonan (Weeks 1 - 7)
Prof Chiu Min Sen (Weeks 8 - 13)
Tutor:
Prof Wang Xiaonan (Weeks 2 - 8)
Prof Chiu Min Sen (Weeks 9 - 13)
Prof Wang Xiaonan (Weeks 2 - 8)
Prof Chiu Min Sen (Weeks 9 - 13)
Textbooks/Readings
D.E. Seborg, T.E. Edgar and D.A. Mellichamp and F.J. Doyle III, “Process Dynamics and Control”, Wiley, 2011(Either 2nd, 3rd or 4th edition) (Prof Wang would most probably upload the 4th edition on Luminus)
I would say the textbook is pretty important. You do not have to read every single detail of it. Just that certain examples are helpful in reinforcing the concepts learnt during lectures (because the lecture notes in the first half of the module do actually lack examples). There areee also some concepts that were not really covered in detail during lectures and are also somewhat included in the finals, so it is pretty crucial to have a look at the textbook.
Lectures
As per usual Chem Eng modules, this module had a 2 hour lecture and a 1 hour lecture weekly. For the first few times, I would say it isn't really very crucial to attend physical lectures and webcast is pretty sufficient for this module hahaha.
Prof Wang taught the first part of the module which covers process dynamics in general. The focus is on unsteady state processes and studying open loop systems (an open look system means the absence of a control system). The concepts covered are mainly developing dynamic models, Laplace transform, transfer functions for open loop systems and a brief introduction to process control.
Prof Wang's notes tend to be rather brief and do lack information here and there. Thus, I do recommend reading the textbook for certain portions which are not fully explained in the lecture notes. There are also a lack of examples for her lecture notes. As explained earlier, with how this module is formatted, I found it really hard to understand what she was teaching and I feel that she can't convey her points out easily too haha. (The strange thing was that Prof Chiu had a summary of her part in the first 20 - 30 minutes of his lecture in week 8 and I actually learnt more from that summary than Prof Wang's lectures. Yeapp, so as you can see, I definitely learnt more from Prof Chiu hahaha.)
In my opinion, Prof Chiu has a much stronger foundation and I was able to better understand the logic behind how control system works after his lectures. It's just that he tends to speak a bit slower. Other than that, he's a pretty good lecturer. However, for our batch, we had the 2 hour lecture on a Monday and most of the public holidays for our semester was on a Monday. As such, Prof Chiu had to rush through the last few chapters (feedforward and cascade control) as there wasn't enough time left. (But he didn't test us on the last few chapters for our finals, so all's good. But it may differ for your batch.)
D.E. Seborg, T.E. Edgar and D.A. Mellichamp and F.J. Doyle III, “Process Dynamics and Control”, Wiley, 2011(Either 2nd, 3rd or 4th edition) (Prof Wang would most probably upload the 4th edition on Luminus)
I would say the textbook is pretty important. You do not have to read every single detail of it. Just that certain examples are helpful in reinforcing the concepts learnt during lectures (because the lecture notes in the first half of the module do actually lack examples). There areee also some concepts that were not really covered in detail during lectures and are also somewhat included in the finals, so it is pretty crucial to have a look at the textbook.
Lectures
As per usual Chem Eng modules, this module had a 2 hour lecture and a 1 hour lecture weekly. For the first few times, I would say it isn't really very crucial to attend physical lectures and webcast is pretty sufficient for this module hahaha.
Prof Wang taught the first part of the module which covers process dynamics in general. The focus is on unsteady state processes and studying open loop systems (an open look system means the absence of a control system). The concepts covered are mainly developing dynamic models, Laplace transform, transfer functions for open loop systems and a brief introduction to process control.
Prof Wang's notes tend to be rather brief and do lack information here and there. Thus, I do recommend reading the textbook for certain portions which are not fully explained in the lecture notes. There are also a lack of examples for her lecture notes. As explained earlier, with how this module is formatted, I found it really hard to understand what she was teaching and I feel that she can't convey her points out easily too haha. (The strange thing was that Prof Chiu had a summary of her part in the first 20 - 30 minutes of his lecture in week 8 and I actually learnt more from that summary than Prof Wang's lectures. Yeapp, so as you can see, I definitely learnt more from Prof Chiu hahaha.)
In my opinion, Prof Chiu has a much stronger foundation and I was able to better understand the logic behind how control system works after his lectures. It's just that he tends to speak a bit slower. Other than that, he's a pretty good lecturer. However, for our batch, we had the 2 hour lecture on a Monday and most of the public holidays for our semester was on a Monday. As such, Prof Chiu had to rush through the last few chapters (feedforward and cascade control) as there wasn't enough time left. (But he didn't test us on the last few chapters for our finals, so all's good. But it may differ for your batch.)
Tutorial
Tutorials took place once a week, and they were 1 hour long. For Prof Wang's tutorials in weeks 2 - 8, they are webcasted. (That's right, they are webcasted.) So, I didn't attend the tutorials for this module in the first half of this module. Her webcasted tutorials are pretty sufficient and if you have any queries, you can just email her or ask her after lectures.
For the second half of the module, Prof Chiu's tutorials were not webcasted at first. It was only in week 10 or 11 did he started to webcast his tutorials. Anyways, his voice in the webcast is pretty soft and he does add in additional pointers or additional questions for us to practice only in the physical tutorials. This extra stuff are not in the webcasts. Thus, I really recommend to attend his tutorials.
Project 1
Now for the project. We had to use empirical methods to propose suitable transfer function models for our system and then compare it with the actual simulated data in MATLAB. But wow, project 1 is a mess, I have to say hahaha. It's mainly because for my batch, we did not learn how to use MATLAB in year 1 and only learnt it in CN3421 (which was taken in the same semester as this module), so we were pretty lost in the beginning. The funny thing is that Prof Zhou Kang, who was our Prof for CN3421, actually did a video on how to use ode45 for us to watch so that we can understand how to use this function for our project in CN3121. It was rather confusing too as we were unsure what the questions in the project were asking for. Senior reports can be referred to as reference but since the questions were obviously slightly different, we have to figure certain parts out ourselves.
Project 2
As for Project 2, it is much better as Prof Chiu actually explained clearly during lecture what he expected from us for the project. Project 2 mainly covers the comparison between 2 types of control systems. We are also more used to using MATLAB and Simulink at that point of time already so Project 2 was much more manageable and shouldn't really be a big issue for you. He does include additional content in the project but all this content are covered in the textbook, so reading the textbook is pretty sufficient.
For the second half of the module, Prof Chiu's tutorials were not webcasted at first. It was only in week 10 or 11 did he started to webcast his tutorials. Anyways, his voice in the webcast is pretty soft and he does add in additional pointers or additional questions for us to practice only in the physical tutorials. This extra stuff are not in the webcasts. Thus, I really recommend to attend his tutorials.
Project 1
Now for the project. We had to use empirical methods to propose suitable transfer function models for our system and then compare it with the actual simulated data in MATLAB. But wow, project 1 is a mess, I have to say hahaha. It's mainly because for my batch, we did not learn how to use MATLAB in year 1 and only learnt it in CN3421 (which was taken in the same semester as this module), so we were pretty lost in the beginning. The funny thing is that Prof Zhou Kang, who was our Prof for CN3421, actually did a video on how to use ode45 for us to watch so that we can understand how to use this function for our project in CN3121. It was rather confusing too as we were unsure what the questions in the project were asking for. Senior reports can be referred to as reference but since the questions were obviously slightly different, we have to figure certain parts out ourselves.
Project 2
As for Project 2, it is much better as Prof Chiu actually explained clearly during lecture what he expected from us for the project. Project 2 mainly covers the comparison between 2 types of control systems. We are also more used to using MATLAB and Simulink at that point of time already so Project 2 was much more manageable and shouldn't really be a big issue for you. He does include additional content in the project but all this content are covered in the textbook, so reading the textbook is pretty sufficient.
Final Exam
The final exam was kindaaa weird haha. Like the questions look very simple but there's that small twist to it. We had to read the questions real carefully and really understand what the Profs were asking for. I would say it is a rather tricky paper but the math isn't too complicated.
The finals consisted of six structured questions; three from the first part of the module and another three from the second part. Some questions were more of "essay" type of questions where we were supposed to explain certain concepts rather than show off our math. So, yeap, you have to know the concepts of this module pretty well. Other than that, if you've done sufficient revision, the finals is pretty manageable (unlike the other 3k modules in Chem Eng). AND Prof Chiu does give hints about what he's gonna test for finals during lectures and he does stick to his word (well, at least for my batch haha).
The final exam was kindaaa weird haha. Like the questions look very simple but there's that small twist to it. We had to read the questions real carefully and really understand what the Profs were asking for. I would say it is a rather tricky paper but the math isn't too complicated.
The finals consisted of six structured questions; three from the first part of the module and another three from the second part. Some questions were more of "essay" type of questions where we were supposed to explain certain concepts rather than show off our math. So, yeap, you have to know the concepts of this module pretty well. Other than that, if you've done sufficient revision, the finals is pretty manageable (unlike the other 3k modules in Chem Eng). AND Prof Chiu does give hints about what he's gonna test for finals during lectures and he does stick to his word (well, at least for my batch haha).
Expected Grade: B+
Final Grade: A
Final Comments
I would say that the finals helped me, I guessed. We knew our project grades and for me, my group didn't do as well, as compared to the rest of our course mates. So, I guessed I was able to explain certain concepts pretty well for the finals. You can view the finals I took here. I'm not going to upload my own notes for this module as they are a mess and you can probably find other senior notes for this module lying around the internet too haha.
I would say that the finals helped me, I guessed. We knew our project grades and for me, my group didn't do as well, as compared to the rest of our course mates. So, I guessed I was able to explain certain concepts pretty well for the finals. You can view the finals I took here. I'm not going to upload my own notes for this module as they are a mess and you can probably find other senior notes for this module lying around the internet too haha.
Stay tuned for more updates.
- Alan
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