Chapter 12 Cascade, Ratio, and Feedforward Control

Overall Course Objectives

Develop the skills necessary to function as an industrial process control engineer.
Skills
Tuning loops Control loop design Control loop troubleshooting Command of the terminology

Fundamental understanding
Process dynamics Feedback control

Cascade, Ratio, and Feedforward Control

Each of these techniques offers advantages with respect to disturbance rejection:
Cascade reduces the effect of specific types of disturbances. Ratio reduces the effect of feed flow rates changes Feedforward control is a general methodology for compensating for measured disturbances.

Compensating for Disturbances Reduces Deviations from Setpoint and Settling Time
6 3 T' (K) 0 -3 -6 0 Compensating for disturbances 10 20 30 Time (seconds) 40 50 FB-only

Level Controller on a Tank With and Without Cascade Control

Lsp LC Fin Fout LT

Lsp LC

Fin Fout LT FT

RSP

FC

Analysis of Cascade Example

Without a cascade level controller, changes in downstream pressure will disturb the tank level. With cascade level controller, changes in downstream pressure will be absorbed by the flow controller before they can significantly affect tank level because the flow controller responds faster to this disturbance than the tank level process.

Key Features for Cascade Control to be Successful

Secondary loop should reduce the effect of one or more disturbances. Secondary loop must be at least 3 times faster than master loop. The CV for the secondary loop should have a direct effect on the CV for the primary loop. The secondary loop should be tuned tightly.

Cascade Reactor Temperature Control

Feed
TC

Cooling water
TT

Product

Feed

Cooling water

TT

TC

RSP

TT

TC

Product

Analysis of Example
Without cascade, changes in the cooling water temperature will create a significant upset for the reactor temperature. With cascade, changes in the cooling water temperature will be absorbed by the slave loop before they can significantly affect the reactor temperature.

Multiple Cascade Example

TT TC RSP AC

RSP FC FT AT

This approach works because the flow control loop is much faster than the temperature control loop which is much faster than the composition control loop.

Example
PT TT Steam

Feed Condensate

Draw schematic: A temperature controller on the outlet stream is cascaded to a pressure controller on the steam which is cascaded to a control valve on the condensate.

Solution
TC TT RSP PC PT

Steam

Feed Condensate

Ratio Control
Useful when the manipulated variable scales directly with the feed rate to the process. Dynamic compensation is required when the controlled variable responds dynamically different to feed rate changes than it does to a changes in the manipulated variable.

Typical Performance Improvements using Ratio Control

Impurity Concentration w/o ratio control

w/ ratio control

Time

Ratio Control for Wastewater Neutralization

FT

RSP
FC FT

Acid Wastewater
pHC pHT

NaOH Solution

Effluent

Analysis of Ratio Control Example

The flow rate of base scales directly with the flow rate of the acidic wastewater. The output of the pH controller is the ratio of NaOH flow rate to acid wastewater flow rate; therefore, the product of the controller output and the measured acid wastewater flow rate become the setpoint for the flow controller on the NaOH addition.

Ratio Control Applied for Vent Composition Control

AC FT AT

FC FT

Feed

Vent Product
TT

Steam

Ratio Control Requiring Dynamic Compensation

FT Feed DC

RSP FC FT

AC

AT

Example
FT TT Flue Gas

FT Fuel

Process Fluid

Draw schematic: For a control system that adjusts the ratio of fuel flow to the flow rate of the process fluid to control the outlet temperature of the process fluid. Use a flow controller on the fuel.

Solution

Ratio TC TT Flue Gas

FT

RSP FC FT Fuel Process Fluid

Feedforward and Feedback Level Control

To Steam Users
LC LT
LT

To Steam Users
FT FF

Make-up Water

Make-up Water

FT LC
LT

FF +

To Steam Users

Make-up Water

Analysis of Feedforward and Feedback Level Control

Feedback-only must absorb the variations in steam usage by feedback action only. Feedforward-only handle variation in steam usage but small errors in metering will eventually empty or fill the tank. Combined feedforward and feedback has best features of both controllers.

Derivation of FF Controller
D(s)

Gff(s)

Gds(s) Gd(s)

Cff(s)

Ga(s)

Gp(s)

++

Y(s)

Y ( s ) = D( s) Gds ( s ) G ff ( s ) Ga ( s ) G p ( s) + D( s ) Gd ( s) = 0 Solving for G ff ( s ) Gd ( s ) G ff ( s ) = Gds ( s ) Ga ( s) G p ( s )

Lead/Lag Element for Implementing FF Control

Gds ( s ) Ga ( s ) G p ( s ) = K d e d s Gd ( s ) = ds + 1 G ff ( s ) = K d ( p s + 1) e K p ( d s + 1) e
d s p s

Kp e

p s

ps + 1

K ff ( ld s + 1) e ( lg s + 1)

ff s

Lead/Lag parameters : K ff , ld , lg , ff

Effect of Lead/Lag Ratio

ld/ lg = 2 cff ld/ lg = 1

ld/ lg = Time

Static Feedforward Controller

G ff ( s ) = K ff
A static feedforward controller make a correction that is directly proportional to the disturbance change. A static feedforward controller is used when the process responds in a similar fashion to a change in the disturbance and the manipulated variable.

Feedforward When pd
TT Coolant Inlet

FF

FC FT

Feed

FT Coolant Outlet

G ff ( s ) =

K ff e

ff s

ld s + 1

Example of Feedforward Control for d<p

Q Ti To

To

To
10C

10C

10 kW 0 2 4 6 Time (minutes)

Q 8 10

Ti 0 2

10C 4 6 Time (minutes) 8 10

Static Feedforward Results

12 8 T' (C) 4 0 -4 0 2 4 Time 6 8 10 6.5 C

When the inlet temperature drops by 20C, Q is immediately increased by 20 kW. Deviations from setpoint result from dynamic mismatch

Perfect Feedforward Control

30 15 T' (C) 0 -15 -30 0 2 4 6 Time (minutes) 8 10 Ti effect FF Effect Net result

FF correction is mirror image of disturbance effect. Net effect is no change in controlled variable.

Required Dynamic Compensation

20 Perfect FF T(C) 10 Q=20kW 0 0 2 4 6 Time (minutes) 8 10

Since the Q affects the process slower than Ti , initially overcompensation in Q is required followed by cutting back on Q to 20 kW.

Results with Dynamic Compensation

12 8 T' (C) 4 0 -4 0 2 4 6 Time (minutes) 8 10 w/o DC w/ DC

Feedforward Control Action

w/o DC

w/ DC 0 5 10 15 Time (minutes) 20

Effect of Lead/Lag Ratio

ld/ lg = 2 cff ld/ lg = 1

ld/ lg = Time

Tuning a FF Controller
Make initial estimates of lead/lag parameters based on process knowledge. Under open loop conditions, adjust Kff until steadystate deviation from setpoint is minimized.

Time

Tuning a FF Controller
Analyzing the dynamic mismatch, adjust ff.

Time

Tuning a FF Controller
Finally, adjust (ld - lg) until approximately equal areas above and below the setpoint result.

Time

Demonstration: Visual Basic Simulator

Tuning a FF Controller

Feedback Control
Can effectively eliminate disturbances for fast responding processes. But it waits until the disturbance upsets the process before taking corrective action. Can become unstable due to nonlinearity and disturbance upsets.

Feedforward Control
Compensates for ds before process is affected Most effective for slow processes and for processes with significant deadtime. Can improve reliability of the feedback controller by reducing the deviation from setpoint. Since it is a linear controller, its performance will deteriorate with nonlinearity.

Combined FF and FB Control

Cff(s) D(s) Gff(s) Gd(s) Ysp(s) Cfb(s)

+-

Gc(s)

++

Gp(s)

+ +

Y(s)

Combined FF and FB for the CSTR

TC

FF TT

RSP Feed

FC FT

Steam

TT

Product

Results for CSTR

6 3 T' (K) 0 -3 -6 0 10 20 30 Time (seconds) 40 50 FF+FB FF-only FB-only

Analysis of Results for CSTR

FB-only returns to setpoint quickly but has large deviation from setpoint. FF-only reduces the deviation from setpoint but is slow to return to setpoint. FF+FB reduces deviation from setpoint and provides fast return to setpoint.

Example
Steam TT PT

Feed

TT Condensate

Draw schematic: For a combined feedforward and feedback controller in which the inlet feed temperature is the feedforward variable and the outlet temperature is the feedback variable. The combined controller output is the setpoint for a steam pressure controller.

Solution
+
TC FF TT RSP PC PT Steam

Feed

TT Condensate

Overview
Cascade can effectively remove certain disturbances if the slave loop is at least 3 times faster than the master loop. Ratio control is effective for processes that scale with the feed rate. Feedforward can be effective for measured disturbances for slow responding processes as long as the process nonlinearity is not too great.