] 1.0Cascade Control 1.

1Introduction Cascade Control has a multi-loop structure, where the output of the controller in the outer loop (the primary or master) is the set point of a controller in the inner loop (the secondary or slave). The slave measurement is an intermediate process variable that can be used to achieve more effective control of the primary process variable. Two controllers are used, but only one process variable is manipulated. The primary controller maintains the primary variable at its set point by ad ustin! the set point of the secondary controller. The secondary controller, in turn responds both to set point and to the secondary controlled variable. "i!ure # shows a cascade loop to control heat e$chan!er process fluid outlet temperature by controllin! the steam inlet flow.

Figure 1 Control of Heat Exchanger Outlet Temperature using Steam Flow as Secondar !oop. There are three main re%uirements for usin! cascade control& 'econdary loop must have influence over the primary loop. 'econdary loop must be measured and controllable. 'econdary loop process dynamics must be at least four times as fast as primary loop process dynamics.

Cascade control is advanta!eous in applications where the primary process has a lar!e dead time or time la! and the time delays in the secondary part of the process are smaller. (a!s in a process is a ma or obstacles to !ood

temperature control. Cascade control is also desirable when the main disturbance is in the secondary loop. There are four main advanta!es !ained by the use of cascade control& a- )isturbances that are affectin! the secondary variable can be corrected by the secondary controller before their influence is felt by the primary variable. b- The primary la! seen by the primary controller is reduced, resultin! in increased speed response. c- *llow secondary controller to handle non-linear valve and other final control element problems. d- *llow operator to directly control secondary loop durin! certain modes of operation (such as start-up). +ther advanta!es include the ability to limit the set point of the secondary controller. ,n addition, by speedin! up the loop response, the sensitivity of the primary process variable to process upsets is also reduced. +n the other hand, cascade control introduces additional comple$ity and increases the cost of measurement of secondary variable (assumin! it is not measured for other reasons). 1."Cascade Control #odes ,n most applications, the control loop is not functionin! as a cascade loop all the time. The operator (in the case of batch control, the batch control pro!ram) has the ability to chan!e modes. "ollowin! is the typical selection of modes of operation available for a cascade control loop. -anual and *uto are usually used durin! start-up while cascade is used for normal operation. -anual -ode - The set point of the flow controller trac.s the actual flow variable. "i!ure / shows in (a) the schematic of a -anual mode. *uto -ode - The output of the temperature controller trac.s the set point of the flow controller. "i!ure / shows in (b)the schematic of an *uto mode. Cascade -ode - The temperature controller manipulates the set point of the flow controller. "i!ure / shows in (c) a schematic of a Cascade mode. Therefore, when switchin! from one mode to another there is no sudden chan!e in the output to the valve.

a) -anual mode

b) *uto mode

c) Cascade mode

"i!ure 0 1 Cascade Control -odes 1.$%indup ,f the secondary controller cannot deliver enou!h flow, even with its valve wide open, to brin! the primary measured variable to its set point, the primary controller will 2windup2 and continue to increase the flow set point above the ma$imum flow. (ater, when the flow is sufficient to brin! the primary measurement to its set point, the primary controller must ta.e the time to 2wind down2 the secondary set point to the actual flow before the valve be!ins to close. The windup problem can be eliminated by connectin! the secondary measurement to the e$ternal feedbac. of the primary.

Figure 3 Control Modes for a Heat Exchanger