Pcusim Manual

PCUSIM
Version 1.1
The Courtyard
Reddicap Trading Estate
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
B75 7BU
United Kingdom
Tel : +44 (0)121 378 0613
Fax : +44 (0)121 311 1774
Email : sales@bytronic.co.uk
Website : http://www.bytronic.co.uk
Table of Contents
Requirements........................................................................................................................................... 1
Relationship to the Process Control Unit .............................................................................................. 2
Quick Demonstration of Main Features .................................................................................................... 3
Manual Control. ............................................................................................................................ 3
Flow Control ................................................................................................................................. 4
Temperature Control ..................................................................................................................... 5
Batch Volume Control .................................................................................................................. 6
Fluid Level Control ....................................................................................................................... 6
Open Loop Control ....................................................................................................................... 6
Saving and Retrieval of Trends ..................................................................................................... 7
Software Facilities Reference.................................................................................................................... 7
File Menu ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Control Menu ................................................................................................................................ 8
Setup Menu ................................................................................................................................... 8
Help Menu..................................................................................................................................... 8
Initialisation of the Software ......................................................................................................... 9
Definition of Terms used in the Subsequent Sections................................................................... 9
Manual Control ........................................................................................................................... 12
Flow Control ............................................................................................................................... 12
Temperature Control ................................................................................................................... 12
Batch Volume Control ................................................................................................................ 13
Fluid Level Control ..................................................................................................................... 13
Open Loop Control ..................................................................................................................... 13
Saving.......................................................................................................................................... 14
Printing........................................................................................................................................ 14
Trend Updating ........................................................................................................................... 14
Courseware Suggestions ....................................................................................................................... 16
Exercise 1: Proportional Control............................................................................................................. 16
Exercise 2: Proportional and Integral Control......................................................................................... 18
Exercise 3: Saturation and Integral Windup............................................................................................ 21
Exercise 4: Three Term or PID Control .................................................................................................. 23
Exercise 5: Ziegler / Nichols Tuning ...................................................................................................... 24
Exercise 6: Temperature Control ............................................................................................................ 28
Exercise 7: Batch Volume Control ......................................................................................................... 30
Exercise 8: Fluid Level Control .............................................................................................................. 31
Exercise 9: Open Loop Control............................................................................................................... 34
Exercise 10: Bode Plots .......................................................................................................................... 36
Glossary of Terms ................................................................................................................................. 38
Bytronic International Ltd.
PCUSIM User Manual
Requirements
PCUSIM requires the following minimum PC configuration.
Pentium Processor
8Mb free system RAM
4Mb HDD space
VGA Graphics Display
Windows 95 or later
Parallel Port or USB Port for dongle
It is recommended that PCUSIM be viewed with a screen resolution of
800 x 600 pixels and 256 colours.
PCUSIM User Manual
Relationship to the Process Control Unit

PCUSIM is a package designed for teaching three term (PID) process
control concepts and techniques. It is based upon the design of the
Bytronic Process Control Unit (PCU) that has been widely sold to colleges
and universities for more than twelve years.
The PCU is supplied with Windows 95, 98, NT4 and 2000 compatible PID
software that allows the following main areas to be studied:
Control of the rate of flow of water from the sump (bottom tank) to
the process tank (top).
Control of the temperature of the body of water in the process tank.
Batch volume control, i.e. the supply (from the process tank) of a
specified volume of water at a specified temperature over a specified
period of time.
Control of the water level in the process tank.
Open loop investigations.
PCUSIM simulates the same processes that are implemented on the

physical PCU and it provides facilities for studying all of the areas bulleted
above. The software is intending to be used to support the use of an actual
PCUSIM User Manual
PCU in the control-teaching laboratory. Many institutions might only have

one PCU in the lab. but perhaps ten or more students who need to learn
about PID control. Traditionally the students might be circulated around a
set of lab. experiments to ensure that they all have equal opportunities to
learn. PCUSIM now makes it possible for all students to learn about PID
concepts and to practice the techniques simultaneously, even though there
might only be one piece of hardware available. Ideally all students would
still take a turn on the hardware but with the introduction of PCUSIM they
can now all be taught the same subject at the same time.
Quick Demonstration of Main Features

This section provides you with a brief tour of the main areas of
experimentation provided by PCUSIM. It is not intended to be a
comprehensive guide to all aspects of the software but rather to convey the
flavour of the package.
Manual Control
Select System Mimic (Control, System Mimic) and experiment by clicking
upon the stirrer motor, cooler fan, diverter valve and drain valve. Click,
hold down and slide the Pump Output controls and observe the effects.
This manual control facility is provided to help familiarise users with the
operations available on the Process Control Unit simulated within
PCUSIM in the event that the actual hardware is not available. It also
illustrates the concept of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA) that is widely used in the process industry.
In the real world SCADA is implemented within a specialised software
package running on a computer which is used to supervise the control
actions applied by one or more programmable logic controllers (PLCs).
The PLC obtains feedback from the process and generates control outputs
that depend upon the logic and algorithms programmed into its memory.
Communication between the PLC and the supervising computer allows the
latter to display a real-time graphical representation of the process.
The computer may also acquire and store data such as the values of the
process variables etc. for later off-line examination.
The SCADA computer also provides a convenient facility for human
intervention such as changing the set point or PID values for a process
control loop. This is a much better way to change parameters than editing
the ladder program within the PLC memory!
PCUSIM User Manual
If you experiment with the various System Mimic features you will see that
the simulated system behaves in the same way as a physical unit would.
For example, when the process tank drain valve is closed (blue) and the
pump is turned on the water level indicator rises until the process tank is
full then the overflow pipe turns blue to represent the flow of water back to
the sump. Also the flow rate display increases and decreases in
accordance with the Pump Output control and the blue wetted pipe
indication varies with the valve settings.
Flow Control
Select Flow Control (Control, Flow) and click START to see a simulation
using the default PI controller. This represents automatic control of the
rate of flow of water through the impeller type flow meter in the centre of
the PCU. Click STOP once the traces have settled down to the 1.5
litres/minute set point value. Now click the ticked boxes adjacent to the
legends; Flow SP (i.e. set point), Flow MV (i.e. measured value) and Pump
Output. You will see that the traces may be hidden or revealed as required
to help in your evaluation of the response.
Move the slider near the top right hand side of the screen across to the left
to magnify the traces and position the tip of your mouse pointer at various
positions on the traces to pop up the values recorded at specific times.
Move the slider back and start the simulation again, this time click the SP
value after about ten seconds and change the set point to say 1 litre/minute
and then increase it to 1.8 litres/minute after a further ten seconds. You
will see that whilst a little oscillatory the response is reasonable, i.e. the
measured value reaches the set point quickly and without massive
overshoot for the first two SP values. When the SP is 1.8 litres/minute
however the simulation produces the effect of saturation, i.e. even with
100% controller output (white trace at the very top) the measured value
does not reach the set point.
In the real world this effect might occur because the actuator (pump) is not
powerful enough or the pipes are too small or accumulated detritus has
reduced the effective diameter of the pipe at some point in the circuit.
Change the SP to 1 litre/minute and the integral term in the controller to
999 seconds and then run the simulation again. (An integral action time of
999 seconds more or less eliminates any integral effect that means that we
are now left with a proportional only controller. The proportional and
integral terms etc. will be defined later in this manual). Once the
proportional offset has been clearly established, i.e. the steady state gap
between the set point and the flow measured value of about 0.5
litre/minute, reduce the integral action time to 1 second and observe how
PCUSIM User Manual
the integrating action, which takes account of the historical aspect of the
error, brings the measured value smartly up to the set point!
With the default PI controller and a set point of 1 litre/minute run the
simulation. Once the traces have settled down click the - button near the
legend; Gate Valve: 100%, (bottom right hand corner of screen) to
partially close the gate valve that is in line with the flow meter. Experiment
with opening (+) and closing (-) this valve to see the way that the
controller responds. In essence the controller output (white trace) will
always change in opposition to the flow-measured value (cyan trace) as it
seeks to bring it back to the set point.
Temperature Control
Select Temperature Control (Control, Temperature) and click START to
see a simulation using the default PI controller. This represents automatic
control of the heat input to the process (top) tank on the PCU. Click STOP
after about three minutes, enter 0 in the Start Time box at the top left
hand side of the graph and move the slider near the top right hand side of
the graph across to the right to show the whole trace. Position the tip of
your mouse pointer at various positions on the traces to pop up the values
recorded at specific times. Now click the ticked boxes adjacent to the
legends; Temp SP (i.e. set point), Temp MV (i.e. measured value) and
Temp Output. You will see that again the traces may be hidden or
revealed as required to help in your evaluation of the response.
Reset the process tank temperature to 20C by clicking the Initial Value
box (bottom left of screen) and change the set point to a much higher
temperature say 60C by clicking on the Set Point box.
Run the simulation and observe how much longer the measured value takes
to reach the set point when the initial error is so large. Clearly the
temperature control loop on the simulated (and the actual) PCU has much
larger time constants that the flow control loop. The temperature control is
in fact a very different matter since you cannot really allow the temperature
to go above the set point because the only way to then cool the specific
body of water in the process tank is via natural methods i.e. mainly by
evaporation. With the very short time constants of the flow loop it is quite
acceptable, even desirable to allow the flow to overshoot the set point once
or twice in order to achieve the optimum settling time.
PCUSIM User Manual
Batch Volume Control

In this section two PID control algorithms are applied in order to deliver a
specific quantity of water at a fixed temperature over a particular period of
time. The water is delivered at the point where it overflows from the
process tank. Batch volume control is of necessity rather more complex
than the control of separate flow and temperature loops. The procedure
involves pre-heating the water in the process tank (top) to within a few
degrees of the set point and then driving the pump at an appropriate rate to
ensure that, over the specified period, exactly the volume of water required
will be displaced through the overflow from the top of the tank. The task
is complicated by the need to keep the temperature of the water being
delivered at or in reality, as close as possible to, the set point.
Select Batch Volume Control (Control, Batch Volume) and make the
volume and temperature set points 3 litres and 60C respectively. Click
START to see a simulation using the default PI controllers. Many of the
comments about the way the graphs can be manipulated made in the above
paragraphs also apply to the batch volume section.
Fluid Level Control

Select Fluid Level Control (Control, Fluid Level) and click START to see
a simulation of level control in the process tank, using the default
controller. Over the 120 second duration of the experiment vary the set
point several times by clicking the SP box and observe the effects. In this
simulation the process tank drain valve is normally closed and the
controller opens it every time the set point is changed to a value that is
lower than the current level.
If the set point is increased however, the pump is turned on fully to drive
water into the process tank as quickly as possible. As the water level
approaches the new set point the control algorithm is used to progressively
reduce the pump output so that there is no overshoot. The resulting graph
may be manipulated as those looked at previously.
Open Loop Control

This section provides the facility to study the open loop response of the
flow loop to manually selected step, ramp and sinusoidal inputs etc. Select
Open Loop Control (Control, Open Loop) and click the sine wave input
option. Start the simulation and once a full wavelength of the traces has
been drawn, experiment by changing the Max, Min and Period parameters
PCUSIM User Manual
to see how the input signal may be manipulated. In this open loop section
the sinusoidal input function may be used to examine the frequency
response of the flow loop by running several simulations with the same
Max and Min values with a range of different Periods.
Saving and Retrieval of Trends

On completion of any open or closed loop control experiment the graph
that is produced may be saved onto the hard disk. As an example select
Flow Control (Control, Flow) and click START to see the default
simulation then click File, Save to save the graph to the hard disk. Now
close down PCUSIM then restart it and click File, Open to retrieve this
trend. Over a period of time a family of informative trends can be built
up to illustrate key features such as proportional offset, the benefits of
integral action, integral windup and the advantages and disadvantages of
derivative action etc.
Software Facilities Reference

PCUSIM is very straightforward to use with a graphical interface that is
similar to the software included with the PCU itself. It has four main
menus named File, Control, Setup and Help.
File Menu
The File menu provides five choices as follows:
New begins a new simulation.
Open opens and displays a trend file (previously saved to disk)
produced by an earlier simulation. (See section headed Saving and
retrieval of trends above).
Save saves the current simulation trend to disk for later retrieval.
Print prints the current simulation trend.
Exit exits from PCUSIM.
PCUSIM User Manual
Control Menu
The Control menu provides six choices as follows:
System Mimic gives manual control of the main PCU features, illustrating
the concept of SCADA.
Flow allows control of the rate of flow of water from the sump to the
process tank in litres/minute.
Temperature allows control of the temperature of the body of water in the
process tank.
Batch Volume allows control of the supply (volume/temperature) of
heated water from the process tank overflow.
Fluid Level allows control of the level of the water in the process tank.
Open Loop allows open loop control of the rate of flow of water from the
sump to the process tank.
Setup menu
The Setup menu provides three choices as follows:
Toolbar turns on the toolbar to reveal graphical command icons.
Easy Menu pops up a diagram of the PCU with buttons for control options
and trend retrieval below it.
Preferences opens a window in which certain start up preferences may be
specified. (See section headed Initialisation of the software below).
Help Menu
The Help menu provides two options:
Contents gives entry to the help information for all features of the
software, (also accessible by hitting F1).
About gives software version number.
PCUSIM User Manual
Initialisation of the software

Before using PCUSIM the start up preferences should be specified by
selecting Preferences from the Setup menu. The Program Interface field
allows the user to set whether PCUSIM is always maximised and whether
the toolbar and/or easy menu are displayed at start up. Language
selection can also be made on this window.
Definitions of Terms used in Subsequent Sections

Start/Stop starts or stops the simulated process. Once the process has
begun, the data will be captured and displayed on the trend. Viewing
stored data is mouse controlled and highly intuitive. Once stopped, data
can be saved or printed.
Control Mode may be PID Control or Manual Control.
PID Control uses three term control to calculate the output signal which
is used to drive the pump or heating element. Essentially a three-term
controller takes a measured value from the sensor (flow meter, temperature
probe or level sensor) and compares it against the set point (desired value).
The discrepancy between the measured and desired values, called the
error, is used to determine the control output signal. This is all represented
in the following block diagram, labelled for the flow loop, though do note
that the same basic closed loop arrangement applies to the control of
flow rate, temperature, batch volume and level within PCUSIM.
The line running from the block labelled Flow Measurement to the
circular summing junction in the diagram is known as the feedback signal
and any process that contains such a signal is a closed loop system. The
three components of a three-term controller each behaves in a different
way but when combined they can provide a very accurate degree of
control. The three elements of the controller are the Proportional term, the
Integral term and the Derivative term, hence the other name by which this
type of algorithm is known, PID control. The proportional term
produces an output (Q) that is directly proportional to the error between
PCUSIM User Manual
the desired setpoint (SP) and the measured value (MV). All of these
variables are functions of time, hence:
error (t ) = SP(t ) MV (t )
Proportional action can be defined by either the Proportional Gain (PG) or
the Proportional Band (PB), described below. Controllers that use only
proportional action are possible however they can suffer from the effects of
steady state errors i.e. a constant discrepancy between the desired and
measured values. This constant error is commonly known as proportional
offset. The proportional gain (PG) is a constant supplied by the user that
is multiplied by the error to give the control output:
Q(t ) = PG * error (t )
In proportional mode there is a saturation value of error when the control
output reaches 100%. Thereafter further increases in error do not produce
any further increase in the control output. The error band where the output
is between 0 and 100% is called the proportional band. To describe the
proportional control in terms of this band, the output is generated from the
constant proportional band (PB) supplied by the user according to the
following equation:
Q(t ) =
100
* error (t )
PB
Integral action is used to determine a component of control output based

upon the history of the error. It is calculated by finding the net area under
the error curve against time and then dividing this value by a constant
called the Integral Action Time (I) and multiplying it by the proportional
gain (PG). The controller equation is:
Q(t ) =
PG
error (t )dt
I
The integral action time I, sets the time taken for the integral action to
duplicate the proportional action of the controller, if the error was to
remain constant during this period. Integral action is most commonly used
to remove any steady state error (proportional offset) incurred when using
a proportional only controller.
Derivative action is based upon the time rate of change of error multiplied
by a constant called the Derivative Action Time (D). The controller
equation is:
10
PCUSIM User Manual
Q(t ) = PG * D
de
dt
The derivative action time D, sets the time taken for the proportional
action of the controller to duplicate the instantaneous output of the
derivative element. The derivative control mode is never used alone as
there is no controller output corresponding to zero rate of change.
Derivative action is the final refinement of a three-term controller and is
often used to reduce the response time of the system. However it is
important to note that it can exaggerate high frequency noise in the system.
The three basic control methods described above may be mixed in any
measure to provide a P(roportional) plus I(ntegral) plus D(erivative)
controller.
Sample Time is an important factor that affects the performance of a
three-term controller. It is the time interval between successive measured
values. A long period between samples reduces the need for rapid
analogue to digital conversion and reduces the computational load, but as
the sample time is increased a number of degrading effects become
significant. If the sampling frequency is too low then important high
frequency information will be lost. As the time between consecutive
samples is effectively a dead time, the closed loop stability of the system
may be reduced.
Experiment Time for the batch volume simulation may be varied between
60 and 600 seconds. This is the period over which the target volume (set
point) of water should be delivered at the overflow outlet of the process
tank.
Set Point is the process variable desired value that the controller is trying
to achieve and maintain. It can either be a fixed value or a square, saw
tooth, ramp or sinusoidal waveform for the flow and fluid level
simulations. For the temperature and batch volume simulations fixed value
set points only are available, for obvious reasons.
Traffic Light displays are used in PCUSIM to show the real-time state of
the system. When red the process has been halted. When green the
process is running in real-time. When amber the process is running slow
heavy processing of some sort is taking place e.g. moving windows, other
programs, or processing by Windows, and the system is catching up a
fraction each sample cycle. Recurrent amber can be solved by closing
other programs, increasing the processing capacity of the computer or
increasing the sample time.
11
PCUSIM User Manual
Trends show the results from the simulation session. To display more
data on the screen the user may adjust the slider to the top right of the
trend. This slider varies the time base of the trend. The arrows to the left
of the trend allow the data to be scrolled left or right. Direct numerical
input equivalents for these two features are also provided.
Auto Drain is a function that automatically steps the drain valve open and
closed in a repeating cycle if the measured level is greater than the set
point in the fluid level simulation.
Manual Control
To switch any of the actuators on, simply hover over the item until the
cursor changes to a pointing hand and then click the left mouse button. To
switch the actuators off, repeat this action. The pump is controlled by
means of the Pump Output slider and the Flow Rate display near the centre
of the PCU will show a number of litres/minute depending upon the setting
of this control. Three strategically positioned temperature probes give
immediate readouts on the displays labelled Flow Temperature, Sump
Tank Temperature and Process Tank Temperature.
Flow Control
Control of the flow rate may be achieved either manually using the
simulated gate valve on the PCU (+ and - buttons) to adjust the flow
rate or automatically using a P, PI or PID controller. In the case of manual
control the pump is operated at its maximum speed, producing a constant
output of approximately 1.75 litres/minute. By switching between manual
and automatic control the user is able to compare his performance to that
of the computer. The flow rate is measured by the flow meter and this
value is used to draw the cyan trace on the graph.
Temperature Control
Control of the temperature of the body of water in the process tank may be
achieved using a P, PI or PID controller. The temperature is measured by
a platinum resistance temperature probe (PRT) in the process tank and this
value is used to draw the red trace on the graph.
12
PCUSIM User Manual
Batch Volume Control

In many industrial processes it is necessary to supply a volume (batch) of
liquid at a prescribed temperature to some secondary process. This can be
demonstrated within PCUSIM by combining both the flow and
temperature control cycles. The batch volume simulation requires that set
points for both the fluid volume in litres and temperature in C are
specified by the user. The batch volume simulation assumes that the
process tank is initially filled with water at the desired temperature.
During the batch control cycle the water is heated and pumped
simultaneously in order to supply the specified volume of water at the
prescribed temperature over the required period and the systems response
is displayed. Batch volume control may be achieved using pairs of P, PI or
PID controllers.
Fluid Level Control

The level sensor provides an analogue feedback value that represents the
level of water in the process tank. Control of the water level may be
achieved using a P, PI or PID controller to control the flow of water being
pumped into the process tank.
Open Loop Control

Open loop control allows a user-determined function, either a step, ramp or
sine wave etc. to be applied to the pump. The systems open loop response
is then drawn on the screen. A block diagram of the control loop is shown
below:
13
PCUSIM User Manual
Saving
PCUSIM can save the trend data recorded during a simulation session to a
comma-delimited file suitable for importing into many different statistical
packages such as Microsoft Excel or Mathworks MATLAB. You must
complete a simulation session before you can to save the data. The data
can be analysed online by opening the file and examining the trends on the
screen.
Printing
When printing from PCUSIM the package automatically selects the default
printer and default settings. To change this click on the change button next
to the printer name. You can print all of the traces at once or single traces
by selecting from the available choice. You can select to print the whole
diagram or just a portion of it. The default range is that displayed in the
upper trend window on the control screen. Selection between black and
white and colour style of printing is available. Traces will automatically
have different colours on a colour printer. Black and white style varies
line thickness and dashing to provide distinction on black and white
printers. On colour printers, it is recommended that this option be turned
off.
Trend Updating
PCUSIM can display trends saved to disk from physical experiments
carried out on an actual PCU. File upgrade for trends saved under old
(DOS) versions of PCU software is provided via the PCU Trend Update
utility. This is available from the Bytronic program group in the Start
menu, along with PCUSIM. To update a saved trend, run the utility and
select the File menu and from that select Convert. Follow the graphical
prompts to select the data file to be updated, moving up and down the
directory tree as necessary. Use the drop-down box toward the base of the
screen to select between Flow, Temperature etc. files. When ready click
Open, there will be a short delay and then a message box will appear. If
the conversion worked this will say Conversion OK. If there were any
problems, e.g. the format of the selected file was inappropriate, some form
of error message will appear and the program will halt. Following a
successful conversion click OK and you will be prompted to give a new
file name to store the data.
14
PCUSIM User Manual
By default the data will be saved into a new file in the same directory with
the same name but new file extension .psm, although you can save the file
in any location or with any name or extension by changing these here.
Finally click Save and all will be saved ready to load into PCUSIM.
15
PCUSIM User Manual
Courseware Suggestions
Exercise 1: Proportional Control
Run flow loop simulations using proportional only control with the
following pairs of SP and PG values. Record the eventual steady state
flow rate values in litres/minute in the table below, once the initial
oscillations have decayed.
SP (l/min)
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
PG Steady State
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10
SP (l/min)
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
PG Steady State
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
What conclusions about the nature of proportional only control may be

drawn from your observations? You should be able to see that for a given
SP the final steady state value increases as PG is increased. However
there is no value of PG for which the steady state value is exactly equal to
the SP because with proportional control there must always be some error
in order for there to be a controller output. As PG is increased there is also
an increase in the magnitude and duration of the initial oscillations and if
PG is too high many systems will oscillate continuously and never settle to
a steady state.
The second set of eight simulations suggested in this exercise reveal
another important point. For a proportional only controller with a given
PG value although the set point is never reached, the resulting steady state
value increases as the set point is increased. This shows that it is possible
to use simpler and cheaper proportional only control by setting SP a
suitable amount higher than the truly desired value, effectively deceiving
the controller.
16
PCUSIM User Manual
This strategy might be acceptable in a situation where the set point is not
going to change at all or where external disturbances are minimal but if
either of these conditions is not true then a more sophisticated controller is
generally required. To prove this run a simulation with PG = 1 and SP = 2
which means that we should actually obtain a steady state value of 1
litre/minute and if this is the truly desired value, and there are no
disturbances, then all will be fine. When the flow has settled down adjust
the manual gate valve by clicking the buttons marked - and +. If you
partially close the valve by clicking one, two or three times on the -
button you will see that the flow rate immediately drops and then climbs
back up towards the value of 1 litre/minute but does not reach it. You
should also observe that the control output trace (white) is nowhere near
the maximum value so there is plenty of capacity for the control output to
be increased but the simple proportional only controller is not capable of
doing this. If you reopen the valve by clicking one, two or three times on
the + button you will see that the flow rate climbs quickly back up to the
value of 1 litre/minute. A few minutes spent experimenting in this manner
will convince you that a proportional only controller is very deficient when
external disturbances affect the process!
The following diagram illustrates the proportional offset that is often
(although not always) encountered when proportional only controllers are
used. (See exercise 8 on fluid level control for an example where this is
not true).
17
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 2: Proportional and Integral Control

Run a flow loop simulation using only proportional control initially and
then adding in an element of integral action after about ten seconds.
Repeat this process several times and each time increases the amount of
integral action according to the following table. In order to turn off the
integral action completely you can either remove the tick from the white
box to the left of the I term or you can leave this in and set the I term to
999. (Note that the amount of integral action is inversely proportional to
the integral action time as it is specified in PCUSIM and on the table
below). Record the final steady state flow value (if the flow actually does
settle) and your main observations as to the nature of the response.
SP (l/min)
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
PG
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
I
999
100
50
10
5
1
0.5
0.2
0.1
Steady State
Observations
What conclusions about the effects of integral action upon the nature of a
PI controller may be drawn from your observations? As in exercise 1, a
controller with no integral action (I = 999) is characterised by a response
that exhibits a constant offset between the SP and the steady state of the
process variable. This is referred to as the proportional offset. When a
relatively small amount of integral action is added (I = 100, 50, 10) the
flow rate increases gently and produces a trace that is similar to a
capacitor-charging curve. Clearly the integral action takes account of the
recent history of the error whereas the proportional action only reacts to
the current value of the error. PI control can be very effective if the terms
are chosen appropriately and with I =1, the response is rapid with little or
no oscillation. However it is possible to have too much of a good thing
as the last simulation reveals. Increasing the integral action above that
which is suitable for a given system can lead to instability and the
possibility of gross oscillations in the value of the process variable.
With the integral action time set to 0.3 seconds the response is lightly
damped which means that whilst the control loop is not unstable, (i.e.
continuous large amplitude and/or growing oscillations), the controller is
not optimally tuned for critical or near critical damping.
18
PCUSIM User Manual
Optimal tuning of the PI controller in this case requires an integral action

time of about 1 second if PG = 1. The lightly damped response is an
interesting study and it is important because some real world systems are
deliberately designed to be lightly damped. (A classic example is the
suspension on an American car, on British vehicles the suspension is
normally tuned for near critical damping). The following diagram
illustrates several important terms that are routinely used to describe
system response curves.
The definitions that follow may equally be applied to open or closed loop
systems.
The Overshoot is the maximum amount by which the response exceeds the
final steady state value of the process variable. It is sometimes expressed
as a percentage of the final steady state value.
The Rise Time is the time taken for the response to increase from 10% of
its final steady state value to 90% of its final steady state value.
19
PCUSIM User Manual
The Settling Time is the time taken for the response to reach its final
steady state value, within some specified tolerance. The diagram above
shows the settling time for a 5% tolerance.
The Periodic Time or Period is the duration of one complete cycle of
oscillation. It can therefore be measured as the interval between alternate
crossings of the final steady state value or the interval between successive
peaks or successive troughs on the response curve.
The Frequency is the reciprocal of the period, i.e. the number of cycles
per second that is expressed in Hertz (Hz). Sometimes the frequency is
expressed in radians per second and the relationship between the two units
is that radians per second equals 2 times the frequency in Hertz.
The Transport Delay is the period during which there is no change in the
process variable after a step change has been made to the set point. (In an
open loop situation the set point is obviously meaningless, it is the manual
control output which is stepped up or down in this case).
20
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 3: Saturation and Integral Windup

Run a flow loop simulation using PI control with P = 1 and I = 1. These
are close to the optimum settings and if you make changes to SP, both up
and down, you will see that the response is rapid and without excessive
oscillation.
Once you have the flow running smoothly with a set point of 1 litre/minute,
experiment with opening and closing the manual gate valve (positioned
just before the flow meter on the physical PCU) by clicking the buttons
marked - and +. You should see that the PI controller brings the flow
smartly back to the set point without much overshoot in each case. Now
restrict the flow by closing the gate valve with six rapid clicks on the -
button. The controller output (white trace) will shoot up to 100% as it tries
to compensate but even with this maximum control effort the restriction is
such that the flow rate is held below the SP. The system is now seen as
saturated. Allow this to continue for say twenty-five seconds and then
suddenly open the valve by clicking repeatedly on the + button. You
will see that the flow rate immediately increases to a value well above the
SP and stays there for between five and ten seconds before falling back to
the SP. The following diagram summarises the nature of these changes.
21
PCUSIM User Manual
Why does this effect occur? This phenomenon, which is called integral
windup (or reset windup), is due to the fact that the integral term within
the PI controller generates a component of the control output that is based
upon the recent history of the error.
If you look closely at the graph you will see that the area between the cyan
trace and SP (measured from when the valve was closed to when it was
opened) is equal to the area between the cyan trace and SP (measured from
when the valve was opened until the flow rate once again reached the SP).
In more elaborate industrial controllers there is often a feature called anti
reset windup which can be used to eliminate this problem so that after a
saturation episode the process variable will be returned to the SP as soon
as the physics of the hardware allows.
22
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 4: Three Term or PID Control

In this exercise you will learn about the effect of derivative action. Run a
flow simulation with SP = 1, PG = 1 and the I and D terms turned off.
After a few seconds set I = 0.15. The result will be similar to that seen in
exercise 2, a proportional offset whilst there is no integral term followed
by permanent oscillations once the integral term is added. Clearly too
much integral action was added to the controller!
To eliminate the oscillation we could simply reduce the integral action by
increasing the I term to say 1 but it would be useful if we could retain the
rapid response which the higher integral action confers without pushing the
system into unstable oscillations. Whilst this is not always possible with a
PI controller, a PID controller is usually capable of eliminating instability
and providing a fast response.
Run another simulation with the same initial settings and after a few
seconds add the same integral term of 0.15 and a derivative term of 0.1
second. You will see that after the initial sudden rise the flow trace does
oscillate about six or seven times but there is a smooth decay of the
amplitude and it soon settles at the SP. A little more derivative action will
improve the response, try D = 0.35 second to prove this. The following
diagram summarises the phenomena that you should have observed.
Beware that despite the benefits, derivative action may give rise to
detrimental effects in some situations, particularly if there is a significant
amount of high frequency noise in the measured, and hence error, value.
Derivative action can dramatically amplify this noise and degrade the
performance of the controller.
23
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 5: Ziegler / Nichols Tuning

How does one select appropriate proportional, integral and derivative
values for any given process? Simply plucking numbers out of the air and
trying them in a PID controller might be acceptable for very small systems
but if you were trying to establish a control algorithm for a full sized
industrial process then this would not be a very good strategy!
First of all this method could well be quite time consuming which might
bring about financial losses due to the plant downtime. This approach
might also risk causing damage to actuators or sensors - if it was to drive
them beyond their intended range of operating values for instance. A more
scientific approach to finding a reasonable set of PID terms is required.
Ziegler/Nichols tuning is a popular semi-empirical method of obtaining
approximate PID values that can be applied successfully to many different
types of processes. The method provides a reasonable starting point and
the experienced control engineer might wish to adjust the calculated PID
terms slightly to improve the nature of the response. There are two
techniques the first called the continuous cycling method assumes that
the closed loop system can be made to oscillate permanently with a
proportional only controller, as illustrated by the following graph.
The continuous cycling method requires that the gain of a proportional

only controller be increased little by little until the onset of permanent
24
PCUSIM User Manual
oscillations occurs. At this point the value of the gain (kp) together with
the period of the resultant oscillation (T) are noted.
The recommended two and three term controllers are then given by:
PI:
PID:
PG = 0.45kp
PG = 0.6kp
IAT = 0.83T
IAT = 0.5T
DAT = 0.125T
Run some flow simulations similar to those of exercise 1 with SP=1.

Increase the PG value from 1.0 to about 3.5, initially in increments of 0.5
or so. Try to estimate the lowest PG value that produces permanent
oscillations in the flow rate. (You might need to adjust the PG value by
0.1 or 0.2 when you get close to this ultimate proportional gain). Record
the PG value (kp) together with the period of the oscillation (T) and use
them in the expressions quoted above for PI and PID algorithms. Apply
these control algorithms to the flow simulation and note your observations
in the table below.
Algorithm
PI
Observations
PID
Of course many systems cannot be made unstable (i.e. caused to oscillate)

by means of a proportional only controller and for some industrial systems
it might be undesirable to do this anyway because of the risk of damage
referred to above.
The second Ziegler/Nichols tuning technique called the process reaction
curve method requires that an open loop step response curve be produced
showing a measurable transport delay or dead time. (Transport delay is
the period during which there is no change in the process variable after the
controller output has been stepped up or down).
25
PCUSIM User Manual
The following graph shows a typical process reaction curve.
The process reaction curve method requires that an open loop step
response of the system is obtained as shown above. From this graph the
maximum slope (R) and the transport delay (L) are noted. The step input
expressed as a fraction of the total range of the input (
u) is also required.
(In the open loop section of PCUSIM the step input fraction u is
calculated very easily since the step input to the pump is specified as a
percentage. When the input is 50%, u = 0.5, when the input is 70%, u
= 0.7 and so on). The recommended two and three term controllers are
then given by:
PI:
PID:
PG = 0.9
u/RL IAT = 3.3L
PG = 1.2
u/RL IAT = 2L
DAT = 0.5L
Select the Open Loop option from the PCUSIM Control menu and run an
open loop simulation with a step input to the pump of 80%. Estimate the
values of R and L from the resultant graph and record them with the u
value (0.8 in this case). Use these values in the expressions quoted above
for PI and PID algorithms.
26
PCUSIM User Manual
Apply these control algorithms to the flow simulation and note your
observations in the table below.
Algorithm
PI
Observations
PID
Do you think that the PI and PID algorithms derived from the continuous
cycling method or those derived from the process reaction curve method
gave the best results? In real world processes there are sometimes
recommendations as to whether you should start off with one technique or
the other. Sometimes this will be because of concerns about safety, risk of
damage and downtime as mentioned before but often it is down to the
personal choice of the senior engineer!
27
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 6: Temperature Control

Run several temperature loop simulations using PI control with the
following parameters. In order to turn off the integral action completely
you can either remove the tick from the white box to the left of the I term
or you can leave this in and set the I term to 999. (Note that the amount of
integral action is inversely proportional to the integral action time as it is
specified in PCUSIM and on the table below). Record the eventual steady
state temperatures of the water in the process tank and your main
observations as to the nature of the response in the table below. You will
need to allow the traces to be drawn for about three minutes in some cases.
Starting
Point
20C
20C
20C
20C
20C
20C
20C
20C
SP
PG
30C
30C
30C
30C
30C
30C
30C
30C
10
10
10
10
100
100
100
100
999
100
10
1
999
100
10
1
Steady State
Observations
What conclusions may be drawn about the nature of the temperature

control loop and the responses produced?
Clearly the temperature loop presents a radically different scenario to the
flow loop. It has a much larger lag, i.e. it is a much slower process and
its requirement for an integral component within the controller is also quite
different from the flow loop. This temperature control loop has an element
of built in integral action by virtue of the heat capacity of the water in the
process tank. This is why the temperature does eventually reach the set
point, even without an integral term in the controller!
To gain an understanding of this, consider the following argument. What
happens to the flow rate when the pump is turned off? Obviously the flow
rate drops to zero straight away. What happens to the temperature of the
water when the heater is switched off? Clearly its temperature does not
immediately drop to zero; in fact the temperature of the water only reduces
very slowly due to natural processes such as evaporation.
(This is why its not acceptable to allow any initial overshoot - once
overheated; the water in the process tank cannot be forcibly cooled).
28
PCUSIM User Manual
The heat capacity of the liquid in a real world process tank will also
provide a free integral effect but you usually need to add some integral
action to the controller to achieve the optimum response. (If the tank was
poorly insulated and the temperature SP was very high then you would
need more integral action than if the tank was well insulated and the SP
was lower).
29
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 7: Batch Volume Control

Run a batch volume simulation with volume SP = 3 litres in 3 minutes
and temperature SP = 40C using the default PID terms for the volume and
temperature controllers. This will produce a graph with six traces the most
important of which are the red and dark green ones. The red trace
represents the measured temperature and this should follow the light green
temperature SP line reasonably well. The dark green trace represents the
volume of liquid that has been displaced from the process tank rather than
the flow rate. This trace should meet the blue volume SP line at the 3minute mark. (The flow rate is the gradient of the dark green line and you
should see that this averages 1 litre per minute, i.e. 3 litres on the y-axis
divided by 3 minutes on the x-axis).
With the default PI controllers the results are acceptable both for
temperature and volume control although you might be able to improve the
response a little (particularly in the case of the temperature) by adjusting
the parameters.
Experiment with different combinations of volume and temperature set
points and try different sets of PI and PID controllers. Make observations
and note down any comments in the table below.
Observations
30
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 8: Fluid Level Control

Run a set of fluid level control simulations beginning with an empty
process tank and using the following parameters. Ensure that the Auto
Drain feature is turned off in each case. In order to turn off the integral
action completely you can either remove the tick from the white box to the
left of the I term or you can leave this in and set the I term to 100,000.
(Note that the amount of integral action is inversely proportional to the
integral action time as it is specified in PCUSIM and on the table below).
You will need to allow the simulation to run for at least two minutes in the
case where I = 100,000. Record the eventual steady state level of the
water in the process tank and your main observations as to the nature of the
response in the table below.
SP
30%
30%
30%
30%
30%
30%
30%
30%
30%
PG
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
I
100,000
20,000
10,000
4,000
2,000
1,400
1,000
700
500
Steady State
Observations
What conclusions about the nature of these fluid level experiments may be
drawn from your observations?
The best response was achieved by the proportional only controller (i.e.
the one with I = 100,000) and this fact seems to militate against what you
learned from studying flow rate control in the earlier exercises. Normally
we might expect to see a proportional offset when using a proportional
only controller, so why is there no such offset seen in this particular
example? Also, why is there apparently no need of an integral term within
the algorithm that controls the pump being used to raise the liquid to the
desired level?
These questions can lead us to an insight into the fundamental nature of
level control when it is implemented by pumping liquid into a closed tank.
(Incidentally the word closed in this context simply means that the level
set point is never specified to be above any overflows or other outlets, it
does not imply that the tank should actually have a lid on top of it!).
31
PCUSIM User Manual
This type of approach to level control is not unique to the Bytronic PCU of
course! Many industrial and other processes including the ubiquitous toilet
cistern regulate level by controlling the rate at which liquid flows into a
closed container.
You can see the effectiveness of a simple proportional level controller at
any time by lifting the cover off any convenient toilet cistern. The rate at
which the water under mains pressure flows into the tank is determined by
the choking action of the ball cock valve. The valve is progressively
closed by the action of the rising water as the floating ball lifts the lever
connected to it. The valves degree of openness is proportional to the
difference between the desired level and the actual level. No one would
argue that once the inrush of water has come to an end the cistern is full to
the desired level, (defined by the geometry of the ball/lever assembly)
which should obviously be below the emergency overflow. This is similar
to what you see with PCUSIM, the proportional controller brings the level
up to the set point smoothly and then the pump cuts off altogether. (What
is the effect of increasing PG in the proportional only controller?).
The graph above shows several fluid level responses taken from PCUSIM
simulations (with PG = 5 in each case), drawn on the same axes.
It is clear that there is a progressive increase in what we might call an
integral offset effect as the magnitude of the integral action is increased.
How can we account for this phenomenon? The questions to answer then
are: why is there no proportional offset, why is an integral term in the
controller unnecessary and why do integral terms give rise to offsets in this
kind of level control?
32
PCUSIM User Manual
The explanation is that by its very nature the process itself provides an
element of integral action due to the volumetric capacity of the tank. (It is
said to have a free integrator in transfer function parlance, i.e. a 1/s term
in its Laplace Transform). Consider for a moment the case of flow control,
here some output to the pump is required if there is to be any fluid flow at
all, if the pump is off then there can definitely be no flow. With the level
control however there is always a certain level of water when the pump is
off, and if the pump is running then the level will always be rising.
Integral action in a PI (or PID) controller takes account of the recent
history of the error by adding up the errors for a fixed number of recent
samples and contributing a component of controller output which is
proportional to this sum. With the level control situation the volumetric
capacity of the tank continuously integrates the incoming flow rate that
results in an increasing depth of liquid. This intrinsic characteristic is
analogous to the familiar integration of velocity to obtain displacement
thus:
In the level control experiment the actual water level is the integral of the
flow rate into the tank. Therefore even with a proportional only flow rate
controller, both proportional and integrating actions are present within the
closed loop formed by the controller and the process. As a result of this
intrinsic integral effect there will never be a proportional offset and an
explicit integral term in the control algorithm would be entirely redundant.
Any integral term that is added either produces no visible effect (if it is
very small) or the aforementioned integral offset effect because it keeps the
control output to the pump higher for longer than is required.
There is one other point that needs to be borne in mind. This level control
scenario is non-linear in that the water level may be increased by
controlling the pump but, irrespective of the algorithm, the level cannot be
lowered through any use of the pump. Once a particular level has been
reached, even with the pump turned off completely it cannot be lowered.
The only means of lowering the level is to open one of the drain valves. (If
you think about it, this again is exactly true of the toilet cistern that was
discussed above).
33
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 9: Open Loop Control

Run a set of open loop simulations using a sinusoidal input signal with Min
= 30% and Max = 80% to drive the pump. Vary the Period between 0.5
and 20 seconds. Record your main observations as to the nature of the
response in the table below.
Period (s)
0.5
1
2
3
4
5
7.5
10
15
20
Observations
What conclusions may be drawn about the nature of the open loop
responses produced? Firstly you should see that the output from the
system, i.e. the flow measured value (cyan trace) is a sine wave which
always has the same period as the input to the system, i.e. the signal
driving the pump (white trace). One of the characteristics of any linear
system is that the resulting (output) signal always has the same waveform
as the driving (input) signal. If, for the same period, the amplitude of the
input was say doubled (or halved) then the amplitude of the output would
be doubled (or halved) accordingly.
[As an analogy, consider an alternating voltage applied across a resistor.
An alternating current will pass through the resistor that will have exactly
the same frequency (and hence period) as the voltage waveform. The
amplitude of this alternating current will, in general, be different from that
of the voltage but they will always have the same waveform and frequency.
The waveforms will also be in phase, i.e. their peaks and troughs will
always coincide. If the resistor was replaced by a capacitor then the
alternating current would have the same waveform and frequency but this
time it would be out of phase with the alternating voltage as well as
having a different amplitude.
If the capacitor was replaced by a non-linear device such as a diode
bridge, then the current would no longer match the voltage in terms of its
waveform or frequency. (i.e. in the case of full wave rectification).].
34
PCUSIM User Manual
You should also see that the ratio of the amplitude of the input to the
amplitude of the output (which is referred to as the gain), varies between
the simulations and that the peaks and troughs of the two traces never
coincide exactly. The traces are out of phase or separated by a phase
angle. At lower frequencies the peaks and troughs tend towards
coincidence but at higher frequencies they separate dramatically. At the
higher frequencies (~ 1 Hertz) the input and output traces can be seen to be
in antiphase, i.e. the peaks of the input occur at roughly the same time as
the troughs of the output and vice versa. These observations lead us
naturally to the concept of frequency response. The frequency response
of a system is usually summarised in the form of specialised graphs of gain
versus frequency and phase angle versus frequency (often plotted
logarithmically) called Bode gain and phase plots.
35
PCUSIM User Manual
Exercise 10: Bode Plots

Repeat the set of open loop simulations from exercise 9 but this time
estimate the gain and phase angle in each case and record the results in the
table below.
Period
(s)
0.5
1
2
3
4
5
7.5
10
15
20
100
Frequency (Hz)
Gain
Gain by
max. Gain
Phase Angle
()
2
1
0.5
0.333
0.25
0.2
0.133
0.1
0.067
0.05
0.01
You will need to minimise the period shown on the graph (using the slider
at the top right) after the higher frequency simulations, in order to magnify
the trace to estimate the phase angle. The gain can be calculated very
easily in each case by obtaining the maximum and minimum flow values
from the cyan trace, using the digitising cursor. The gain may then be
calculated from the following equation:
Gain = (Maximum Flow Rate - Minimum Flow Rate) / 50%
Here the 50% represents the peak-to-peak value of the input, i.e. 80% 30%. (The peak-to-peak ratio is identical to the amplitude ratio for the
input and output signals of course). The only problem with this is that the
input signal is quoted as a percentage and the output signal is measured in
litres per minute. In order to normalise the calculated gain values in this
situation we can divide all of the gain values by the maximum magnitude
of the gain; which will be when the period is very large. For practical
purposes it will be sufficient to estimate the gain when the period is 100
seconds or more and to divide all of the gain values by this figure. This
explains the presence of the second gain column above.
36
PCUSIM User Manual
The phase angle may be estimated in each case by observing how much
time passes from the moment the input reaches a peak (or trough) until the
output reaches the corresponding peak (or trough). If this time interval is
called T then the phase angle (in degrees) may be calculated from the
following equation:
Phase Angle = (
T/Period) * 360
Estimates of the gain and phase angle will of necessity be fairly inaccurate
at the highest frequencies due to the difficulty of acquiring accurate data
from the traces.
Once the table above has been completed use the data in the second, forth
and fifth columns to draw Bode Gain and Bode Phase plots for the flow
loop. The graph below shows the sort of results you should achieve.
The open loop section within PCUSIM gives us an opportunity to

introduce the subject of system frequency response and the Bode plot
method of representing it but this concept is more usually applied to servo
control systems (as found in robotics, aero-engineering, vehicle suspension
etc., etc.) rather than fluid process control systems. Normally Bode plots
are drawn with a logarithmic frequency scale and the frequency is plotted
in radians per second rather than hertz.
37
PCUSIM User Manual
Glossary of Terms
Actuator
Adc
Algorithm
Amplitude
Analogue to digital
conversion
Anti reset windup
Antiphase
Automatic control
Batch volume control

Block diagram
Bode plots
Closed loop
Comma delineated file
Continuous cycling
method
Control algorithm
Control cycle
Control loop
Device by means of which control output effects process variable,

e.g. pump, valve or heater.
Analogue to digital converter.
see control algorithm.
For a sinusoidal waveform, half the peak-to-peak value.
Operation by which analogue measurement values from real world
processes are converted electronically to a digital format that can be
manipulated by a microprocessor based controller.
Feature available on many industrial controllers that eliminates reset
windup (integral windup).
Situation in which the maxima of an input signal occur
simultaneously with the minima of the output signal and vice versa
Regulation of a process variable by means of an algorithm
implemented by a controller that is usually microprocessor based,
e.g. computer or PLC.
Control of supply of a specific volume of liquid at a specific
temperature over a specific period of time.
Visual method of describing a control loop based upon process,
controller and feedback blocks together with signal paths and (a)
summing junction(s).
Graphs showing system response in terms of gain and phase angle
plotted against frequency.
Any control loop in which the error value is used by the controller
algorithm to determine the control output.
File format compatible with software packages such as Microsofts
Excel and Mathworks MATLAB.
Ziegler/Nichols tuning method that requires that a closed control
loop can be made unstable by a proportional only controller.
Rule or set of rules by which controller generates control output(s),
based upon the error signal in a closed loop system.
Phrase sometimes used to refer to execution of a real world control
experiment or a PCUSIM simulation.
System comprising process, sensor(s), error feedback and source of
control output signal. If error feedback is used to calculate control
output then it is a closed loop, alternatively it is an open loop.
38
PCUSIM User Manual
Control output
Controller
Critical damping
D
Damping
Decay
Derivative,
Derivative action
Derivative term
Error
Feedback
Flat
Flow control
Flowmeter
Free integrator
Frequency
Frequency response
Gain
I
In phase
Signal generated by controller. Calculated from the error according

to control algorithm in a closed loop.
Device or software routine which applies a control algorithm to
determine a control output from the error signal in a closed loop.
Damping such that measured value reaches setpoint as quickly as
possible without any overshoot.
(Damping ratio = 1. Usually the optimum situation is when
damping ratio is about 0.7 that gives a single overshoot).
see derivative, derivative action, derivative term.
Force(s) that oppose the tendency of a system or control loop to
oscillate, e.g. friction, air resistance or the effect of controller.
Successive reduction in amplitude of control loop oscillations due
to damping force(s).
Third component in a PID or three-term control algorithm that takes
account of the time rate of change of error. Derivative action is
based upon the time rate of change of error multiplied by a constant
called the derivative action time D.
Function of time defined as the difference between setpoint (SP)
and measured value (MV).
Technique of using error signal to determine control output signal
that causes error to be minimised in a well tuned system.
Description of setpoint that remains at a certain fixed value until
changed by human intervention.
Control of rate of flow of a fluid through an open or closed channel.
Device for measuring rate of flow of fluid, the miniature turbine
type used on the PCU produces a pulsed signal which is processed
electronically to determine flow rate in litres/minute.
A concept from Laplace transform/transfer function theory that
refers to the way certain devices integrate an input with respect to
time thus obviating the requirement for integral action within any
associated controller. E.g. a tank integrates net inward fluid flow to
produce fluid level.
The rate of repetition of any periodic waveform, i.e. the number of
cycles of that waveform that occur in a unit of time. Usually quoted
in cycles per second, hertz (Hz) or radians per second.
Overview of the way a system responds to input signals across the
complete range of expected frequencies. Input signals include
setpoint, noise and external perturbations. Often displayed as Bode
graphs, i.e. gain and phase angle plotted against frequency.
The ratio of the amplitude of the output signal to the amplitude of
the input signal, i.e. output amplitude divided by input amplitude.
see integral, integral action, integral term.
Situation in which maxima of input and output signals occur
simultaneously and minima of input and output signals occur
simultaneously.
39
PCUSIM User Manual
Instability
Integral,
Integral action,
Integral term
Integral windup
Ladder program
Laplace transform
Level control
Lightly damped
Linearity
Logic
Manual control
Measured value
Mv
Noise
Non linearity
Normalise
Off-line
Open loop control
Characteristic of control loop that continues to oscillate with

constant or increasing amplitude.
Second component in a PI, PID or three-term control algorithm that
takes account of the recent history of the error. Integral action is
calculated by dividing the net area under the error curve against
time by the integral action time I.
see reset windup
Control program written in a PLC language known as ladder logic.
Result of a mathematical operation that converts functions of time
e.g. input and output signals, to functions of the Laplace variable
that is universally assigned the letter s. This allows more
convenient mathematical manipulation for advanced work on
control theory.
Control of level of a fluid in a particular vessel.
Description of a system where the damping forces are less than they
would be for critical damping. Lightly damped systems all oscillate
and the lighter the damping the more cycles of oscillation which are
produced.
Characteristic of a system that exhibits increases in its output that is
proportional to increases in its input. E.g. sinusoidal input and
output amplitudes in an open loop flow cycle.
Relationships between digital (i.e. on/off) inputs and the required
output signals programmed into the memory of a PLC or control
computer.
Situation in which a human operator determines the control
output(s) based upon the required value and current measured value
of the process variable
Function of time returned by the sensor and signal conditioning
which represents the value of the process variable.
See measured value
Normally random non-periodic signal superimposed upon one or
more of the signals in a control loop, having an amplitude which is
small in comparison to the magnitude of the signals of interest.
Characteristic of a system that does not exhibit increases in its
output that is proportional to increases in its input. E.g. flow of
current through a diode as voltage is increased from
-ve. To +ve.
Process of dividing all elements in a set of data by a chosen value,
(sometimes the value of one particular element, perhaps the largest)
in order to render the whole set more convenient for assimilation or
for comparison with other data sets.
Beyond the particular time period pertaining to real-time control of
a system or process.
Any control loop in which the error value is not used by the
controller to determine the control output.
40
PCUSIM User Manual
Open loop response
Optimal tuning
Oscillation,
Oscillatory
Overshoot
Pb
Pcu
Pcu trend update utility
Period,
Periodic time
Pg
Phase angle
PID control
Plc
Process control
Process control unit
Process reaction curve
method
Process variable
Programmable logic
controller
Proportional,
Proportional term
Proportional band
Proportional gain
A description of the way a system responds to certain input signals

such as sine waves, step changes or square waves etc. These input
signals may originate from manual/human intervention or from an
open loop control output. Obtaining an open loop response to a
series of well-chosen sine waves may be used to determine the
frequency response in the form of Bode graphs.
Tuning of the PID controller to produce the best possible results for
a given control system.
Periodic pattern, almost always sinusoidal, observed in the response
of a system.
Maximum amount by which measured value exceeds final steady
state value of process variable. Often expressed as percentage of
final steady state value.
see proportional band.
see Process Control Unit.
Software utility for converting old DOS based PCU trend files to
PCUSIM compatible format.
Duration of one complete cycle of oscillation i.e. interval between
alternate crossings of the final steady state value.
see proportional gain.
In the context of sinusoidal input and output signals, the amount by
which the input leads the output expressed in degrees or radians.
Automatic control based upon an algorithm that includes
proportional, integral and derivative contributions to the final
control output.
see Programmable Logic Controller
Phrase often (though not always) assigned to control of fluid flow
rate, temperature, level, batch volume, acidity, pressure etc.
Bytronic hardware system for illustrating and teaching PID control
upon which all PCUSIM simulations are based.
Ziegler/Nichols tuning method that requires that data from an open
loop response to a step change be acquired.
The feature of a process loop which is actually being controlled,
e.g. temperature, flow rate, level etc.
Microprocessor based device used widely in industry to control
digital and analogue processes. Essentially a specialised hardened
computer with its own (often idiosyncratic) programming language.
First component in a PI, PID or three-term control algorithm that
generates a component of the control output which is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the error.
The error band where the control output is between 0% and 100%.
Proportional band equals 100 divided by the proportional gain.
A constant multiplied by the error value to give a control output.
41
PCUSIM User Manual
Proportional offset
Ramp
Rate of flow
Real-time
Reset windup
Response,
Response curve
Rise time
Sample time
Sampling frequency
Saturation
Sawtooth
Scada
Servo control
Setpoint
Setpoint options
Settling time
Sp
Stability
Steady state
Step,
Step change
Summing junction
Steady state discrepancy between setpoint and measured value that

is characteristic of all systems which use proportional only control
and which do not have an intrinsic free integrator.
Description of setpoint which changes up or down gradually at a
fixed rate.
Velocity at which fluid moves along an open or closed channel,
usually expressed in litres per minute.
Description applied to computerised operation that occurs in step
with some real world process. E.g. display of process reaction
curves on remote SCADA computer. Used to make a distinction
from off-line presentation.
Accumulation of controller integral action debt after a saturation
episode. This offsets measured value from setpoint for longer than
the physics of the process would strictly require.
Shape of the trace produced by plotting process variable measured
value against time.
Time taken for the response to increase from 10% of its final steady
state value to 90% of its final steady state value.
Period between successive samples of measured value digitised by
ADC.
Rate at which samples of measured value are digitised by ADC.
Description for the situation when, even with 100% control output,
the measured value cannot be brought to the setpoint.
Description of setpoint which changes up and/or down periodically,
gradually and at a fixed rate.
see Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
Control of motor and solenoid actuated apparatus etc. Used to
make a distinction from fluid process control.
Desired value of the process variable.
PCUSIM facility to change the type of setpoints available accessed
via preferences menu.
Time taken for the process variable measured value to reach its final
steady state value within some specified tolerance.
see setpoint.
Characteristic of control loop in which all oscillations ultimately
decay completely after a step change.
The condition of a control loop once all transients have decayed
completely, after a step change. The steady state might be a fixed
measured value or an oscillation with a fixed amplitude.
Description of setpoint which changes up and/or down
instantaneously.
Point in a control loop block diagram symbolised by a crossed
circle where the measured value feedback is subtracted from the
setpoint to provide an error signal input for the controller.
42
PCUSIM User Manual
Supervisory Control and

Data Acquisition
System frequency
response
Temperature control
Three term control
Time constant
Trace
Transfer function
Transport delay
Trend
Tuning
Waveform
Wavelength
Ziegler/Nichols tuning
Use of (possibly remote) computer(s) to supervise one or more

PLCs that are controlling a local process. The computer can
acquire data from the PLC and display it as a real-time graph or
store it for off-line processing. It can also send new setpoint and/or
PID values to the PLC.
see frequency response.
Control of temperature of a fixed body of fluid in a vessel.
Automatic control by means of a PID control algorithm.
Parameter that characterises the speed of response of a control loop
or an element within a control loop.
Graph of process variable measured value, plotted against time.
Mathematical model (or description) of control loop block (e.g.
process or controller). Specifically the ratio of Laplace transform
of output signal to Laplace transform of test input signal.
Period during which there is no change in the process variable after
a step change has been made to the set point (in closed loop) or the
open loop control output.
Graph of process variable measured value plotted against time in
PCUSIM. This term is used to refer to complete graph once
simulation has stopped, or when retrieving from hard disk.
Selection of PID terms to be used within control algorithm.
The shape of one cycle of a periodic signal.
The length of one cycle of a periodic signal.
A pair of techniques for estimating appropriate PID values for a
given control loop. See continuous cycling method and process
reaction curve method.
43
PCUSIM User Manual

Pcusim Manual

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Pcusim Manual

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

PCUSIM

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Relationship to the Process Control Unit

PCUSIM simulates the same processes that are implemented on the

PCUSIM User Manual

PCU in the control-teaching laboratory. Many institutions might only have

Quick Demonstration of Main Features

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Batch Volume Control

Fluid Level Control

Open Loop Control

PCUSIM User Manual

Saving and Retrieval of Trends

Software Facilities Reference

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Initialisation of the software

Definitions of Terms used in Subsequent Sections

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Integral action is used to determine a component of control output based

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Batch Volume Control

Fluid Level Control

Open Loop Control

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

What conclusions about the nature of proportional only control may be

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Exercise 2: Proportional and Integral Control

PCUSIM User Manual

Optimal tuning of the PI controller in this case requires an integral action

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Exercise 3: Saturation and Integral Windup

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Bytronic International Ltd.

PCUSIM User Manual

Exercise 4: Three Term or PID Control

PCUSIM User Manual