Process Control

CME 321

Chapter 8

The Control System

Dr. Hadil Abu Khalifeh

Control System for Stirred tank Heater

8-2
Block Diagram

Controller:
software component implements math
hardware component provides calibrated signal for actuator
Actuator:
physical (with dynamics) process triggered by controller
directly affects process
Sensor:
monitors some property of system and transmits signal back to controller
8-3
Definitions
Set point: desired value of the controlled variable
Load: a change in any variable that may cause the control variable to change
Closed-loop or feedback system: means measured value of the controlled
variable is returned or “fed back” to a device called comparator.
Comparator: a device to compare controlled variable with the set point

8-4
The typical control problems

 Regulatory control
– the task is to counteract the effect of external
disturbances in order to maintain the output at its
constant set-point (disturbance rejection)

 Servo control
– the objective is to cause the output to track the
changing set-point

In both cases, one or more variables are

manipulated by the control system
Control Valve

Pneumatic control valves. (a) Air to

close; (b) air to open.
Controller

Schematic diagram of control system.

Closed-Loop Transfer Function
Block Diagram of Closed-Loop Process
D(s)
Set E(s) U(s) V(s)
point controller actuator process
R(s) +
Gc Gv Gp + +Y(s)
-

sensor
Ym(s)
Gm

Gp(s) - Process Transfer Function

Gc(s) - Controller Transfer Function

Gm(s) - Sensor Transfer Function

Gv(s) - Actuator Transfer Function

Closed Loop Transfer Function

Standard control system nomenclature.

Closed loop transfer functions

 Closed-loop process: Process in which the

feedback loop is connected to the comparator.
 Feedback path The path that connects the
controlled variable and the comparator.
 Forward path The transfer functions that lie
between two signals in the block diagram moving
left to right as drawn in the block diagram above.
The complete forward path consists of
G = G cG 1 G 2 .
The forward path between U and C is G 2 only.
 Open-loop process: Process in which the feedback
loop is disconnected from the comparator.
 Simple rule for the single-loop-feed-back systems

 forward product of transfer functions in forward path

between locations of X and Y

 loop product of all transfer functions in loop (i.e., from

figure above,  loop =G cG 1G 2H )
Example Determine the transfer functions C/R, C /U1,
and B /U2 for the system shown in Fig. Also determine
an expression for C in terms of R and U 1 for the
situation when both set point change and load change
occur simultaneously.
 Using the rule
 For separate changes in R and U 1 , we may
obtain the response C from

 If both R and U 1 occur simultaneously, the

principle of superposition requires that the overall
response be the sum of the individual responses;
thus
Feedback control
The process information (y) is fed back to the
controller
The objective is to reduce the error signal to zero,
where the error is defined as:
ysp = set point (target value)
e (t )  y sp (t )  y (t ) y = measured value

disturbance

comparator manipulated
ysp variable y
+ controller process
– error
set-point controlled
variable

transmitter
Controller Algorithms
 The actions of controllers can be divided into
groups based upon the functions of their control
mechanism.

 Each type of controller has advantages and

disadvantages and will meet the needs of
different applications.

 The Controllers are grouped as:

 Discrete controllers (On/ Off)

 Continuous controllers
Types of Controllers
 On-off
 Proportional (P)
 Integral (Reset Action Mode) (I)
 Derivative (D)
 Proportional Integral (PI)
 Proportional Derivative (PD)
 Proportional Integral Derivative (PID)
On/Off Controllers
 Discrete controllers (ON/ OFF): These
controllers have only two modes or positions:
on and off (two step). This type of control
doesn’t actually hold the variable at setpoint,
but keeps the variable within proximity of
setpoint in what is known as a dead zone.
 Two-step is the simplest of all the control
modes. The output from the controller is either
on or off with the controller's output changing
from one extreme to the other regardless of the
size of the error.
 On-Off Controllers
Synonyms: “two-position” or “bang-bang” controllers.
• Simple
• Cheap
• Used in residential heating and domestic refrigerators. Limited use in process
control due to continuous cycling of controlled variable  excessive wear on
control valve.

This is a special case of proportional control. In this case  valve

moves from fully open to fully close regardless the value of e(t)

 Two position control P(t)

 pmax if e0  open

p (t )   
 pmin if e0 
close

Pmax = 15 psig or 20 mA Pmin = 3 psig or 4 mA 20

Temperature Control On/Off Controller
Summary for on-off control

 Advantages
 simple & easy to design
 inexpensive
 easily accepted among operators
 Pitfalls
 The process oscillates.
 The final control element (usually a control valve) is
always opening and closing and this cause excessive
wear.
 There is no fixed operating point.
Continuous Control
 There are three basic control actions that are
often applied to continuous control:
1. Proportional (P)
2. Integral (I)
3. Derivative (D)
 It is also necessary to consider these in
combination such as P + I, P + D, P + I + D.
Although it is possible to combine the different
actions, and all help to produce the required
response, it is important to remember that both
the integral and derivative actions are usually
corrective functions of a basic proportional
control action.
 Continuous Control
Controllers automatically
compare the value of the
PV to the SP to
determine if an error
exists. If there is an error,
the controller adjusts its
output according to the
parameters that have
been set in the controller.
The tuning parameters essentially
determine:
How much correction should be made? The
magnitude of the correction (change in controller
output) is determined by the proportional mode of
the controller.

How long the correction should be applied? The

duration of the adjustment to the controller output
is determined by the integral mode of the controller

How fast should the correction be applied? The

speed at which a correction is made is determined
by the derivative mode of the controller.
Proportional Control (Mode)

With proportional control,

 the correcting element is adjusted In proportion to the
change in the measured value from the set point.

 The largest movement is made to the correcting

element when the deviation between measured value
and set point is greatest.

 Usually, the set point and measured value are equal

when the output is midway of the controller output
signal range.
Simple Proportional System
Proportional Control
Proportional - To handle the present

p= k(SP-M) + bias

Takes action on current error

 “correction
Proportional (P) controllers proportion
al to
The control variable is manipulated according to: error.”

Controller p: Controller output (%)

Output Controller output with no error
p (t )  p  K C e(t ) (e=0), controller bias
KC : Proportional gain
e: Error (%)

The controller gain can be adjusted (“tuned”) to make the

manipulated variable changes as sensitive as desired to
the deviations between set-point and controlled variable

The sign of KC can be chosen to make the controller

output p increase or decrease as the error increases
P-only controllers

p (t )  p  K C e(t )
The bias is the value of the controller output which, in
manual mode, causes the measured process variable to
maintain steady state at the design level of operation
[e (t )=0] when the process disturbances are at their
expected values
The bias value is assigned at the controller design level,
and remains fixed once the controller is put in automatic

p  p  const : at the nominal steady state

Proportional Control

p (t )  p  K c e(t )  p  K c  ysp (t )  ym (t ) 
where
p (t )  controller output
p = bias value (adjustable)
K c  controller gain (dimensionless, adjustable)
e(t )  error signal

Transfer Function
p  t   p  t   p  P  s 
  Gc  s    Kc
e  t   e  t   0  E  s 
An inherent disadvantage of proportional-only control is that a
steady-state error occurs after a set-point change or a sustained
disturbance.
The key concepts behind proportional control are the following:

1. The controller gain can be adjusted to make the controller

output changes as sensitive as desired to deviations between
set point and controlled variable;
2. the sign of Kc can be chosen to make the controller output
increase (or decrease) as the error signal increases.

For proportional controllers, bias p can be adjusted, a procedure

referred to as manual reset.
Some controllers have a proportional band setting instead of a
controller gain. The proportional band PB (in %) is defined as
u max  u min 100%
PB   (8-3)
Kc Kc
The 100% is the controller span defined as (umax-umin)
32
 Fundamental characteristics of P-action
1. Proportional action does not change the order of the process.

2. Proportional action responds faster than the open-loop process, Speeding the process is
the primary benefit of P-control
Kc3 > Kc2 > Kc1
3. An inherent disadvantage of proportional-only control is
that a steady-state error occurs after a set-point change or a
sustained disturbance. This steady state error is referred to
as: OFFSET
4. In general as: Kc↑  Offset↓

Theoretically as Kc    Offset  zero

 STABILITY ????

- The previous conclusions can also be reached if a disturbance is

to be considered instead of a set-point change.
Proportional-only control

Low Gain

Set value

Deviation Offset

Process variable

time

High gain
Set value
Offset
Deviation

time
- smaller offset
- less damping of measured value

CP0560
Example
qi  qo at steady state

Residual error
Design the controller:
(2.2)

(2.3)

3-37
Integral control:

3-38
3-39
3-40
3-41