10.

450 Process Dynamics, Operations, and Control

Lecture Notes - 21
Lesson 21. Controllers

21.0 Context
Once upon a time, a controller was a box that was installed near the sensor
and valve. Later it was a card and display device inserted in a rack in a
central control room. Now it can be a computer code that runs on a
processor. This lesson describes some of the ways in which the ideal PID
algorithm is actually deployed in operations.

21.1 Hardware and software

The first automatic controllers were mechanical devices that behaved like
the PID equation. Design of the device, and tuning during operation,
depended on mechanical properties of materials (e.g., spring constant,
elastic modulus) and geometric arrangement (e.g., spacing, clearance,
position of a set screw). For example, the float and lever arrangement in
the toilet tank is a proportional controller; the set point is always chosen
such that the valve closes trying to reach it.

One can still find pneumatic controllers in the process industries. Nozzles,
baffles, and bellows operate upon a compressed air supply to regulate the
compressed air signal given to the control valve. The next generation of
controllers used electronic elements to represent the controller algorithms.

These devices are classified as analog controllers - they process their

signals continuously, and are expressed in dedicated hardware.
Availability of powerful digital computers has allowed the controller to
become a program executing on a computer. These digital controllers
receive their input signals and deliver their output instructions
intermittently. By virtue of being a code, rather than hardware, the
algorithms may be more diverse, intricate, and flexible.

21.2 PID algorithm modifications

We defined the ideal PID algorithm as an intuitive response to the
presence of an error.

*
xCO (s) 1
Gc (s) = * = K c 1 + + Td s (21.2.1)
(s) Ti s

Some of the older controllers, constrained by hardware, executed the

derivative and integral modes in series, rather than parallel as implied by
(21.2.1)

1
*
x (s)
Gc (s) = CO* = K c 1+
1+ Td s (21.2.2)
(s)
Ti s

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 10.450 Process Dynamics, Operations, and Control
Lecture Notes - 21
Because a change to, e.g., the derivative time Td will affect the integral
action, this PID algorithm is called interacting. Controllers that
implement something more like the ideal (21.2.1) are termed non-
interacting. The mode interaction can be seen by expressing (21.2.2) in
the form of (21.2.1).

1 Td s
Gc (s) = K c 1+ +T s +
T s d
Ti s
i

(21.2.3)

Td 1 Ti Td
= K c 1+ 1+ + s
T
i Ti + Td s Ti + Td

Thus an interacting controller set at Kc, Ti, Td will behave like a non-
interacting controller set at

Td
Kc = Kc 1 +
T
i

Ti = Ti + Td (21.2.4)

Ti Td
Td =
T + T
i d

Notice that TiTd = TiTd. While (21.2.4) shows that a given interacting
setting has an equivalent non-interacting setting, the converse is not
necessarily true. That is, one cannot always take a given tuning
recommendation (Kc, Ti, Td) and find a setting (Kc, Ti, Td) to execute it
on an interacting controller. To see this, invert (21.2.4) to find

2
T T 4TiTd
Td = i i (21.2.5)
2 2

Equation (21.2.5) shows that real values of Td are available only if

Ti
Td (21.2.6)
4

If Td = Td = 0, then the interacting and non-interacting algorithms are

equivalent PI controllers, with Kc = Kc and Ti = Ti. For any Td between
this lower limit and the constraint of (21.2.6), equivalent performance can
be obtained on both algorithms. For larger Td, however, the integrating

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 10.450 Process Dynamics, Operations, and Control
Lecture Notes - 21
controller cannot duplicate the non-interacting controller. Shinskey
(1996) recommends that interacting controllers be tuned so that

Td 1
= (21.2.7)
3
Ti

This implies

Td 3
K c = 1.33K c and = (21.2.8)
Ti 16

21.3 P-mode terminology, units, and output limits

On some controllers, the gain is increased by decreasing a quantity known
as the proportional band P, where

100
Kc = (21.3.1)
P

In keeping with the notion that PID is an intuitive response to error,

irrespective of the nature of the controlled variable, useful units of gain
would be

%output
K c (= ) (21.3.2)
%input

In many cases it would be appropriate to have response capability

equivalent to expected deviation, so that the magnitude of Kc would be
around unity. If, however, the controller were programmed to have
engineering units (e.g., gpm/C), the magnitude of Kc set on the
controller could be considerably different from 1. When working with a
particular controller, be sure to understand the units of the gain, so that the
magnitude of the setting can be properly interpreted.

Even though the PID algorithm (21.1.1) can call for arbitrarily large
values of output xCO, the valve can only range between 0 and 100% open.
Hence, computations of xCO will normally be confined to the extreme
values should they exceed this range. (As a practical matter, this
limitation would occur anyway in the physical valve, but applying the
limit in computations would be very important when using a simulation to
tune a controller.)

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 10.450 Process Dynamics, Operations, and Control
Lecture Notes - 21
21.4 I-mode terminology and reset windup
On some controllers, the integral effect is increased by increasing a
quantity known as the reset rate R, where

1
R= (21.4.1)
Ti

The units of R are

repeats
R(= ) (21.4.2)
time

referring to the integral mode repeating the effect of the proportional

mode for a persistent constant error. That is, if the initial controller output
is Kc, after a duration of Ti with no change in error, the controller output
is 2Kc, or one repeat.

The assumption of the integral mode is that the controller output gets
stronger, as needed, until the error is driven to zero. In normal
circumstances, the manipulated variable does influence the controlled
variable, and the integral mode is effective in countering error. However,
if something is wrong - the valve stuck, the disturbance too large for the
manipulated variable to correct, some other fault in the process - the
controlled variable could be away from the set point for an extended time.
This causes the integral mode, in the ideal PID algorithm (21.1.1), to build
a large accumulated error. When the controlled variable finally returns
toward the set point, the ideal algorithm will force it to the opposite side to
work off the accumulated error. Known as reset windup, this occurs not
for any good control purpose, but to satisfy an algorithm that was not
intended for this circumstance.

Hence any practical implementation of PID must include anti-windup

measures. These have been accomplished by various means, in both
hardware and software.

21.5 D-mode filtering and set-point bypassing

Integral mode is necessary to eliminate offset, but can make a control loop
less stable, requiring the gain to be reduced. Derivative mode counters the
instability, allowing an increase in gain. Derivative mode is less necessary
for fast processes, and is unworkable on processes with noisy signals.
Hence practical PID implementation will often augment the derivative
mode with a first-order lag to filter the input signals. Equation (21.2.1)
becomes

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 10.450 Process Dynamics, Operations, and Control
Lecture Notes - 21
*
xCO (s) 1 Td s
Gc (s) = = K c 1+ + (21.5.1)
(s)
*
Ti s Td s +1

Increasing strengthens filtering; of course, this also decreases the

effectiveness of the derivative mode. Marlin (2000) quotes typical values
ranging from 0.05 to 0.2.

Derivative mode is usually not necessary for set point changes, and indeed
would cause an unwanted spike on a step change. Hence derivative is
normally applied to changes in the controlled variable, not changes in the
error signal.

21.6 The control computer

In these lessons, we have presented process control as a single
measurement of a single controlled variable used to vary a single
manipulated variable - single loop control. The PID algorithm responsible
for computing the manipulated variable response can run on a computer.
The same computer can execute many single loop operations in parallel.
However, you might also imagine a control computer executing an
algorithm in which multiple controller responses are coordinated with one
another, depending not only on individual measured variables, but on each
other. The capability of software gives the control computer capabilities
beyond that offered by parallel single loops.

The control computer needs

a stable operating system
well-tested, stable, error-protected algorithms
backup computers, sometimes running in parallel, sometimes
arranged in a voting scheme
a safety computer that can take over operations in an emergency

Computer control systems (hardware and software) are offered by a

variety of vendors. Larger production companies will often maintain

some process control expertise in-house to interact with the vendors and

improve operations.

21.7 References

F. G. Shinskey, Process Control Systems, 4th ed, McGraw-Hill, 1996.

T. E. Marlin, Process Control, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, 2000.