Process elements of this description are common and are

generally referred to as first-order lags. The response of a firstorder

system is characterized by two constants: a time constant
T and a gain K. The gain is related to the amplification associated
with the process and has no effect on the time characteristics
of the response. The time characteristics are related
entirely to the time constant. The time constant is a measure
of the time necessary for the component or system to adjust
to an input, and it may be characterized in terms of the capacitance
and resistance (or conductance) of the process.

two characteristics distinguish
first-order systems:
1. The maximum rate of change of the output occurs
immediately following the step input. (Note also that if
the initial rate were unchanged the system would reach
the final value in a period of time equal to the time
constant of the system.)
2. The actual response obtained, when the time lapse is
equal to the time constant of the system, is 63.2% of
the total response.
Characteristic Equations of First-Order
Systems A first-order
system is one in which the system response to
a constant
change in the input is an exponential
approach to a new constant
value. Such a system can be described by a
first-order
differential equation:
where u(t) and y(t) are the deviations of the
inputs and outputs,
respectively, and a and b are constants. The
response of such a system with a = 1 and b = 2
to a unit step change
(value 1 for t 0 and 0 for t < 0) in the input is
shown in
the top panel of Figure

The solution of any linear differential equation can be
broken into the sum of two parts: the homogeneous
and the
particular solution. The homogeneous solution is that
expression
that when substituted for y(t) in the left-hand side of
Equation 2.1(4) produces the value zero. The particular
or
steady-state solution is that part of the total solution
that is
strictly due to the forcing input, u(t).
Systems in which the homogeneous solutions
grow without
bound are said to be unstable. The
homogeneous solution
does not depend on the form of the forcing
input and hence
it is a characteristic of the system.
The speed of response of a first-order system
is determined
by the time constant, tc. The time constant is
the time
at which the exponent in the homogenous
solution is 1.
If tc is small, then the particular solution
decays rapidly
and the steady-state solution is quickly
reached. Such a system
is said to be fast. On the other hand, if tc is
large, then
the system reaches the steady state very
slowly and is said
to be slow or sluggish.
First-Order System with Dead Time
A first-order system coupled
with dead time, or process delay, makes an
excellent model
for many process systems. The bottom panelA
first-order system coupled
with dead time, or process delay, makes an
excellent model
for many process systems.
A simple step
test in which the input to the system is changed from one value
to another while the system is at some steady-state output gives
sufficient information to determine the model.
Suppose the input is changed by an amount . Let the
output reach its new steady-state value, and divide the difference
between the new and old steady-state outputs by .
This computed response is called the step response. The dead
time is the time at which the output first starts to respond to
the change in the input. If the exponent in the solution is
evaluated at the time constant, the exponent of the particular
part would be 1.
Experience shows that first-order plus
dead time systems can be controlled by
proportional plus
integral (PI) controllers.
Multiple Time-Constant Processes
Figure 2.1j illustrates a
process where two tanks are connected in series and therefore
the system has two time constants operating in series. The
response curve of such a process (r = 2 in Figure 2.1k) is slower than
that of the single time-constant process (r = 1 in
Figure 2.1k) because the initial response is retarded by the
second time-constant. Figure 2.1k illustrates the responses of
processes having up to six time constants in series. As the
number of time constants increases, the response curves
become slower (the process gain is reduced), and the overall
response gradually changes into an S-shaped reaction curve.


Characteristic Equations of Second-
Order Systems
Secondorder
systems are characterized by second-order
differential
equations. These systems are more complex
than first-order
ones. A second-order system might be viewed
as the solution
of the following differential equation:
y(t) is the process output (controlled variable) and
u(t) is the input, which is usually the reference input
function.
The parameters and in this equation dictate the nature
of the solution. The quantity is called the damping ratio
And n is the natural frequency. If is zero, then the
solution
is a sinusoid that oscillates at n radians per second
(Figure 2.1l). Thus, the system is an oscillator producing a
sinusoidal response at the natural frequency of the
oscillator

The damping ratio is the ratio of the damping
constant
to the natural frequency. The damping
constant determines
the rate at which the oscillations decay away.
As the damping
constant increases, the speed of response
increases and the
oscillations decay more rapidly.

the case of the damping ratio
being zero. Note that the oscillations will continue forever
and the steady-state solution is embedded in the response.
This is an undamped response.
The top right panel corresponds to 0 < < 1 and produces
an underdamped output. The speed of the response has
deteriorated
slightly in that the output y(t) is a little slower in
getting to the desired output 1. Note that the response
oscillates,
but the oscillation decays leaving only the steady-state
solution
The bottom left panel corresponds to being critically
damped ( = 1). The response does not exceed the
steadystate
value of 1, but the speed of the system is noticeably
slower than either the undamped or underdamped
cases. The
bottom right panel is the overdamped case ( > 1).
Again, the
response system is much slower.
From a control perspective, if the response is allowed to
exceed the target value the system response is faster due to
the underdamped nature of the system behavior. In fact, many
heuristic tuning methods seek parameters that produce an
underdamped response provided that the overshoot, or the
amount that the output exceeds its steady-state response, is
not too large.
If the second-order system also has dead time associated
with it, then its response is not unlike that of the first-order
system. That is, the response is delayed by the dead time, but
the overall approach to steady state for different values of
the damping ratio remains the same. A first-order system
controlled with a PI controller may produce underdamped
second-order system behavior.
Dead-Time Processes
A contributing factor to the dynamics
of many processes involving the movement of
mass from
one point to another is the transportation lag
or dead time
Consider the effect of piping on the hot water to reach a
location some distance away from the heater (Figure 2.1n).
The effect of a change in steam rate on the water temperature
at the end of the pipe will not depend only on the
resistance and capacitance effects in the tank. It will also be
influenced by the length of time necessary for the water to
be transported through the pipe. All lags associated with the
heater system will be seen at the end of the pipe, but they
will be delayed. The length of this delay is called the transportation
lag (L) or dead time. The magnitude is determined
as the distance over which the material is transported (l)
divided by the velocity at which the material travels (v). In
the heater example L = v/l

Dead time is the worst enemy of good control, and the process
control engineer should therefore make a concentrated effort
to minimize it. The effect of dead time can be compared to
driving a car (the process) with closed eyes or with the
steering wheel disconnected during that period. The goal of
good control system design should be both to minimize the
amount of dead time and to minimize the ratio of dead time
to time constant (L/ T).
The higher this ratio, the less likely it is that the control
system will work properly, and once the L/T ratio reaches
1.0 (L = T ), control by traditional PID (proportional
integralderivative) strategies is unlikely to work at all. The
various means of reducing dead time are usually related to
reducing transportation lags. This can be achieved by increasing
the rates of pumping or agitation, reducing the distance
between the measuring instrument and the process, eliminating
sampling systems, and the like.
When the nature of the process is such that the
L/T ratio
must exceed unity, or if the controlled process is
inherently a
dead-time process (a belt feeder for example),
the traditional
PID control must be replaced by control based on
periodic
adjustments, called sample-and-hold type control
Process Variables
Many external and internal conditions
affect the performance of a processing unit. These conditions
may be detected in terms of process variables such as temperature,
pressure, flow, concentration, weight, level, etc. Most
processes are controlled by measuring one of the variables that
represent the state of the process and then by automatically
adjusting another variable(s) that determine that state. Typically,
the variable chosen to represent the state of the system
is termed the controlled variable and the variable chosen to
control the systems state is termed the manipulated variable.

The manipulated variable can be any process variable that
causes a reasonably fast response and is fairly easy to manipulate.
The controlled variable should be the variable that best
represents the desired state of the system. Consider the water
cooler shown in Figure 2.1o. The purpose of the cooler is to
maintain a supply of water at a constant temperature. The
variable that best represents this objective is the temperature
of the exit water, Two, and it should be selected as the controlled
variable
In other cases, direct control of the variable
that best
represents the desired condition is not
possible. Consider the
chemical reactor shown in Figure 2.1p. The
variable that is

directly related to the desired state of the product is the
composition of the product inside the reactor. However, in
this case a direct measurement of product composition is
not
always possible.
If product composition cannot be measured, some other
process variable is used that is related to composition. A
logical choice for this chemical reactor might be to hold the
pressure constant and use reactor temperature as an
indication
of composition. Such a scheme is often used in the indirect
control of composition
Degrees of Freedom
To fully understand the personality
of a process, one must also know the number of variables
that can be independently controlled in a process. The maximum
number of independently acting automatic controllers
that can be placed on a process is the degrees of freedom
(df ) of that process. Mathematically, the number of degrees
of freedom is defined as
df = v e
where df = number of degrees of freedom of a system;
v = number of variables that describe the system; and e =
number of independent relationships that exist among the
various variables.
It is easy to see intuitively that a train has only
one degree
of freedom because only its speed can be
varied, while boats
have two and airplanes have three
The degrees of freedom of industrial processes are more
complex and cannot always be determined intuitively. In the case
of a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger, for example (Figure 2.1r),
the total number of variables is six, while the number of defining
equations is only onethe first law of thermodynamics, which
states the conservation of energy.
Therefore, the degrees of freedom of this process are 6
1 = 5. This means that if five variables are held constant, this
will result in a constant state for the sixth variable, the outlet
temperature (c). Therefore, the maximum number of automatic
controllers that can be placed on this process is five.
Usually one would not exercise this option of using five
controllers, and in the case of a heat exchanger of this type,
one might use only one control loop.

One would select the controlled variable (c) to be the
process property that is the most important, because it has
the most impact on plant productivity, safety, or product
quality. One would select the manipulated variable (m) to
be
that process input variable that has the most direct
influence
on the controlled variable (c), which in this case is the flow
rate of the heating fluid. The other load variables (u1 to u4)
are uncontrolled independent variables, which, when they
change, will upset the control system, and their effects can
only be corrected in a feedback manner.
This means that a change in load variables is not
responded to until it has upset the controlled variable (c).
In
order to fully describe this process, one would also
consider
such system parameters as the mass or the specific heat of
the liquids, but such parameters are not considered to be
variables.
When the process involves a phase change, the calculation
of the degrees of freedom follows Gibbss phase rule,
stated in Equation 2.1(10):

where n = number of chemical degrees of
freedom; nc =
number of components; and np = number of
phases
For example, if the process is a boiler producing saturated
steam (Figure 2.1s), the number of components is one
(H2O), the number of phases is two (water and steam),
and,
therefore, the number of degrees of freedom is n = 1 2 +
2 = 1. Consequently, only one variable can be controlled:
temperature or pressure, but not both. If a boiler produces
superheated steam, the number of degrees of freedom is
two,
and therefore both temperature and pressure can be
independently
controlled

When the process is more complex, such as is the case
of binary distillation, the calculation of the degrees of freedom
also becomes more involved. Figure 2.1t lists 14 variables
of this process, not all are independent. Since there are
two components and two phases at the bottom, feed and
overhead, Gibbss law states that only two of the three variables
(pressure, temperature, and composition) are independent.
Therefore, the number of independent variables is only 11. The
number of defining equations is two (the conservation of
mass and energy), and therefore, the number of degrees of
freedom for this process is 11 2 = 9. Consequently, not
more than nine automatic controllers can be placed on this
process.

CLOSING THE LOOP