S NITHYA et al : MODEL BASED CONTROLLER

MODEL BASED CONTROLLER DESIGH FOR A SPHRICAL TANK PROCESS IN REAL TIME
S.NITHYA1, N.SIVAKUMARAN2, T.BALASUBRAMANIAN3 and N.ANANTHARAMAN4
1

School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SRM University, Trichy, India 621 105. nithya.venkatesan@gmail.com 2 Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, nsk@nitt.edu 3 Department of Physics, 4 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, TamilNadu, India 620015.

Abstract: Control of process parameters is one of the important problems in process industry. The process considered for modeling is spherical tank liquid level system. Control of liquid level in a spherical tank is nonlinear due to the variation in the area of cross section of the level system with change in shape. System identification of this nonlinear process is done using black box model, which is identified to be nonlinear and approximated to be a First Order Plus Dead Time (FOPDT) model. Here the controller design is compared based on conventional Proportional Integral (PI) based on Ziegler- Nicholas settings with Internal Model Control (IMC) based on Skogestads settings. The real time implementation of the process is designed and implemented in MATLAB using ADAMs data acquisition module. Out of the control algorithms IMC outperforms in no overshoot, faster settling time, better set point tracking and produces lower performance indices. Keyword : Process Modeling, Data acquisition System, PI Controller, Internal Model Controller.

1. INTRODUCTION Chemical process present many challenging control problems due to their nonlinear dynamic behavior, uncertain and time varying parameters ,constraints on manipulated variable, interaction between manipulated and controlled variables, unmeasured and frequent disturbances , dead time on input and measurements. Because of the inherent nonlinearity, most of the chemical process industries are in need of traditional control techniques. Spherical tanks find wide application in gas plants. Control of a level in a spherical tank is important, because the change in shape gives rise to the nonlinearity. The most basic and pervasive control algorithm used in the feedback control is the Proportional Integral and Derivative (PID) control algorithm. PID control is a widely used control strategy to control most of the industrial automation processes because of its remarkable efficacy, simplicity of approximated by a first-order time-delayed model and suggested frequency domain approach based on normalized open loop transfer function to evaluate the effects of uncertainties in the process parameters and thus, control system robustness. Anandanatarajan et al. [8] have discussed the evaluation of a controller using implementation and broad applicability. Long history of its practical use and proficient working dynamics are some of the pivotal reasons behind the large acceptance of the PID control. In principle, the action of the controller is calculated by multiplying a constant factor with the error, the integral of the error and the derivative of the error [1]. Ziegler- Nichols [2] has developed a well known design methods to provide a closed-loop response with a quarter-decay ratio. A simple PI controller design method has been proposed by Wang and Shao [3] that achieves high performance for a wide range of linear self-regulating processes. Ari Ingimundarson and Tore Hagglund [4] have compared the performance of PI, PID and dead-time compensating controllers based on the IAE criterion. A design method for robust PID controller to address the model uncertainty has been proposed by Ming Ge et al. [5]. A criterion based on disturbance rejection and system robustness is proposed by Tan et al. [6] to assess the performance of PID controllers. Krajewski et al. [7] have designed PI controllers for industrial processes variable transformation on a hemi-spherical tank which shows a better response than PI controller. Model based control was developed primarily for processes having a pronounced time delay, the intent being to match the process delay with one in the control system. Model based control is very popular nowadays

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S NITHYA et al : MODEL BASED CONTROLLER due to the ability of such controllers to handle process with dead time effectively. One important type of model based control is Internal Model Control [IMC], which has the combined advantage of both open and closed systems. Garcia and Morari [9] have developed a design procedure for multivariable IMC systems.Chein et .al[10] and Horn et.al [11] derived the IMC settings which gives a very good response and provides a set point changes.Gatzke et.al[12] have described a model based control using internal model control for the level control of an interacting four tank system. Tan et.al [13] has proposed a modified IMC structure for unstable processes with time delay. The structure extends the standard IMC structure for stable processes to unstable processes and controllers need not be converted to conventional one for implementation.Nithya et al. [14] has discussed the model based controller gives better performance in heat exchanger process. For a nonlinear process IMC based control outperforms the conventional PI tuning. In this work, real time model is designed for controlling the liquid level in a spherical tank. The process model is experimentally determined from step response analysis and is interfaced to real time with MATLAB using simple cost effective ADAMs module. The controller tuning model is accomplished using Skogestad s based PI controller settings and the performances are compared with the conventional controller, based on time domain specifications like peak time , overshoot and settling time and Integral Squared Error(ISE) and Integral Average Error(IAE). 2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP The laboratory set up for this system consists of a spherical tank, a water reservoir, pump, rotameter, a differential pressure transmitter, an electro pneumatic converter (I/P converter), a pneumatic control valve, an The pneumatic control valve is air to close, adjusts the flow of the water pumped to the conical tank from the water reservoir. The level of the water in the tank is measured by means of the differential pressure transmitter and is transmitted in the form of (4-20) mA to the interfacing ADAMs module to the Personal Computer (PC). After computing the control algorithm in the PC control signal is transmitted to the I/P converter in the form of current signal (4-20) mA, which passes the air signal to the pneumatic control valve. The pneumatic control valve is actuated by this signal to produce the required flow of water in and out of the tank. There is a continuous flow of water in and out of the tank. Figure 2 shows the system is interfaced with ADAMs module. Table 1 shows the technical specifications of the setup.

Figure 1: Real time experimental setup of Spherical Tank

interfacing ADAMs module and a Personal Computer (PC). The differential pressure transmitter output is interfaced with computer using ADAMs 5000 Advantech module in the RS-232 port of the PC. This module supports 8 analog input and 4 analog output channels with the voltage range of 10 volt. The sampling rate of the module is 18 samples per sec and baud rate is 9600 bytes per sec with 16-bit resolution. The programs written in script code using MATLAB software is then linked via this ADAMs module with the sampling time of 60 milliseconds. Figure 1 shows the real time experimental setup of a spherical tank.

Figure 2: Real time interfacing of ADAMs with Spherical Tank

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S NITHYA et al : MODEL BASED CONTROLLER

Table 1: Technical Specifications of Experimental Setup

Where = 4R t h s and R t = 3.2 Black Box Modeling

2h s Q 2s

(4)

3. SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION 3.1 Mathematical Modeling The spherical tank system shown in Figure 1 is essentially a system with nonlinear dynamics. Its nonlinear dynamics described by the first - order differential equation. Here in real time implementation, system identification of this nonlinear process is done using black box modeling. For fixed input water flow rate and output water flow rate of the Spherical tank, the tank is allowed to fill with water from (0-50) cm. At each sample time the data from differential pressure transmitter i.e. between (4-20) mA is being collected and fed to the system through the serial port RS - 232 using ADAMs interfacing module. Thereby the data is scaled up in terms of level (in cm).Using the open loop method, for a given change in the input variable; the output response for the system is recorded. Ziegler and Nichols [2] have obtained the time constant and time delay of a FOPTD model by constructing a tangent to the experimental open loop step response at its point of inflection. The tangent intersection with the time axis at the step origin provides a time delay estimate; the time constant is estimated by calculating the tangent intersection with the steady state output value divided by the model gain. Cheng and Hung [15] have also proposed tangent and point of inflection methods for estimating FOPTD model parameters. The major disadvantage of all these methods is the difficulty in locating the point of inflection in practice and may not be accurate. Prabhu and Chidambaram [16] have obtained the parameters of the first order plus time delay model from the reaction curve obtained by solving the nonlinear differential equations model of a distillation column. Sundaresan and Krishnaswamy [17] have obtained the parameters of FOPTD transfer function model by letting the response of the actual system and that of the model to meet at two points which describe the two parameters and . The proposed times t1 and t2 , are estimated from a step response curve. This time corresponds to the 35.3% and 85.3% response times. The time constant and time delay are calculated as follows.

dV dt

= q1 q

(1)

Where V is the Volume of the tank, q 1 is the Inlet flow rate and q 2 is the outlet flow rate.

Part Name
Spherical Tank

Details
Material :Stainless Steel Diameter - 50 cm, Volume : 102 liters Material :Stainless Steel , Volume : 48 liters Type Capacitance, Range (2.5 - 250)mbar, Output (4 - 20)mA Siemens make Centrifugal 0.5 HP Size Pneumatic actuated Type: Air to close Input (3 - 15) psi Range (0 - 18) lpm Size 1/4" BSP Range (0 - 2.2 )bar Input (4 - 20) mA Output (0.2 - 1) bar Range (0 - 30) psi Range (0 - 100 )psi (2)

Stroage Tank Differential Pressure Transmitter Pump Control valve

Rotameter Air regulator E/P converter Pressure gauge

= 0.67(t 2 t1)

(5) (6)

V=

4 3 h 3

D = 1.3 t1 0.29 t 2

Where h is the total height of the tank in cm.Applying the steady state values, and solving the equations (1) and ( 2) , for linearzing the non - linearity in the spherical tank,

Rt H(s) = Q1 (s) s + 1

(3)

At a fixed inlet flow rate, outlet flow rate, the system is allowed to reach the steady state. After that a step increment in the input flow rate is given, and various readings are noted till the process becomes stable in the spherical tank. The experimental data are approximated to be a FOPDT model the model parameters are given as 6.857 e14.61s (7) G ( s) =

229.81s + 1

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S NITHYA et al : MODEL BASED CONTROLLER

4. DESIGN OF IMC CONTROLLER Internal model control is model based controller. The Figure 3 shows the IMC structure which makes use of a process model to infer the effect of immeasurable disturbance on the process output and then counteracts that effect. The controller consists of an inverse of the process model.

q(s) = q(s) f k(1 Ds) p(s) = ( s + 1)

(13) (14)

Substituting equations 13 &14 in equation 12 and rearranging then in the form of PI controller, the value of KC and i

KC =

K P ( + D )

(15)

i =

(16)

For fast response and good robustness the tuning parameter is given by equation (17) (17) = D

Figure 3: IMC Structure Here p(s) is the process , ~ p(s) is the process model and q(s) is the internal model controller which is given in equations 8 to 10.In equation 9 f is defined as filter transfer function which usually has the form given in equation 11.
kl Ds p(s) = s +1

Figure 4: Basic IMC Structure

(8)

q( s) = q( s) f
q(s) = f = s + 1 K

(9) (10)

Figure 5: Modified IMC structure The above method is proposed by Skogestad [18] has used the IMC framework to derive rules for model reduction and PI/PID controller tuning. Skogestads IMC (SIMC in short) tuning rules are analytically derived, are simple, and work well on a wide range of processes. A salient feature is that, because SIMC rules are intended for PI/PID controllers, a first- or second order process model of the process must be obtained. He has proposed a simple procedure based on a half-rule to obtain an approximate model of the process. The result is an approximate first- or second-order plus time-delay process model. Once these reduced-order models are obtained, the PI/PID controller gains are computed to adjust the closed-loop response to a first- or secondorder model reference response. This procedure gives rise to a set of simple analytical PI/PID tuning rules. The PI controller was to run for the different set points 7, 10 and 20 cm. Then load disturbances at different intervals

1 s + 1

(11)

From the equation 11, the only tuning parameter is and hence IMC controller is simple. 4.1 IMC based PI Controller

The IMC structure shown in the Figure 4 can rearranged as shown in the Figure 5 after applying block diagram reduction the Figure 4 is reduced to simple feed back structure as shown in the Figure 5. The controller function c(s) in the figure is given by

c(s) =

q(s) 1 q(s)p(s)

(12)

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S NITHYA et al : MODEL BASED CONTROLLER were given in the spherical tank system for 32 cm. The variation in the level was recorded in all the cases. 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The model based Skogestad controller (S Controller) settings are applied to real time to control the liquid level in a Spherical system. The performance of the S controller with tuned variables is compared to a PI controller. 5.1 Variation of Set Point The S controller is run for a sequence of set points, that is, 7, 10 and 20 cm and is compared with a PI controller for the same sequence of set point changes. The variation of level with time for the sequence of set point changes for both the controllers are shown in Figure 6 8. It is observed the level oscillates very much high for PI and where as almost no oscillation Skogestad based controller. Also it is observed that Skogestad PI tracks the given set point in less time compared to conventional PI controller. It is also seen from Figure 6 there is no overshoot in Skogestad PI based controller when compared to other controller. It is observed that Skogestad PI based controller tracks the given set point is good. The time domain specification calculations for the designed controllers are shown in Table 2. From the values shown in Table 2, it can be seen that the Skogestad model based controller performs better than the conventional controllers. From Table 3 it is also observed that both ISE and IAE values are considerably low for IMC based controller compared with PI controller. 5.2 Changes in Load The tuned S controller is used to control the Spherical level system while applying a load change of 12.5 % is recorded. The system is also run with a PI controller while applying the same load changes. The variation in level with time is shown in Figure 9 for set point of 32 cm. It is clearly indicated from the Figure that for a sudden load change Skogestad based controller returns to the given set point immediate. Also it is observed the S controller follows without any overshoot for a load change compared to PI controller. The time domain calculations for the controllers are shown in Table 2.The model based controller is able to compensate for the load changes considerably better than conventional PI controller.

Figure 6: Servo response for a set point 7 cm

Figure 7: Servo responses for a set point 10 cm

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S NITHYA et al : MODEL BASED CONTROLLER controller indicate that it is able to compensate faster, when compared to the conventional controller .This is also validated by the values of performance indices like ISE and IAE values. It is concluded that IMC is suited to maintain the level in a tank using cost effective ADAMs interfacing module in real time. Table 2: Time domain comparison Specifications Peak (Sec) Time Set point 7 cm 10 cm 20 cm 32 cm 7 cm 10 cm 20 cm 32 cm 7 cm 10 cm 20 cm 32 cm PI 25 11.03 27.2 62.5 8.69 59.9 21.96 38.41 194.9 523 420 1000 IMC 8.5 10.4 20.7 42.4 6.69 49.9 20.4 37.23 38.9 322 152 800

%Overshoot

Settling Time (Sec) Figure 8: Servo response for a set point 20 cm

Table3: Performance indices comparison Set Point 7 cm PI IMC 10 cm PI IMC 20 cm PI IMC Figure 9: Regulatory response for a set point 32 cm 6. CONCULSION In this study, an IMC based tuning is designed in real time using ADAMs module for a Spherical tank level process. Identification and controller design shows that the above method is effective in using the low cost data acquisition system. Experimental results show that the response is smooth for both set point and load changes for an IMC based tuning compared with conventional controller. The IMC based tuning exhibits a very minimum overshoot with faster settling time. The influence of set and load changes on Skogestads based REFERENCES 1. W.L.Luyben, Process modeling, simulation and control for chemical engineers, second edition, Tata McGraw Hill USA : 1990. 2. J.G. Zeigler, and N.B. Nichols, Optimum settings for automatic controllers Trans.ASME. Vol. 64, pp.759 768, 1942. 32 cm PI 12955.0 3068.1 1484.5 9336.0 656.52 2483.0 886.94 288.64 523.71 179.18 846.56 388.63 345.73 264.90 Controller IMC ISE 52.92 IAE 68.17

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S NITHYA et al : MODEL BASED CONTROLLER 3. Ya-Gang Wang and Hui-He Shao, Optimal tuning for PI controller. Automatica. Vol .36, pp. 147-152 , 2000. 4. Ari Ingimundarson. and Tore Hagglund , Performance comparison between PID and dead-time compensating controllers. J. Proc. Cont, Vol . 12, pp. 887 895 . 2002. 5. Ming Ge ; Min-Sen Chiu and Qing_Guo Wang, Robust PID controller design via LMI approach . J. Proc. Cont, Vol . 12, pp .3-13, 2002. 6. W. Tan, H.J, Marquez, and T. Chen , .Performance assessment of PID controllers. Control and Intelligent systems , Vol. 32(33),pp .158-166. 2004. 7. Wieslaw Krajewski.; Antonio Lepschy.; Stefano Miani. And Umberto Viaro, Frequency-domain approach to robust PI control. Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol . 342, pp. 674 687 , 2005. 8. R. Anandanatarajan, and M.Chidambaram, Experimental evaluation of a controller using variable transformation on a hemi-spherical tank level process, Proc. NCPICD , 2005, pp. 195-200. 9.C.E.Garcia, and M.Morari,, Internal model control design procedure for multivariable systems Ind.Chem Proc.Des.Deve ,Vol .24, pp. 472 484, 1985. 10.I.L.Chien,. and P.S Fruehauf,, Consider IMC tuning to improve controller performance, Chemical Engineering Progress, pp. 33 - 41. 1990. 11.G.I.Horn,; J.R. Arulandu,.; J.Gombas,.; J.G. VanAntwerp,.and R.D.Braatz,, Improves filter design in internal model control . Ind.Eng.Chem.Res, Vol. 35(10), pp. 3437 - 3441. 1996. 12.E.P.Gatzke.;E.S.Meadows,.; C. Wang and F.J.Doyle, Model based control of a four tank system. Computer Chem.Eng, Vol. 24(2), pp. 1503 1509, 2000. 13.W. Tan.; H.J.Marquez and T. Chen,. IMC design for unstable process with time delays .J.Proc, cont, Vol . 13, pp .203 - 213. 2003. 14.S.Nithya.;Abhay Singh Gour;,N. Sivakumaran,.;T.K.Radhakrishnan.; N. Anantharaman..Model based Controller design of shell and tube Heat exchanger International Journal of Sensors & Transducers, Vol .84( 10) ,pp. 1677-1686. 2007. 15. G.S. Cheng, and J.C.Hung,J.C .A least-squares based self-tuning of PID controller, Proc IEEE South East Conference, North Carolina,1985, pp. 325-332. 16.E.S.Prabhu, and M.Chidambaram,. Robust control of a distillation column by the method of inequalities, Indian Chem.Engr. Vol 37, pp.181 187 , 1991. 17.K.R.Sundaresan .and R.R.Krishnaswamy,, Estimation of time delay,Time constant parameters in Time, Frequency and Laplace Domains , Can.J.Chem.Eng, Vol. 56,.257 . 1978. 18. S. Skogestad,. Simple analytical rules for model reduction and PID controller tuning. J. Proc. Cont, Vol 13, pp .291 309, 2003.

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