Chapter 8

Performance of P-only, PI
and PID Controllers
Overall Course Objectives
Develop the skills necessary to function as an
industrial process control engineer.
Skills
Tuning loops
Control loop design
Control loop troubleshooting
Command of the terminology
Fundamental understanding
Process dynamics
Feedback control
P-only Control
For an open loop overdamped process as K
c

is increased the process dynamics goes
through the following sequence of behavior
overdamped
critically damped
oscillatory
ringing
sustained oscillations
unstable oscillations
Dynamic Changes as K
c
is
Increased for a FOPDT Process
Time
Time
Time
Time
Time
Time
Root Locus Diagram
(K
c
increases a to g)
-8
-4
0
4
8
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1
Real Axis
I
m
a
g
i
n
a
r
y

A
x
i
s
-8
-4
0
4
8
a a b b c
d
d
e
e
f
f
g
g
Effect of K
c
on Closed-Loop z
Effect of K
c
on Closed-Loop t
p
P-only Controller Applied to First-
Order Process without Deadtime
Without deadtime, the system will not become
unstable regardless of how large K
c
is.
First-order process model does not consider
combined actuator/process/sensor system.
Therefore, first-order process model without
deadtime is not a realistic model of a process
under feedback control.
PI Control
As K
c
is increased or t
I
is decreased (i.e.,
more aggressive control), the closed loop
dynamics goes through the same sequence
of changes as the P-only controller:
overdamped, critically damped, oscillatory,
ringing, sustained oscillations, and unstable
oscillations.
Effect of Variations in K
c
Time Time Time
Effect of Variations in t
I
Time Time Time
Analysis of the Effect of K
c
and
t
I

When there is too little proportional action
or too little integral action, it is easy to
identify.
But it is difficult to differentiate between
too much proportional action and too much
integral action because both lead to ringing.
Response of a Properly Tuned PI
Controller
Time
Lag
c
y
s
Response of a PI Controller with
Too Much Proportional Action
Time
Lag
c
y
s
Response of a PI Controller with
Too Much Integral Action
Time
Lag
y
s
c
PID Control
K
c
and t
I
have the same general effect as
observed for PI control.
Derivative action tends to reduce the
oscillatory nature of the response and
results in faster settling for systems with
larger deadtime to time constant ratios.
Comparison between PI and PID
for a Low q
p
/t
p
Ratio
Time
PI
PID
Comparison between PI and PID
for a Higher q
p
/t
p
Ratio
Time
PID
PI
An Example of Too Much
Derivative Action
Time
y
s
Effect of t
D
on Closed-Loop z
Demonstration: Visual Basic
Simulator
Effect of K
c
, t
I
, and t
D
Overview
As the controller aggressiveness is increased
(i.e., K
c
is increased or t
I
is decreased), the
response goes from overdamped to critically
damped to oscillatory to ringing to sustained
oscillations to unstable.
Too little proportional or integral action are
easy to identify while too much proportional
or integral results in ringing. Differentiating
between too much integral or proportional
action requires comparing the lag between
the controller output and the CV.