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Multivariable Control: An Introduction: Aims and Objectives
Multivariable Control: An Introduction: Aims and Objectives
Multivariable Control: An Introduction: Aims and Objectives
,
]
]
]
11 12
21 22
Note that this is a matrix of transfer function elements.
Incorporation of load disturbance terms into the systems model
Thus far, only the major part of the process has been considered. In many
situations, processes are influenced by external factors such as changes in ambient
conditions, changes in the quality of raw materials; changes in the operating
environment and so on. To cater for these effects, load disturbance terms may also
5
be incorporated within the model. Incorporation of load disturbance terms in the
model representation leads to the following expression:
cv = Gmv + G
d
dv (5)
where [ ] G
G
G
and dv ,dv
d
d
d
,
]
]
]
1
2
1 2
0
0
dv
The block diagram representation of this system model is given by,
G
11
(s)
Loop 1
Loop 2
G
21
(s)
G
12
(s)
G
22
(s)
+
+
u
1
u
2
y
1
y
2 +
G
d1
(s)
G
d2
(s)
d
1
d
2
Fig. 3. Incorporating load disturbances into the system model
In other words, disturbances are added to the process output in exactly the same
fashion as considered for single loop systems in process control 1.
Worked Example
Consider the following mixing process,
f
1
f
2
f
o
c
#
Control objective: regulate f
o
and c
#
to desired levels
6
Manipulated variables: f
1
and f
2
Assume that the system is a two component system. Let f
1
be the flowrate (kg/hr) of
stream 1, f
2
be the flowrate of stream 2 (kg/hr) while f
o
is the total flowrate. Also, if c
1
and c
2
are the mass fractions of component A in each stream and c
#
the mass
fraction of component A in the mixed stream:
1. What are the material balance equations for this system ?
2. Develop a linear (2 x 2) model representation by linearisation of the material
balance equations around the following steady-state operating point, f
o
= 100
kg/hr, c
#
= 60% with c
1
=80% and c
2
=20%.
3. If the dynamics of the mixed streams concentration and measurement sensors
and are characterised by the following expressions,
G s
f
f
m
o
m
o
( ) 1
and
G s
e
c
c
m
s
m
( )
#
2
1
(6)
i.e measurement of flow is assumed instantaneous, while the measurement of mass
fraction is assumed to be affected by an analyser delay (which is modelled as a pure
time delay process). Develop the overall linearised dynamic model of the system.
Draw the block diagram representation of the system.
Solution
1) The overall mass balance is given by,
f
o
= f
1
+ f
2
(7)
The component balance is given by,
f
o
c
#
=f
1
c
1
+ f
2
c
2
(8)
2) We require the mathematical relationship between the two outputs and the two
manipulated variables. Equation (7) provides one expression. Rewriting the material
balance equations (7) and (8) gives the other as,
c
f c f c
f f
#
+
+
1 1 2 2
1 2
(9)
Equation (1) is linear however, equation (3) is not a linear function. To linearise the
relationship between c
#
and the manipulated variables, f
o
and f
1
it is necessary to
use a 1
st
order Taylor series expansion of equation (9) around the steady-state
7
operating point (see the Appendix for an explanation about linearisation via the
Taylor series). The basic structure of the linear equation is:
c
dc
df
f
dc
df
f
ss ss
#
#
'
#
'
'
j
(
,
\
,
( +
j
(
,
\
,
(
1
1
2
2
The following partial differentials are required
2
dc
df
f c c
f f
#
( )
( )
1
2 1 2
1 2
2
+
and
dc
df
f c c
f f
#
( )
( )
2
1 1 2
1 2
2
+
(10)
This gives the linearised model,
c
f c c
f f
f
f c c
f f
f
ss ss
# ' '
'
[
( )
( )
] [
( )
( )
]
+
+
+
2 1 2
1 2
2 1
1 1 2
1 2
2 2
(11)
where c
#
= c
#
- c
#
ss
, f
1
= f
1
- f
1ss
and f
2
= f
2
- f
2ss
are deviation variables.
To calculate the steady-state conditions required by equation (12), solve the material
balance. We have two algebraic expressions,
100 = f
1
+ f
2
0.6*100 = 0.8*f
1
+ 0.2*f
2
(13)
Solving for f
1
and f
2
gives,
f
1
= 66
2
/
3
kg/hr and f
2
= 33
1
/
3
kg/hr
Therefore,
c# = 2x10
-3
f
1
+ (-4x10
-3
)f
2
(14)
where c
#
= c
#
-0.6, f
1
= f
1
- 66
2
/
3
and f
2
= f
2
- 33
1
/
3
Using a block diagram to visualise this system model we have,
2
To do this differentiation I have used the quotient rule, i.e
d u v
dx
v
du
dx
u
dv
dx
v
( / )
2
8
f
1
f
2
f
o
c
#
2
+
+
1
1
2 x 10
-3
-4 x 10
-3
1
c
m
f
o
m
e
s
and this may be written as,
f s
c s x e x e
f s
f s
o
m
m
s s
( )
( )
( )
( )
,
,
]
]
]
,
]
]
]
,
,
]
]
]
1 1
2 10 4 10
3 3
1
2
(15)
Summary
So far, these notes have introduced multivariable systems modelling by
consideration of a 2 x 2 (2 input - 2 output) representation. The block diagram
representation is used to clearly illustrate system dynamics and interactions. Once a
mathematical model of the system has been developed, and the presence of
process interactions identified, the next stage of the control design procedure is to
synthesise the control law.
With multivariable systems, where loop interactions exist, configuration of two single
loop PI(D) controllers could cause system instability, or at the very least result in
poor control performance. This can be overcome by,
choosing a manipulated variable - controlled variable pairing so that system
interactions are minimised. The basic question for a 2 x 2 system is do we want
mv
1
-cv
1
, mv
2
-cv
2
(i.e. mv
1
to control cv
1
and mv
2
to control cv
2
) or the other way
round ?
the design a multivariable controller that achieves non interacting control.
Design of multivariable controllers will be considered later in the course. The next
section of the notes concentrates on a systematic technique for choosing a
manipulated variable - controlled variable pairing so that system interactions are
minimised.
9
The Relative Gain Array (RGA)
One of the most important factors, common to all process control applications, is the
correct (best) pairing of the manipulated and controlled variables. A number of
quantitative techniques are available to assist in the selection process. One of the
earliest methods proposed was the Relative Gain Array (RGA), Bristol (1966). The
original technique is based upon the open loop steady state gains of the process
and is relatively simple to interpret
2
.
Determining relative gains from process experiments
Consider the 2x2 system shown in Figure 2. Suppose mv
2
remains constant, then a
step change in mv
1
of magnitude mv
1
will produce a change cv
1
in output cv
1
.
Thus, the gain between mv
1
and cv
1
when mv
2
is kept constant is given by:
g
11
|mv
2
=
cv
mv
mv
1
1
2
(16)
If instead of keeping mv
2
constant, cv
2
is now kept constant by closing the loop
between cv
2
and mv
2
. A step change in mv
1
of magnitude mv
1
will result in another
change in cv
1
. The gain in this case is denoted by:
g
11
|y
2
=
cv
mv
cv
1
1
2
(17)
The gain relationships, equations (16) and (17) may have different values. If
interaction exists, then the change in cv
1
due to a change in mv
1
for the two cases
when mv
2
and cv
2
are kept constant, will be different.
The ratio:
11
=
g
g
mv
cv
11
11
2
2
|
|
(18)
is a dimensionless value and it defines the relative gain between the output cv
1
and
the input mv
1
.
Interpretation of the relative gain
1.
ij
= 1. There is no interaction with other control loops.
2.
ij
= 0. Manipulated input, i, has no affect on output, j.
2
As no information about the process dynamics is used a "health-warning" should be attached to the results
although in practice the interpretation is normally valid.
10
3.
ij
= 0.5. There is a high degree of interaction. The other control loops have the
same effect on the output, j, as the manipulated input, i.
4. 0.5 <
ij
< 1. There is interaction between the control loops. However, this would
be the preferable pairing as it would minimise interactions.
5.
ij
> 1. The interaction reduces the effect gain of the control loop. Higher
controller gains are required.
6.
ij
> 10. The pairing of variables with large RGA elements is undesirable. It can
indicate a system sensitive to small variations in gain and possible problems
applying model based control techniques.
7.
ij
< 0. Care must be taken with negative RGA elements. Negative off-diagonal
elements indicate that closing the loop will change the sign of the effective gain.
More importantly, negative diagonal elements can indicate integral instability i.e.
the control loop is unstable for any feedback controller.
Elements of the RGA
For the 2 x 2 process, three other relative gain elements can be defined yielding the
matrix,
3
=
11 12
21 22
11 11
11 11
1
1
,
,
]
]
]
,
]
]
]
Determining relative gains from process models
A computational method is possible if a steady-state model of the system is
available. If this model is given by:
cv
1
= g
11
mv
1
+ g
12
mv
2
cv
2
= g
21
mv
1
+ g
22
mv
2
(19)
then g
11|mv2
= (cv
1
/mv
1
)|
mv2
= g
11
(20)
Eliminating mv
2
from the steady-state relationships, Eqs. (19) and (20), results in:
cv
1
= g
11
mv
1
+ g
12
(cv
2
-g
21
mv
1
)/g
22
(21)
from which:
g
11
|
cv2
= (cv
1
/mv
1
)|
cv2
= g
11
-g
12
g
21
/g
22
3
A property of the RGA is that the rows and columns sum to 1.
11
The relative gain
11
is therefore given by:
11
=
g
g
g
g
g g
g
u
y
11
11
11
11
12 21
22
2
2
|
|
Therefore:
11
=
1
1
12 21 11 22
( ) / ( ) g g g g
(22)
A general calculation procedure for the RGA
Skogestad (1987) demonstrated that the RGA calculation can be expressed in
matrix notation, facilitating computation for systems larger than 2x2.
( ) RGA G G
T
.*
1
(23)
where, G is the process gain matrix, '.* ' represents Schur (element by element)
matrix multiplication, [.]
-1
denotes a matrix inverse and [.]
T
is the transpose operator.
The mixing example revisited: calculation of the RGA
For the mixing process the following two control schemes are possible:
Mixer
FT
FC
CT
CC
F
1
, x
1
F
2
, x
2
F , x
Mixer
CT
CC
FT
FC
F
1
, x
1
F
2
, x
2
F , x
Now that the steady-state gain matrix has been calculated, it is possible to use the
RGA to determine the "best" manipulated variable control variable pairings.
12
Calculating the RGA in Matlab
To illustrate how the RGA is calculated in Matlab, consider the steady-state gain
matrix of the mixer,
G
x x
,
]
]
]
1 1
2 10 4 10
3 3
Enter the MATLAB environment and enter the commands preceeded by the
MATLAB prompt >>. The text after the % is intended to tell you what you are doing
(and should not be typed).
% enter the steady-state gain matrix
>>g = [1 1 ; 2e-3 -4e-3]
% calculate the RGA
4
>> rga = g.*inv(g)
This should give the result,
rga =
0.6667 0.3333
0.3333 0.6667
In other words, the RGA analysis suggests f
1
should be used to control f
o
, while f
2
should be used to control c
#
Exercises
1. Simulate the following transfer function representation of a 2 x 2 process using
simulink
4
In Matlab, inv calculates the inverse of a matrix while calculates the transpose of the matrix
13
mv
1
mv
2
cv
1
cv
2
+
+
1
10 1 s +
1
20 1 s +
+
0 2
5 1
.
s
08
10 1
.
s +
a) discuss the dynamic response characteristics of cv
1
and cv
2
with respect to
changes in mv
1
and mv
2
.
b) Tune two PI(D) controllers the first to control cv
1
using mv
1
and the second to
control cv
2
using mv
2
. (use the simulink simulation environment). Make critical
comments on the functionality of the system.
Summary
Using a simple process example these notes have:
introduced the concept of systems interaction.
demonstrated how multivariable systems can be represented (modelled).
introduced the relative gain array (RGA).
shown how the RGA may be used to select loop pairings.
If the RGA indicates little interaction within the system then it may be possible to use
single loop controllers. In some situations this may not be possible in which case it
will be necessary to develop a multivariable control law. The design of multivariable
controllers will be covered in detail in later lectures.
14
Appendix: Linearisation
Given a function,
dx
dt
f x ( )
Expand f(x) using a Taylor series around x
o
,
f x f x
df
dx
x x
o x o
o
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) + (Ignoring higher order terms)
Control system models are always expressed in terms of deviation variables. That
deviation (or difference) being the difference between the actual value and a steady-
state value. If x
ss
is the steady-state value of x, then,
dx
dt
f x
ss
ss
( ) 0
and so,
d x x
dt
df
dx
x x
ss
x ss
ss
( )
( ) ( )
or, if the deviation variable is defined as x=x-x
ss,
d x
dt
df
dx
x
x
ss
( )
( )
'
'
This concept generalises if there is more than one variable. For instance if there are
two variables we have,
f x x
df
dx
x
df
dx
x
x x x x
ss ss ss ss
( , ) ( ) ( )
, , , ,
,
'
,
'
1 2
1
1
2
2
1 2 1 2
+