Proportional Control v3

Proportional Control Presented By:
David Sellers, Senior Engineer

Using a Float and a Tank to Understand Proportional Control Principles Facility Dynamics Engineering
A Simple Proportional Control System
A Tank Full of Water and an Operator Who Needs to
Use Some Of It
Hi! Production
sent me over
because they will
be needing some
cooling water
soon
2 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

Hmmm … I need
something to add
water when I
start to let it
out of the tank

The make up valve is the
device to be controlled; a.k.a.
the Controlled Variable

Ideally, the
make up valve
would open as
the level drops
and close as it
rises

Because the tank acts as a flywheel in the system, it

would be possible to serve the load by:
• Adding water when the level drops to a certain point
• Adding water at a rate that matches how quickly it is
being used

Monitoring the tank water level will allow us

to gauge how much make up we need to add
as demand picks up

The tank water level is the Process Variable
The desired level becomes the Set Point
Set Point

Set Point

Set Point

Ta Da!
Set Point

The linkage system makes

the water level proportional
to the amount the control
valve is opened
Set Point

The ratio of the lever arms on

each side of the fulcrum sets
the proportional band and gain
the of the control system
Set Point

Gain is another term for

sensitivity or amplification
Set Point

Moving the float closer to the

fulcrum (a.k.a. the pivot point)
increases the gain and makes the
make up valve movement more
sensitive to a level change
Set Point

In other words, increasing the

gain means it will take less of a
level change to get the valve fully
open relative to a lower gain
position
Set Point

The proportional band is the

change in the process variable that
causes the controlled variable to
go through its full range
Set Point
Control
Point
As long as the demand does not exceed the
capacity of the delivery system (i.e. steady state
can be achieved inside the proportional band)
the system will be under control
By its nature, a proportional control system

will always have a difference or “error”
between the set point and the control point
except at one specific condition
Set Point
Error
Control
Point

We could reduce the error by increasing the

gain of the controller (making it more
sensitive to a level change in this case) …
Set Point
Control
Point

… but at some point, feedback from the

process would interact with the control loop
in a way that would make it unstable
Set Point
Control
Point

In this case, if we get the float too close to

the point where the pipe discharges water,
the waves and ripples from the discharge
hitting the water in the tank will cause the
valve to slam open and close
Set Point
Control
Point

When the float, riding on a big wave, knocks

the valve closed, the source of the waves
goes a way
Set Point
Control
Point

When the source of the waves goes away,

the float drops, opens the valve, creates the
waves that it interacts with, and the process
repeats
Set Point
Control
Point

The bottom line is that the dynamics of the

control system and controlled system limit
how sensitive the process can be with out
going unstable
Set Point
Control
Point

Now, lets adjust the load to some

intermediate condition instead of full load
Set Point
Control
Point

If the system has

capacity beyond the
current operating
requirement, and the
error had persisted for
a while, the operator
Set Point could adjust the float to
eliminate the error at
Control
the current load
Point
condition

If the system has

capacity beyond the
current operating
requirement, and the
error had persisted for
a while, the operator
Set Point could adjust the float to
eliminate the error at
Control
the current load
Point
condition

By monitoring the error

over time, the operator
could adjust the float
Set Point setting so that it always
= maintained the desired
Control set point
Point

This is what the

integral function in a
Proportional plus
Set Point Integral control loop
= does
Control
Point

Similarly, the operator

could monitor the
process and if he or
she saw the error start
Set Point to rapidly change
= relative to time, they
Control could quickly push the
Point float up or down to
minimize the deviation
from set point

Once the sudden

change is over the
operator could reset
the float to match the
Set Point current load condition
= and maintain the
Control required set point
Point

This is what the

derivative function in a
Proportional plus
Integral plus Derivative
Set Point control loop does
=
Control
Point

Proportional Control v3

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Proportional Control Presented By:

David Sellers, Senior Engineer

2 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

3 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

4 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

5 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

Because the tank acts as a flywheel in the system, it

6 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

Monitoring the tank water level will allow us

7 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

The tank water level is the Process Variable

The desired level becomes the Set Point

8 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

9 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

10 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

11 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

The linkage system makes

12 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

The ratio of the lever arms on

13 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

Gain is another term for

14 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

Moving the float closer to the

15 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

In other words, increasing the

16 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

The proportional band is the

By its nature, a proportional control system

18 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

We could reduce the error by increasing the

19 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

… but at some point, feedback from the

20 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

In this case, if we get the float too close to

21 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

When the float, riding on a big wave, knocks

22 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

When the source of the waves goes away,

23 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

The bottom line is that the dynamics of the

24 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

Now, lets adjust the load to some

25 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

If the system has

26 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

If the system has

27 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

By monitoring the error

28 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

This is what the

29 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

Similarly, the operator

30 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

Once the sudden

31 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

This is what the

32 Proportional Control 05/31/2020

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