EEB5213/EAB4233 Plant Process

Control Systems

Cascade Control
Objectives

z At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

– Identify situations for which cascade is a good control
enhancement
– Design cascade control using the five design rules
– Apply tuning procedure to cascade control
A Process Example
A Process Example -
Disturbance
 A Process Example
Let’s think about the process behavior.
z Causal relationship from pressure disturbance, P, to
temperature, TC2.
z What measurable effect always occurs when P changes?

If we can maintain this variable

approximately constant, can we
reduce the effect of the disturbance ?
Cascade Control
 Cascade Control

plant computer computer operator

T2 ET 2 = T 2 sp − T 2 T2SP
 1
t

MV1 = ( K c ) T 2  ET 2 +
 (TI ) T 2 ∫
0
ET 2 dt ' + I T 2

F 2 sp = MV1

F2 E F 2 = F 2 sp − F 2
 1
t

MV2 = ( K c ) F 2  E F 2 +
 (TI ) F 2 ∫
0
E F 2 dt ' + I F 2

vp = MV2

Identify calculations
performed by the computer.
Control Performance Comparison
for CST Heater
Cascade Control
Performance for CST
Heater
Cascade Design Criteria

Cascade is desired when :

z Single loop performance is unacceptable
z A measured variable is available

A secondary variable must :

z Indicate the occurrence of an important disturbance
z Have a causal relationship with the manipulated variable (valve)
z Have a faster response than the primary variable
Cascade Control – An
Example
 Cascade Control – An
Example
z Design a cascade control structure to improve performance.
 Cascade Control –
An Example
Cascade design criteria A2 F1 F2 T1 T2 T3
Single-loop control not acceptable
Variable is measured
Indicates a key disturbance
Causal relationship with valve
Secondary dynamics faster than primary

Remember : The disturbance is

heating medium inlet temperature
and the primary variable is AC 1.
Cascade Control – An Example
Control Performance Comparison
for Packed Bed Reactor
Cascade Control
Performance for
Packed Bed Reactor
 Cascade Control –
An Example
z How does the cascade control system respond to the following
changes?

A disturbance in heating
medium inlet pressure
A disturbance in
feed pressure

A disturbance
in T1
A change to set
A disturbance to feed
point, AC1
composition, A2
Cascade Control
Cascade Control in Instrumentation
z Does cascade apply to instrumentation? Yes, a valve positioner is
a secondary variable that reduces effects of friction.
Advantages Of Cascade Control

z Large improvement in performance when the secondary variable

is much faster than primary variable.
z Simple technology with PID algorithm.
z Use of feedback at all levels. Primary variable has zero offset for
“step-like disturbances”.
z Plant operating personnel find cascade loops easy to understand
and operate. They can choose between cascade closed or
cascade open.
Cascade Controller Tuning
z Cascade control loop is tuned in a sequential manner, starting
with the secondary loop.
1. The secondary loop is modeled by introducing perturbation
at the final element and recording the response of the
secondary variable.
2. The secondary controller is tuned first (tuning constants
selected and later fine tuned, if necessary) because it affects
the open-loop dynamics of the primary loop.
3. With the secondary controller in auto mode, the primary loop
is modeled by perturbing the secondary variable set point
and the primary variable response is recorded.
4. The primary controller is then tuned accordingly.
z Conventional initial tuning guidelines and fine-tuning heuristics
apply.
 Cascade Controller
Tuning

2 Modeling & tuning

1° loop with 2° loop in
auto mode

1 Modeling &
tuning 2° loop
Cascade Control:
Bee in My Bonnet

z Why do we retain the primary controller in the cascade loop ?

z Which modes are required for zero steady-state offset ?
z Which modes are recommended for (a) primary loop and (b)
secondary loop ?
z What is the additional cost of cascade control ?
z Normally, each PID controller represents one independent
controlled variable. Is anything different in a cascade structure ?
What Next ?

z Next Lecture : Enhancements to PID Algorithm – Feedforward

Control (Marlin, Ch 15)