ERT 321

Process Control & Dynamics

CHAPTER 8
Feedback Controllers
Dr Anis
OUTLINE
 Introduction to Feedback Controller
 PID Controller
 Basic Control Mode
 PID Common Form
 Features of PID Controller
 On-Off Controller
 Typical Response of Feedback Controller
 Effect of changing controller settings
 Control objective: to keep the tank exit composition, x,
at the desired value (set point) by adjusting the flow
8 8

rate, w2, via the control valve

Chapter
Chapter

Figure 8.1: Schematic diagram for a stirred-tank blending system

Chapter 8

Figure 8.2: Flow control system

 In feedback control, the objective is to reduce the error signal to
zero where
e  t   ysp  t   ym  t  (8-1)
8 8

and
Chapter

e t   error signal
Chapter

ysp  t   set point

ym  t   measured value of the controlled variable
(or equivalent signal from the sensor/transmitter)
Basic Control Modes: PID
Three basic control modes:

highly
Proportional
8 8

endothermic
control
reaction
Chapter
Chapter

Integral
costly
control

requires very
Derivative control
intensive energy
 Proportional Control
For proportional control, the controller output is proportional to
the error signal,
p  t   p  Kc e  t  (8-2)
Chapter
Chapter 8 8

where:

p  t   controller output
p  bias (steady-state) value
•At time t = 25 min, e(25) = 60–56 = 4
K c  controller
•At time t gain (usually
= 40 min, e(40)dimensionless)
= 60–62 = –2
Chapter
Chapter 8 8
 The key concepts behind proportional control are the following:

1. the controller gain (Kc) can be adjusted to make the controller

output changes as sensitive as desired to deviations between
set point and controlled variable;
2. the sign of Kc can be chosen to make the controller output
Chapter 8

increase (or decrease) as the error signal increases.

Some controllers have a proportional band setting instead of a
controller gain. The proportional band PB (in %) is defined as

1
PB ≜  100%
Kc

Large PB correspond to a small value of Kc and vice versa

 In order to derive the transfer function for an ideal proportional
controller (without saturation limits), define a deviation variable
p  t  as
p (t ) ≜ p(t )  p (8-4)

Then Eq. 8-2 can be written as

Chapter 8 8

p  t   K c e  t  (8-5)
Chapter

The transfer function for proportional-only control:

P  s 
 Kc (8-6)
E  s
An inherent disadvantage of proportional-only control is that a
steady-state error (or offset) occurs after a set-point change or a
sustained disturbance.
 Integral Control
For integral control action, the controller output depends on the
integral of the error signal over time,
1 t
p  t   p   e  t * dt * (8-7)
Chapter 8

τI 0
where τ I ,= integral time/reset time

• Integral action eliminates steady-state error (i.e., offset)

• p is changing with time until e(t*) = 0, or until it attains the
value to make the steady state error =0.
Proportional-Integral (PI) Control

Integral control action is normally used in conjunction with

proportional control as the proportional-integral (PI) controller:
 1 t 
p  t   p  Kc  e  t   0 e  t * dt *  (8-8)
 τI

The corresponding transfer function for the PI controller in

Eq. 8-8 is given by

P  s   1   τI s 1 
 Kc 1    Kc   (8-9)
E  s  τ s
I  τ
 I  s
 Disadvantage of Integral Action: Reset Windup

The integral mode causes the controller output to Can grow

change as long as e(t*) ≠ 0 in Eq. 8-8 very large

 1 t 
p  t   p  Kc  e  t   0 e  t * dt *  (8-8)
 τI
Chapter 8

If an error is large enough and/or persists long

enough
• Can produce p(t) that causes the final control element (FCE) to saturate.
• That is, the controller drives the FCE (e.g. valve, pump, compressor) to its physical
limit of fully open/on/maximum or fully closed/off/minimum.

If this extreme value is still not sufficient to

eliminate the error
• the integral term continue growing,
• the controller command the FCE to move to 110%, then 120% and more
• this command has no physical meaning (no impact on the process)

*Antireset windup reduce the windup by temporarily halting the integral control action
whenever the controller output saturates and resumes when the output is no longer
saturates.
 • Transfer function for PI control

P(s)  1 
 K c 1  
E(s)   Is 
Chapter
Chapter 8 8

ysp

Response of PI controller
 Derivative Control
The function of derivative control action is to anticipate the
future behavior of the error signal by considering its rate of
change.
Controller output is proportional to the rate of change of the
Chapter 8 8

error signal or the controlled variable.

Chapter

Thus, for ideal derivative action,

de  t 
p  t   p  τD (8-10)
dt

where τ D , the derivative time, has units of time.

 Advantages of derivative action
Chapter
Chapter 8 8
 • Derivative action always used in conjunction with
proportional or proportional-integral control.

For example, an “ideal” PD controller has the transfer

8 8

function: Physically
unrealizable
P  s 
Chapter

 Kc  1  τ D s  (8-11)
Chapter

E  s

• Unfortunately, the ideal proportional-derivative control

algorithm in Eq. 8-11 is physically unrealizable because it
cannot be implemented exactly.
 • For “real” PD controller, the transfer function in (8-11) can be
approximated by

P  s   τDs 
 K c 1   (8-12)
E  s  ατ s  1 
8 8

D
Chapter
Chapter

where the constant α typically has a value between 0.05 and

0.2, with 0.1 being a common choice.
• In Eq. 8-12 the derivative term includes a derivative mode
filter (also called a derivative filter) that reduces the sensitivity
of the control calculations to high-frequency noise in the
measurement.
 Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) Control

3 common PID control forms are:

highly
Parallel form
endothermic
8 8

reaction
Chapter
Chapter

Series form
costly

requires very
Expanded form
intensive energy
 Parallel Form of PID Control
Chapter 8

The parallel form of the PID control algorithm (without a

derivative filter) @ “Ideal” PID control is given by

 1 t de  t  
p  t   p  Kc e  t   0 e  t * dt *  τ D dt  (8-13)
 τI

The corresponding transfer function for “Ideal” PID control is:

P  s   1 
 K c 1   τDs (8-14)
E  s  τI s 
 The corresponding transfer function for “Real” PID control
(parallel), with derivative filter is:
P( s)  1  DS 
 K c 1   
E (s)   1S  D S  1
Chapter
Chapter 8 8

Figure 8.8 Block diagram of the parallel form of PID

control (without a derivative filter)
 Series Form of PID Control
Constructed by having PI element and a PD element operated
in series.
Commercial versions of the series-form controller have a
derivative filter as indicated in Eq 8-15.
Chapter 8 8

PI
Chapter

P  s   τ I s  1  τ D s  1 
 Kc    (8-15)
E  s τ
 I  Ds ατ s  1  PD

1
1
Is

Figure 8.9 Block diagram of the series form of PID

control (without a derivative filter)
 Used in MATLAB
Expanded Form of PID Control

In addition to the well-known series and parallel forms, the

expanded form of PID control in Eq. 8-16 is sometimes used:
8 8

de  t 
Chapter

t
p  t   p  K c e  t   K I  e  t * dt *  K D (8-16)
Chapter

0 dt
 Controller Comparison

P - Simplest controller to tune (Kc).

- Offset with sustained disturbance or setpoint
8 8

change.
Chapter

PI - More complicated to tune (Kc, I) .

Chapter

- Better performance than P

- No offset
- Most popular FB controller
PID - Most complicated to tune (Kc, I, D) .
- Better performance than PI
- No offset
- Derivative action may be affected by noise
Features of PID Controllers: common enhancement of the

1. Elimination of Derivativebasic
KickPID
• One disadvantage of the previous PID controllers :
derivative kick : when there is a sudden change in set point (and
hence the error, e) that will cause the derivative term to
8 8

become very large., and thus provide a derivative kick to the

Chapter

FCE.
• This sudden change is undesirable and can be avoided by
Chapter

basing the derivative action on the measurement, ym, rather than

on the error signal, e.
• Replacing de/dt by –dym/dt gives From a parallel form of
PID control in Eq. 8-13

 1 t dym  t  
p  t   p  K c e  t   0 e  t * dt * τ D dt  (8-17)
 τI
 2. Reverse or Direct Action
• The controller gain can be made either negative or positive.

p  t   p  K c  ysp  t   ym  t   (8-22)
Chapter
Chapter 8 8

Direct Acting (Kc < 0) Reverse Acting (Kc > 0)

Controller output p(t) Controller output p(t)

increases as the input signal increases as its input signal
ym(t) increases ym(t) decreases
 p  t   p  K c  ysp  t   ym  t   (8-22)

Reverse acting (Kc > 0)

ym(t)↓, p(t) ↑
Chapter
Chapter 8 8

Direct acting (Kc < 0)

ym(t) ↓, p(t) ↓
 On-Off Controllers
Synonyms:
“two-position” or “bang-bang” controllers.
ym(t)↓
8 8

ym(t)↑
Chapter
Chapter

eg: thermostat in home heating

system.
-if the temperature is too high,
the thermostat turns the heater
OFF. 
-If the temperature is too low,
the thermostat turns the heater
ON.

Controller output has two possible values.

 On-Off Controllers (continued)
Chapter
Chapter 8 8
 Typical Response of Feedback Control Systems
Consider response of a controlled system after a
sustained disturbance occurs (e.g., step change in
the disturbance variable)
No control: the process
8 8

slowly reaches a new steady

Chapter

state
Chapter

P – speed up the process

response & reduces the offset
PI – eliminate offset & the
response more oscillatory
PID – reduces degree of
oscillation and the response
time
Figure 8.12. Typical process responses with feedback control.
 Effect of changing controller settings
1. Proportional control
Chapter
Chapter 8 8

Figure 8.13: Effect of controller gain.

-Increasing Kc tends to make the process response less sluggish
(faster)
-Too large of Kc, results in undesirable degree of oscillation or
even become unstable
-Intermediate value of Kc usually results in the best control.
Chapter
Chapter 8 8 2. Integral control

Figure 8.14: (a) effect of reset time (b) effect of controller gain.

-Increasing τI tends to make the process response more sluggish

(slower)
-Too large of τI, the controlled variable will return to the set point
very slowly after a disturbance change @ set-point change occurs.
Chapter
Chapter 8 8 3. Derivative controller

Figure 8.15: Effect of derivative time.

-Increasing τD tends to improve the process response by reducing

the maximum deviation, response time and degree of oscillation.
-Too large of τD: measurement noise is amplified and process
response more oscillatory.
-The intermediate value of τD is desirable.
A schematic diagram of gas absorption system in absorption column is
shown below. Before this gas is vented to atmosphere, it is necessary
to remove most of the NH3 from it by absorbing it with water. The
absorber has been designed so that the outlet NH3 concentration in the
vapor is 50 ppm. Air
NH3

H2O

Air
NH3

H2O
NH3

Propose a suitable control strategy to maintain the concentration of NH3 at the

desired concentration.