Ratio Control
Ratio Control
1. Cascade Control 2. Ratio Control 3. Feedforward Control 4. On-Off Control q control 5. Sequence
C Cascade d C Control t l
Cascade control is a powerful extension of conventional 3-term 3 term feed feed-back back control control. It is a strategy which compensates for specific disturbances at source and largely prevents them h f from affecting ff i the h process being b i controlled. ll d A cascade control scheme has two controllers, the output of the master controller being used to adjust the set point of the slave controller. y means of an example. p This is best illustrated by
Boiler drum level control with simple feedback Boiler drum level is notoriously y difficult to control. One reason for this is that the steam pressure in the drum can vary significantly. Suppose the pressure in the vapour space above the liquid in the drum suddenly increases. This will cause the pres-sure drop across the control valve to fall. Thus the water flow will be reduced, irrespective of the level, even if the level is below its set point.
Boiler drum level control with cascade system The effect of steam pressure disturbances can be compensated for using a slave flow control loop. The set point of the flow control loop uM is manipulated by the level controller output. If the level h is too low the set point of the flow loop will be increased, and vice i versa. Th The fl flow l loop controls t l th the flow fl of f water t Fw against i t thi this set t point i ti in th the normal way. Again, suppose that the pressure in the drum Ps suddenly increases, perhaps due to a transient drop in steam load Fs, causing the flow of water to decrease. The flow loop will respond quickly by opening the valve to maintain the water flow Fw at the rate demanded by the level controller. controller In effect, effect the flow loop is insulating the level loop from, or rejecting disturbances due to, changes in steam pressure. pressure
The choice of slave variable is not always straight-forward. Consider the jacketed stirred tank reactor. Reagents flow into the reactor and displace products through the overflow at the same rate. The reaction is exothermic, heat being removed by cooling water being circulated through the jacket. Reactor temperature is controlled by a conventional feedback loop which manipulates the flow of water
This scheme has a poor response because of the sluggish dynamics of both the reactor and its j jacket. In p particular, , any y disturbance in the cooling g water supply pp y pressure will cause a change in jacket temperature which, eventually, will affect the reactor temperature. Only when the reactor temperature moves away from its set point can the controller start to compensate for the disturbance. Significant errors occur before compensation is complete. This is a classical application for cascade control. There is a choice of three slave loops using ether the water 1 flowrate, 1. flowrate 2. pressure 3. temperature as the controlled variable,
Cascade Control of Jacketed Reactor flowrate slave loop Use of water flowrate as the slave variable is essentially the same as in the example l of f the th b boiler il d drum l level l control t l scheme. h The slave loop specifically rejects disturbances in water flow rate due to changes in its supply pressure. The slave loop has a fast response since it is dependant only upon the hydrodynamics of the water system and the dynamics of the instrumentation and valve.
Cascade Control of Jacketed Reactor pressure slave loop Use of the jacket pressure as the slave variable also specifically rejects di t b disturbances i in water t fl flow rate t and dh has a f fast t response. However, the scheme is counter-intuitive and could confuse the operators!
Cascade Control of Jacketed Reactor pressure slave loop 1. The slave controller must be reverse acting. F example, For l f following ll i an i increase i in supply l pressure the jacket pressure rises and the controller opens the valve. Assuming most of the resistance to flow is due to the jacket and the pipework upstream of the valve, opening the valve increases the flow and the pressure drop across the fixed resistances resistances. Hence the jacket pressure falls. One would intuitively expect to close the valve to counter the effect of an increase in supply pressure. 2. The master loop must be forward acting. Thus, following an increase in reactor temperature, p , the master controller reduces the set point of the slave controller. This results in the valve opening thereby giving the increase in cooling g water necessary y to counter the temperature.
Cascade Control of Jacketed Reactor temperature slave loop Use of jacket temperature TW0 as the slave variable rejects disturbances in water temperature Tw1 as well as disturbances in water flowrate Fw due to changes in supply supp yp pressure essu e Pw. Disturbances in the temperature Tp1 and flowrate Fp of the reagents feed stream are handled by the master loop loop.
Block diagram cascade control of jacketed reactor temperature slave loop The dynamics of the plant have been split, the reactor is still in the master t loop l but b t the th jacket j k t has h b been shifted into the slave loop. The response of this slave loop is relatively slow since it is dominated by the thermodynamics of the jacket. However this is not necessarily a However, disadvantage, provided the slave loop's response is still faster than that of the master.
Cascade Control - Implementation Cascade control can bring about substantial improvements in the quality of control. t l The Th b benefits fit are critically iti ll d dependant d t upon proper i implementation. l t ti The control scheme should be designed to target specific disturbances. If possible choose slave loops p p that reject j disturbances from more than one source. It is essen-tial that the slave loop's dynamics are significantly faster the master loop's to minimise the effects of interactions between the loops. As a rule of thumb the dominant time constant in the slave loop must be less than one third thumb, of the dominant time constant in the master loop. Because of the interactions between the loops, any non-linearity introduced by the slave loop will have an adverse effect on the behavior of the master loop. The slave loop should not introduce non- linearity.
Cascade Control - Implementation When tuning the controllers, the basic strategy is to tune the inner loop first. Switching the master controller into its manual mode effectively disconnects the two loops. By applying B l i step t changes h t to th the master t controller t ll output, t t th the slave l l loop can b be tuned using the continuous cycling method. Alternatively, by switching the slave loop into its manual mode, it can be tuned by the reaction curve method. Once the slave loop has been tuned, it can be switched into its automatic mode and the master loop tuned in the conventional way. In effect, effect the slave loop is treated as if it were any other element whilst tuning the master loop. It may be necessary to slightly detune the slave loop if its dynamics propagate into the master loop to the extent that the interactions adversely affect the master loop's performance.
R ti C Ratio Control t l
Ratio control is control strategy commonly used in the process industries. It is used when the flow rates of two or more streams must be held in proportion to each other other. Typical applications are in blending , combustion and reactor feed control systems. There are essentially three approaches 1 Scaling aproach 1. aproach, which is based upon the simple scaling of signals 2. Direct approach based upon the PID controller. 3. Indirect approach based upon the PID controller.
de d d de (RRA B ) = RR = d A d A B B The lower the flow the greater the sensitivity of the direct ratio scheme scheme, whereas the indirect scheme's sensitivity is constant
F df Feedforward d Control C t l
The inherent limitation of feedback control is that it is retrospective. A feedback controller can only respond to disturbances once they have affected the controlled variable. For many processes this does not matter unduly. However, when the disturbances are large, or where the process dynamics are sluggish, f db k control feedback t l results lt i in significant i ifi t and d sustained t i d errors. Using cascade control to reject specific disturbances can produce substantial p in p performance. However, , control is still retrospective. p improvements Ratio control is different. It responds to changes in one variable by adjusting another to keep them in proportion. In a sense it is anticipating the process needs and is a particular case of feedforward control. What feedforward control offers is the prospect of control action which anticipates the effect of disturbances on the process and compensates for them in advance.
F df Feedforward d Compensation C ti
Consider a process and its load, with steady state gains of K1 and K2 respectively, and suppose that the dynamics are negligible. negligible 0, 1 and 2 be the controlled, disturbance and manipulated variables in deviation form. To compensate for changes in 1 a feedforward element of gain KF may be introduced. I steady In t d state t t is: i 0 =K1 K1 1 + K2(KF0 + 2 )=(K ) (K1+K K2KF)1+K K22 0 =K22 (K1+K K2KF)1+K K22=0 0 KF=-K1/K2
D Dynamic i Compensation C ti
It is unrealistic to ignore the dynamics of the process and load. The gains of the various elements are relatively easy to establish but their dynamics are not. This is especially true of the process and load. In practice, it is usual to separate out the steady state gain from the dynamics, and to have two feedforward compensation ti t terms
F df Feedforward d control t l
The feedforward control can incorporate the set point function. point as an input p to the feedforward calculation is what The use of the set p distinguishes feedforward control from feedforward compensation.
UA t MCp W 1 e p = UA
A-effective surface area,m2; Cp-specific heat kJkg-1K-1; M-mass of contents of vessel,kg; t-time,s; T-time constant,s; U-overall heat transfer coefficient;kWm-2K-1; W-heater p power,kW; -temperature,C. p Subscripts: B-ase position; C-controller M measurement; P-process; R-set point
t T p = ' 1 e p
dp dt
' e Tp
t Tp
'p Tp
Let pAvg be the mean value of p within the band . Thus, within : dp dt on 'pAvg Tp
p = ' e
dp dt
' e Tp
t Tp
p Tp
dp dt off
pAvg Tp
tc =
)
= M + dp dt on TM + dp dt off ff TM
T = M + M ' Tp
Assume that the backlash, backlash etc., etc is symmetrical about the set point R: R = B + dp dt off TM + M T = B + M pAVG + M 2 Tp 2
For on-off control the offset is defined to be the difference pAVG-R, whence
T ' Offset = pAVG R = M pAVG Tp 2
S Sequence control t l
Discrete p processes occur in a number of different p places.
Home appliances use discrete processes to wash dishes, to dry clothes, and to cook a frozen dinner. dinner
Manufacturing industries use a sequence of operations to produce discrete parts and assemble them into finished products.
The chemical industry uses a batch process in a chemical reactor to produce a definite amount of a product.
The food industry uses batch processes for operations such as sterilization sterilization, freeze drying, and extraction.
S Sequence control t l
A sequential process consists of a sequence of one or more operations (called steps) that must be performed in a defined order. The completion of this sequence of steps creates a definite amount of finished product. product The product may be a discrete part, such as an automobile; an amount of liquid, such as mouthwash; or an amount of solid material, such as sugar. The sequence of operations must be repeated to produce more of the product. Sequential processes have a set of directions that defines each step. (In food processing i th the set t of f directions di ti i is called ll d a recipe; i i in computer t programming i it i is called an algorithm). Most sequential q p processes assemble specific p p parts or ingredients g and p process them according to the set of directions. The processing may be drilling, punching, painting, cooking, blending, reacting, or other operations that modify the product.
S Sequence control t l
The steps in a sequential process can often be grouped into a few general operations, such as preparation, loading, processing, unloading, and postpreparation. Each general operation consists of many individual steps steps. Each step is a single event, such as opening a valve, stinting a motor, putting a controller on automatic control, and so on. The general Th l operations ti are sometimes ti called ll d phases. h We W will ill call ll th them operations, and the individual parts of an operation will be called steps. In a strictly y sequential q p process, , each step p must be completed p before the next step can be initiated. However, many actual processes include parallel operations that are not part of any other operation. For example, high- and lowy start and stop pap pump p to maintain the level of liquid q in a tank level switches may between two limits. The supply of liquid in the tank may be part of a sequential process, but the control of the level is independent of the sequential control of the process.
S Sequence control t l
Methods of describing a sequential process include statement lists, flowcharts, ladder diagrams, sequential function charts, state charts, process timing diagrams, and a mathematical (Boolean) language. 1. The statement list is an English-language list of actions that must be carried out for each step. 2. A flowchart uses blocks to represent each step and lines to show the path from step p to step. p 3. A ladder diagram is an electrical diagram showing the connections between various contacts, relay coils, solenoids, motors, and so on. 4 A state chart is a truth table that shows the outputs produced by each step 4. and is usually accompanied by a diagram or chart that shows the transfer paths from state to state. 5 Th 5. The sequential ti l f function ti chart h t uses blocks bl k to t represent t each h step t and d lines li to represent the transitions from step to step. 6. A process timing diagram is a graph of the outputs plotted versus time. 7. The mathematical language is similar to a computer program.
Statement List of the Batch Blending Process STEP1 (4min). Prepare the solid material and fill the solids feeder hopper with a measured amount of material. STEP2 (30s). Press the START button. STEP3(3min) Fill the blending tank with STEP3(3min). a measured quantity of ingredients A and B. STEP4 (4min). Heat and mix the contents of the blending tank STEP5 (5min). Gradually deliver solid material from the hopper to the blending tank Continue to heat and mix the tank. contents of the blending tank STEP6 (1.5min). Continue to heat and mix the contents of the blending tank. STEP7 (4.5min). Pump the contents of the blending tank to the bottling line.
S Summary of f day d 5
Cascade Control - It is a strategy which compensates for specific disturbances at source and largely prevents them from affecting the process being controlled. A cascade control scheme has two controllers, the output of the master controller being used to adjust the set point of the slave controller controller. Ratio Control - It is used when the flow rates of two or more streams must be held in proportion to each other. Typical applications are in blending , combustion and reactor feed control systems systems. Feedforward Control - prospect of control action which anticipates the effect of disturbances on the process and compensates for them in advance. On-Off Control - On-off control (bang-bang control) is conceptually the same thing as proportional control, with a high controller gain. It is characterized by very small, but finite, errors causing the controller output to switch between maximum i and d minimum i i output t t according di t to th the sign i of f th the error. Sequence control - A sequential process consists of a sequence of one or more operations (called steps) that must be performed in a defined order. Sequence control t l can be b event t driven di or ti time d driven. i