Control loops

An open loop control system

Open loop control simply means there is no direct feedback from
the controlled condition; in other words, no information is sent
back from the process or system under control to advise the
controller that corrective action is required. The heating system
shown in Figure .!." demonstrates this by using a sensor
outside of the room being heated. The system shown in Figure
.!." is not an e#ample of a practical heating control system; it is
simply being used to depict the principle of open loop control.
Fig. 5.3.
1 Open loop control
The system consists of a proportional controller with an outside
sensor sensing ambient air temperature. The controller might be
set with a fairly large proportional band, such that at an ambient
temperature of $"%C the valve is full open, and at an ambient of
"&%C the valve is fully closed. 's the ambient temperature will
have an effect on the heat loss from the building, it is hoped that
the room temperature will be controlled.
(owever, there is no feedback regarding the room temperature
and heating due to other factors. )n mild weather, although the
flow of water is being controlled, other factors, such as high solar
gain, might cause the room to overheat. )n other words, open
control tends only to provide a coarse control of the application.
Figure .!.* depicts a slightly more sophisticated control system
with two sensors.
Fig. 5.3.2
Open loop control system with outside temperature sensor
and water temperature sensor
The system uses a three port mi#ing valve with an actuator,
controller and outside air sensor, plus a temperature sensor in the
water line.
The outside temperature sensor provides a remote set point input
to the controller, which is used to offset the water temperature set
point. )n this way, closed loop control applies to the water
temperature flowing through the radiators.
+hen it is cold outside, water flows through the radiator at its
ma#imum temperature. 's the outside temperature rises, the
controller automatically reduces the temperature of the water
flowing through the radiators.
(owever, this is still open loop control as far as the room
temperature is concerned, as there is no feedback from the
building or space being heated. )f radiators are oversi,ed or
design errors have occurred, overheating will still occur.
Closed loop control
-uite simply, a closed loop control requires feedback; information
sent back direct from the process or system. .sing the simple
heating system shown in Figure .!.!, the addition of an internal
space temperature sensor will detect the room temperature and
provide closed loop control with respect to the room.
)n Figure .!.!, the valve and actuator are controlled via a space
temperature sensor in the room, providing feedback from the
actual room temperature.
Fig. 5.3.3
Closed loop control system with sensor for internal space
temperature
Disturbances
/isturbances are factors, which enter the process or system to
upset the value of the controlled medium. These disturbances can
be caused by changes in load or by outside influences.
For e#ample; if in a simple heating system, a room was suddenly
filled with people, this would constitute a disturbance, since it
would affect the temperature of the room and the amount of heat
required to maintain the desired space temperature.
Feedbac control
This is another type of closed loop control. Feedback control
takes account of disturbances and feeds this information back to
the controller, to allow corrective action to be taken. For e#ample,
if a large number of people enter a room, the space temperature
will increase, which will then cause the control system to reduce
the heat input to the room.
Feed!forward control
+ith feed$forward control, the effects of any disturbances are
anticipated and allowed for before the event actually takes place.
'n e#ample of this is bringing the boiler up to high fire before
bringing a large steam$using process plant on line. The sequence
of events might be that the process plant is switched on. This
action, rather than opening the steam valve to the process,
instructs the boiler burner to high fire. Only when the high fire
position is reached is the process steam valve allowed to open,
and then in a slow, controlled way.
"ingle loop control
This is the simplest control loop involving 0ust one controlled
variable, for instance, temperature. To e#plain this, a steam$to$
water heat e#changer is considered as shown in Figure .!.1.
Fig
. 5.3.# "ingle loop control on a heating calorifier
The only one variable controlled in Figure .!.1 is the temperature
of the water leaving the heat e#changer. This is achieved by
controlling the *$port steam valve supplying steam to the heat
e#changer. The primary sensor may be a thermocouple or 2T"33
platinum resistance thermometer sensing the water temperature.
The controller compares the signal from the sensor to the set
point on the controller. )f there is a difference, the controller sends
a signal to the actuator of the valve, which in turn moves the valve
to a new position. The controller may also include an output
indicator, which shows the percentage of valve opening.
4ingle control loops provide the vast ma0ority of control for heating
systems and industrial processes.
Other terms used for single control loops include5
4et value control.
4ingle closed loop control.
Feedback control.
$ulti!loop control
The following e#ample considers an application for a slow moving
timber$based product, which must be controlled to a specific
humidity level 6see Figures .!. and .!.78.
Fig
. 5.3.5 "ingle humidity sensor
)n Figure .!., the single humidity sensor at the end of the
conveyor controls the amount of heat added by the furnace. 9ut if
the water spray rate changes due, for instance, to fluctuations in
the water supply pressure, it may take perhaps "3 minutes before
the product reaches the far end of the conveyor and the humidity
sensor reacts. This will cause variations in product quality.
To improve the control, a second humidity sensor on another
control loop can be installed immediately after the water spray, as
shown in Figure .!.7. This humidity sensor provides a remote set
point input to the controller which is used to offset the local set
point. The local set point is set at the required humidity after the
furnace. This, in a simple form, illustrates multi$loop control.
This humidity control system consists of two control loops5
:oop " controls the addition of water.
:oop * controls the removal of water.
+ithin this process, factors will influence both loops. 4ome factors
such as water pressure will affect both loops. :oop " will try to
correct for this, but any resulting error will have an impact on :oop
*.
Fi
g. 5.3.% Dual humidity sensors
Cascade control
+here two independent variables need to be controlled with one
valve, a cascade control system may be used.
Figure .!.; shows a steam 0acketed vessel full of liquid product.
The essential aspects of the process are quite rigorous5
The product in the vessel must be heated to a certain
temperature.
The steam must not e#ceed a certain temperature or the
product may be spoiled.
The product temperature must not increase faster than a
certain rate or the product may be spoiled.
)f a normal, single loop control was used with the sensor in the
liquid, at the start of the process the sensor would detect a low
temperature, and the controller would signal the valve to move to
the fully open position. This would result in a problem caused by
an e#cessive steam temperature in the 0acket.
Fig. 5.3.& 'aceted
(essel
The solution is to use a cascade control using two controllers and
two sensors5
' slave controller 6Controller *8 and sensor monitoring the
steam temperature in the 0acket, and outputting a signal to
the control valve.
' master controller 6Controller "8 and sensor monitoring the
product temperature with the controller output directed to the
slave controller.
The output signal from the master controller is used to vary
the set point in the slave controller, ensuring that the steam
temperature is not e#ceeded.
)*ample 5.3.1 An e*ample of cascade control applied to a process
(essel
The liquid temperature is to be heated from "%C to <3%C and
maintained at <3%C for two hours.
The steam temperature cannot e#ceed "*3%C under any
circumstances.
The product temperature must not increase faster than
"%C=minute.
The master controller can be ramped so that the rate of increase
in water temperature is not higher than that specified.
The master controller is set in reverse acting mode, so that its
output signal to the slave controller is *3 m' at low temperature
and 1 m' at high temperature.
The remote set point on the slave controller is set so that its
output signal to the valve is 1 m' when the steam temperature is
<3%C, and *3 m' when the steam temperature is "*3%C.
)n this way, the temperature of the steam cannot be higher than
that tolerated by the system, and the steam pressure in the 0acket
cannot be higher than the, " bar g, saturation pressure at "*3%C.
Top
/ynamics of the process
This is a very comple# sub0ect but this part of the te#t will cover
the most basic considerations.
The term >time constant>, which deals with the definition of the
time taken for actuator movement, has already been outlined in
Tutorial ."; but to reiterate, it is the time taken for a control
system to reach appro#imately two$thirds of its total movement as
a result of a given step change in temperature, or other variable.
Other parts of the control system will have similar time based
responses $ the controller and its components and the sensor
itself. 'll instruments have a time lag between the input to the
instrument and its subsequent output. ?ven the transmission
system will have a time lag $ not a problem with electric=electronic
systems but a factor that may need to be taken into account with
pneumatic transmission systems.
Figures .!.< and .!.& show some typical response lags for a
thermocouple that has been installed into a pocket for sensing
water temperature.
Fig. 5.3.+ "tep change 5,C
Fig. 5.3.- .amp change 5,C
'part from the delays in sensor response, other parts of the
control system also affect the response time. +ith pneumatic and
self$acting systems, the valve=actuator movement tends to be
smooth and, in a proportional controller, directly proportional to
the temperature deviation at the sensor.
+ith an electric actuator there is a delay due to the time it takes
for the motor to move the control linkage. 9ecause the control
signal is a series of pulses, the motor provides bursts of
movement followed by periods where the actuator is stationary.
The response diagram 6Figure .!."38 depicts this. (owever,
because of delays in the process response, the final controlled
temperature can still be smooth.
Fig. 5.3.1/
Comparison of response by different actuators
The control systems covered in this Tutorial have only considered
steady state conditions. (owever the process or plant under
control may be sub0ect to variations following a certain behaviour
pattern. The control system is required to make the process
behave in a predictable manner. )f the process is one which
changes rapidly, then the control system must be able to react
quickly. )f the process undergoes slow change, the demands on
the operating speed of the control system are not so stringent.
@uch is documented about the static and dynamic behaviour of
controllers and control systems $ sensitivity, response time and so
on. 2ossibly the most important factor of consideration is the time
lag of the complete control loop.
The dynamics of the process need consideration to select the
right type of controller, sensor and actuator.
0rocess reactions
These dynamic characteristics are defined by the reaction of the
process to a sudden change in the control settings, known as a
step input. This might include an immediate change in set
temperature, as shown in Figure .!."".
The response of the system is depicted in Figure .!."*, which
shows a certain amount of dead time before the process
temperature starts to increase. This dead time is due to the
control lag caused by such things as an electrical actuator moving
to its new position. The time constant will differ according to the
dynamic response of the system, affected by such things as
whether or not the sensor is housed in a pocket.
Fig. 5.3.11 "tep input
Fig. 5.3.12 Components
of process response to step changes
The response of any two processes can have different
characteristics because of the system. The effects of dead time
and the time constant on the system response to a sudden input
change are shown graphically in Figure .!."*.
4ystems that have a quick initial rate of response to input
changes are generally referred to as possessing a first order
response.
4ystems that have a slow initial rate of response to input changes
are generally referred to as possessing a second order response.
'n overview of the basic types of process response 6effects of
dead time, first order response, and second order response8 is
shown in Figure .!."!.
Fig.
5.3.13 .esponse cur(es