CONTROL ACTIONS

Two step control action

This can be defined as 'the action of a controller whose output changes from one
state to another due to a variation in its input' One example of this control is that of
a float operated filling v/v say for a cistern. In normal condition the output of the
float is nil and no water passes through the valve, should the water level drop the
float detects this and operates the valve to change to its second state which is open
and water flows. When the level re-establishes then the float controls the valve to
return to its primary state which is closed. In this way the float is controlling the
water level by changing the valve between two different states. A more realistic
system is shown below.

The system works as follows; the level drops until the lower float is
uncovered, the controller detects this and opens the filling valve, the filling v/v
remains open until the top float is covered and then the controller shuts the valve
The distance between the floats is termed the 'Overlap' i.e. the distance
between the high and low controlling values ( on some systems this can be altered
by altering the high or low set point of the controller, in the above system this would
mean altering the position of the floats )
If there where any delays or lags in the sensing side,
was a little sticky or the filling v/v was slow to fully open then
below rise above the low and high set points respectively. This is
it can be seen if the controller 'response to change' time was
overshoot could be reduced.
The

system

may

be

represented

in

block

say the float switch

the level would fall
termed 'Overshoot',
speeded up so the

form

as

follows;

The measuring unit signal ( in this case an electrical on/off ) is the

Measured value on which the controller operates. The signal is being 'fed back' to the

controller hence to measured value is Feed back for the controller; i.e. the controller
can see the direct results of its action.
Feed forward signals are sometimes used on systems which have an
inherently high Process Lag; an example of this may be on a Marine Diesel engine
jacket fresh water cooling system where part of the control is that the inlet
temperature to the engine is monitored and fed forward to the controllers, should the
temperature at inlet rise then consequently the outlet temperature must also rise. As
the rise has already been detected then the controller can start increasing the sea
water cooling to the jacket water coolers even though no temperature rise on the
outlet from the engine may have been detected. This type of control, as it takes no
account of what is happening to the process ( is the engine running and hence
requires the extra cooling or is it stopped ) is not very accurate and normally ( and
as in this case ) required Feedback to improve it.

The actions of controllers having variable output

Proportional control action

This where the change in output signal from a controller is proportional to the change
in input signal
The control can be summed up in the following;
Output = Constant x Deviation
Output - this is the output from the controller and goes to the control element ( say
the filling v/v on the previous example i.e. the piece of equipment that actually alters
the
process.
Constant- This is the 'Gain' of the controller, as the output varies with the deviation,
the amount it varies can be altered.
Say if the deviation changes by one unit the output changes by one unit,
hence the gain is one. If the output varied by two for the same one change in

deviation then the gain would be two. Similarly if the change in output was one half a
unit for a one unit change in input then the gain would be half. Another way used to
describe Gain is 'Proportional band', here a gain of one is described as a proportional
band (Pb)of 100%. For a gain of two the Pb is 50%, and for a gain of a half the Pb is
200%, hence it can be seen that the magnitude of the Pb is opposite to the gain.
Deviation- This is the difference between the set point of the controller and the
measured value. If the set point was one unit and the measured value was two units
the deviation would be one unit.
Deviation = Set point - Measured value
The important think to remember is that the narrower the Proportional
band the higher the gain and hence the higher the output varies for a change in
deviation, this has the effect of making the controller control the process quicker by
operating the controlling element more for smaller variations measured value. This
has the negative effect as will be seen of making the system unstable

OFFSET
For a proportional controller to work there must be an deviation, if the deviation is
zero then the controller output to the controlling element is zero. For the example of
the tank and filling v/v obviously this is not possible, with the water constantly
flowing out of the manual outlet v/v then the filling valve ( or controlling element )
must always be some degree open. If the level is at the level of the set point then
the output is nil, the filling v/v is shut and the level drops, deviation occurs and the
filling v/v opens. with this it can be seen that the system is not stable; what would
happen in reality is the level would change ( say the level was low and was now
rising) until it reached a point close to the set point where the deviation multiplied by
the gain would give an output signal to the filling v/v such that the flow of water in to
the tank equalled the flow of water out of the tank.
This deviation is called 'offset'
Therefore a proportional only controller when in equilibrium must have
offset
The amount of offset will be determined by the Gain, for the tank system if the gain
is high the deviation can be small for a larger output
The offset will increase for increased loads on the system i.e. if the outlet
v/v on the example where to be opened further obviously the filling v/v would have
to be opened further, and hence the deviation ( offset ) to give the required output
would have to be greater.
For the system above all the control would be positive as the filling v/v
would only be open if the level was low and hence the offset would always be
positive, when the level rose above the set point, say caused by Lags leading to
Overshoots or the filling v/v leaking slightly the deviation would be negative and the
output zero.

Proportional action and instability (Hunting)

As the gain increases so the output increases for smaller and smaller changes in
deviation, eventually the response starts to look similar to that of a two step
controller with the control valve flying from full open to full shut with the slightest
deviation from the set point. This would be o.k. if the system was devoid of all Lags,
with lags however, particularly between the controller and controlling element, there
is a tendency for 'over shoot'.

This can occur with reduced gain when the process lags are increased,
for systems with a very large lags even small changes in gain can seriously effect the
stability of a system and especially its ability to resist step ( or rapid ) load changes.
For smaller values of gain the system can be set up to have minimum of
hunt and be self stabilizing .

Split range control( negative and positive offset)

A system could be designed to control both the outlet valves and inlet valves (this is
what is seen on the feed water system level control with the spill and filling being
controlled from the one controller) ; here the controller would be set up so that when
the level is at the set point its output is mid range ( say for a controller operating in
the 3 to 15 psi range this would be 9 psi)
The control valves would be set up so that one, say the filling v/v would
go from close at 9.5 psi to open at 15 psi, and the spill v/v would go from close at
8.5 psi to open at 3 psi. The 1 psi in the middle is called the 'Deadband' and is there
to ensure both v/vs are not open at the same time.( The v/v acting to open with
increasing input signal is called 'Direct Acting' and the v/v closing with increasing
pressure is called 'Reverse Acting')

It can be seen that there can now be an offset in the positive i.e. water
being used and hence the make up v/v has to be open and in the negative i.e. there
is too much water entering the system and the spill v/v's have to be opened.
Offset is not a desired result of the control of a system, however for
proportional only controllers this is a direct consequence. That is why for all
controllers performing important functions; including the make up/spill system
controller above other types of controlling action are added to remove the offset

Other types of controlling action

Integral action ( and the removal of offset )
Integral action is defined as the action of a controller whose output signal changes at
a rate proportional to the input(deviation from the set point) signal.
What this means is that if a controller has a constant deviation then the
integral action controller will increase its output continuously until it reaches
maximum
(often
referred
to
as
'Saturation')
If
the
deviation
is
zero
the
integral
action
controller
is
zero
If the deviation is small the rate the controller output increases by is small
If the deviation is great then the integral action controller will rapidly increase its
output.
Integral action is included in proportional controllers to remove the inherent
offset of the proportional action, the offset is the deviation the integral action requires to
alter the output
Integral
action
time
The amount of integral action, or how fast the integral action increases or decreases
the output for one unit of deviation is expressed as the time taken to repeat the
proportional action after a stepped change in input.
Rate of increase of output = Deviation x Integral action time
What this means is say the load changes in the simple filling system
example by the manual v/v being opened and the level suddenly dropping by a foot,
the proportional action will see this load change and give a stepped change in output
i.e. if the foot drop in water level equals a change in input signal to the controller of
one unit away from the set point, the controller will give a stepped change in output
equating to the gain (which is say two ) times the deviation ( one unit) which equals
a change in output of two units.
Whilst all this has been going on the integral part of the controller has
seen the deviation and has decided to increase the rate of output by an amount
equal to the deviation multiplied by the integral action time. The time taken for the
output to increase by a further two units ( remembering that this was how much the
proportional action changed the output) is the integral action time and is measured
in seconds.

The shorter the integral action time ( less seconds ) the more rapidly the
integral part of the controller will increase the output; The longer the integral action
time the slower the integral action will increase the output.

A common way of expressing integral action is in 'Repeats per minute',

integral action time is seconds per repeat, hence if the IAT is 10 ( seconds per repeat
), this would equate to 10/60 minutes per repeat, or more simply 1/6 mins. The
repeats per minute is therefore 6.
Integral action and stability
The introduction of integral action into a controller introduces an extra
time lag, remembering the diagram showing that the integral action will take time to
increase the output to a stepped load change, whereas the proportional action will
give a stepped change. Lags introduce instability, hence it would more difficult to find
settings which give a stable output.
Integral action is always used with proportional action

Derivative action
The definition of this is the action of a controller whose output is proportional to the
rate of change of input.
That is to say for the filling system if the level was falling slowly the
output of the controller would be small. If the level was flying down at a great rate of
knots then the derivative controller would give a high output. It is quite obvious that
the derivative action takes no account of the deviation from the set point but is only
interested in the rate of change of deviation and hence;
Derivative action by itself cannot be used for control.
The purpose of adding derivative action to a controller is to increase the
responses that deviation is removes as quickly as possible. That is to say if the level
in our filling system is falling the proportional action will increase the filling at a the
same rate, however as with seen, if there is a lag in the system particularly between
the controller and controlling element; then there is a possibility of instability and a
hunt.
If we where at the point where the water level was just starting to fall
less rapidly but not at the point where it was actually starting to rise, all the
proportional and integral action see is a large deviation and so keep the water v/v
wide open, the derivative action, however, sees this slowing down of the drop in
water level, its output is dependent on the rate of change and hence reduces, and so
the output from the controller reduces.
The introduction of derivative action introduces a stabilizing effect into a control system
Derivative action time
Output = Derivative action x rate of change of input
Derivative action [coefficient]- This is described as the time the
proportional action takes to repeat the derivative action after a ramped ( or constant
rate of change) input. The units are seconds.

Torsionmeters
Torsion meters are used for the measurement of power transferred through a
propulsion shaft.

Principle

A torque of value T is applied to a shaft of fixed length L and radius r. An angle of

twist is generated and is dependent of the modulus of torsional rigidity G and given
by
T/r = G/L
The modulus of rigidity, the raidus and the length of the shaft are all
fixed thus the torque on the shaft is proportional to the angle of twist

Typical system

Two AC generators are mounted so that they are driven by the main shaft and area
at set distance apart L. A sinusoidal waveform is produced. One of the generators is
adjusted so that at minimum torque the generated waveforms are 180' out of phase.
The outputs from the two generators are then added and the resultant voltage is
used
as
the
measurement
of
torque

As the torque is applied to the shaft so the twist causes the waveforms to shift in
phase. When the two waveforms are now added an output ac current is produced
which may be amplified and rectified to give an ouput voltage proportional to the
torque
appled
to
the
shaft.

Another method of achieving this is to replace the generators wit sensors

and toothed ring.

Power Calculation

Power is a product of the Torque and revs of the shaft, one of the generator outputs
is used to measure the shaft rev/s and a calculation performed