Transient - Chapter 10 - 2F - Tank Level Control
Transient - Chapter 10 - 2F - Tank Level Control
TRAINING MANUAL
TRANSIENT MODULE
CHAPTER 10 – 2F
1.1 Introduction
There are two control systems in the above network. The PID control system continually adjusts
the control valve in the main line to keep the tank at the desired level (4m). The switch control
system quickly opens the on/off valve in the drain once the tank reaches the maximum level
(5m) and closes the valve when the liquid level drops to below 4.5 m. The liquid level is
measured by a pressure difference sensor. The scenario here demonstrates the response of
the network to a change in supply flow, modelled by a change in the opening of valve 3.
Please note that the examples in this chapter are given for illustration purposes and are not
intended for inputting the networks. However, if you want to run the calculation, you can use the
existing schematics from Help | Learning | Training Materials | Data Files.
This controller works as an on/off switch. It outputs on when the input signal is above 5 m and
off when it’s below 4.5 m.
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Control valve 2, however, which requires more careful control uses a first order transfer
function.
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The liquid level begins to rise, once the flowrate from the supply increases. Following this,
control valve 2 then opens further, in an attempt to maintain the liquid level of the tank at 4.0 m.
The on-off valve then opens when the liquid level is above 5.0 m and closes when it drops
below 4.5 m, as predicted.
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2.1 Introduction
The control system in this example uses a differential pressure sensor, a PID controller and a
transfer function. The pressure difference sensor measures the liquid level in the tank while the
PID controller adjusts the valve position in the supply line based on the tank level. This scenario
will look at the response of the control system to a supply pressure change from 0.5 Bar G to
2.0 Bar G in 20s.
The controller is set to be a Proportional-Integral controller, with the input set point as 0.5 Bar,
which is equivalent to a 5.11m liquid level. The gain is set as 0.5 /Bar because the valve should
reduce flow entering the tank as the tank level increases. The reset time is set to 5s (as
determined by a tuning procedure, as seen in part 1 of this chapter).
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The liquid level in the tank starts to rise once the supply pressure increases. The control valve
closes then to offset the pressure increase and keep the tank at the desired level. The control
system has been tuned and optimised, however, the maximum fluctuation of the tank level is
still around 1m, and the system requires a relatively long time (>1000s) to reach a new steady
state.
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3.1 Introduction
In the previous example, control valve 1 cannot respond quickly to offset the effect of pressure
change, because the control system only adjusts the valve position based on the tank level.
This is because the tank takes time to fill and as such, the response of the control valve lags
behind the change in supply pressure. This is the reason that the fluctuation in tank level is so
large (~ 1.0m) and it takes such a long time to regain a steady state (> 1000s).
In a direct comparison with the previous example, the system is much more stable using the
cascade PID control system. The maximum liquid level fluctuation is now only 0.04m and the
system only takes around 400s to reach a final steady state.
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