PID Controllers

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF PID CONTROL

What is a PID CONTROLLER?

A PID controller is an instrument used in industrial control applications to regulate temperature, flow,
pressure, speed and other process variables. PID (proportional integral derivative) controllers use a
control loop feedback mechanism to control process variables and are the most accurate and stable
controller.

The first evolution of the PID controller was developed in 1911 by Elmer Sperry .

However, it wasn't until 1933 that the Taylor Instrumental Company (TIC) introduced the first pneumatic
controller with a fully tunable proportional controller.

The original technology for industrial proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) control was pneumatic,
hydraulic, or mechanical and the controller usually had a simple interface for manual tuning. The first
theoretical analysis of a PID controller dates back to 1922 when the Russian American engineer Nicolas
Minorsky developed an automatic ship steering system for the U.S. Navy based on observations of the
steersmen’s use of current error, past error, and rate of change to keep the ship on course.

PID control is used to control and maintain processes. It can be used to control physical variables such as
temperature, pressure, flow rate, and tank level. The technique is widely used in today’s manufacturing
industry to achieve accurate process control under different process conditions. PID is simply an
equation that the controller uses to evaluate the controlled variables.

Below is a common control Loop application.

PID: THE THEORY

Before PID controllers were made, people used Simple ON/OFF controllers. These two are different in
terms of where people use them and how accurate the controllers are. On/Off controller are simple in which
people use them in households, while PID’s are used in Industrial Processes.

A good example of this is a house with a furnace. When a temperature is set on a thermostat, a sensor
that measures the house temperature will compare it to the set point. If the temperature goes above the set point,
it will automatically turn off the furnace. However, if it is below the set point, it will automatically turn on the
furnace.
When put into a graph, we can see that the temperature will fluctuate near the set point but never be
exact.

This is acceptable in households, but this would be detrimental when in industrial processes because of
how accurate the processes are in industrial applications.
Like for example, when we have a tank level that would fluctuate from the set point needed for the
processes, it would have a deviation of around 10 percent. It would be affecting the efficiency of the process and in
some cases damaging the quality of the products.

PID: How to they Work?

PID stands for “Proportional”, “Integral”, and “Derivative.” Every process responds differently and these
types of controllers can quickly correct any deviations and disruptions with varying amounts of Proportional,
Integral and Derivative Actions.

Unlike On/Off controllers, PID’s use three different actions in order to have as close as possible of a value
to the set point value. In the past, PID’s are used as a stand-alone device, but as many innovations are created,
they become part of a system called a PLC or Programmable Logic Controller.

Proportional is used to create an output signal that is proportional to the magnitude of the Error Signal.
The Stronger the Error Signal, the greater the Proportional Action. Unfortunately, the closer it is to the set point,
the less it pushes. It means that it can get close to the set point, but not actually reach it.

Integral is used to correct the gap made by the proportional action. It creates an output proportional to
the duration and the magnitude of the error signal. The longer the error and the greater the amount, the larger
the integral output.

Derivative is used to create an output signal proportional to the rate of change of the error signal. The
faster the error changes, the larger the derivative action output. This is used to look ahead to see what the errors
would be in the future, which further ensures that there would be little-to-no disruptions in the processes.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PID CONTROL

As suggested earlier, to implement a PID control, the engineer must first choose the structure of the PID
controller and then must choose numerical values for the PID coefficients to tune the controller.

Choosing the Structure of a PID Controller

To choose the structure of a controller, refer to the following table of tuning effects of the PID controller
terms. This is a reference table that shows how each term of the controller can be selected to
accomplish a particular closed-loop system effect of specification.

Tuning the PID Controller

The second part of setting up a PID controller is to tune or choose numerical values for the PID
parameters. PID controllers are tuned in terms of their P, I, and D terms. Tuning the control gains can
result in the following improvements of responses:

 Proportional gain (Kp) Larger proportional gain typically means faster response, because
the larger the error, the larger the proportional term compensation. However, an
excessively large proportional gain may result in process instability and oscillation.
 Integral gain (Ki) Larger integral gain implies that steady state errors are eliminated
faster. However, the trade-off may be a larger overshoot, because any negative error
integrated during transient response must be integrated away by positive error before
steady state can be reached.
 Derivative gain (Kd) Larger derivative gain decreases overshoot but slows down transient
response and may lead to instability due to signal noise amplification in the
differentiation of the error.
The following table lists some common tuning methods and their advantages and disadvantages. The
choice of method will mostly depend on whether or not the loop can be taken offline for tuning and the
response time of the system. If the system can be taken offline, the best tuning method often involves
subjecting the system to a step change in input, measuring the output as a function of time, and using
this response to determine the control parameters. Manual tuning methods can be quite inefficient,
especially if the loops have response times of longer than a minute.
OPEN-LOOP VS. CLOSED-LOOP CONTROL

Open-Loop Vs. Closed-Loop Control - An open-loop controller, also called a non-feedback controller,
computes its input into a system using only the current state and its model of the system. The controller
does not receive a feedback signal from the process and it only has a set-point and a fixed output signal.
The output signal does not change, regardless of the system conditions and disturbances

Example: Irrigation Sprinkler System

Irrigation Sprinkler System

An open-loop controller is often used in simple processes because of its simplicity and low cost,
particularly in systems where feedback is not critical. A typical example would be a conventional dryer,
for which the length of machine drying time is entirely based on the judgment and estimation of the
human operator.
In a closed-loop system, also called a feedback system, the controller has a feedback signal from the
process. The controller has a set point, a feedback input signal, and a varying output signal. The output
signal increases or decreases proportionally to the error of the set point compared to the input signal.
The input signal varies proportionally to the system disturbances and the gain of the measurement
sensor.

An example of a closed-loop system would be an automobile’s cruise control.

PID CONTROLLER FOR DC MOTOR

PID Controller for DC Motor

In this example, the desired target speed of the motor is set by the user. This value is fed into the speed
controller to change the motor speed, and the loop is closed by a tachometer. The controller constantly
adjusts the value of the DC voltage applied to the motor to maintain the desired speed. The control loop
is shown in the following figure:
The speed controller contains two components: speed control and a digital-to-analog converter. The
speed control component compares the desired speed with the measured speed and generates a digital
value proportional to the DC value to be applied to the motor. The digital-to-analog converter is
implemented using a signal generator and a low pass filter to smooth out the signal.

The transfer function for the DC motor’s speed is expressed in Laplace form as:

K: Electromotive force control = 0.01

Nm/Amp

R: Electrical resistance = 1 Ω

L: Electrical inductance = 0.5H

J: Moment of inertia of rotor = 0.01 kg m2/s2

b: Damping ratio of mechanical system = 0.1 Nms

V: Source voltage

θ: Rotating speed
CASCADE CONTROL

Cascade control involves the use of two controllers with the output of the first controller providing the
set point for the second controller, the feedback loop for one controller nestling inside the other.

Cascade control is especially advantageous when the main disturbance is in the inner loop. This is
because with the cascade configuration, the correction of the inner disturbance occurs as soon as the
secondary sensor detects the upset. There are three main advantages gained by the use of cascade
control

 Disturbances affecting the secondary variable can be corrected by the secondary

controller before their influence is felt by the primary variable.
 Closing the control loop around the secondary part of the process reduces the phase lag
seen by the primary controller, resulting in increased speed of the response. Because of
the increased speed of response, the sensitivity of the primary process variable to process
upsets is also reduced.
 The use of the secondary loop can reduce the effect of control valve sticking or actuator
nonlinearity.

TROUBLESHOOTING

If a control loop is not performing satisfactorily, troubleshooting is necessary to identify the source of
the problem. In many process applications, a control loop that once operated satisfactorily can become
either unstable or excessively sluggish for a variety of reasons, including:

 Changing process conditions, usually changes in throughput rate

 A sticking control valve stem
 A plugged line in a pressure or differential pressure transmitter
 Fouled heat exchangers, particularly reboilers for distillation columns
 Cavitating pumps (usually caused by a suction pressure that is too low)

The starting point for troubleshooting is to obtain enough background informationto define the problem
clearly. The following questions must be answered:

 What are the control objectives?

 What is the process being controlled?
 What are the control variables?
 Are closed-loop response data available?
 Is the controller in manual or automatic mode? Is it reverse or direct acting?
 If the process is cycling, what is the cycling frequency?
 What PID controller algorithm is used? What are the PID controller
 parameters?
 Is the process open-loop stable?
 What additional documentation is available, such as control loop summary
 sheets, piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID), etc.?