Event Based Control Applied

to Wireless Throttling Valves *

Terry Blevins, Mark Nixon, and Willy Wojsznis, Member IEEE
Future Control Architecture
Emerson Process Management
Round Rock, TX, USA
terry.blevins@emerson.com

Abstract— This paper addresses the PID modifications and

communication support that enable effective control using
wireless throttling valves. To conserve the battery power used by
a wireless positioner, the PID in a control system can be modified
to minimize changes to the actuator position.. Effectively, a
controller’s output to an actuator is event-driven. It is not based
on regular scan periods. A new WirelessHART command is
proposed that allows the PID to compensate for communications
delays from the control system to wireless throttling valve. This
paper presents the performance achieved in a flow lab using an
industrial size prototype wireless throttling valve in closed loop
control of a liquid flow process. In this wireless control field trial,
control performance using a wireless valve was evaluated using
both a wired and wireless transmitter for the flow measurement.

Keywords—wireless; control; throttling valve; WirelssHART; Fig. 1. Future Vision – Wireless Throttling Valves in Closed Loop Control.
PIDPlus
pneumatically actuated valve. Such wireless valve positioners
I. INTRODUCTION can be used to control and/or monitor valves, sliding stem
regulators, displacement and float level sensors and relief
To improve operation, numerous plants have purchased and valves. There are numerous applications within the process
installed wireless transmitters over the last six years to access industry where wireless discrete control may be applied to
and monitor additional process operating conditions. In many improve process operations.
cases the installation of this new technology was justified
because the cost of a wireless installation was a fraction of the In the future, it is envisioned that manufacturers will
cost of a wired installation using traditional transmitters. As introduce wireless throttling valves that may be used with a
plant personnel have gained experience using wireless wireless transmitter to implement closed loop control (Fig. 1).
measurements they have found the transmitters to be reliable However, before this vision becomes a reality, manufacturers
and are now looking at how to incorporate these wireless of positioners for throttling valves must overcome many
measurements into closed loop control. A method for dealing technical challenges. This paper details ongoing work to
with slow periodic and/or non-periodic measurement updates is develop WirelessHART positioners for throttling valves. This
required when closed loop control is implemented using work falls into two focused areas:
wireless transmitters. The field experience using • PID modifications that minimize how often the
WirelessHART with PIDPlus in these applications has actuator position is changed and compensate for
demonstrated that wireless measurements may be used in delays in the communication of changes in target
closed-loop control applications [3, 12]. The performance of positions to the valve positioner.
PIDPlus in a wireless control network is comparable to that of
• A new WirelessHART command that supports control
PID with wired inputs. PIDPlus handles lost communications
using a wireless positioner for a throttling valve.
better than conventional PID and PIDPlus tuning depends upon
process dynamics only, not on wireless update rates. If The paper is structured as follows – section 2 provides
disturbance response is not critical, then a slow update period background information on PIDPlus for control using a
such as 8 seconds may be used [4-10]. wireless transmitter. Section 3 outlines PID enhancements that
are required for effective control using wireless valves. Section
Similarly, a number of WirelessHART discrete transmitters
4 addresses a new WirelessHART command for use in control
that can be used to monitor the state of a process operation
using a wireless valve. Sections 5 and 6 address the test results
have been introduced into the process industry. WirelessHART
that have been achieved in a flow lab using the PID
valve positioners are also available to interface with an on/off
enhancements and the new WirelessHART command. Section
7 summarizes the control performance that has been achieved
*Research supported by Emerson Process Management.
using a wireless valve to control a relatively fast responding implemented using a wireless valve and a wireless transmitter
liquid flow process. as illustrated (Fig. 3)

II. BACKGROUND
The PIDPlus enables a wireless transmitter to be used in
closed loop control for a wide variety of applications in the
process industry. In some applications, the following
combinations of wired and wireless transmitters and valves
may be used to implement the control:
• Wireless transmitter plus wired valve
• Wired transmitter plus wireless valve
• Wireless transmitter plus wireless valve. Fig. 3. PIDPlus Structured to Minimize Changes in Target Valve Position.
The PIDPlus features may be combined with the To minimize the power consumed by the valve positioner,
modifications for control using a wireless valve to address the calculated PID output is transmitted to the wireless valve
these different combinations of wired and wireless field only if the criteria determined by event triggered output have
devices. been met. If the time since the last communication to the
The changes in the PIDPlus for use with a wireless valve wireless valve is equal to or greater than the configured
and wireless transmitter are illustrated (Fig. 2). communication period and the communication of the valve
acknowledgement to the last change in target position has been
received, then a new target position is transmitted to the valve
when either or both of the following event trigger criteria is
met:
1. The absolute value of the difference between the
calculated PID output and the last target value
communicated to the valve exceeds a configured
deadband value.
2. The time since the last communication to the valve
exceeds the configured default reporting time.
Fig. 2. PIDPlus for Control with Wireless Transmitter and Valve. The target position communicated to the wireless valve is
normally the calculated output of the PID. When the feedback
The measured valve position” (Fig.2) may be used as PID of the last communicated target position provided by the
external reset input [11], to automatically compensate for wireless valve is communicated with minimal delay, this value
delays introduced by lost communications to the wireless may be used in the PID positive feedback network to calculate
valve. However, this modification does not compensate for the PID reset and thus automatically compensates for any delay or
delay that may be introduced when communicating a change in variation introduced by communications to the wireless valve;
the valve’s position or response. In some cases, the delay that is, no changes in PID tuning are required to compensate
introduced by downstream communications can be quite for delays in communicating the target position to the valve [6].
significant and it is important to minimize the impact of the
delay. The addition of event triggered control communications in
the control path between the calculated PID output and the
transmission of the target position to a wireless valve can be
III. PID ENHANCEMENT FOR WIRELESS VALVE incorporated into either the PID or at any point along the
When minimal delay is introduced by communications with a control path after the calculated PID output. For example, event
wireless valve, the valve position feedback communicated by triggered output calculation could be incorporated into the
the wireless valve positioner may be used in the PID positive output block that follows the PID, in controller output
feedback network to create the PID’s reset contribution. Thus, processing, or in the gateway communications. The application
if communications with the wireless valve are lost or not of event triggered output is possible because the implied valve
updated periodically, the feedback of the valve’s last target position is used as the PID external reset input. Ideally, this
position (i.e., the target position the valve positioner is working feedback of implied valve position (i.e., the target position that
to achieve) that is communicated by the wireless valve is used the valve accepted and is working to achieve) would be
as the input to the continuously updated filter. To minimize the communicated by the wireless valve back to the wireless
power consumed by the valve positioner, the calculated PID gateway with minimal delay in the response to the target
output is transmitted to the wireless valve only if the criteria position write request, as illustrated (Fig. 4). However, there
determined by event triggered output have been met [1-2, 13- may be a significant delay between the time the valve receives
14]. The PID may be modified to minimize the number of a command to change target position and the time the valve’s
changes made in the target valve position when control is response is communicated and accessible by the PID.
 specified time when the valve takes action on the new target
position. For example, if the time specified in the output is
always a fixed number of seconds in the future, Tf, then the
implied valve position can be calculated in the PID or in the
controller or gateway simply by delaying the target position by
Tf seconds. Thus, the calculated implied valve position will
match the target value used in the valve as long as the delay
time specified in the command is equal to or greater than the
time required for a new target position to be communicated to
the valve. To ensure that the calculated implied valve position
Fig. 4. Event triggered Wireless Communication to the Valve.
accurately reflects the valve’s target position, a new output
When a wireless valve is used in control, the command to change valve position can be issued when receipt
communications from the controller to the wireless valve can of the last communication is confirmed.
introduce significant and variable delay between the time the The output sent to the valve will contain the new target
valve acts on a write request and the controller is updated with value and the time that the valve is to act on the new target
the valve position.. The main sources of delay are: position. This time value will be based on the time at which the
new target value was accepted plus the delay time configured
• Write Request Processing – The WirelessHART
by the user or set by the manufacturer. It is important to note
gateway is limited to one outstanding change request
that the WirelessHART gateway is designed to periodically
sent to a device. Thus, the gateway queues a new
distribute the time for use in the control system and the
write request until the valve has time to respond to the
wireless network to ensure a common time for all devices.
previous write request.
The target valve position maintained by the wireless valve
• Downstream Communication – The gateway does not may be changed using the new WirelessHART command. If
schedule downstream communication. Thus, the the target valve position specified in the command is a different
gateway must hold a write request to the valve until it value from that contained in the previous change request issued
can send this message. to the WirelessHART gateway, it is considered a new request.
• Device Reply – The device reply to a write request is If the gateway has received the wireless valve response to the
not scheduled. Thus, the device must delay sending a last requested change it acts on the new change request.
reply to a write request until it can send this message. Otherwise only the latest calculated output is maintained.
• Accessing Device Reply – When the controller issues A. Control Implementation When Using a Wireless Valve
a new write request, the gateway reply will be delayed
response (DR), since downstream communications are Various approaches may be taken when implementing
not scheduled. The controller may later re-issue the closed loop control using the new WirelessHART command
same change request and the valve response will be for wireless valve interfaces. For example, the functionality to
returned if the valve has received the change request communicate event triggered output and WirelessHART
and replied to the gateway. command processing can be incorporated in the controller as
illustrated (Fig. 5).
The communication of an event triggered output between
the controller and the gateway may be structured to help
minimize the delay and the variations in delay that are
introduced into control by the gateway design and by wireless
communications to the valve. However, to allow the PID to
automatically compensate for any variable delay in wireless
communication of the write response, a new WirelessHART
command has been proposed to support control using a
wireless valve by scheduling the time at which the wireless
valve takes action on the new target value.
Fig. 5. Example Control Implementation Using Wireless Valve.
IV. PID ENHANCEMENT FOR WIRELESS VALVE
The target position value required to minimize valve
A new WirelessHART command that supports the inclusion of movement will be determined based on the magnitude of the
a “time to apply” field with the output value communicated to difference between analog output, AO block, and the last target
a wireless valve has been proposed to the HART position communicated to the valve and the following
Communication Foundation for use by all manufacturers. This parameters configured by the user or set by the manufacturer:
added field specifies a time in the future when the output value
takes effect. The time to apply value is selected to ensure that • Deadband
the valve receives the output communication before this future
time. Thus, it is possible to calculate the implied valve position • The minimum time (Period) between communications
based on the target position communicated to the valve and the • The maximum time period (Default Time) of update
 With the new WirelessHART command processing, the Management in the spring of 2014, a prototype wireless valve
target valve position can be communicated to the wireless was tested in one of Fisher Controls’ flow labs located in
valve if the gateway has received a reply from the valve Marshalltown, Iowa using a DeltaV control system and its
acknowledging receipt of the last target valve position and the embedded PIDPlus algorithm. In these tests, closed loop flow
criteria to minimize change in valve position have been met. control was evaluated using both wireless and wired flow
measurements. A special switch box was used to select
The command sent to the valve will contain the new target whether the target valve position to the throttling valve was
value and the time that the valve is to act on the new target provided by the controller at 4–20mA output or wirelessly
position. This time value will be based on the time at which the from the controller/gateway using a modified WirelessHART
new target value was accepted plus the delay time configured valve positioner. Communications with the wireless valve used
by the user or set by the manufacturer. The sequence in which a new WirelessHART command that allows a time to apply to
the AO output is processed, communicated to the valve and be specified. The PIDPlus external reset input was modified to
then acted on by the valve is shown (Fig. 6). As illustrated, allow delay to be used optionally to compensate for the time to
there is always a fixed delay between the time a write apply and the delay introduced by a wireless transmitter. In
command is initiated and the time the valve acts on that addition, event triggered output for minimizing valve
command since the time in the future at which the valve is to
movement was evaluated using a wired and wireless input to
act on a new target valve position is specified as part of the the valve. The flow lab is shown below (Fig. 7).
WirelessHART command. This assumes that the configured
Delay Time in the WirelessHART command processing is
always longer than the time required for the command to reach
the valve.

Fig. 7. Flow Lab Where Wireless Control Was Tested.

The primary objective of these tests was to measure and

quantify the deviation of the control parameter from setpoint as
Fig. 6. Example Control Implementation Using Wireless Valve. a measure of control performance and to measure total valve
travel. In addition, communication statistics were collected for
The time at which the latest target position value was tests that used wireless transmitters and/or valves. Two
accepted for communication will be used to determine the different tests were conducted with the option to select the
elapsed time since the last communication. Also, the PID source of input/output and enable or disable valve
external reset input will be set to the accepted target value minimization and delay compensation:
delayed by Delay Time. Thus, the PID external reset input
value should accurately reflect the target position that is being • Control Response to Setpoint Changes – The control
acted on by the valve independent of communications delay. A response was observed for a series of changes in PID
new target value will be requested only when the criterion to setpoint with the PID in Automatic mode. For this test
minimize movement is met and the reply from the valve to the the load valve that is installed in series with the valve
last change request has been received. If for some reason the regulated by the controller was maintained at a
gateway does not receive a reply from the valve, then after a constant (normal operation) position.
period of time (determined by the TIMEOUT parameter) the
status in the READBACK parameter will change from Good to • Control Response to Unmeasured Process
Bad and will be maintained at Bad until a new target value is Disturbance – The control response was observed
communicated. In response the actual mode of the PID will with the PID in Automatic mode and at a constant
change to Manual as long as the READBACK parameter status (normal operation) setpoint while unmeasured
is Bad. disturbances were introduced by a series of changes in
the load valve.
V. FIELD TRIAL OF WIRELESS CONTROL VALVE During each of these tests, the integral of absolute error (IAE),
total valve travel and communications statistics were
As part of the applied research into control using a wireless
calculated.
valve positioner that was conducted by Emerson Process
A. Establishing Base Condition VI. TEST RESULTS
In the field test, the control performance using a wireless The field tests involved various combinations of wired and
transmitter and/or valve with PIDPlus was compared to that wireless transmitters and throttling valves and event triggered
achieved using PID with a wired transmitter and wired valve. control output to minimize valve movement. The control
The tuning of the PID using the wired flow transmitter and performance achieved in these tests for both setpoint change
wired throttling valve was established using DeltaV Tune. This and step changes in unmeasured process disturbances are
was intentionally done to demonstrate that no special skills detailed in Table 1.
were used in tuning the PID. The average tuning for three
operating points was:
TABLE I. FIELD TEST OF WIRELESS CONTROL
Gain = 0.8 Reset = 3.2 Rate = 0
The tuning established for the wired control loop was used
without modification in all the wireless control tests.
Manual step changes in the wired valve and the response
provided by the wired flow transmitter were used to verify that
the reset was approximately the response time (i.e., time
constant plus deadtime). The response to setpoint changes
using a wired transmitter and wired valve in control is shown
(Fig.8).

The response to setpoint changes using a wired transmitter

and wireless valve in control is shown in Fig.10. The response
to an unmeasured disturbance using a wired transmitter and
wireless valve in control is shown in Fig.11.

Fig. 8. Setpoint Change Response for Wired Transmitter and Valve.

Step tests were conducted with the flow control in Manual

to establish the range over which the throttling valve and load
valve (in series with the throttling valve) could be adjusted
during the control tests.
The response to an unmeasured disturbance using a wired
transmitter and wired valve in control is shown (Fig. 9).
Fig. 10. Setpoint Change, Wired Transmitter and Wireless Valve.

Fig. 9. Response to Unmeasured Disturbance for Wired Transmitter and

Valve.
Fig. 11. Disturbance Response, Wired Transmitter and Wireless Valve.
 The response to setpoint changes using a wireless • Using a wired transmitter and valve and minimizing
transmitter and wireless valve in control is shown in Fig.12. valve movement reduced the number of changes in
The response to an unmeasured disturbance using a wireless valve position by a factor of 70 for 0.1 second loop
transmitter and wireless valve in control is shown in Fig.13. execution and cut total valve travel by over 50%.
Minimizing valve movement had no impact on loop
stability and had relatively small impact on control
performance – less than 50% increase in IAE.
• The wireless transmitter update rate was set to 8
seconds for most of the tests and introduced 4–10
seconds variable delay in the flow measurement used
in control. However, this had no impact on the
stability of PIDPlus control and had minimal impact
on control performance.
• When a wireless transmitter was used with PIDPlus,
the number of changes in valve position was reduced
by a factor of 47 since the output of the PIDPlus only
changes when a new measurement is received or the
Fig. 12. Setpoint Change Response, Wireless Transmitter and Wireless Valve.
setpoint is changed.

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