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Controllers:Directvs.ReverseActingControl

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Home/Articles/2014/Controllers:Directvs.ReverseActingControl

Controllers: Direct vs. Reverse-Acting Control

ValveFailurePositionandControllerActionsAreIndependentlyDetermined.InThisArticleour
ExpertsTackleThemSeparately
ByBelaLiptak
Mar14,2014
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ThiscolumnismoderatedbyBlaLiptk,automationandsafetyconsultantandeditoroftheInstrument
andAutomationEngineersHandbook(IAEH).Ifyouhaveanautomationrelatedquestionforthis
column,writetoliptakbela@aol.com.
Q:AsIunderstandit,ifthecontrolleroutputincreaseswhenthemeasurementvaluerises,itisadirect
actingcontroller,andifcontrolleroutputdecreaseswhenthemeasurementrises,itisareverseacting
controller.Inaddition,atminimumoutputofthecontroller,thedesiredfailsafeactionmustbeachieved.
Forexample,ifwehavetwocontrollersonadistillationcolumnrefluxandnetoverheadwherethe
refluxcontrolvalveisfailopen,andnetoverheadcontrolvalveisfailclose,therefluxcontrollerwillbe
reverseacting,andthenetoverheadcontrollerwillbedirectacting.Ismyunderstandingcorrect?

VasantWarke
vasant.warke@ril.com
A:Valvefailurepositionandcontrolleractionsareindependentlydetermined,therefore,let'stalkabout
themseparately.
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Valvefailurepositionisdeterminedbysafetyconsiderations.If,incaseoffailure,youwantyourcolumnto
goonfullreflux,yourselectionisright(Figure1).Assumingthatthevalveactuatorsarespringoperated
pneumaticones(youdidnotsaywhattheywere),andassumingthatyoudefine"failure"asthelossofair
supply,thespringwillacttoopenafailopen(FO)valveandtocloseafailclosed(FC)valve,regardless
whatthecontrolleractionsare.(IneglecttomentiontheroleofpositionersbecauseIdon'tliketouse
themonflowcontrolvalvesbecausetheycanbeslowerthantheflowprocessand,therefore,theycan
causecycling.)

Distillation column controller action

Figure1.Actionselectionifvalvefailureisto
resultinfullreflux,andifundernormal
operation,thedistillateflowismanipulatedto
keepthecolumntemperatureconstantwhile
theaccumulatorleveliscontrolledby
manipulatingtherefluxflow.
Nowlet'sturntothesubjectofcontrolleraction.Assumingthatyoursystemisasshowninthefigure,an
increaseincolumntemperatureshouldresultinincreasedcooling,whichisaccomplishedbyreturning
morecoldrefluxintothecolumn.Thismeansthatthetemperaturecontroller(TC)hastoreducethereflux
flowsetpoint,whichinturnwillincreasethelevelintheaccumulator,andtoovercomethat,thelevel
control(LC)increasesthesetpointoftherefluxflowcontrol(FC).Soameasurementincreaserequiresthe
TCtoreduceitsoutput(reverseaction,R/A),whiletheLCincreasesitsoutputuponalevelincrease(D/A).
TheresponseoftheslaveFCcontrollersistoincreasetheflowthroughtheirvalvesasthemasterraises
theirsetpoint,sowiththeFCvalve,itwillbeD/A,andwiththeFOvalve,itwillbeR/A.

Naturally,thecontrolsystemshowninthefigureisaverysimpleone(doesnothingaboutinteractions,
etc.),butitissufficientforexplainingtheissueathand.
BlaLiptk
liptakbela@aol.com
A:Directactionmeansthatthecontrolleroutputrisesifthemeasurementincreases.Indirect(reverse)
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actionmeansthatthecontrolleroutputdropswhenthemeasurementrises.
AlPawlowski,PE
avp2@almont.com
AlsoRead"ConsiderationsforSelectingaControllerorServerBasedBatchSequencer"
A:Notquiteright.Thecontrolvalvefailureaction(andsometimesthevalvepositioneraction)isalso
relevant.Toensurethatyouhaveanoverallnegativefeedback,youneedtofollowtheentireloopfrom
sensor(increase/decreaseoutputasvariableincreases)throughthecontroller(whereyoucanreverse
thegain)tothepositioner(normallydirectaction,butfoolishfolkssometimestrytohidemistakesthereby
reversingoutput)tovalve(doesincreasingstempositionincreaseordecreasethemeasuredvariable?).
IanH.Gibson
gibs0108@optusnet.com.au
A:Thecontrolleractionisrelativetothedefinitionoftheerror.Iferror=setpointprocessvariable,then
areverseactingcontrollerwillcausetheprocessvariabletodecreasewhenthecontrolleroutput
increases,andviceversa.
Valvefailpositionisnotafunctionofthecontroller,butafunctionofsafety,orzeroenergyincaseofa
failureintheenergysupplytothefinalcontrolelement.DCSshavedifferentwaystodealwithfailposition
andcontrolleraction,andtheconfigurationshouldbemadeaccordingtowhatmakesensetothe
operation.
SigifredoNino
SNino@SummaControlSolutions.com
A:Iusuallyliketolookattheerrorreadinginthecontroller,meaningthedifferencebetweensetpointand
processvariable.Ifanincreaseinerrorincreasesthecontrolleroutput,it'sdirectacting.Ifincreasein
errorcausescontrolleroutputtodecrease,it'sareverseactingcontroller.
HitenA.Dalal,PE,PMP
hiten_dalal@kindermorgan.com
A:ThequestionIalwaysaskis:whenthemeasurementincreases,whatdoesthecontrolleroutputneed
todotobringitbacktosetpoint?Forexample,ifabackpressurecontroller(whereacontrolvalveopens
todecreasethepressuremeasuredupstreamofit)seesariseinpressure,itshouldincreaseitsoutput.
Increasemeasurement/increaseoutputis"increase/increase"ordirectacting.
Incontrast,nearlyeveryflowcontrollerI'veseenis"increase/decrease"orreverseacting.Mr.Warke's
refluxloopwouldbereverseacting.Wewantthevalvetobe"closed"whenthecontrolleroutputis0%and
"open"whenitis100%,regardlessofthevalve'sfailureposition.Thismakesitconsistentfortheoperator.
Sowhenthecontrollerseesanincreaseinflow,itmustdecreaseitsoutput(closethevalve)toreturnitto
setpoint.
Idon'tthinkyoucangeneralizeintermsofapplication.Eventhoughadirectactingflowloopisrare,you
coulddesignoneorencounterone.Ifweweredealingstrictlywitholdpneumaticsorselfcontained
mechanicalcontrollers,thenyourrefluxexamplewouldbe"directacting."Thepneumaticcontrollerwould
havetoincreaseitssignalinresponsetoanincreaseinflow.
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Alevelcontroller,whoseoutputcontrolsthevalveonthetankinlet,isreverseacting,butifthevalveison
theoutlet,itbecomesdirectacting.Atemperatureapplicationcanbecontrollingcoolingwatertoan
exchanger(direct)oracoolingwaterbypass(reverse)Ican'tthinkofawaytomakeuparuleforaclerk
oracomputeralgorithmthatstatessomesimple"ifthis,thenthis"fordirectorreverseacting.MaybeI'm
slow,butIstillhavetothinkthrougheachapplication.
JohnRezabek
jrezabek@ashland.com
A:Ibelieveyouhaveyourcauseandeffectbackward.Thinkonlyofthecontroller.Considertheinput
(processvariable)tothecontrollerasthecauseandthecontrolleroutputastheeffect.Ifthecontrolleris
setfordirectacting,thenanincreaseinPVwillcausetheoutputtoincrease.Ifthecontrollerissetfor
reverseacting,anincreaseinPVwillcausetheoutputtodecrease.
Tomakethecorrectsettingfordirect/reverseacting,youhavetoconsidertheprocesseffectalltheway
fromthecontrolleroutputtotheprocessvariable.Doesacontrolleroutputcausethevalvetoopenor
close?Somevalvesarefailopensomearefailclosed.DoesanincreaseinvalvepositioncausethePV
togouporgodown?Openingasteamvalvetoaheatexchanger(HX)wouldcausetheHXoutput
temperaturetorise,whereasopeningacoolingwatervalvewouldcausetheHXoutputtemperaturetogo
down.
Insummary,consideringalltheeffectsbetweenthecontrolleroutputandthePV,ifanincreasein
controlleroutputcausesthePVtorise,oradecreaseincontrolleroutputcausesthePVtofall(thatis,the
PVmovesinthesamedirectionasthecontrolleroutput),thentheprocesscanbecalleddirectacting,so
thecontrollershouldbesetfortheopposite,reverseacting.Thus,ifaprocessdisturbancecausesthePV
torise,thereverseactingcontrollerwilldecreaseitsoutput.Consequently,thisdecreaseincontroller
outputwillcausethedirectactingprocessvariabletodecrease,thusmovingitintheoppositedirection
fromthatwhichcausedthedisturbance.
HaroldWade
Hlwade@aol.com
A:Ibelievethatyourunderstandingofdirect/reverseactingappliedtocontrolvalvesiscorrect.However,
thefailsafeactionhasnothingtodowithdirect/reverseaction.Thefailureactionisdictatedpurelybythe
positionofthespringagainstwhichthepneumaticdiaphragmoperatesinthecontrolvalveactuator.
They'redefinedindependentlywhenthecontrolvalveisspecified(failsafeaction)andagainduring
configurationofthecontrolvalvepositionerorthecontrolleroutputtingtothecontrolvalve(direct/reverse
acting).
DickCaro
RCaro@CMC.us

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Comments
SubmittedbyAnimeshJainonWed,02/04/201500:19
IhaveaqueryhereiftheresponseoftherefluxFCcontrollersistoincreasetherefluxflowthrough
theirvalvesasthemaster(TCorLC)raisestheirsetpoint,thenareweallowedtohavetherefluxFlow
valvetobeFailclose?
ThereasonIamaskingthisquestionistheprimeintentionofrefluxcontrolhereistomaintainthe
temperaturewithinthedistillationcolumn,andifwechoosetohaveourrefluxflowvalvetobeFail
close,thatcouldbeunsafefortheprocess.Pleaseindicateifmyunderstandingiscorrect?
Also,inthearrangementgiven,canweuseratiocontrollerfortheFlowvalvesoneithersideof
downstreamofrefluxdrum.Becauseanywaytemperaturecontrolwouldrequiremoreofrefluxback
intothecolumn,andontheotherhandanyexcessofrefluxgoingtothecolumnwillbethethroughput
ofcolumn.
Reply
SubmittedbykhalednabilsyonThu,03/19/201516:12
ihadmycontrolclasstodayanditwasquitedifferent>>iftheoutputsignalincreasesandtheinput
signalincreasesit'scallesdirect>>butiftheoutputsignalincreasesandtheinputsignaldecreasesit's
calledreverse>>butireallyneedhelpunderstandingthesedefinitionsbysimpleexamplesifthereis
anyplease
Reply
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