Professional Documents
Culture Documents
37
(2005)
INTRODUCTION
MULTILOOP SYSTEMS
When a unit process is controlled by several control loops,
there is no magic formula that can tell whether one loop will
affect another. This information will only come through an
in-depth understanding of the process. If one loop directly
interacts with another, oscillation in the first loop will cause
oscillation in the second and possibly in other downstream
loops. If the same pump feeds two flow loops, oscillation in
one loop can cause oscillation in the second.
When a loop is cycling, it is essential to determine whether
the process is causing cycling, or whether the cycling is attributable to other loops or possibly to the loop itself. To check
the cause, one can switch the particular loop to manual mode;
if the cycling continues, it is probable that the cycling is being
caused by an external source.
There is also hidden cycling, which occurs if a cycle is
present but is hidden by noise. To uncover a hidden cycle,
the readings should be collected in the manual mode, and
power spectral density analysis should be used on the data
collected. In that case, the hidden cycles will show up as
peaks.
In some installations the problem is not that the loops
interact, but it is imperative that they respond with the same
speed. In either case, one should be knowledgeable about
the tools that are available to determine loop health and
performance:
Control Loop Analysis
The following criteria should be met for a control system to
perform in an optimal manner:
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2006 by Bla Liptk
INTERACTING LOOPS
An example of a control system with potentially interacting
multiple loops is illustrated in Figure 2.37a. Here two liquids
FC1
FT 1
PT
FT 2
PC
FC 2
FIG. 2.37a
Illustration of potentially interacting control loops.
1. Another user valve is suddenly closed and this disturbance causes the line pressure to increase.
2. If the pressure control loop is not faster than the flow
loop, the flow through FC1 will increase.
3. To correct for the flow increase, FC1 will close down
its valve, which in turn will cause the pressure to rise.
4. Eventually the pressure loop will slow down the pump,
which will cause the flow to decrease.
5. As the flow drops, FC1 will open its valve to compensate, which will cause the pressure to decrease.
6. In response to the drop in pressure, the PC will speed
up the pump, causing the flow to increase again.
In this configuration, if PC is not faster than FC1, steps 3, 4,
5, and 6 will repeat continuously and the two loops will
oscillate and potentially resonate.
Likewise, since FC1 controls the process fluid feed to the
flow loop controlled by FC2, flow loop 1 must be faster than
2. If this is not the case, a disturbance in flow 1 could cause
both flow controllers to react, and oscillation would result.
Tuning to Eliminate the Interaction
When loops interact, it is necessary to make sure that their
response speeds are not the same and not even similar
because speeds that differ but are close also have the potential
to oscillate. To be on the safe side, one should select response
30 s
Process variable
443
50
42
40
80
120
160
200
240
280
FIG. 2.37b
After the fastest loop is tuned, measuring its response time (settling
time), which in this case is 30 seconds.
444
Control Theory
Process variable
90 s
TABLE 2.37e
The Sequence of Steps to be Used in Tuning Any Number of
Interacting Control Loops
50
Fast
42
Slow
40
80
120
160
200
240
280
FIG. 2.37c
Tuning the less fast loop for a response time (settling time) that is
three times that of the fastest loop or in this case is 90 seconds.
Steps
Loop1
Loop2
Loop3
...
Loopn
Tune
Manual
Manual
Manual
Manual
Tune
Manual
Manual
Manual
Tune
Manual
Manual
...
...
...
2 Automatic
3 Automatic Automatic
...
...
Tune
stants also differ. In such cases, if all three loops were tuned
for 10% overshoot (or any other criterion), the response times
of the loops would not be the same. Therefore, when the rate
of production rises and the level controller calls for increased
flows, the recipe flow ratios will be out of balance until all
three flows reach their new set points and regain stability.
To ensure that all three loops move at the same speed,
one should determine the response time of the slowest loop
and match the response times of the others to it. Normally,
the slowest loop is also the one with the largest dead time.
The steps involved in tuning synchronizing loops are:
1. Apply an upset (bump test) to each loop. This can be
a temporary change of set point.
FC 3
FT 3
FC2
1"
FC 1
FT 2
FT 1
Process variable
270 s
6"
50
10"
42
LC
40
80
120
160
200
240
280
FIG. 2.37d
Tuning the least fast loop for a response time (settling time), which
is three times that of the less fast loop or in this case is 270 seconds.
LT
FIG. 2.37f
In order to keep the ratio of ingredients constant during load
changes, the loops have to be synchronized (their speed of response
has to be the same).
TABLE 2.37g
Summary of Steps Required in Tuning to Synchronize
Control Loops
Steps
1
Loop1
Loop2
Loop3
...
Test
Test
Test
Test
Loopn
Test
Slowest
Tune at
maximum
speed
445
Bibliography
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Research Triangle Park, NC: Instrument Society of America, 1995.
Corripio, A. B., Tuning of Industrial Control Systems, Research Triangle
Park, NC: Instrument Society of America, 1990.
Gerry, J. P., Tune Loops for Load Upsets vs. Setpoint Changes, Control
Magazine, September 1991.
Levine, W., The Control Handbook, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1996.
Liptk, B. G. (Ed.), Instrument Engineers Handbook: Process Software and
Digital Networks, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2002.
McMillan, G. K., Tuning and Control Loop Performance, 3rd ed., Research
Triangle Park, NC: ISA, 1994.
Ruel, M., Loop Optimization: Before You Tune, Control Magazine, Vol.
12, No. 3 (March 1999), pp. 6367.
Ruel, M., Loop Optimization: Troubleshooting, Control Magazine,
Vol. 12, No. 4 (April 1999), pp. 6469.
Ruel, M., Loop Optimization: How to Tune a Loop, Control Magazine,
Vol. 12, No. 5 (May 1999), pp. 8386.
Ruel, M., Plantwide Control Loop Optimization, Chapter 5.9 in B. G.
Liptk, Ed., Instrument Engineers Handbook, 3rd ed., Boca Raton,
FL: CRC Press, 2002.
Shinskey, F. G, Process Control Systems, 4th ed., New York: McGraw-Hill,
1996.