PID Tuning Rules

automation.isa.org /2017/04/pid-tuning-rules/

17/4/2017

This article was authored by Greg McMillan, industry consultant, author of numerous process control books, 2010
ISA Life Achievement Award recipient and retired Senior Fellow from Solutia Inc. (now Eastman Chemical).

Potential performance

The purpose of a control loop is to reject undesired changes, ignore extraneous changes, and achieve desired
changes, such as new setpoints. PID control provides the best possible rejection of unmeasured disturbances
(regulatory control) when properly tuned. The addition of a simple deadtime block in the external reset path can
enhance the PID regulatory control capability more than other controllers with intelligence built-in to process
dynamics, such as model predictive control. In plants, unknown and extraneous changes are a reality, and the PID
is the best tool if properly tuned. The test time has been significantly reduced for the most difficult loops. Simple
equations have been developed to estimate tuning and resulting performance for a unified approach. (Equation
derivations and a simple tuning method are in the online version.)

Control requirements

The foremost requirement of a PID is to prevent the activation of a safety instrumentation system or a relief device
and the prevention of an environmental violation (RCRA pH), compressor surge, and shutdown from a process
excursion. The peak error (maximum deviation from setpoint) is the most applicable metric. The most disruptive
upset is an unmeasured step disturbance that would cause an open loop error (Eo) if the PID was in manual or did
not exist. The fraction of open loop error seen in feedback control is more dependent upon the controller gain than
the integral time since the proportional mode provides the initial reaction important for minimizing the peak error.
Equation (1) shows if the product of the controller gain (Kc) and open loop gain (Ko) is much greater than one, the
peak error (Ex) is significantly less than the open loop error. The open loop gain (Ko) is the product of the final
element, process, and measurement gain and is the percent change in process variable divided by the percent
change in controller output for a setpoint change. For most vessel and column temperature and pressure control
loops, the process rate of change is much slower than the deadtime. Consequently, the controller gain can be set
large enough where the denominator becomes simply the inverse of the product of the gains. Conversely, for loops
dominated by deadtime, the denominator approaches one, and the peak error is essentially the open loop error.

The peak error is critical for product quality in the final

processing of melts, solids, or paste, such as extruders, sheet
lines, and spin lines. Peak errors show up as rejected product
due to color, consistency, optical clarity, thickness, size, shape,
and in the case of food, palatability. Unfortunately, these
systems are dominated by transportation delays. The peak
errors and disruptions from upstream processes must be
minimized.

The most widely cited metric is an integrated absolute error (IAE), which is the area between process variable and
the setpoint. For a non-oscillatory response, the IAE and the integrated error (IE) are the same. Since proportional
and integral action are important for minimizing this error, Equation (2) shows the IE increases as the integral time
(T i) increases and the controller gain decreases.

1/4
Equation (2) also shows how the IE increases with controller
execution time (Δtx) and signal filter time (τf). The equivalent
deadtime from these terms also decreases the minimum
allowable integral time and maximum allowable controller gain,
further degrading the maximum possible performance. In many
cases, the original controller tuning is slower than allowed and
remains unchanged, so the only deterioration observed is from
these terms in the numerator of Equation (2). Studies on the effect of automation system dynamics and innovations
can lead to conflicting results because of the lack of recognition of the effect of tuning on the starting case and
comparative case performance. In other words, you can readily prove anything you want by how you tune the
controller.

IE is indicative of the quantity of product that is off-spec that can lead to a reduced yield and higher cost ratio of raw
material or recycle processing to product. If the off-spec cannot be recycled or the feed rate cannot be increased,
there is a loss in production rate. If the off-spec is not recoverable, there is a waste treatment cost.

A controller tuned for maximum performance will have a closed loop response to an unmeasured disturbance that
resembles two right triangles placed back to back. The base of each triangle is the total loop deadtime and the
altitude is the peak error. If the integral time (reset time) is too slow, there is slower return to setpoint. If the controller
gain is too small, the peak error is increased, and the right triangle is larger for the return to setpoint.

Process dynamics

The major types of process dynamics are differentiated by the final path of the open loop response to a change in
manual controller output assuming no disturbances. (The online version shows the three major types of responses
and the associated dynamic terms.) If the response lines out to a new steady state, the process is self-regulating
with an open loop time constant (τo) that is the largest time constant in the loop. Flow and continuous operation
temperature and concentration are self-regulating processes. If the response continues to ramp, the process is
integrating. Level, column and vessel pressure, batch operation temperature, and concentration are integrating
processes. If the response accelerates, reaching a point of no return, the process has positive feedback leading to a
runaway. Batch or continuous temperature in highly exothermic reactors (e.g., polymerization) can become runaway
processes. Prolonged open loop tests are not permitted, and setpoint changes are limited. Consequently, the
acceleration is rarely intentionally observed.

Unified approach

The three major types of responses have an initial period

of no response that is the total loop deadtime (θ o) followed
by the ramp before the deceleration (inflection point) of a
self-regulating response and the acceleration of the
runaway response. The percent ramp rate divided by the
change in percent controller output is the integrating
process gain (Ki) with units of %/sec/%, which reduces to
1/sec.

For at least 10 years, slow self-regulating processes with a

long time to deceleration have shown to be effectively
identified and tuned as “near integrating” or “pseudo integrating” processes, leading to a “short cut tuning method”
where only the deadtime and initial ramp rate need to be recognized. The tuning test time for these “near integrating”
processes can be reduced by over 90% by not waiting for a steady state. Recently, the method was extended to
runaway processes and to deadtime dominant self-regulating processes by the use of a deadtime block to compute
2/4
the ramp rate over a deadtime interval. Furthermore, other tuning rules were found to give the same equation for
controller gain when the performance objective was maximum unmeasured disturbance rejection. For example, the
use of a closed loop time constant (λ) equal to the total loop deadtime in Lambda tuning yields the same result as
the Ziegler Nichols (ZN) ultimate oscillation and reaction curve methods if the ZN gain is cut in half for smoothness
and robustness. Equation (3) shows the controller gain is half the inverse of the product of integrating process gain
and deadtime.

The profession realizes that too large of a controller gain will

cause relatively rapid oscillations and can instigate instability
(growing oscillations). Unrealized for integrating process is that
too small of a controller gain can cause extremely slow
oscillations that take longer to decay as the gain is decreased.
Also unrealized for a runaway process is that a controller gain
set less than the inverse of the open loop gain causes an
increase in temperature to accelerate to a point of no return.
There is a window of allowable controller gains. Also realized is
too small of an integral time will cause overshoot and can lead to a reset cycle. Almost completely unrealized is that
too slow of an integral time will result in a sustained overshoot of a setpoint that gets larger and more persistent as
the integral time is increased for integrating processes. Hence a window of allowable integral times exists. Equation
4a provides the right size of integral time for integrating processes. If we substitute Equation 3 into Equation 4a, we
end up with Equation 4b, which is a common expression for the integral time for maximum disturbance rejection.
Equation 4a is extremely important because most integrating processes have a controller gain five to 10 times
smaller than allowed. The coefficient in Equation 4b can be decreased for self-regulating processes as the deadtime
becomes larger than the open loop time constant (τo) estimated by Equation 5.

The tuning used for maximum load rejection can be used for an
effective and smooth setpoint response if the setpoint change is
passed through a lead-lag. The lag time is set equal to the
integral time, and the lead time is set approximately equal to ¼
the lag time.

For startup, grade transitions, and optimization of continuous

processes and batch operations, setpoint response is important.
Minimizing the time to reach a new setpoint (rise time) can in
many cases maximize process efficiency and capacity. The rise
time (T r) for no output saturation, no setpoint feedforward, and
no special logic is the inverse of the product of the integrating
process gain and the controller gain plus the total loop
deadtime. Equation 6 is independent of the setpoint change.

Complications, easy solutions

Fast changes in controller output can cause oscillations from a

slow secondary loop or a slow final control element. The
problem is insidious in that oscillations may only develop for
large disturbances or large setpoint changes. The enabling of
the dynamic reset limit option and the timely external reset
feedback of the secondary loop or final control element process
variable will prevent the primary PID controller output from
changing faster than the secondary or final control element can
respond, preventing oscillations.
3/4
Aggressive controller tuning can also upset operations, disturb other loops, and cause continual crossing of the split
range point. Velocity limits can be added to the analog output block, the dynamic reset limit option enabled, and the
block process variable used as the external reset to provide directional move suppression to smooth out the
response as necessary without retuning.

The different closed loop response of loops can reduce the coordination, especially important for blending and
simplification of the identification of models for advanced process control systems that manipulate these loops.
Process nonlinearities may cause the response in one direction to be faster. Directional output velocity limits and the
dynamic reset limit option can be used to equalize closed loop time constants without retuning.

Final control element resolution limits (stick-slip) and deadband (backlash) can cause a limit cycle if one or two or
more integrators, respectively, exist in the loop. The integrator can be in the process or in the secondary or primary
PID controller via the integral mode. Increasing the integral time will make the cycle period slower but cannot
eliminate the oscillation. However, a total suspension of integral action when there is no significant change in the
process variable and when the process is close to the setpoint can stop the limit cycle. The output velocity limits can
also be used to prevent oscillations in the controller output from measurement noise exceeding the deadband or
resolution limit of a control valve preventing dither, which further reduces valve wear.

Bottom line

Controllers can be tuned for maximum disturbance rejection by a unified method for the major types of processes.
PID options in today’s DCS, such as setpoint lead-lag, directional output velocity limits, dynamic reset limit, and
intelligent suspension of integral action, can eliminate oscillations without retuning. Less oscillations reduces
process variability, enables better recognition of trends, offers easier identification of dynamics, and provides an
increase in valve packing life.

A version of this article originally was published at InTech magazine.

© 2017 ISA Interchange. All Rights Reserved.

4/4