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Cascade Control and Ratio Control

Cascade control and ratio control are types of control methods used in industries to automate processes. Cascade control uses multiple nested control loops, with an inner loop minimizing errors from one load and an outer loop handling another load. Ratio control maintains the ratio between two process variables, such as the flow rates of two fluids being blended, even if the overall output changes. It does this through separate control loops for each variable while performing ratio calculations externally to avoid nonlinearities complicating the control system.

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Heri Fadli Sinaga
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904 views3 pages

Cascade Control and Ratio Control

Cascade control and ratio control are types of control methods used in industries to automate processes. Cascade control uses multiple nested control loops, with an inner loop minimizing errors from one load and an outer loop handling another load. Ratio control maintains the ratio between two process variables, such as the flow rates of two fluids being blended, even if the overall output changes. It does this through separate control loops for each variable while performing ratio calculations externally to avoid nonlinearities complicating the control system.

Uploaded by

Heri Fadli Sinaga
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Cascade Control and Ratio

Control
OCTOBER 9, 2020

Cascade control and ratio control are two among the several
types of control methods used in the industries to automate a
process so as to achieve a desired result. They are developments
done over the closed loop control process because a closed loop
control method is not perfect by itself. If installed properly
cascade control and ratio control are able to provide a high
degree of accuracy and high degree of control.

Cascade Control
(Cascade Control and Ratio Control)
Often if there are multiple loads in the process then these loads
are identified and multiple controllers are assigned to the process
in order to control it efficiently. In cascade control, multiple loops
are used, one nested in another. The inner loop will minimize the
steady state error subject to one type of load and the outer loop
will handle a different type of load. This will result in a very stable
system overall.
In the following example there are two types of loads, first is that
output flow rate may change due to demand of liquid from the
tank and second is variations in the input flow rate. The
variations in the input flow rate happen due to change in supply
pressure. The variation in the input flow rate causes there to be
variations in the level of the tank. A flow controller and its
corresponding control loop are provided to take care of the
variation of the input flow rate. It is the inner loop of the cascade
control system. It minimizes the load on the outer loop which is
governed by a level controller. The outer loop functions to ensure
steady level of liquid in the tank.

The complexity which arises due to implementation of cascade


control system is justified only if the inner control loop is at least
three times faster than the outer loop.

Ratio Control
(Cascade Control and Ratio Control)
Often it is needed in the process that two variables or two
parameters be maintained in a particular ratio such that even if
the value of the output changes, the ratio remains a constant.
The magnitude of individual variable or a parameter will definitely
change if the magnitude of the output changes. An example could
be that two semi-liquids could be added in a particular ratio of
flow rate to maintain a certain concentration of blend.

In the following example, two fluids are being added to maintain


a particular blend. The variable which is measured and controlled
is the input flow rates of the fluids. A flow controller is assigned
to each fluid; it means each fluid input line has a control loop.

The ratio calculation occurs outside each loop, doing ratio


calculation inside the loop will cause problems in the control
system because the control system is developed on the concepts
of linear algebra and ratio calculation is a non-linear operation. If
non-linearity is introduced inside the loops then superposition
theorem will no longer apply and the signals cannot be simply
added or subtracted. The control process will become very
complicated for even simple systems

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