Chapter Two

Feedback and Feed Forward

Control

1
 Feedback and feedforward Controllers
Chapter 8

Figure 1: Schematic diagram for a stirred-tank blending system.

2
 Basic Control Modes
Next we consider the three basic control modes starting with the simplest
mode, proportional control.

Proportional Control
In feedback control, the objective is to reduce the error signal to zero where
Chapter 8

e t   ysp t   ym t  (8-1)
and
e t   error signal
ysp t   set point
ym t   measured value of the controlled variable
(or equivalent signal from the sensor/transmitter)
3
 Although Eq. 8-1 indicates that the set point can be time-varying, in many
process control problems it is kept constant for long periods of time.
For proportional control, the controller output is proportional to the error
signal,

p t   p  K c e t  (8-2)
Chapter 8

where:

p t   controller output
p  bias (steady-state) value
K c  controller gain (usually dimensionless)

4
 Chapter 8

5
 The key concepts behind proportional control are the following:

1. The controller gain can be adjusted to make the controller output changes as
sensitive as desired to deviations between set point and controlled variable;
2. the sign of Kc can be chosed to make the controller output increase (or
decrease) as the error signal increases.

For proportional controllers, bias p can be adjusted, a procedure referred to as

Chapter 8

manual reset.
Some controllers have a proportional band setting instead of a controller gain.
The proportional band PB (in %) is defined as

100%
PB  (8-3)
Kc

6
 In order to derive the transfer function for an ideal proportional controller
(without saturation limits), define a deviation variable as
pt 
pt   p t   p (8-4)

Then Eq. 8-2 can be written as

pt  K c e t  (8-5)
Chapter 8

The transfer function for proportional-only control:

Ps 
K c (8-6)
E s 

An inherent disadvantage of proportional-only control is that a steady-state

error occurs after a set-point change or a sustained disturbance.

7
 Integral Control
For integral control action, the controller output depends on the integral of the
error signal over time,

1 t
p t   p  0 e t *dt * (8-7)
τI
where τ I, an adjustable parameter referred to as the integral time or reset time,
Chapter 8

has units of time.

Integral control action is widely used because it provides an important practical

advantage, the elimination of offset. Consequently, integral control action is
normally used in conjunction with proportional control as the proportional-
integral (PI) controller:

 1 t 
p t   p  K c  e t   0 e t * dt *  (8-8)
 τI
8
 The corresponding transfer function for the PI controller in Eq. 8-8 is
given by

Ps   1   τ I s 1 
K c  1   K c   (8-9)
E s   τ s
I   I τ s

Some commercial controllers are calibrated in terms of (repeats per 1/ τ I

Chapter 8

minute) rather than (minutes, or minutes per repeat). τ I

Reset Windup

• An inherent disadvantage of integral control action is a phenomenon

known as reset windup or integral windup.
• Recall that the integral mode causes the controller output to change as long
as e(t*) ≠ 0 in Eq. 8-8.

9
 • When a sustained error occurs, the integral term becomes quite large and
the controller output eventually saturates.
• Further buildup of the integral term while the controller is saturated is
referred to as reset windup or integral windup.

Derivative Control
Chapter 8

The function of derivative control action is to anticipate the future behavior of

the error signal by considering its rate of change.

• The anticipatory strategy used by the experienced operator can be

incorporated in automatic controllers by making the controller output
proportional to the rate of change of the error signal or the controlled
variable.

10
 • Thus, for ideal derivative action,

de t 
p t   p  τ D (8-10)
dt
where τ , the derivative time, has units of time.
D
For example, an ideal PD controller has the transfer function:
Chapter 8

Ps 
K c 1  τ D s  (8-11)
E s 

• By providing anticipatory control action, the derivative mode tends to

stabilize the controlled process.
• Unfortunately, the ideal proportional-derivative control algorithm in Eq. 8-
10 is physically unrealizable because it cannot be implemented exactly.

11
 • For analog controllers, the transfer function in (8-11) can be approximated
by

Ps   τDs 
K c  1   (8-12)
E s   ατ D s  1 

where the constant α typically has a value between 0.05 and 0.2, with 0.1
Chapter 8

being a common choice.

• In Eq. 8-12 the derivative term includes a derivative mode filter (also called
a derivative filter) that reduces the sensitivity of the control calculations to
high-frequency noise in the measurement.

12
 Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) Control

Now we consider the combination of the proportional, integral, and

derivative control modes as a PID controller.

• Many variations of PID control are used in practice.

• Next, we consider the three most common forms.
Chapter 8

Parallel Form of PID Control

The parallel form of the PID control algorithm (without a derivative filter) is
given by

 1 t de t  
p t   p  K c  e t   0 e t * dt * τ D dt  (8-13)
 τI

13
 The corresponding transfer function is:

Ps   1 
K c  1   τDs (8-14)
E s   τI s 

Series Form of PID Control

Historically, it was convenient to construct early analog controllers (both
Chapter 8

electronic and pneumatic) so that a PI element and a PD element operated in

series.
Commercial versions of the series-form controller have a derivative filter that is
applied to either the derivative term, as in Eq. 8-12, or to the PD term, as in Eq.
8-15:

Ps   τ I s 1   τ D s 1 
K c    (8-15)
E s  τ
 I  Ds ατ s  1 
14
 Expanded Form of PID Control
In addition to the well-known series and parallel forms, the expanded form of
PID control in Eq. 8-16 is sometimes used:

t de t 
p t   p  K c e t   K I e t * dt *  K D (8-16)
0 dt
Chapter 8

Features of PID Controllers

Elimination of Derivative and Proportional Kick

• One disadvantage of the previous PID controllers is that a sudden change in

set point (and hence the error, e) will cause the derivative term momentarily
to become very large and thus provide a derivative kick to the final control
element.

15
 • This sudden change is undesirable and can be avoided by basing the
derivative action on the measurement, ym, rather than on the error signal, e.
• We illustrate the elimination of derivative kick by considering the parallel
form of PID control in Eq. 8-13.
• Replacing de/dt by –dym/dt gives
Chapter 8

 1 t dym t  
p t   p  K c  e t   0 e t * dt *  τ D dt  (8-17)
 τI

16
 On-Off Controllers

• Simple
• Cheap
• Used In residential heating and domestic refrigerators
• Limited use in process control due to continuous
Chapter 8

cycling of controlled variable  excessive wear

on control valve.

17
 On-Off Controllers (continued)
Synonyms:
“two-position” or “bang-bang” controllers.
Chapter 8

Controller output has two possible values.

18
 Proportional-Integral (PI) Control

 1
t

p( t ) p  K c  e( t )  e( t )dt 
 
 I 0 
• Response to unit step change in e:
Chapter 8

Figure 8.6. Response of proportional-integral controller to unit step

change in e(t).
19
 • Integral action eliminates steady-state error
(i.e., offset) Why??? e  0  p is changing with
time until e = 0, where p reaches steady state.
• Transfer function for PI control P(s)  1 
K c  1  
E(s)   Is 
Chapter 8

ysp

20
  Some controllers are calibrated in 1/I

("repeats per minute") instead of I .

 For PI controllers, p is not adjustable.

Derivative Control Action

Chapter 8

 Ideal derivative action

de
p ( t ) p   D
dt
 Used to improve dynamic response of the
controlled variable
 Derivative kick (use db/dt )
 Use alone?

21
 PID Controller
 Ideal controller

• Transfer function (ideal)

 1
t
de 
p( t ) p  K c  e( t )  e( t )dt    D 
Chapter 8

 I 0 dt 
P(s)  1 
K c  1    Ds 
E(s)   Is 

22
 Controller Comparison

P - Simplest controller to tune (Kc).

- Offset with sustained disturbance or setpoint
change.
Chapter 8

PI - More complicated to tune (Kc, I) .

- Better performance than P
- No offset
- Most popular FB controller

PID - Most complicated to tune (Kc, I, D) .

- Better performance than PI
- No offset
- Derivative action may be affected by noise

23
 Typical Response of Feedback Control Systems
Consider response of a controlled system after a
sustained disturbance occurs (e.g., step change in
the disturbance variable)
Chapter 8

Figure 8.12. Typical process responses with feedback control.

24
 Figure 8.13. Proportional
control: effect of
controller gain.
Chapter 8

Figure 8.15. PID control:

effect of derivative time.

25
Chapter 8

Figure 8.14. PI control: (a) effect of reset time (b) effect of controller gain.

26
 Advantages of feedback control
1.Corrective action occurs as soon as the controlled variable deviates
from the set point, regardless of the source and type of disturbance.
2.Feedback control requires minimal knowledge about the process to be
controlled; it particular, a mathematical model of the process is not
required, although it can be very useful for control system design.
3.The ubiquitous PID controller is both versatile and robust. If process
conditions change, retuning the controller usually produces satisfactory
control.

27
• However, feedback control also has certain inherent disadvantages:

1. No corrective action is taken until after a deviation in the controlled

variable occurs. Thus, perfect control, where the controlled variable does
not deviate from the set point during disturbance or set-point changes, is
theoretically impossible.
2. Feedback control does not provide predictive control action to compensate
for the effects of known or measurable disturbances.
3. It may not be satisfactory for processes with large time constants and/or
long time delays. If large and frequent disturbances occur, the process
may operate continuously in a transient state and never attain the desired
steady state.
4. In some situations, the controlled variable cannot be measured on-line,
and, consequently, feedback control is not feasible.

28
 Introduction to Feedforward Control
The basic concept of feedforward control is to measure important disturbance
variables and take corrective action before they upset the process. Feedforward
control has several disadvantages:

1. The disturbance variables must be measured on-line. In many applications, this

is not feasible.
2. To make effective use of feedforward control, at least a crude process model
should be available. In particular, we need to know how the controlled variable
responds to changes in both the disturbance and manipulated variables. The
quality of feedforward control depends on the accuracy of the process model.
3. Ideal feedforward controllers that are theoretically capable of achieving perfect
control may not be physically realizable. Fortunately, practical approximations
of these ideal controllers often provide very effective control.

29
Figure 8 The feedback control of the liquid level in a boiler drum.

• A boiler drum with a conventional feedback control system is shown in Fig.

15.2. The level of the boiling liquid is measured and used to adjust the feedwater
flow rate.
• This control system tends to be quite sensitive to rapid changes in the
disturbance variable, steam flow rate, as a result of the small liquid capacity of
the boiler drum.
• Rapid disturbance changes can occur as a result of steam demands made by
downstream processing units.
30
• The feedforward control scheme in Fig. 2.2 can provide better control of the
liquid level. Here the steam flow rate is measured, and the feedforward
controller adjusts the feedwater flow rate.

Figure 2.2 The feedforward control of the liquid level in a boiler drum.

31
Figure 2.3 The feedfoward-feedback control of the boiler drum level.

32
• In practical applications, feedforward control is
normally used in combination with feedback control.
• Feedforward control is used to reduce the effects of
measurable disturbances, while feedback trim
compensates for inaccuracies in the process model,
measurement error, and unmeasured disturbances.

33
 Ratio Control
Ratio control is a special type of feedforward control that has had widespread
application in the process industries. The objective is to maintain the ratio of
two process variables as a specified value. The two variables are usually flow
rates, a manipulated variable u, and a disturbance variable d. Thus, the ratio

is controlled rather than the individual variables. In Eq. 1 u and d are

physical variables, not deviation variables.

34
• Typical applications of ratio control include:

1. Setting the relative amounts of components in blending operations

2. Maintaining a stoichiometric ratio of reactants to a reactor
3. Keeping a specified reflux ratio for a distillation column
4. Holding the fuel-air ratio to a furnace at the optimum value.

35
Figure 2.4 Ratio control, Method I.

36
 • The main advantage of Method I is that the actual ratio R is calculated.
• A key disadvantage is that a divider element must be included in the
loop, and this element makes the process gain vary in a nonlinear
fashion. From Eq. 15-1, the process gain

 R  1
K p    (15-2)
 u  d d

is inversely related to the disturbance flow rate . Because of this

significant disadvantage, the preferred scheme for implementing ratio
control is Method II, which is shown in Fig. 2.4.

37
Figure 15.6 Ratio control, Method II

38
• Regardless of how ratio control is implemented, the process variables
must be scaled appropriately.
• For example, in Method II the gain setting for the ratio station Kd must
take into account the spans of the two flow transmitters.
• Thus, the correct gain for the ratio station is

Sd
K R Rd (15-3)
Su

where Rd is the desired ratio, Su and Sd are the spans of the flow
transmitters for the manipulated and disturbance streams, respectively.

39
 • Example 15.1
• A ratio control scheme is to be used to maintain a stoichoimetric ratio
of H2 and N2 as the feed to an ammonia synthesis reactor. Individual
flow controllers will be used for both the H2 and N2 streams. Using the
information given below, do the following:

a) Draw a schematic diagram for the ratio control scheme.

b) Specify the appropriate gain for the ratio station, KR.

40
 Available Information
i. The electronic flow transmitters have built-in square root extractors. The
spans of the flow transmitters are 30 L/min for H2 and 15 L/min for N2.
ii. The control valves have pneumatic actuators.
iii. Each required current-to-pressure (I/P) transducer has a gain of 0.75
psi/mA.
iv. The ratio station is an electronic instrument with 4-20 mA input and output
signals.

Solution
The stoichiometric equation for the ammonia synthesis reaction is

3H 2  N 2  2NH3
41
 • In order to introduce the feed mixture in stoichiometric proportions, the
ratio of the molar flow rates (H2/N2) should be 3:1. For the sake of
simplicity, we assume that the ratio of the molar flow rates is equal to
the ratio of the volumetric flow rates. But in general, the volumetric
flow rates also depend on the temperature and pressure of each stream
(cf., the ideal gas law).

a) The schematic diagram for the ammonia synthesis reaction is shown in Fig.
15.7. The H2 flow rate is considered to be the disturbance variable, although
this choice is arbitary because both the H2 and N2 flow rates are controlled.
Note that the ratio station is merely a device with an adjustable gain. The
input signal to the ratio station is dm, the measured H2 flow rate. Its output
signal usp serves as the set point for the N2 flow control loop. It is calculated
as usp = KRdm.

42
Figure 2.6 Ratio control scheme for an ammonia synthesis reactor of Example
15.1

43
b) From the stoichiometric equation, it follows that the desired ratio is Rd = u/d
= 1/3. Substitution into Equation 15-3 gives:

 1   30 L / min  2
K R     
 3   15 L / min  3
Feedforward Controller Design Based on Steady-State
Models
• A useful interpretation of feedforward control is that it continually attempts
to balance the material or energy that must be delivered to the process
against the demands of the load.
• For example, the level control system in Fig. 15.3 adjusts the feedwater flow
so that it balances the steam demand.
• Thus, it is natural to base the feedforward control calculations on material
and energy balances.

44
Figure 15.8 A simple schematic diagram of a distillation column.

45
 • To illustrate the design procedure, consider the distillation column
shown in Fig. 15.8 which is used to separate a binary mixture.
• In Fig. 15.8, the symbols B, D, and F denote molar flow rates, whereas
x, y, and z are the mole fractions of the more volatile component.
• The objective is to control the distillation composition, y, despite
measurable disturbances in feed flow rate F and feed composition z, by
adjusting distillate flow rate, D.
• It is assumed that measurements of x and y are not available.

The steady-state mass balances for the distillation column can be written as
F D  B (15-4)
Fz Dy  Bx (15-5)
46
 • Solving (15-4) for D and substituting into (15-5) gives

F z  x 
D (15-6)
y x
Because x and y are not measured, we replace these variables by their set points
to yield the feedforward control law:

F  z  xsp 
D (15-7)
ysp  xsp

47
 Blending System

• Consider the blending system and feedforward controller shown in Fig. 15.9.
• We wish to design a feedforward control scheme to maintain exit
composition x at a constant set point xsp, despite disturbances in inlet
composition, x1.

• Suppose that inlet flow rate w1 and the composition of the other inlet stream,
x2, are constant.

• It is assumed that x1 is measured but x is not.

48
• Consider the blending system and feedforward controller shown in Fig.
15.9.
• We wish to design a feedforward control scheme to maintain exit
composition x at a constant set point xsp, despite disturbances in inlet
composition, x1.

• Suppose that inlet flow rate w1 and the composition of the other inlet
stream, x2, are constant.

• It is assumed that x1 is measured but x is not.

49
Figure 15.9 Feedforward control of exit composition in the blending system.

50
• The starting point for the feedforward controller design is the steady-
state mass and component balances,
w w1  w2 (15-8)
w x  w1 x1  w2 x2 (15-9)
where the bar over the variable denotes a steady-state value. Substituting Eq.
15-8 into 15-9 and solving for gives:

w1 ( x  x1 )
w2  (15-10)
x2  x
In order to derive a feedforward control law, we replace by xsp, and and
, by w2(t) and x1(t), respectively:

w1  xsp  x1 (t ) 
w2 (t )  (15-11)
x2  xsp
Note that this feedforward control law is based on the physical variables
rather than on the deviation variables. 51
• The feedforward control law in Eq. 15-11 is not in the final form
required for actual implementation because it ignores two important
instrumentation considerations:
• First, the actual value of x1 is not available but its measured value, x1m,
is.
• Second, the controller output signal is p rather than inlet flow rate, w2.
• Thus, the feedforward control law should be expressed in terms of x1m
and p, rather than x1 and w2.
• Consequently, a more realistic feedforward control law should
incorporate the appropriate steady-state instrument relations for the w2
flow transmitter and the control valve.

52