Posts Tagged ‘PV’
Pulse is Okay, but Doublet is Better
The Pulse and Doublet tests both allow practitioners to observe the process moving in opposite directions, but which is better?
Read MoreHow to Perform a Step Test
Tuning PID controllers is a multi-step process. While it is important to understand each step in the process, performing the bump test and collecting dynamic data is the most crucial step that generally dictates the outcome. This post delves into one particular type of test – the Step Test – before introducing other tests commonly used in PID controller tuning.
Read MoreData Collection Speed is Key to the Accurate Interpretation of Process Dynamics
If you’re old enough to remember silent movies, then you know what it’s like to see the characters seemingly jiggle around the screen. Black spots would randomly appear as the story was told with the help of subtitles. Spots and subtitles aside, these movies appeared jittery due to their slow speed. The slow frame rate – a precursor of data collection speed – resulted in visual gaps.
Read MoreHow Can I Correct for Noise Using External Filters?
Choices, choices. In the realm of process control practitioners are regularly forced to choose between competing options. Consider a PID control loop: Should it be tuned for faster disturbance rejection or tighter Set Point tracking? Should the Derivative Term be used or does the PI configuration provide a sufficiently fast Settling Time? And the choices go on and on. In that sense there are multiple choices for filtering noise too – options that provide very different benefits. Fortunately when it comes to filtering for Signal Noise the choice is typically clear.
Read MoreHow Can I Correct for Noise Using Internal Filters?
Noise is inevitable. To one degree or another it’s evident in the data of most every production process. Sure it can be absent in academic settings and similar lab environments where simulations often generate sanitized data. However, in the real world of industrial manufacturing noise is a factor that cannot be avoided. Failing to account for or manage noise can be a recipe for – well – failure.
Read MoreWhat is the Purpose of a PID Controller’s Integral Term? Why is PI Control So Widely Used in Industry?
In the realm of process control it makes complete sense that the primary goal is – you guessed it – to control the process. For decades the PID controller has proven a reliable tool for fulfilling that objective. Even so, there are various forms of the controller that can be used and each has its unique performance attributes. In spite of the added complexity associated with the Integral Term the PI controller is the form most widely used in industry.
Read MoreModeling Non-Steady State Data for PID Controller Tuning in a Cogeneration Power Plant
A 25 MW combined-cycle cogeneration plant at the University of Connecticut supplies electricity to the entire UConn campus with three natural gas combustion turbine generators and one high pressure steam turbine generator.
Read MoreDefault Out-of-the-Box Settings Prevent the PID Controller from Achieving its Goal
Tuning a PID controller doesn’t have to be hard. Whether a practitioner chooses to tune control loops manually or with the help of software, the procedure is relatively straight forward and can produce highly effective results. It can be argued that using software is faster and provides more optimal results than manual tuning, but that’s an argument that largely depends on the economic importance of the PID control loop in question. In the end, the goal is the same: To tune for improved control loop performance.
Read MoreHow Does the Derivative Term Affect PID Controller Performance?
Derivative is the third term within the PID. In mathematical terms the word derivative is defined as the slope of a curve. Seen in the context of strip chart data derivative represents the rate of change in error – the difference between the Process Variable (PV) and Set Point (SP). Like the proportional and integral terms within a PID controller, the derivative term seeks to correct for error. Valuable as the third term can be in maintaining effective control, experience suggests that appropriate uses of derivative are not entirely clear.
Read MoreHow Do I Calculate Dead-Time?
Adults can learn a thing or two from children. That’s especially true when it comes to matters of time. Whereas adults view it as fashionable to show up to a social event 15 or more minutes late, children can’t wait to go and be a part of the action. When at a theme park adults typically their time strolling from place to place while children know that each minute of delay can cost hours longer in line. Simply put: When it comes to time every second matters. That viewpoint seems highly relevant to process control, control loop tuning, and calculating Dead-Time. Dead-Time is generally the model parameter that’s easiest to calculate when tuning a PID controller.
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