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Courtesy of Danaher Industrial Controls Group - Process Automation, Measurement, & Sensing
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Why do we need temperature controllers?
Temperature controllers are needed in any situation requiring a given temperature be kept stable. This can be in a
situation where an object is required to be heated, cooled or both and to remain at the target temperature (setpoint),
regardless of the changing environment around it. There are two fundamental types of temperature control; open
loop and closed loop control. Open loop is the most basic form and applies continuous heating/cooling with no
regard for the actual temperature output. It is analogous to the internal heating system in a car. On a cold day, you
may need to turn the heat on to full to warm the car to 75°. However, during warmer weather, the same setting
would leave the inside of the car much warmer than the desired 75°.
Closed loop control is far more sophisticated than open loop. In a closed loop application, the output temperature is
constantly measured and adjusted to maintain a constant output at the desired temperature. Closed loop control is
always conscious of the output signal and will feed this back into the control process. Closed loop control is
analogous to a car with internal climate control. If you set the car temperature to 75°, the climate control will
automatically adjust the heating (during cold days) or cooling (during warm days) as required to maintain the target
temperature of 75°.
Temperature controllers have several other parameters, one of which is a setpoint. Basically, a setpoint is a target
value set by an operator which the controller aims at keeping steady. For instance, a setpoint temperature of 30°C
means that a controller will aim to keep the temperature at this value.
Another parameter is an alarm value. This is used to indicate when a process has reached some given condition.
There are several variations on types of alarms. For instance, a high alarm may indicate that a temperature has gotten
hotter than some set value. Likewise, a low alarm indicates the temperature has dropped below some set value.
For example, in a temperature control system, a high fixed alarm prevents a heat source from damaging equipment
by de-energizing the source if the temperature exceeds some setpoint value. A low fixed alarm, on the other hand,
may be set if a low temperature could damage equipment by freezing.
The controller can also test for a broken output device, such as an open heating element, by checking the amount of
output signal and comparing it to the amount of detected change in the input signal. For example, if the output signal
is 100% and the input sensor does not detect any change in temperature after a certain time period, the controller
will determine that the loop is broken. This feature is known as Loop Alarm.
Another type of alarm is a deviation alarm. This is set at some plus-or-minus value from the setpoint. The deviation
alarm monitors the process setpoint. The operator is notified when the process begins to vary some preprogrammed
amount from the setpoint. A variation on the deviation alarm is the band alarm. This alarm will activate either within
or outside a designated temperature band. Typically, the alarm points are half above and half below the controller
setpoint.
For example, if the setpoint is 150° and the deviation alarms are set at ±10°, the alarms would be activated when the
temperature reached 160° at the high end or 140° at the low end. If the setpoint is changed to 170°, the high alarm
would activate at 180° and the low alarm at 160°. Another common set of controller parameters are PID parameters.
PID, which stands for proportional, integral, derivative, is an advanced control function that uses feedback from the
controlled process to determine how best to control that process.
How it Works
All controllers, from the basic to the most complex, work pretty much the same way. Controllers control, or hold,
some variable or parameter at a set value. There are two variables required by the controller; actual input signal and
desired setpoint value. The input signal is also known as the process value. The input to the controller is sampled
many times per second, depending on the controller.
This input, or process, value is then compared with the setpoint value. If the actual value doesn't match the setpoint,
the controller generates an output signal change based on the difference between the setpoint and the process value
and whether or not the process value is approaching the setpoint or deviating farther from the setpoint. This output
signal then initiates some type of response to correct the actual value so that it matches the setpoint. Usually, the
control algorithm updates the output power value which is then applied to the output.
The control action taken depends on the type of controller. For instance, if the controller is an ON/OFF control, the
controller decides if the output needs to be turned on, turned off, or left in its present state.
ON/OFF control is one of the simplest types of control to implement. It works by setting up a hysteresis band. For
instance, a temperature controller may be set to control the temperature inside of a room. If the setpoint is 68° and
the actual temperature falls to 67°, an error signal would show a –1° difference. The controller would then send a
signal to increase the applied heat to raise the temperature back to the setpoint of 68°. Once the temperature reaches
68°, the heater shuts off. For a temperature between 68° and 67°, the controller takes no action and the heater
remains off. However, once the temperature reaches 67°, the heater will again kick in.
Unlike ON/OFF control, PID control determines the exact output value required to maintain the desired temperature.
The output power can range from 0 to 100%. When an analog output type is used, the output drive is proportional to
the output power value. However, if the output is a binary output type such as a relay, SSR driver, or triac, then the
output must be time proportioned to obtain an analog representation.
A time proportioned system uses a cycle time to proportion the output value. If the cycle time is set to 8 seconds, a
system calling for 50% power will have the output on for 4 seconds and off for 4 seconds. As long as the power
value doesn't change, the time values wouldn't change. Over time, the power is averaged to the 50% commanded
value, half on and half off. If the output power needed to be 25%, then for the same 8 second cycle time, the output
would be on for 2 seconds and off for 6 seconds.
General-purpose temperature controllers are used to control most typical processes in industry. Typically, they come
in a range of DIN sizes, have multiple outputs, and programmable output functions. These controllers can also
perform PID control for excellent general control situations. They are traditionally placed in the front panel with the
display for easy operator accessibility.
Most modern digital temperature controllers can automatically calculate PID parameters for optimum thermal
system performance using their built in auto-tuning algorithms. These controllers have a pre-tune function to
initially calculate the PID parameters for a process, and a continuous tune function to constantly refine the PID
parameters. This allows for quick setup, saving time and reducing waste.
Valve Motor Drive
A special type of general-purpose controller is the valve motor drive (VMD) controller. These controllers are
specifically designed to control valve motors used in manufacturing applications such as gas burner control on a
production line. Special tuning algorithms give accurate control and fast output reaction without the need for
slidewire feedback or excessive knowledge of three-term PID tuning algorithms. VMD controllers control the
position of the valve, somewhere between 0% to 100% open, depending on the energy needs of the process at any
given time.
Profile
Profiling controllers, also called ramp-soak controllers, allow operators to program a number of setpoints and the
time to sit at each setpoint. Programming a setpoint change is called ramp and the time to stay at each setpoint is
called soak or dwell. One ramp or one soak is considered to be one segment. A profiler offers the ability to enter a
number of segments to allow complex temperature profiles. The profiles can be referred to as recipes by the
operator. Most profilers allow storage of multiple recipes for later use. Smaller profilers may allow for four recipes
with sixteen segments each with more advanced profilers allowing for more recipes and segments.
Profile controllers are able to execute ramp-and-soak profiles such as temperature changes over time, along with
hold and soak/cycle duration, all the while being unattended by an operator.
Typical applications for profile controllers include heat treating, annealing, environmental chambers, and complex
process furnaces.
Multi-Loop
Besides single-loop controllers which can control only one process loop, multi-loop controllers can control more
than one loop, meaning they can accept more than one input variable.
Generally speaking, a multi-loop controller can be thought of as a device with many individual temperature
controllers inside a single chassis. These are typically mounted behind the panel as opposed to in front of the panel
as with general-purpose single loop controllers. Programming any one of the loops is similar to programming a
panel-mounted temperature controller. However, multi-loop systems tend not to have the traditional, physical user
interface (no display or switches), instead using a dedicated communications link.
Multi-loop controllers need to be configured by a specialized software program on a PC that can download the
configuration to the controller using the dedicated communications interface.
Information can be retrieved via a communications interface. Common communications interfaces that are
supported include DeviceNet, Profibus, MODBUS/RTU, CanOPEN, Ethernet/IP, and MODBUS/TCP.
Multi-loop controllers provide a compact modular system that can operate either within a stand-alone system or in a
PLC environment. As a replacement for temperature controls in PLCs, they provide fast PID control and off-load
much of the math intensive work from the PLC processor, allowing for faster PLC scan rates. As a replacement for
multiple DIN controllers, they provide a single point of software access to all control loops. The cost of installation
is reduced by eliminating much wiring, panel cutouts, and saving panel space.
Multi-loop controllers provide some additional features not available on traditional panel mounted controllers. For
instance, multi-loop controllers have higher loop density for a given space. Some multi-loop temperature control
systems can have up to 32 loops of control in a DIN rail mounted package not much longer than 8". They also
reduce wiring by having a common connection point for power supply and communications interfaces.
Multi-loop temperature controllers also have enhanced security features, one of which is the absence of buttons
where anyone can change critical settings. By having complete control over the information being read from or
written to the controller, the machine builder can limit the information that any given operator can read or change,
preventing undesirable conditions from occurring, such as setting a setpoint too high to a range that may damage
product or the machine. In addition, controller modules can be hot-swapped. This lets a controller module be
changed out without having to power down the system. Modules can also auto-configure after a hot swap.
Other Temperature Controller Characteristics
Supply Voltage
There are typically two supply voltage options when it comes to temperature controllers: low voltage (24VAC/DC)
and high voltage (110-230VAC).
Size
Controllers come in several standard sizes that are referred to by DIN numbers such as 1/4 DIN, 1/8 DIN, 1/16 DIN
and 1/32 DIN. DIN is an acronym for the roughly translated "Deutsche Institut fur Normung," a German standards
and measurements organization. For our purposes, DIN simply indicates that a device complies with a generally
accepted standard for panel dimensions.