Results and Discussions

Proportional, Integral and Derivative (PID) controller

Figure 1: Graph of flow rate variation (green line) and pressure change (red line) in PID
controller.
In this experiment, we observe the effect of Proportional, Integral and Derivative action on a
pressure loop control. The derivative time and setpoint (SP) values have been manipulated in
each part of the experiment to observe the response of the PID control. As the derivative time
decreases, the degree of oscillation in the pressure and flow rate also decreases, with the
alternating setpoint(SP) shift of 10 psi and 15psi respectively. Initially maximum deviation
from the setpoint (SP) is observed as shown in Figure 1 and it decreases over time as the
derivative term is reduced. This is because, the derivative action considers how fast e (t) is
changing at any instant using the rate of change or the slope of the error curve. Thus, lower
value of derivative time would have a smaller effect on the Process Variable (PV) and rapid
shift in the setpoint (SP) would have a smaller effect or deviation in the PV values.
Proportional and Integral (PI) controller

Figure 2: Graph of flow rate variation (green line) and pressure change (red line) in PI
controller.
In this experiment, the proportional and integral action of the controller is observed by
tuning only the two parameters of the controller and leaving the derivative term to zero. From
Figure 2, it can be seen that as the integral time decreases, the degree of oscillation increases.
This is because from the PI algorithm it can be seen that the integral term is in the
denominator of the equation, resulting in higher value of PV with lower integral parameter.
Thus, the controller becomes more aggressive in correcting the persistent offset at lower
integral time [1]. Besides, the integral action of the controller continually sums up the error
and use to remove the offsets. However, the offset has not been removed when a sudden
setpoint (SP) change is introduced due to the rapid change in the error, making it hard for the
integral action to compute the error using integration and remove the offsets. Thus, PI
controller would not be the best choice for this pressure control system.
Proportional (P) controller

Figure 3: Graph of flow rate variation (green line) and pressure change (red line) in
Proportional Controller.

In this experiment, only the proportional action of the controller is observed by tuning off the
action of the other two parameters. From Figure 3, it can be seen that as the Proportional
Band increases, the offset and the oscillatory behaviour of the PV decreases. This is because,
the higher the proportional parameter the more aggressive action is taken by the controller
towards the error, resulting in closer the PV value towards the setpoint. However, continuous
increase in the proportional parameter would result in increase in the oscillatory behaviour of
the system, making Proportional controller not suitable to be used alone without the Integral
and derivative actions. Thus, Proportional controller would not be suitable to be used as the
best controller for the pressure controller as it could not eliminate the offsets and oscillatory
behaviour of the PV despite of its ability to make faster response towards an error.
References
[1] Integral Action and PI Control. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2017, from
http://controlguru.com/integral-action-and-pi-control/

Appendix

The PI Algorithm [1]

Where:
CO = controller output signal
CObias = controller bias or null value
e(t) = current controller error, defined as SP – PV
SP = set point
PV = measured process variable
Kc = controller gain, a tuning parameter
Ti = reset time, a tuning parameter