1. What is good control? What is the function of quarter decay ratio?

The most commonly defined criteria for a process control system to be described as a
good control system as described below:

(i) The decay ratio should be 0.25, where decay ratio is defined as the ratio of the
second peak overshoot and the first peak overshoot.
(ii) The integral of the square error (ISE) should be minimum. The ISE is defined as:

.
(iii) The integral of the absolute value of error (IAE) should be minimum. The IAE is
defined as:

.
(iv) The integral of time-weighted absolute error (ITAE) should be minimum. The ITAE
is defined as:

.

Function of quarter decay ratio:

The decay ratio is defined as the ratio of the second peak overshoot to the first peak
overshoot of a system having transient response. The Ziegler-Nichols, Cohen-Coon and
many other controller tuning is based on tuning the controller to achieve the quarter
decay response. The characteristic of the quarter decay response is that each oscillation
has an amplitude that is one-fourth of the previous oscillation. It is illustrated in the
following diagram.

2. What are the basic functions of pneumatic controller and which are the basic
parameters of pneumatic controller? Describe the pneumatic PI controller with
proper diagram.

Principles and working parameters of Pneumatic Controllers:

In a pneumatic system, information is carried by the pressure of gas in a pipe. If we have
a pipe of any length and raise the pressure of gas in one end, this increase in pressure
will propagate down the pipe until the pressure throughout is raised to the new value.
The pressure signal travels down the pipe at a speed in the range of the speed of sound
in the gas (say, air), which is about 330 m/s (1083 ft/s). Thus, if a transducer varies gas
pressure at one end of a 330-m pipe (about 360 yd) in response to some controlled
variable, then that same pressure occurs at the other end of the pipe after a delay of
approximately 1 sec. For many processescontrol installations, this delay time is of no
consequence

In general, pneumatic signals are carried with dry air as the gas and signal information
adjusted to lie within the range of 3-I5 psi. In SI unit systems, the range of 20-100 kPa is
used. There are three types of signal conversion of primary interest. This is usually
derived from a regulated air supply of 20-30 psi. As usual, we use the English system
unit of pressure because its use is so widespread in the process-control industry.
Eventual conversion to the SI unit of N /m2 or Pa will require some alteration in scale (of
measurement) to a range of 20 to 100 kPa.

Pneumatic proportional-integral controller:

Pneumatic proportional-integral controller control mode is also implemented using
pneumatics by the system shown in Figure.
In this case, an extra bellows with a variable
restriction is added to the proportional
system. Suppose the input pressure shows a
sudden increase. This drives the flapper
toward the nozzle, increasing output pressure
until the proportional bellows balances the
input as in the previous case. The integral
bellows is still at the original output
pressure, because the restriction prevents
pressure changes from being transmitted immediately. As the increased pressure on the
output bleeds through the restriction, the integral bellows slowly moves the flapper closer
to the nozzle, thereby causing a steady increase in output pressure (as dictated by the
integral mode). The variable restriction allows for variation of the leakage rate, and hence
the integration time.

3. Explain with block diagram the feed-forward control and ratio control. What are
their differences?

Feedforward Control:

Conventional feed-back loops can
never achieve perfect control. It is
difficult for the conventional loops
to keep the process output
continuously at the desired setpoint
value in the presence of load or
setpoint changes. This is because of
feedback controller reacts only after
it has detected a diversion in the
value of the output from the desired
setpoioint. Unlike feedback systems
a feed-forward control configuration
measures the disturbance directly and takes control action to eliminate its impact on the
process output. Feed-forward controllers have the theoretical potential for perfect control.

In feed-forward control strategy, information concerning one or more conditions that
might disturb the control variable is converted into corrective action to minimize
Controller
Disturbance
Process Controlled
Output
Manipulated
Variable
deviation of control variable. The signals which have the potential to upset the process
are transmitted to the controller. The controller makes appropriate computation on the
signals and calculates new values for the manipulated signals and sends those to the
final control element, therefore, the control variable remains unaffected in spite of load
changes. The generalized block diagram of feed-forward control system is shown in the
figure alongside.

Ratio Control:

Ratio control is used to ensure that two or more
flows are kept a constant ratio even if the flows are
changing. Ratio control is special type of feed-
forward control where two disturbances are
measured and held at constant ratio with each
other. Sometimes the control of one of the streams
becomes difficult, in which case its flow is
measured; and then, the flow rate of the other
stream is controlled. The stream whose flow rate is
uncontrollable is called wild stream.

The configuration of a basic ratio-control is described below. In this configuration we
measure both the flow rates, and take their ratio. The ratio is compared with the desired
ratio, and the deviation between the two is used to generate the actuating signal for the
ratio controller.

Difference between feed forward and ratio control:

In feed-forward control strategy, information concerning one or more conditions that
might disturb the control variable is converted into corrective action to minimize
deviation of control variable. Whereas, ratio control is special type of feed-forward control
where two disturbances are measured and held at constant ratio with each other.

4. Describe the controller tuning method of Harriot.

When it is undesirable to allow sustained oscillations, the Harriotts method of controller
tuning is used. The process is characterized by finding the gain at which the system has
a damping ratio of , and the frequency of oscillation at this point. Similar to the Ziegler-
Nichols method, the controller parameters are calculated from the gain and oscillation
frequency.

is the proportional gain for damping ratio of .

is the period of oscillations in minutes.

Advantages and Disadvantages: In general, there are two major disadvantages to the
damped oscillation methods. First, it is essentially a trial-and-error method, since several
values of gain must be tested before the ultimate gain or the gain to give a 1/4 decay
ratio are to be determined. To make one test, especially at values near the desired gain, it
is often necessary to wait for the completion of several oscillations before it can be
Type of
Controller

P 1.1

PI 1.1

/2.6
PID 1.1

/3.6

/9
determined whether the trial value of gain is the desired one. Second, while one loop is
being tested in this manner, its output may affect several other loops, thus possibly
upsetting an entire unit. While all tuning methods require that some changes be made in
the control loop, other techniques require only one and not several tests, unlike the
closed-loop methods. Also, if the tuning parameters are too aggressive, the expected
response can be obtained by increasing the proportional band (or decreasing the
proportional gain). The integral and derivative settings probably need to be modified. The
proportional gain has to be reduced to 3.5 to have a quarter of amplitude decay.

5. What is the valve characteristics?

All control valves are classified by relationship between the valve stem position and the
flow rate through the valve. Control valves exhibit and Inherent characteristic and
install or effective characteristic.

Inherent characteristic: This control valve characteristic is assigned with the assumption
that the set point indicates the extent of the valve opening and that the pressure
difference is determined by the valve alone.

(a) Quick Opening: In this type, the relationship between flow and valve opening is
approximately linear up to 60-70% of valve opening. After this limit, the flow
does not change rapidly with the change in the valve opening.
(b) Linear Opening: The flow is directly proportional ro the valve opening for a
constant pressure drop. The relationship thus can be expressed as a straight
line. It is given as:

Where,
Stem position (m)

Maximum stem position (m)

Flow rate (m
3
/sec)

Maximum flow rate (m

3
/sec)
(c) Equal percentage: Equal increments of valve movements produces an equal
percentage changes in inflow. The gain of equal percentage valve is directly
proportional to flow through the valve. Gain in low when valve is nearly closed
and gain is high when valve is nearly open.

Installed / Effective Characteristic: The control valve when installed in a process pipeline
downstream and upstream equipment will exhibit a different flow rate stem position
relation and is called installed or effective characteristic.

6. Describe the basic block diagram of PLC. What is ladder logic? Explain with a
proper example.

A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) can be defined as a digital electronic device that
use a programmable memory to storte instructions and implement specific functions
such as logic, sequencing, coiunting, and arithmetic to control machines and processes.

The basic parts of a PLC are described
below:

(i) Processor Module: It is the
brain of the PLC system. The
intelligence of programmable
controllers is derived from the
microprocessors which have tremendous computing and control ability. The
functions of the programming module includes scanning, program
execution, peripheral and external device communication and self-
diagnostics.
(ii) Input Module: There are many types of input modules to choose from.
Choice of the input module depends on the application of the PLC. Most
commonly used inputs are limit switches, proximity switches, and push
buttons. Nature of the inputs can be classified as Analog/Digital, Low/High
frequency, and Maintained/Momentary.
(iii) Output Module: Output modules can be used for devices such as solenoids,
relays, contractors, pilot lamps, and LED outputs.
(iv) Addressing Scheme: Each of the input and ouput devices used in the PLC
are identified with a unique address for exchange of data, which needs to be
uniquely addressed during the programming of a PLC device.
(v) Programming Unit: It is an external, electronic, handheld device which can
be connected to the processor of the PLC when programming changes are
needed. Once the program is debugged, the programming unit is
disconnected; and PLC can operate the process according to the ladder
diagram or the statement list.

Ladder Logic:

Ladder Logic Programming is a graphical representation of
the program designed to look like a relay logic. It uses
symbols in horizontal rows called rungs, to represent
inputs and outputs. A program in this designing scheme
resembles a ladder, and is therefore, known as the ladder
diagram.

For example, the following diagram the ladder logic
realization where two limit switches connected in series are used to control a
solenoid.



8. (a) What do you mean by controller tuning? What are the different methods of
controller tuning?

The mechanism of selecting different parameters of controllers in a control loop so
that the process variable may be maintained at the desired set-point value without
any fluctuations, is called tuning of controller.

The most commonly used tuning methods are summarized below:


(b) What are the basic tuning criteria of a controller?

The most commonly defined criteria for a process control system to be described as
a good control system as described below:

(i) The decay ratio should be 0.25, where decay ratio is defined as the ratio of the
second peak overshoot and the first peak overshoot.

(ii) The integral of the square error (ISE) should be minimum. The ISE is defined
as:

(iii) The integral of the absolute value of error (IAE) should be minimum. The IAE
is defined as:

(iv) The integral of time-weighted absolute error (ITAE) should be minimum. The
ITAE is defined as:

Where e is defined as the generalized error, such that


(d) Explain the tuning criteria of Ziegler-Nicholls method.

The Ziegler-Nichols technique of controller tuning is also called Ultimate Cycling
Method is based on adjusting a closed loop until steady oscillations occur.
Controller settings are then based on the conditions that generate the cycling. This
method is based on frequency response analysis.
Unlike the process reaction curve method which uses data from the open-loop
response of a system, the Ziegler-Nichols tuning technique is a closed-loop
procedure. It goes through the following steps:
(i) Bring the system to the desired operational level
(ii) Reduce any integral and derivative actions to their minimum effect
(iii) Using proportional control only and with the feedback loop closed, introduce
a set point change and vary proportional gain until the system oscillates
continuously. The frequency of continuous oscillation is the cross over
frequency

.Let be the amplitude ratio of the systems response at the

cross over frequency.
(iv) Compute the following two quantities :

(v) Using the values of

&

, Ziegler & Nichols recommended the following

settings for feedback controllers.

Proportional

Proportional-Integral

Proportional-Integral-Derivative

The settings above reveal the rationale of the Ziegler-Nichols methodology.
(i) For proportional control alone, use a gain margin equal to 2
(ii) For PI control use a lower proportional gain because the pressure of the
integral control mode introduces additional phase lag in all frequencies with
destabilizing effects on the system. Therefore lower

maintains
approximately the same gain margin.
(iii) The presence of the derivative control mode introduces phase lead with
strong stabilizing effects in the closed-loop response. Consequently the
proportional gain

for a PID controller can be increased without

threatening the stability of the system.
9. (a) What is process characteristics? Write the definition of manipulated variable,
load variable and control variable with proper examples.

Process Characteristics

A process is defined as a progressive operation that consists of a series of
controlled actions or movements systematically directed towards a desired result.

The features of a process are usually measured by process variables. The control of
process variables is achieved by controllers (hardware elements or software
programs) and final control elements like control valves.
The processes are situated in the production environment and are affected by time-
space aspects. These aspects determine the character of the process. The five main
process characteristics are: speed (slow/fast); spacing (lumped/distributed);
continuity (continuous/discrete); periodicity (cyclic/acyclic) and determinacy
(deterministic/stochastic) Time-space aspects also influence the complexity of a
particular process.

The Manipulated variable, Load variable and Controlled variable are defined as:

(i) Manipulated variable: is the one that can be changed in order to maintain the
controlled variable at the set point value. In other words, the variable chosen to
control the system's state is termed the manipulated variable. It is also called
sometimes as controlling variable. Examples of manipulated variables are coolant
flow, fuel flow, feed water flow etc.

(ii) Load variables: are those variables that cause disturbances in the process.
They are also called disturbances. The load variable may change either
continuously or sporadically with some function of time. Sometimes it is fixed and
not a function of time. Examples are feed rate, feed composition, steam header
pressure, coolant temperature etc.

(iii) Controlled variable: is the one that must be maintained precisely at the set
point. Typically, the variable chosen to represent the state of the system is termed
the controlled variable. Examples of controlled variables are temperature,
pressure, flow rate, level, vacuum pressure, concentration, density etc.


(b) What is the basic process control loop? Explain each block with proper
example.

Process A process is defined as a progressive operation that consists of a series of
controlled actions or movements systematically directed towards a desired result.

Measurement To effect control of a variable in a process, we must have
information on the variable itself. Such information is found by measuring the
variable. In general, a measurement refers to the conversion of the variable into
some corresponding analog of the variable, such as a pneumatic pressure, an
electrical voltage, or current. A sensor is a device that performs the initial
measurement and energy conversion of a variable into analogous electrical or
pneumatic information. Further transformation or signal conditioning may be
required to complete the measurement function.

Error The difference between the process output and the desired setpoint value is
the error that is detected by the error detector.

Controller The next step in the processcontrol sequence is to examine the error
and determine what action, if any, should be taken. The controller requires an
input of both a measured indication of the controlled variable and a representation
of the reference value of the variable, expressed in the same terms as the measured
value. The reference value of the variable, you will recall, is referred to as the
setpoint. Evaluation consists of determining action required to bring the
controlled variable to the setpoint value.

Final Control Element The final element in the processcontrol operation is the
device that exerts a direct influence on the process; that is, it provides those
required changes in the
controlled variable to bring it
to the setpoint. This element
accepts an input from the
controller, which is then
transformed into some
proportional operation
performed on the process.

Figure alongside shows a
general block diagram
constructed from the
elements defined previously. The controlled variable in the process is
denoted by c in this diagram, and the measured representation of the
controlled variable is labeled b. The controlled variable setpoint is labeled r,
for reference.
The error detector is a subtracting-summing point that outputs an error
signal to the controller for comparison and action.

10. (a) Describe the construction and working principle of pneumatic control valve.

The pneumatic valve is the most commonly used final control element. It is a
system that exhibits inherent second order dynamics.
Consider a typical pneumatic valve shown in Fig. The position of the stem (or
equivalently of the plug at the end of the stem) will determine the size of the
opening for flow and consequently the quantity of the flow (flow rate).The position
of the stem is determined by the balance of all forces acting on it. These forces are:
Force exerted by the compressed air at the top of the diaphragm; pressure
is the signal that opens or closes the valve & is the area of the diaphragm.
Force exerted by the spring attached to the stem & the diaphragm K is the
Hookes constant for the spring & x is the displacement, it acts upward.

Frictional force exerted upward & resulting from the close contact of the
stem with valve packing; is the friction coefficient between stem & packing.
Apply Newtons law and take

Let

and

and take

The last equation indicates that the stem-position follows inherent second-order
dynamics. The transfer function is

Usually,

and as a result, the dynamics of a pneumatic valve can be

approximated by that of first-order system.
(b) What are

and

? Explain their relationship.

One of the most useful factors to determine the size of a control valve in the flow
coefficient or

factor (or

factor). Practically all control valve manufactures

supply

factors for their valves. These factors form the basis for all calculations.
The flow coefficient indicates the amount of flow the control valve can handle under
a given pressure drop across the control valve.

Factor: The flow coefficient

is defined as the flow rate of water in gallons per

minute at 60F through a valve at maximum opening with a pressure drop of 1 psi
measured in the inlet & outlet pipes directly adjacent to the valve body.

Factor: Whenever the flow coefficient is mentioned in metric units, it is denoted

by the symbol

which is defined as the flow rate of water in

/hour at about
30C flowing through the fully opened control valve at a pressure drop of 1kg/

across the control.

The following relationship between

&

can generally be used.

The flow coefficient is determined by the manufacturer for various types & sizes of
valves by actual experiments with water. The flow coefficient for 100% valve
opening is termed as

(or

) of the particular valve size & the variation of

(or

) at different valve openings is given in the form of a graph, which is termed as

valve characteristic.

(c) What are the valve selection criteria?

The selection of control valves for a particular application depends on many
variables; such as the corrosive nature of the fluid, temperature of operation,
pressures involved, high or low flow velocities, volume of flow, and the amount of
suspended solids.

Careful attention must be paid to the system requirements and manufacturers
specifications, only then can a careful valve selection be made. Some of the factors
affecting the choice of valves are as follows:

(i) Type of valve for two-way or three-way fail-safe considerations, and so on.
(ii) Valve size from flow requirements; care must be taken to avoid both
oversizing and under sizing.
(iii) Materials used in the valve construction, considering pressure, size, and
corrosion.
(iv) Materials used in valves range from PVC to brass to steel.
(v) Tightness of shutoff: Valves are classified by quality of shutoff by leakage at
maximum pressure. Valves are classified into six classes depending on
leakage from 0.5 percent of rated capacity to 0.15 mL/min. for a 1-in dia.
valve.
(vi) Acceptable pressure drop across the valve.
(vii) Valve body for linear or rotary motion, i.e., globe, diaphragm versus ball,
butterfly, and so forth.
(viii) Percentage travel versus flow characteristics plus loop-and-process
characteristics.
(ix) Maximum permissible noise level.
(x) Viscosity of fluid.

11. (a) Mention the advantages and disadvantages of cascade control.

The principal advantages of cascade control are the following:

(i) Disturbances occurring in the secondary loop are corrected by the
secondary controller before they can affect the primary, or main, variable.
(ii) The secondary controller can significantly reduce phase lag in the
secondary loop, thereby improving the speed of response of the primary
loop.
(iii) Gain variations due to nonlinearity in the process or actuator in the
secondary loop are corrected within that loop.
(iv) The secondary loop enables exact manipulation of the flow of mass or
energy by the primary controller.

The disadvantages are:

(i) Cascade control cannot be employed indiscriminately; only when a suitable
intermediate variable can be measured does this method of control fit in
properly
(ii) Cascade action fails to yield the desired results if the inner loop is closed
around the largest time constant of the part of the process. In fact, cascade
control is effective only when the secondary time constant is smaller than
the primary time constant.

(b) Why is the feed-forward control better than the feed-back control?

The advantages of a feedforward control over a feedback control are as follows:

(i) Feedforward control scheme compensates for disturbances before they affect
the process, whereas the feedback control waits until the disturbance has
affected the process before taking action.
(ii) Feedforward control system can improve the reliability of the feedback
system by reducing the deviation from setpoint.
(iii) The feedback system is susceptible to disturbances when the process is slow
and when significant dead-time is present. On the other hand, the
feedforward control scheme offers noticeable advantages for slow processes
with significant dead-time.

(c) What is multivariable control? Explain with a diagram.

The control system in which there is only one output of the interest is called single
variable system. But in many practical applications more than one variables are
involved. A control system with multiple inputs and multiple outputs in called a
multivariable system. The block diagram representation of a multivariable control
system is shown in the figure. The part of the system which is required to be
controlled is called plant. The controller provides proper controlling action
depending on the reference inputs. There are reference inputs

.

There are output variables

. The values of these variables

represent the performance of the plant. The control signals produced by the
controller are applied to the plant. With the help of feedback elements the closed
loop control of the plant is also possible. Due to the feedback, the controller takes
into account the actual output values to decide the control signals.

In case of multivariable systems,
sometimes it is observed that a
single input considerably affects
more than one outputs. The system
is said to be having strong
Interactions or coupling. This
coupling is nothing but the
disturbances for the separate
systems. The interactions inherently
present between inputs and outputs
can be cancelled by designing a decoupling controller. Thus the resulting
multivariable system is considered to have proper number of single input single
output systems and the controller is designed for each system. The other way is to
design a controller which will take care of all the inherent interactions present in
the multivariable system. In multivariable linear control system, each input is
independently considered. Only one input and one output is considered and the
total effect on any output because of all the inputs acting simultaneously is
determined by addition of the outputs due to each input acting alone. Thus law of
superposition is used to analyze multivariable linear control systems.

12. Write short notes on the following topics:

(a) Process Capacitance

Definition: The Capacitance of a process is a measure of its ability to hold energy
with respect to a unit quantity of some reference variable. It is related to capacity
but is not the same thing two processes with the same capacity might have very
different capacitances.

Principles of large capacitance: Two principles emerge relating capacitances to
control in the face of load changes:
Large Capacitance tends to keep the controlled variable constant despite
load changes.
Large Capacitance tends to make it difficult to change the variable to a new
value.

Effects of large capacitance: The overall effect of large capacitance on control is
generally favorable, but it does introduce a time lag between control action and
result.

When a liquid is heated in a vessel, it takes some time for the liquid to reach a
higher temperature after the heat supply is increased. How much time it takes
depends primarily on the thermal capacitance of the liquid relative to the heat
supply.

Capacitance does influence the corrective action required of an automatic
controller, and so it is a major factor in the analysis of any process and control
loop.

Heater Example: Both the heaters shown in figure are used to raise the
temperature of the liquid coming in. In heater A, heat is applied to a jacketed vessel
containing a considerable amount of liquid. The relatively large mass of the liquid
exercises a stabilizing
influence, and resists
changes in temperature
which might be caused by
variation in the rate of
flow, minor variations in
heat input, or sudden
changes in ambient
temperature.

Heater B illustrates a high
velocity heat exchanger.
The rate of flow through
this heater may be identical with that of heater A, but a comparatively small
volume is flowing in the heater at any one time.

Unlike heater A, the mass of liquid is small, so there is less stabilizing influence.
The total volume of liquid in the heater is small in comparison to the rate of
throughput, the heat transfer area, and the heat supply.

Slight variations in the rate of feed or the rate of heat supply will be reflected
almost immediately in the temperature of the liquid leaving the heater.

On the other hand, if a change in temperature of the liquid output was desired,
which heater would give the most rapid change? Heater B would give the most
rapid change if the setpoint were changed.

(b) Valve Positioner

The main purpose of having a valve positioner is to guarantee that the valve does
move to the position where the controller wants it to be. By adding a positioner one
can correct for many variations including changes in packing friction due to dirt,
corrosion, or lack of lubrication; variations in the dynamic forces of the process
sloppy linkages or non linearities in the valve actuator. The effective dead band of a
valve/actuator combination can be as much as 5% with the addition of a positioner
it can be reduced to less than 0.5%. The function of the positioner is to protect the
controlled variable from being upset by any of the variations. In addition the
positioner can be used for split-ranging the control signal between more than one
valve, for increasing the actuator speed
for modifying the valve characteristics
by cams or electronic function
generators. But these reason do not
necessitate the use of positioners as
they can be achieved by other means
without using positioner also.
The valve positioner is a high-gain
plain proportional controller which
measures the valve stem position
compares that measurement to its set
point & if there is a difference corrects
the error. The open-loop gain of
positioners ranges from 10 to 200
(proportional band of 10% to 0.5%) & their periods of oscillation range from 0.3 10
10 seconds (frequency response of 3 to 0.1 Hz).In other words the positioner is a
very sensitively tuned proportional only controller.

(c) Electronic PI Controller

A simple combination of the proportional and integral circuits provides the
proportional-integral mode of controller action. The resulting circuit is shown in
Figure 10.16. For this case the relation between input and output is most easily
found by applying op amp circuit analysis. We get (including the inverter)

The definition of PI controller includes the proportional gain in the integral
term, so we can write as follows:

The adjustments of this controller are:

(i) The proportional band which is adjusted through

(ii) The integration gain which is adjusted through

.


(d) I to P Convertor

The current-to-pressure converter, or simply I/P converter, is an important element
in process control. Often, when we
want to use the low-level electric
current signal to do work, it is easier
to let the work be done by a
pneumatic signal. The I/P converter
gives us a linear way of translating
the 4~20-mA current into a 3~l5 psig
signal. There are many designs for
these converters, but the basic
principle almost always involves the
use of a nozzle/flapper system. Figure
7.6 illustrates a simple way to
construct such a converter. Notice
that the current through a coil
produces a force that will tend to pull the flapper down and close off the gap. A
high current produces a high pressure so that the device is direct acting.
Adjustment of the springs and perhaps the position relative to the pivot to which
they are attached allows the unit to be calibrated so that 4 mA corresponds to 3
psig and 20 mA corresponds to 15 psig.

(e) Self-regulation process

A significant characteristic of some processes is the tendency to adopt a specific
value of the controlled variable for nominal load with no control operations. The
control operations may be significantly affected by such self-regulation.

As an example, consider the control of
liquid temperature in a tank, as shown
in figure. The controlled variable is the
liquid temperature

. This temperature
depends on many parameters in the
process, for example, the input flow rate
via pipe , the output flow rate via
pipe , the ambient temperature

, the
steam temperature

, inlet
temperature

, and the steam flow

rate

. In this case, the steam flow rate

is the controlling parameter chosen to provide control over the variable (liquid
temperature). If one of the other parameters changes, a change in temperature
results. To bring the temperature back to the setpoint value, we change only the
steam flow rate, that is, heat input to the process.

(1) Suppose we fix the steam valve at 50% and open the control loop so that no
changes in valve position are possible. 2) The liquid heats up until the energy
carried away by the liquid equals that input energy from the steam flow. (3) If the
load changes, a new temperature is adopted (because the system temperature is
not controlled). (4) The process is self-regulating, however, because the temperature
will not "run away," but stabilizes at some value under given conditions.

An example of a process without self-regulation is a tank from which liquid is
pumped at a fixed rate. Assume that the influx just matches the outlet rate. Then
the liquid in the tank is fixed at some nominal level. If the influx increases slightly,
however, the level rises until the tank overflows. No self-regulation of the level is
provided.