Experiment (7): Water Level Control

Objectives:
To study the effect of PID control on the water level control system.
Apparatuses:

Experimental Procedure:
A. P control:
In the following experiment, the influence of pure P components of different levels on the
control of the reference variable is initially observed.
Select Continuous control operating mode.
Set parameters:
Kp = 10
Tn = 0
Tv = 0
Z = 40 %
W = 10 cm
Wait for steady state.
Set Kp = 25, wait for steady state.
Set Kp = 40, wait for steady state.
Set Kp = 50, wait for steady state.
Set Kp = 100, wait for steady state.
B. PI control:
As the pure P component obviously does not result in satisfactory control of the liquid level loop,
the following experiment is designed to illustrate how an additional I component influences the
control of the reference variable.
Select Continuous control operating mode.
Set parameters:
Kp = 25
Tn = 10 s
Tv = 0
W = 8 cm
Z = 50 %
Wait for steady state.
Perform step in reference variable by selecting
W = 12 cm, wait for steady state.
Perform step in reference variable by selecting
W = 8 cm, wait for steady state.

 Set parameters:
Kp = 25
Tn = 5 s
W = 8 cm
Perform step in reference variable by selecting W = 12 cm, wait for steady state.
Perform step in reference variable by selecting W = 8 cm, wait for steady state.
Set parameters:
Kp = 35
Tn = 5 s
W = 8 cm
Perform step in reference variable by selecting W = 12 cm, wait for steady state.
Perform step in reference variable by selecting W = 8 cm, wait for steady state.
C. PID control of a disturbance variable:
So far, the control has only been observed in respect of changes to the reference variable or the
control parameters.
The following experiment observes compensation for a disturbance variable.
Select Continuous control operating mode.
Set parameters:
Kp = 28
Tn = 9 s
Tv = 0.5 s
W = 12 cm
Z = 10 % wait for steady state.
Connect disturbance, Z = 80% and observe the progression of the control variable and the
manipulated variable.
Disconnect disturbance, Z = 10 % and observe the progression of the control variable and the
manipulated
variable.

Theory:
Control loop parameters and step response
In this experiment, the unknown response of the control loop to a known step in the
manipulating variable at the input is measured. As the controlled variable at the output, the
control loop demonstrates a characteristic time response for the dynamic and static properties.

Controllers and control types

1. Controller transmission behaviour

Just like the control loop, the controller has transmission behaviour. Unlike the control loop, in
this case, the transmission behaviour can be deliberately adjusted according to the desired
function.
The controller output variable y from the frequently used PID controller can be described as the
sum of the output signals from different transmission blocks with a different time response.
The same input signal is present at the inputs of all transmission blocks, namely the control
difference e.

The transmission behaviour of the PID controller is defined by the following parameters:
1. Control gain Kp (proportional behaviour)
2. Reset time Tn (integral behaviour)
3. Rate time Tv (differential behaviour)
Depending on the parameter settings, the controller can demonstrate P, PI, PD or PID behaviour.
2. Continuous controllers
a. Proportional controller (P)
The P controller is the simplest controller type. The manipulating variable is directly
proportional to the control difference e.

The disadvantage is the remaining control deviation ep. This is an inevitable result of the control
law: As the manipulating variable y does not normally disappear, the remaining control deviation
ep cannot disappear either.
The remaining control deviation ep can be reduced by increasing the control gain Kp or
reducing the proportional range xp. However, this simultaneously increases the control
systems tendency to oscillation and it can become unstable.

b. Proportional/differential controller (PD)

On a PD controller, in addition to the P component a component proportional to the speed is
fed back. This can have a damping influence. Therefore, a higher control gain Kp can be
selected without the system beginning to oscillate.

Thus, a PD controller generally has a lower remaining control deviation ep than a pure P
controller.
c. Proportional/integral controller (PI)
With a PI controller, in addition to the proportional component an integral component is fed
back. This eliminates a remaining control deviation ep. As soon as the control difference e is not
equal to zero, the integral totals the deviations over time and the controller output variable y rises
continuously. Finally, the controller output variable y is of the exact value at which the
remaining control deviation ep is zero.

The integral component reduces the stability and the P component must be reduced accordingly.
d. Proportional/integral/differential controller (PID)
The PID controller is the most common controller type. The manipulating variable is calculated
from the control difference e as follows:
7

The integral component means that this controller type, like the PI controller, has no remaining
control deviation ep . The differential component is proportional to the speed and thus has a
damping effect.

Discussion or the Conclusion:

1- Discuss the effect of the PID controller on the control system.
2- System Block Diagram. (Fill it with the corresponding system elements).