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Analog electronic controllers enjoy only two advantages over digital electronic
controllers: greater reliability and faster response. Now that digital
industrial electronics has reached a very high level of reliability, the first
advantage is academic, leaving only the second advantage for practical
consideration. The advantage of faster speed may be fruitful in applications
such as motion control, but for most industrial processes even the slowest
digital controller is fast enough1. Furthermore, the numerous advantages offered
by digital technology (data recording, networking capability, self-
diagnostics,flexible configuration, function blocks for implementing different
control strategies) severely weaken the relative importance of reliability and
speed.
Circuit design
The following schematic diagram shows a full PID controller implemented using
eight operational amplifiers, designed to input and output voltage signals
representing PV, SP, and Output:
This controller implements the parallel, or independent PID algorithm, since
each tuning adjustment (P, I, and D) act independently of each other:
It should be apparent to you now why analog controllers tend to implement the
series equation instead of the parallel or ideal PID equations: they are simpler
and less expensive to build that way.
One popular analog electronic controller was the Foxboro model 62H, shown in the
following photographs. Like the model 130 pneumatic controller, this electronic
controller was designed to fit into a rack next to several other controllers.
Tuning parameters were adjustable by moving potentiometer knobs under a side-
panel accessible by partially removing the controller from its rack:
The Fisher corporation manufactured a series of analog electronic controllers
called the AC2, which were similar in construction to the Foxboro model 62H, but
very narrow in width so that many could be fit into a compact panel space.
Another popular panel-mounted analog electronic controller was the Moore Syncro,
which featured plug-in modules for implementing different control algorithms
(different PID equations, nonlinear signal conditioning, etc.). These plug-in
function modules were a hardware precursor to the software “function blocks”
appearing in later generations of digital controllers: a simple way of
organizing controller functionality so that technicians unfamiliar with computer
programming could easily configure a controller to do different types of control
functions. Later models of the Syncro featured fluorescent bargraph displays of
PV and SP for easy viewing in low-light conditions.
Analog single-loop controllers are largely a thing of the past, with the
exception of some low-cost or specialty applications. An example of the former
is shown here, a simple analog temperature controller small enough to fit in the
palm of my hand:
Analog field instrument signals (4-20 mA, or in some cases 10-50 mA) were all
converted to a 0-10 VDC range for signal processing within the SPEC 200 nest.
Operational amplifiers (mostly the model LM301) formed the “building blocks” of
the control functions, with a +/- 15 VDC power supply providing DC power for
everything to operate.
Tuning and alarm adjustments may be seen in the right-hand photograph. This
particular controller is set to a proportional band value of approximately 170,
and an integral time constant of just over 0.01 minutes per repeat. A two-
position rotary switch near the bottom of the card selected either reverse
(“Dec”) or direct (“Inc”) control action.
The array of copper pins at the top of the module form the male half of a cable
connector, providing connection between the control card and the front-panel
instrument accessible to operations personnel. Since the tuning controls appear
on the face of this controller card (making it a “card tuned” controller), they
were not accessible to operators but rather only to the technical personnel with
access to the nest area. Other versions of controller cards (“control station
tuned”) had blank places where the P and I potentiometer adjustments appear on
this model, with tuning adjustments provided on the panel-mounted instrument
displays for easier access to operators.
The set of ten screw terminals at the bottom of the module provided connection
points for the input and output voltage signals. The following list gives the
general descriptions of each terminal pair, with the descriptions for this
particular P + I controller written in italic type:
• Terminals (3+) and (3-): Input #2, Output #4, or Option #1 (Remote setpoint)
• Terminals (4+) and (4-): Input #3, Output #3, or Option #2 (Optional alarm)
• Terminals (5+) and (5-): Input #4, Output #2, or Option #3 (Optional 24 VAC)
A photograph of the printed circuit board (card) removed from the metal module
clearly shows the analog electronic components:
1
The real problem with digital controller speed is that the time delay between successive “scans” translates into dead time for the control loop. Dead
time is the single greatest impediment to feedback control.
2
Although the SPEC 200 system – like most analog electronic control systems – is considered obsolete, working installations may still be found at the
time of this writing (2008). A report published by the Electric Power Research Institute (see References at the end of this chapter) in 2001 documents
a SPEC 200 analog control system installed in a nuclear power plant in the United States as recently as 1992, and another as recently as 2001 in a
Korean nuclear power plant.
3
Foxboro provided the option of a self-contained, panel-mounted SPEC 200 controller unit with all electronics contained in a single module, but the
split architecture of the display/nest areas was preferred for large installations where many dozens of loops (especially cascade, feedforward, ratio,
and other multi-component control strategies) would be serviced by the same system.
4
I once encountered an engineer who joked that the number “200” in “SPEC 200” represented the number of years the system was designed to
continuously operate. At another facility, I encountered instrument technicians who were a bit afraid of a SPEC 200 system running a section of their
plant: the system had never suffered a failure of any kind since it was installed decades ago, and as a result no one in the shop had any experience
troubleshooting it. As it turns out, the entire facility was eventually shut down and sold, with the SPEC 200 nest running faithfully until the day its
power was turned off!