Chapter 2

PID Controller Tuning

2.1 Introduction

Conventional PID controllers have been well developed and applied to

systems and processes for about half a century and are extensively used for

industrial automation and process control today. The main reason is due to their

simplicity of operation, ease of design, inexpensive maintenance, low cost and

effectiveness for linear system. Recently motivated by the rapidly developed

advanced microelectronics and digital processors, conventional PID controllers

have gone through a technological evolution, from pneumatic controllers via

analog electronics to microprocessors via digital circuits.

The PID controller in the form we know it today emerged from the period

from 1915 to 1940. Integral action called automatic reset was used in

proportional controllers to obtain the correct steady state value. The potential of a

controller that could anticipate future control errors was discussed in 1920s. A

controller with derivative action was introduced by Ralph Clarridge of the Taylor

instrument company in 1935. The PID controller has gone through an interesting

development because of the drastic technology changes that have happened

since 1940. An interesting overview of the early history of PID controllers is

reported [26], A very significant development took place with the emergence of

computer based control in 1960’s. The next stage of development was of digital

control, where the computer was controlling the actuator directly. The

appearance of microprocessor in the 1970 made it possible to use digital control

or single loop controllers [27], [28]. It also led to the development of distributed

control system for process control, where PID controller was a key element. As

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computing power of microprocessors increased it was possible to introduce

tuning and adaptation in single loop controllers. Lukas describes implementation

of a digital PID controller [29] on a digital signal processor which admits a very

high sampling rate. However it has been known that conventional PID

controllers generally do not work well for nonlinear systems, higher order and

time delayed linear systems, that have no precise mathematical models. To

overcome these difficulties, various types of modified conventional PID

controllers such as autotuning and adaptive PID controllers were developed [30],

2.2 Feedback process control

The schematic of closed loop control system is shown in Fig. 2.1. An

industrial control system is implemented in the order ‘from sensor to servo’

including all the major identifiable functional subassemblies normally included in

such systems. The first piece of hardware in any process control system is the

device that measures the variables that must be considered in making a decision

as to how to adjust the process to produce the desired end result.

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 Variable to be measured Action command

Fig. 2.1 Feedback Process Control System

Hardware devices called sensors measure the desired variables and

convert the information from one energy system to another. For example, an

electronic control system can not deal directly with the speed of rotation of a

mechanical shaft. Therefore, sensor must measure the shaft rotational speed and

convert that information into an electrical one for use by the controller [31], [32].

For the system to perform desired control, it may be necessary to convert the

signal from the sensor to another more suitable variable. This is accomplished

by the signal conditioning and filtering circuits in the control system [33]. The

controller compares the signal with the set- point and generates an error signal

which after necessary manipulation is fed to the final control element represented

by ‘servo’ block.

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2.3 PID Control of plants

The combination of proportional control action, integral control action and

derivative control action is termed proportional plus integral plus derivative

control action. The combined action has the advantage of three individual control

actions.

The equation of the controller with this combined action is given by

(2.1)

where u(t) is the control variable, e(t) is the error variable, Kp is the proportional

gain, T, is the integral time and Td is the derivative time. In the proportional control

of a plant whose transfer function does not possess an integrator, there is steady

state error in the response to a step input and this can be eliminated if the

integral control action is included in the controller. Fig. 2.2 shows the commonly

used system configuration with the controller placed in series with the controlled

process plant [34], If a mathematical model of the plant can be derived, it is

possible to apply various design techniques for determining parameters of the

controller that will meet the transient and steady state specifications of the closed

loop system. However, if the plant is so complicated that mathematical model

cannot be easily obtained and analytical approach to the design of a PID

controller is not possible, we must resort to experimental approaches to the

tuning of the PID controllers.

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 d n

Fig. 2.2 Block diagram of feedback control loop

Elimination of intermediate variables gives the following relationship

between process variable ‘x’, set point ‘ysp\ load disturbance 'd ‘and

measurement noise 'n’[34].

x= (ysp-n)+ (2.2)
1 + KKp 1 + KK,

Product KKp is a dimensionless number called loop gain where K is the

process gain and Kp the controller gain. Assuming 'n' is zero it can be

observed from Eqn.(2.2) that loop gain should be high in order to ensure

that process output ‘ x’ is close to set point ysp. A high value of the loop gain

will also make the system insensitive to load disturbance. To avoid making the

system sensitive to measurement noise, loop gain should not be made too large.

It is therefore obvious that the design of loop gain is a trade-off between different

control objectives.

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2.3.1 Proportional Action

In the case of proportional action, the correcting variable is proportional to

the control error. A system with controlled process G(s) = -—is considered

and its response with proportional control for step input is illustrated in Fig. 2.3.

The steady state error decreases with increasing controller gain.

.................. KP=5 ......................................... ..................... ....................

i fyy y kp=2 ......................:...................-

Amplitude

/
u ■■ ^

.................... <......... -
\
.............. ...................................... -

KP=1

i i

Time in sec
il
c
CO

Response of a closed loop system of transfer

d>
si

function G(s) = 1/(s+1)3 with proportional control

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 2.3.2 Integral action

The main function of the integral action is to make sure that the process

output agrees with the set-point in steady state. With proportional control, there

is normally a control error in steady state. With integral action, a small positive

error will always lead to an increase in control signal, and a negative error will

give a decrease in control signal no matter how small the error is. The properties

of integral action for the same system are illustrated in Fig. 2.4.
Amplitude

Time in sec

Fig. 2.4 Response of the system transfer function G(s)=1/(s+1)3

with controller gain Kp = 1 and different values of T|

2.3.3 Derivative Action

The purpose of the derivative action is to improve the closed loop stability.

Because of the process dynamics, it will take some time before a change in

control variable is noticed in the process output. Thus the control system will be

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late in correcting for an error. The properties of derivative action of the

controller given in Eqn.(2.1) for the system transfer function G(s)=1/(s+1)3

are illustrated in Fig. 2.5. Initially damping increases with increasing derivative

time, but decreases aqain when damping time becomes too large.

Fig. 2.5 Response of the system of transfer function G(s)=(s+1)'3

with controller gain Kp=3 ,T|=2 and different values of Td.

2.4 Controller Tuning

The process of selecting the controller parameters to meet the given

performance specifications are known as controller tuning. For process requiring

all the three control modes, a successful approach is to select the integral time

first, set the derivative time to about one-fourth of integral time and then adjust

proportional constant to obtain required control on controlled variable. If the

response is still too oscillatory double the integral and derivative time and if it is

too slow in approaching the set-point, half the integral and derivative time and

23
then readjust the proportional gain. For trial and error tuning, enough information

about process may be gathered to estimate dynamic characteristics of the

process. Among the various methods of controller tuning available in the

literature Ziegler-Nichols tuning method is the most popular in which they have

suggested rules for tuning PID controllers based on experimental step responses

or based on the value of Kp that results in marginal stability when only the

proportional control action is used [35].

2.4.1 Ziegler-Nichols Rules for PID controller Tuning

First method

Ziegler-Nichols proposed rules for determining values of the proportional

gain Kp, integral time Ti, and derivative time Td based on the transient response

characteristics of a given plant. Such determination of the parameters for PID

controllers or tuning of PID controllers can be made by engineers on site by

experiments on the plant. In the first method, the step response of a first order

system plant with transportation lag is determined as shown in Fig. 2.6. The

Ke~Ls
transfer function of the plant is given byGp(s) =--------. If the response does not
Ts +1

exhibit S-shaped curve this method does not apply. The S-shaped curve is

characterized by two constants, delay time L and time constant T. The delay time

and time constant are determined by drawing a tangent line at the inflexion point

of S-shaped curve and determining the intersections of the tangent with the time

axis and line c(t)=K. According to Ziegler- Nichols first tuning method, the values

of Kp , Tj and Td are shown in Table 2.1.

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 C(t)

Fig. 2.6 Characterization of a step response in

ZN step response method

Table 2.1 Ziegler-Nichols Tuning Rule Based on step response

Type of Controller Kp T, T<i

P T/L 00 0

PI 0.9T/L L/0.3 0

PID 1.2T/L 2L 0.5L

The PID controller tuned by the first method of Ziegler-Nichols rules gives

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 Gc(s) = Kp(l + -^- + Tds)
(2.3)
T,s
Substituting the values for Kp, Tj and Td corresponding to proportional integral

and derivative controls as given in Table 2.1

Gc(s) = 1.2-pO + —~ + 0.5Lj) (2.4)

L 2Ls

= 0.6T(s,fl;L):
(2.5)
s

where G,.(s) denotes controller transfer function. From Eqn.(2.5) it is clear that

the PID controller has a pole at the origin and double zeros at s = -1/L.

Second method

In the second method, we first set Ti = °o and Td = 0 for the proportional

control action , increase Kp from 0 to a critical value Kcr where the output first

exhibits sustained oscillations. Thus, the critical gain Kcr and the corresponding

critical period Pcr are experimentally determined as illustrated in Fig. 2.7.

According to Z-N second method the values of Kp,Ti and Td can be set

according to the formula given in Table 2.2.

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 Fig. 2.7 Sustained oscillation with critical period Pcr

Table 2.2 Z-N Tuning rule based on critical gain and critical
time period

Type of Controller KP T, Td

P 0.5Kcr 00 0

PI 0.45KO, Pcr/1 .2 0

PID 0.6Kcr 0.5Pcr 0.125Pcr

The PID controller tuned by the second method of Ziegler-Nichols rules gives

G c (s) = K p (1 + 2- + Tds)
(2.6)
T:S

1 ^
= 0.6K 1 +--------- + 0.125Pcrs (2.7)
0.5Pcrs ,

(s+4/p„ y
0.075K crPcr (2.8)

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Thus, the PID controller has a pole at the origin and double zeros at s = -4/Pcr.

2.4.2 The Chien, Hrones and Reswick Method

Many suggestions of modifications of Ziegler-Nichols method have been

made by Chien, Hrones and Reswick (CHR) [34], They proposed to use

"quickest response without overshoot" or quickest response with 20%

overshoot" as design criteria. They also made an important observation that

tuning of set-point response and load disturbance response are different.

The Chien , Hrones and Reswick method is based on the process model.

Ke'Ls
GP(s) (2.9)
Ts + 1

To tune the controller according to the CHR method, the parameters ‘a’

and ‘L’ are first determined in the same way as for the Z-N step response

method as illustrated in Fig. 2.6. The controller parameters for the load

disturbance response method are then given as functions of these parameters.

They are summarized in Table 2.3. From Table 2.3 it can be observed that the

tuning rules based on 20% overshoot design criteria are quite similar to Z-N step

response method. Table 2.4 illustrates the set-point response using CHR

method. From Table 2.4 it can be observed that in set point response method,

controller parameters are not only based on ‘a’ and ‘L’ but also on the time

constant T .

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 Table 2.3 Controller parameters obtained from CHR load
Disturbance response method

Overshoot 0% overshoot 20% overshoot

Controller KP T, Td KP T, Td

P 0.3/a 0.7/a

PI 0.6/a 4L 0.7/a 2.3L

PID 0,95/a 2.4L 0.42L 1.2/a 2L 0.42L

Table 2.4 Controller parameters obtained from CHR set point

response method

Overshoot 0% overshoot 20% overshoot

Controller Kp T. Td Kp T, Td

P 0.3/a 0.7/a

PI 0.35/a 1.2T 0.6/a T

PID 0.6/a T 0.5L 0.9/a 1.4T 0.47L

2.4.3 The Cohen-Coon Method

The Cohen-Coon method is based on the process model

GP =———(2.10)
1+sT

where Gp represents the process transfer function. The main design criterion

here is rejection of load disturbances. It attempts to position dominant poles that

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give a quarter amplitude decay ratio. For P and PD controllers the poles are

adjusted to give maximum gain, subject to the constraint on the decay ratio. This

minimizes the steady state error due to load disturbances. For PI and PID

K
controllers the integral gain is maximized. This corresponds to
T,

minimization of the integral error due to a unit step load disturbances. For PID

controllers three closed loop poles are assigned in which two poles are

complex, and the third real pole is positioned at the same distance from the origin

as the other poles. The Table 2.5 illustrates the tuning formula in terms of three

process parameters K, L and T. The parameters a = KL/T and x = L/{L+T) are

selected from the table. A comparison with Table 2.1 shows that the controller

parameters are close to those obtained by the Z-N step response method for

small x. By using this method the closed loop systems have low damping and

high sensitivity due to small decay ratio.

Table 2.5 Tuning formula using Cohen- Coon Method

Controller KP T, Td

!<■♦"*)
a 1-r
P

0.9 0.92r. 3.3 - 3.0r r

0+ . )
a 1-r 1 + 1.2r
PI

PID 0.27 - 0.36r

a 1 -r 1 - 0.87r
i
i

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 2.5 Modifications of PID Control schemes

The block diagram of a PID control system[35] when subjected to noise

and disturbances is shown in Fig. 2.8.

Fig. 2.8 PID Controlled system subjected

to noise and disturbance input

Pl+D Controller using Derivative Feedback

Fig. 2.9 shows the block diagram of Pl-D control. In order to avoid the

set point kick phenomenon the derivative action is operated in the feedback path

so that differentiation occurs only on the feedback signal but not on the reference

signal.

R(s)

Fig. 2.9 PID controlled system with derivative feedback

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In the absence of the disturbances and noise the closed loop transfer functions

of the basic PID control system shown in Fig. 2.8 and Fig. 2.9 are respectively

Y(s) K„Gp(s)
Kl- + Tds)- (2.11)
R(s) Ts
1 + (1 + —+ Tds)KpGp(s)
T: S

and

Y(s) KpGp(s)
= (! + —) (2.12)
R(s) T,s
I +(l + —- + Tds)KpGp(S)
Ts

In the absence of reference input and noise the closed loop transfer functions

between the output Y(s) and disturbance D(s) in either case is same and is

given by

^ =^------------ (2.13)
(S) l + KpGp(s)(l + ~-+TJs)
TjS

2.6 Digital PID Controller

Consider the analog PID controller having the transfer function given by

Eqn.(2.6). Using backward difference method for the differentiator and

trapezoidal approximation for the integrator [37], the Eqn.( 2.6) becomes

Gt(z)=K,[l + -L(5il)+i.(—)] (2.14)

2T| z-1 T z

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Defining

KP=KP(1-—)
P 2J'j (2.15)

— KJ
K- p (2.16)
T,
KpTd
K, (2.17)
T
Eqn.{2.14) becomes

G(z) = K +7~lT + K-dO “ z~') (2.18)

1 -z

where G(z) is the transfer function of digital PID controller in position form. The

block diagram representation of digital PID controller is shown in Fig. 2.10.

Fig. 2.10 Dgital PID Controller

The most popular and widely used tuning approach for digital PID

controllers is to apply the rules for analog PID controllers with a simple

modification to account for the effect of sampling. When a continuous time signal

is sampled at regular intervals of time and is then reconstructed by holding the

sampled values constant for each sampling interval, the reconstructed signal is

effectively delayed by approximately one half of the sampling interval. The

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correction for sampling is then simply to add one half of the sampling time to

dead time of the process reaction.

Integral windup

For large deviation of the error signal, the actuator element is driven to

saturation level and integral term produces continuously increasing values of

control variable. When control output is equal to the reference value, error sign is

reversed and it will take a long time to integrate backwards and this may result in

long overshoots. In order to surpass the saturation range, a simple measure

taken against this undesired property is to include conditional integration in

programming. In this case the integration is executed only if error is less than

maximum permissible error.

2.7 Summary

In this chapter brief introduction to literature survey of PID controller tuning

is made. Because most PID controllers are adjusted onsite, many different types

of tuning rules have been proposed in the literature. The usefulness of PID

controllers lies in their general applicability to most control systems. In this

chapter we have discussed Z-N method of tuning and other methods of tuning

like Cohen-Coon and CHR methods. Even though good response to load

disturbance is the relevant criteria in process control applications, most of the

studies concentrate on the set-point response.

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