EEB5213/EAB4233 Plant Process

Control Systems
Controllability &
Relative Gain Array
Objectives
At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:
Describe interaction and its effects on a
multivariable system
Determine the controllability of a multivariable
system given the model transfer functions
Apply the Relative Gain Array (RGA) method to
quantitatively indicate favorable interaction in a
given multivariable process

Multivariable Control
A necessary but not sufficient requirement for a
multivariable control system is the degrees of
freedom (DoF).
OK, but this does not ensure
that we can control the CVs
of interest !
Degrees of Freedom
Number of valves Number of controlled variables
Controllability
A system is controllable if its CVs can be maintained
at their set points, in the steady-state, in spite of
disturbances entering the system.
Steady-state
model of 2x2
system
A system is controllable when the matrix of process gains,
K can be inverted, i.e. when the determinant of K 0.
Controllability
For the toy autos in the figure :
Are they independently controllable ?
Does interaction exist ?
Lets do the toy
autos first; then,
do some
processes
Controllability
For the auto toys in this figure :
Are they independently controllable ?
Does interaction exist ?
Controllability
For the auto toys in this figure:
Are they independently controllable ?
Does interaction exist ?
Example #1 : Blending
Process
Are the CVs independently controllable ?
Does interaction exist ?
Yes, this system is controllable !
Example #2 : Distillation Tower
Are the CVs independently
controllable ?
Does interaction exist ?
Example #2 : Distillation Tower
Det (K) = 1.54 x 10
-3
0
Small but not zero (each gain is small)
The system is controllable !
Multiloop Control
When any of the loops in a multivariable process is
in closed mode, we must consider both direct and
interaction dynamic paths in the system.
Relative Gain Array (RGA)
A quantitative measure of interaction developed by
Bristol (1966).

ij
is the relative gain between MV
j
and CV
i
.
closed loops other
open loops other
constant
constant
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\
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\
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=
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\
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\
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=
=
=
j
i
j
i
j
i
j
i
ij
MV
CV
MV
CV
MV
CV
MV
CV
k
k
CV
MV

Assumes that loops

have integral mode
Relative Gain Array (RGA)
The RGA can be calculated from open-loop gain
values.
The relative gain array is the element-by-element
product of K with K
-1
.
| | | || |
| | | | | |
( ) ) )( (
1
1
ji ij ij
j
i
j
i
kI k K K
CV
MV
CV K MV
MV
CV
MV K CV
= =
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
= =
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.
|

\
|
c
c
= =

T
ij
ij

kI
k
Relative Gain Array (RGA)
The relative gain array for a 2x2 system is given in
the following equation :




The rows and columns of the RGA sum to 1.0
What is true for the
RGA to have 1s on
diagonal ?
Relative Gain Array (RGA)
The RGA elements are scale independent.
Changing the units of the CV or the capacity of the
valve does not change
ij
.
Relative Gain Array
Relative Gain Array (RGA)
In some cases, the RGA is very sensitive to small errors
in the gains, K
ij
.
When is this equation very
sensitive to individual gain
errors?
We can achieve stable multiloop feedback control by
using the sign of the controller gain.




What will happen when the other interacting loops
are placed in manual mode?
How Do We Interpret
RGA?
closed loops other
open loops other
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\
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.
|

\
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=
j
i
j
i
ij
MV
CV
MV
CV

ij
< 0 In this case, the steady-state gains have
different signs depending on the status
(auto/manual) of other loops.
How Do We Interpret RGA?
For
ij
< 0, one of three BAD situations can occur :
1. Multiloop system is unstable when all loops in auto.
2. Single-loop ij is unstable when others are in manual.
3. Multiloop is unstable when loop ij is manual and other
loops are in automatic.

ij
< 0 In this case, the steady-state gains have different
signs depending on the status (auto/manual) of
other loops.
How Do We Interpret
RGA?

ij
= 0 In this case, the steady-state gain is zero when
all other loops are open, in manual.
Could this control system work?
What would happen if one controller were in manual?
closed loops other
open loops other
|
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|

\
|
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|
.
|

\
|
=
j
i
j
i
ij
MV
CV
MV
CV

How Do We Interpret RGA?

What would be the effect
of opening/closing the
other loop on tuning ?
Discuss the case of 2x2
system paired on
ij
= 0.1.
0 <
ij
< 1 In this case, the steady-state gain is larger
when all other loops are closed (in auto).
closed loops other
open loops other
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
j
i
j
i
ij
MV
CV
MV
CV

How Do We Interpret
RGA?

ij
= 1 In this case, the steady-state gains are identical
in both situations; whether other loops are
open or closed.
What is generally true when
ij
= 1?
Does
ij
= 1 indicate no interaction?
closed loops other
open loops other
|
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.
|

\
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|
.
|

\
|
=
j
i
j
i
ij
MV
CV
MV
CV

How Do We Interpret RGA?

What would be the effect of
opening/closing the other
loop on tuning?
Discuss the case of 2x2
system paired on
ij
= 10.

ij
> 1 In this case, the steady-state gain is larger when
all other loops are open, in manual.
closed loops other
open loops other
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
j
i
j
i
ij
MV
CV
MV
CV

How Do We Interpret RGA?

ij
= In this case, the gain when all other loops are
closed is zero. We conclude that multiloop
control is not possible.
closed loops other
open loops other
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
j
i
j
i
ij
MV
CV
MV
CV

Relative Gain Array

Integrity: A multiloop control
system has good integrity
when after a loop is turned
off, the remainder of the
control system remains
stable.
Proposed Guideline #1
Select pairings that do
not have
ij
< 0.
Turning off can occur when (i) a loop is placed in
manual, (ii) a valve saturates or (iii) the secondary
controller in a cascade system can no longer change
the valve (it has reached its limit or it is switched off).
Relative Gain Array
Pairings with negative or
zero RGAs have poor
integrity
Proposed Guideline #2
Select pairings that do
not have
ij
= 0.
Pairing with RGA closest to
1 has the least amount of
interaction.
Do you agree with the
proposed guidelines?
Proposed Guideline #3
Select pairings that
have RGA elements as
close as possible to 1.
RGA Example
Determine the relative gain array for the binary
distillation column.
09 . 6
) 1253 . 0 ( 0747 . 0
) 1173 . 0 )( 0667 . 0 (
0 . 1
1
0 . 1
1
22 11
21 12
11
=

=
K K
K K

RGA Example
Using
11
, determine the whole RGA and eliminate
unfavourable
ij
.
F
R
F
V
x
D
6.09 - 5.09

x
B
- 5.09 6.09

Negative
ij
, unfavourable
interaction, to be eliminated
Decoupling
We can reduce the effect of unfavorable interaction
using decoupling.
Decoupling retains the single-loop control
algorithms and reduces/eliminates the effects of
interaction.
Three possible approaches :
1. Implicit decoupling Modified CVs
2. Implicit decoupling Modified MVs
3. Explicit decoupling Controller compensation
Decoupling
Reducing the effects of unfavourable interaction using
explicit decoupling.
Explicit Decoupling
Design approach:


Perfect decoupling compensates for interactions.
) (
) (
) (
s G
s G
s D
ii
ij
ij
=