Enhancing the performance of parallel cascade control using Smith predictor

Analytical Design of Fractional-Order PI Controller for Parallel Cascade Control Systems

The fractional-order proportional-integral (FOPI) controller tuning rules based on the fractional calculus for the parallel cascade control systems are systematically proposed in this paper. The modified parallel cascade control structure (PCCS) with the Smith predictor is addressed for stable, unstable, and integrating process models with time delays. Normally, the PCCS consists of three controllers, including a stabilized controller, for a class of unstable and integrating models, a disturbance rejection controller in the secondary loop, and a primary servomechanism controller. Accordingly, the ideal controller is obtained by using the internal model control (IMC) approach for the inner loop. The proportional-derivative (PD) controller is suggested for the stabilized controller and is designed based on a stability criterion. Based on the fractional calculus, the analytical tuning rules of the FOPI controller for the outer loop can be established in the frequency domain. The simulation study is considered for three mentioned cases of process models and the results demonstrate the flexibility and effectiveness of the proposed method for the PCCS in comparison with the other methods. The robustness of the proposed method is also justified by perturbed process models with ±20% of process parameters including gain, time constant, and delay time.

Parallel cascade control of dead time processes via fractional order controllers based on Smith predictor

In this paper, control of stable, unstable and integrating processes with large time delay in the presence of uncertainty, external disturbances and measurement noise is investigated. For this purpose, fractional order controllers in the parallel cascade scheme based on smith predictor are designed. The applied parallel cascade control strategy consists of a set point tracking controller, a disturbance rejection and a stabilizing controller. Set point tracking and disturbance rejection controllers are fractional order controllers and stabilizing controller is designed based on Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion. Also, the robust stability and the performance of the proposed strategy are studied in some details. The numerical simulation results are used to make comparisons with the other researchers' works to show superiority of the designed controllers.

Modified parallel cascade control strategy for stable, unstable and integrating processes

This manuscript presents a modified parallel cascade control structure (PCCS) for a class of stable, unstable and integrating process models with time delay. The proposed PCCS consists of three controllers. Internal Model Control (IMC) approach is used to design the disturbance rejection controller in the secondary loop. Parameters of the proportional-integral (PI) controller which is used for setpoint tracking is obtained by equating the first and second derivatives of desired and actual closed loop transfer functions at the origin of s-plane. Routh Hurwitz stability criterion is used to design the proportional-derivative (PD) controller which stabilizes the unstable/integrating primary process model. An analytical expression is proposed for computing the desired closed loop time constant of the primary loop in terms of plant model parameters so as to achieve an user-defined maximum sensitivity. Based on extensive simulation studies, a suitable value for the secondary closed loop time constant is also recommended. This is an advantage of the present work over the reported parallel cascade control schemes where authors provide a suitable range of values for the closed loop time constants. The proposed tuning strategy requires tuning of four/six controller parameters for stable/unstable and integrating process models which is less compared to the reported strategies. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed method yields significant improvement in closed loop performance compared to some of the recently reported tuning strategies for both nominal and perturbed process models.

A simple method of tuning parallel cascade controllers for unstable FOPTD systems

A simple method is proposed to design parallel cascade controllers for open loop unstable processes. A proportional (P)controller is considered for the secondary loop and a proportional integral (PI) controller is considered for the primary loop (P/PI control configuration). Coefficients of the corresponding powers of s (Laplace variable), in the numerator is matched with the coefficients of the corresponding powers of s in the denominator of a closed loop transfer function for a servo problem. Three simulation case studies are considered in this paper. The first case involves a stable secondary loop process and an unstable primary process, the second case involves both unstable primary and secondary processes and the third one, a simulation application to a nonlinear bioreactor model equations. For comparison purposes, P/PI controller design is also carried out by improved simultaneous relay autotuning method, synthesis method and minimizing ISE criterion method. It is found that the proposed method gives a better performance. Robust stability analysis using the complimentary sensitivity function is carried out. The present method is found to be more robust.

Enhanced cascade control for a class of integrating processes with time delay

Unlike self-regulating processes, cascade control strategies for control of integrating processes with time delay are limited. A novel series cascade control structure to enhance the closed loop performance is proposed for integrating and time delay processes. The proposed controller structure has only two controllers and a setpoint filter. The inner loop controller is designed based on IMC approach and the primary setpoint filter is based on optimal performance index. The primary load disturbance rejection controller, a PID controller in series with a lead/lag compensator, is designed on the basis of the desired closed-loop complementary sensitivity function. The robustness analysis is carried out using Kharitonov's theorem. Simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method by showing satisfactory nominal and robust performances.

On-line identification of cascade control systems based on half limit cycle data

An on-line identification procedure is presented for cascade control systems in which both inner and outer loop process dynamics are modelled simultaneously by performing a single experiment. Departing from the conventional relay autotuning method where the controller is replaced by a relay, the proposed method is carried out on-line without breaking the closed-loop control. Exact analytical expressions are derived for process model parameters in terms of a few critical parameters of half period data of limit cycle output. Simulation examples are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.