PID controller tuning methods

Abstract

In the process industries, systems may be classified according to the type and level of hardware and software technology used. Typically, we find that a large-scale installation can be broken down into a number of smaller process units. For example, in a hot strip mill in the steel industry we have furnaces, followed by conveyors with heat shields with several types of rolling stands along the process path and finishing with a coiling unit. Similarly, in a brewery, we start from units concerned with preparing the mash and wort from which beer is made, through to the fermentation vats, followed by the bottling plant. We rank these smaller system units and the level of associated control that they require into three levels: simple, intermediate and complex process units.