Chapter 8

Performance of P-only, PI
and PID Controllers

Overall Course Objectives

Develop the skills necessary to function as an
industrial process control engineer.
Skills

Tuning loops
Control loop design
Control loop troubleshooting
Command of the terminology

Fundamental understanding
Process dynamics
Feedback control

P-only Control
For an open loop overdamped process as Kc
is increased the process dynamics goes
through the following sequence of behavior

overdamped
critically damped
oscillatory
ringing
sustained oscillations
unstable oscillations

Dynamic Changes as Kc is
Increased for a FOPDT Process

Time

Time

Time

Time

Time

Time

Root Locus Diagram

(Kc increases a to g)
8

Imaginary Axis

4
e

0
a

-4

-4
d
f

-8

-8
-5

-4

-3

-2
Real Axis

-1

Effect of Kc on Closed-Loop z

Effect of Kc on Closed-Loop tp

P-only Controller Applied to FirstOrder Process without Deadtime

Without deadtime, the system will not become
unstable regardless of how large Kc is.
First-order process model does not consider
combined actuator/process/sensor system.
Therefore, first-order process model without
deadtime is not a realistic model of a process
under feedback control.

PI Control
As Kc is increased or tI is decreased (i.e.,
more aggressive control), the closed loop
dynamics goes through the same sequence
of changes as the P-only controller:
overdamped, critically damped, oscillatory,
ringing, sustained oscillations, and unstable
oscillations.

Effect of Variations in Kc

Time

Time

Time

Effect of Variations in tI

Time

Time

Time

Analysis of the Effect of Kc and

tI
When there is too little proportional action
or too little integral action, it is easy to
identify.
But it is difficult to differentiate between
too much proportional action and too much
integral action because both lead to ringing.

Response of a Properly Tuned PI

Controller
c

Lag

ys
Time

Response of a PI Controller with

Too Much Proportional Action
c

Lag

ys
Time

Response of a PI Controller with

Too Much Integral Action
c

Lag

ys
Time

PID Control
Kc and tI have the same general effect as
observed for PI control.
Derivative action tends to reduce the
oscillatory nature of the response and
results in faster settling for systems with
larger deadtime to time constant ratios.

Comparison between PI and PID

for a Low qp/tp Ratio
PI

PID
Time

Comparison between PI and PID

for a Higher qp/tp Ratio
PI

PID
Time

ys

An Example of Too Much

Derivative Action

Time

Effect of tD on Closed-Loop z

Demonstration: Visual Basic

Simulator
Effect of Kc, tI, and tD

Overview
As the controller aggressiveness is increased
(i.e., Kc is increased or tI is decreased), the
response goes from overdamped to critically
damped to oscillatory to ringing to sustained
oscillations to unstable.
Too little proportional or integral action are
easy to identify while too much proportional
or integral results in ringing. Differentiating
between too much integral or proportional
action requires comparing the lag between
the controller output and the CV.