The question has been raised whether an open-loop unstable process can be stabilized with a proportional-only controller.
Question:
The question has been raised whether an open-loop unstable process can be stabilized with a proportional-only controller.
(a) For the process and controller shown in figure a, find the range of Kc values that yield a stable response. (Note that τ is positive.)
(b) Check the gain of Y(s)/Ysp (s) to make sure that the process responds in the correct direction if K is within the range of part (a).
(c) For K = 10 and τ = 20, find the value of Kc that yields a pole at s = – 0.1. What is the offset for these conditions?
(d) Suppose that you had designed the controller neglecting a second smaller time constant. Would the controller still yield a stable closed-loop response? To check the “robustness” of your design, find the general conditions on Kc and τm for stability if the system is as shown in Figure. Are these conditions generally easy (or difficult) to meet? Explain. Show for τm = 5, that your value of Kc from part (c) does/does not still yield a stable system.
Step by Step Answer:
Process Dynamics And Control
ISBN: 978-0471000778
2nd Edition
Authors: Dale E. Seborg, Thomas F. Edgar, Duncan A. Mellich