PID Tuning Tips: Check Control Loop Basics With

a Time Line
Part 22: Using a Control Loop Time Line (see below)
Part 21: Removing Interactions
Part 20: Performance Measurement - The Rest of the Story
Part 19: How to Exploit Process Variability
Part 18: Are Your Valves Killing You?
Part 17: How to Tune for Both Setpoint Changes and Upsets
Part 16: How to Control a Process With Long Dead Time
Part 15: How to Manage Your Plant's Performance in Real-Time
Part 14: Which Tuning Method Should You Use?
Part 13: How to Automatically Find a Model Of Your Process
Part 12: Safety Factor: The Most Important Tuning Parameter
Part 11: Eliminate Cycling In Your Plant
Part 10: Quickly Tune Slow Loops
Part 9: How to Linearize Your Process
Part 8: When Should You Use Derivative Action?
Part 7: Plant Data for PID Tuning & Modeling
Part 6: Choosing the Best Filter
Part 5: When to use Honeywell A,B,C,D, Real or Ideal Algorithms
Part 4: The Best Sample Interval for Process Control
Part 3: Loop Stability - The Other Half of the PID Tuning Story
Part 2: Ziegler-Nichols Tuning Rules & Limitations
Part 1: PID Algorithms and Units

Check Control Loop Basics With a Time Line

by John Gerry, P.E.
See the complete presentation in more detail as a web-cast.
Some control loop problems can be quickly diagnosed and solved using the loop's time line.
Each component in the control loop should be at a time that is appropriate relative to other
components. For example, the sample interval should always be shorter than the dead time
in the loop. If the sample interval is close to the dead time then shortening the sample
interval will improve the performance of the loop.

The Time Line

All of the times in the control loop can be

laid out on a time line and compared
relative to each other. In general, for
optimal performance, the times for each
item should be in the following order on the
time line:
1. Sample Interval
2. Filter Time
3. Derivative Time
4. Dead Time
5. Equivalent Dead Time (if a second
order process)
6. Integral Time
7. Relative Response Time (RRT)
The sample interval should be the shortest time, followed by the filter time etc. The longest
time in the loop should be the relative response time or RRT. The RRT is the topic of another
presentation "Use the Relative Response Time to Help Decouple Interacting Loops"
A typical time line for a well-designed loop will look similar to the figure above.

Units and Controller Type

For the time line to be accurate, the controller tuning parameters should be converted to the
equivalent ideal parameters. Controller structure is the topic of another presentation
"Differences in Industrial PID Controller Algorithms and Units". After you have
converted PID values to equivalent ideal values you need to check the time units. Each
parameter must be on the same time base. The integral time needs to be in units of
time/repeat. If your integral is in repeats/time then you must take the inverse for use on the
time line.

Using the Time Line

Once constructed, to use the time line, simply check to be sure the parameters are in the
correct order. If they are not, then correcting the situation could result in much better control.
In addition to being correctly ordered on the time line, there are some general rules about the
relative size of the values. These are beyond the scope of this presentation.

Conclusion
Using a time line can help you quickly diagnose and solve some basic control problems.
ExperTune's Process Control Performance Toolkit automatically generates the time line for
you giving you appropriate evaluations and diagnosis. Each control loop can be easily and
quickly analyzed using ExperTune's Time Line.

2005 ExperTune Inc.