4th class Control process and dynamic Dr.

Arkan Jasim Hadi

Lecture 5
Chapter 6
Response of First-Order Systems in Series

6.1 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Very often, a physical system can be represented by several first-order processes connected in
series. To illustrate this type of system, consider the liquid-level systems shown in Fig. 6–1 in
which two tanks are arranged so that the outlet flow from the first tank is the inlet flow to the
second tank.

Two possible piping arrangements are shown in Fig. 6–1. In Fig. 6–1 a the outlet flow from tank
1 discharges directly into the atmosphere before spilling into tank 2, and the flow through R1
depends only on h1. The variation in h2 in tank 2 does not affect the transient response occurring
in tank 1. This type of system is referred to as a noninteracting system. In contrast to this, the
system shown in Fig. 6–1 b is said to be interacting because the flow through R1 now depends on
the difference between h1 and h2. We will consider first the noninteracting system of Fig. 6–1 a

6.2 NONINTERACTING SYSTEM

As in the previous liquid-level example, we shall assume the liquid to be of constant density, the
tanks to have uniform cross-sectional area, and the flow resistances to be linear. Our problem is to
find a transfer function that relates h2 to q, that is, H2 (s)/ Q (s). The approach will be to obtain a
transfer function for each tank, Q1 (s)/ Q (s) and H2 (s)/ Q1 (s), by writing a transient mass balance

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4th class Control process and dynamic Dr. Arkan Jasim Hadi

around each tank; these transfer functions will then be combined to eliminate the intermediate flow
Q1 (s) and produce the desired transfer function. A balance on tank 1 gives

A balance on tank 2 gives

The flow-head relationships for the two linear resistances are given by the expressions

Combining Eqs. (6.1) and (6.3) in exactly the same manner as was done in Chap. 5 and introducing
deviation variables give the transfer function for tank 1

In the same manner, we can combine Eqs. (6.2) and (6.4) to obtain the transfer function for tank 2

Having the transfer function for each tank, we can obtain the overall transfer function H2(s)/Q (s)
by multiplying Eqs. (6.5) and (6.6) to eliminate Q1 (s):

Notice that the overall transfer function of Eq. (6.7) is the product of two first-order transfer
functions, each of which is the transfer function of a single tank operating independently of the
other. In the case of the interacting system of Fig. 6–1 b, the overall transfer function cannot be
found by simply multiplying the separate transfer functions; this will become apparent when the
interacting system is analysed later.

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4th class Control process and dynamic Dr. Arkan Jasim Hadi

Example 6.1. Two noninteracting tanks are connected in series as shown in Fig. 6–1 a. The time
constants are 𝜏2 = 1 and 𝜏2 = 0.5; R2 = 1. Sketch the response of the level in tank 2 if a unit-step
change is made in the inlet flow rate to tank 1.
The transfer function for this system is found directly from Eq. (6.7); thus

For a unit-step change in Q, we obtain, Q =1/s

Substituting in the values 𝜏1 , 𝜏2 of, and R2 gives and inversion by means of partial fraction
expansion gives

A plot of this response is shown in Fig. 6–2. Notice that the response is S-shaped and the slope
dH2/dt at the origin is zero. If the change in flow rate were introduced into the second tank, the
response would be first-order and is shown for comparison in Fig. 6–2 by the dotted curve.

FIGURE 6–2Transient response of liquid-level system (Example 6.1)

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4th class Control process and dynamic Dr. Arkan Jasim Hadi

From Example 6.1, notice that the step response of a system consisting of two first order systems
is S-shaped and that the response changes very slowly just after introduction of the step input. This
sluggishness or delay is sometimes called transfer lag and is always present when two or more
first-order systems are connected in series. For a single first-order system, there is no transfer lag;
i.e., the response begins immediately after the step change is applied, and the rate of change of the
response (slope of response curve) is maximal at t = 0.
Generalization for Several Noninteracting Systems in Series
We have observed that the overall transfer function for two noninteracting first-order systems
connected in series is simply the product of the individual transfer functions. We may now
generalize this concept by considering n noninteracting first-order systems as represented by the
block diagram of Fig. 6–4.

The block diagram is equivalent to the relationships

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4th class Control process and dynamic Dr. Arkan Jasim Hadi

To obtain the overall transfer function, we simply multiply the individual transfer functions; thus

To show how the transfer lag is increased as the number of stages increases, Fig. 6–5 gives the
unit-step response curves for several systems containing one or more first order stages in series.

To illustrate an interacting system, we will derive the transfer function for the system shown in
Fig. 6–1 b. The analysis is started by writing mass balances on the tanks as was done for the
noninteracting case. The balances on tanks 1 and 2 are the same as before and are given by Eqs.
(6.1) and (6.2).

However, the flow-head relationship for R1 is now

The flow-head relationship for R2 is the same as before [Eq. (6.4)].

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4th class Control process and dynamic Dr. Arkan Jasim Hadi

A simple way to combine Eqs. (6.1), (6.2), (6.4), and (6.13) is to first express them in terms of
deviation variables, transform the resulting equations, and then combine the transformed
equations to eliminate the unwanted variables.
At steady state, Eqs. (6.1) and (6.2) can be written

Subtracting Eq. (6.14) from Eq. (6.1) and Eq. (6.15) from Eq. (6.2) and introducing deviation
variables give

Expressing Eqs. (6.13) and (6.4) in terms of deviation variables gives

The analysis has produced four algebraic equations containing five unknowns: Q, Q1, Q2, H1, and
H2. These equations may be combined to eliminate Q1, Q2, and H1 and to arrive at the desired
transfer function:

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4th class Control process and dynamic Dr. Arkan Jasim Hadi

Notice that the product of the transfer functions for the tanks operating separately, Eqs. (6.5) and
(6.6), does not produce the correct result for the interacting system. The difference between the
transfer function for the noninteracting system, Eq. (6.7), and that for the interacting system, Eq.
(6.24), is the presence of the cross-product term A1R2 in the coefficient of s.
The term interacting is often referred to as loading. The second tank of Fig. 6–1b is said to load
the first tank. To understand the effect of interaction on the transient response of a system, consider
a two-tank system for which the time constants are equal (𝜏1 = 𝜏1 = 𝑡). If the tanks are
noninteracting, the transfer function relating inlet flow to outlet flow is

The unit-step response for this transfer function can be obtained by the usual procedure to give

If the tanks are interacting, the overall transfer function, according to Eq. (6.24), is (assuming
further that A1 = A2)

By application of the quadratic formula, the denominator of this transfer function can be written
as

For this example, we see that the effect of interaction has been to change the effective time
constants of the interacting system. One time constant has become considerably larger and the
other smaller than the time constant t of either tank in the noninteracting system. The response of
Q2( t) to a unit-step change in Q( t) for the interacting case [Eq. (6.28)] is

In Fig. 6–7, the unit-step responses [Eqs. (6.26) and (6.29)] for the two cases are plotted to show
the effect of interaction. From this figure, it can be seen that interaction slows up the response.
This result can be understood on physical grounds in the following way: If the same size step
change is introduced into the two systems of Fig. 6–1, the flow from tank 1 (q1) for the

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4th class Control process and dynamic Dr. Arkan Jasim Hadi

noninteracting case will not be reduced by the increase in level in tank 2. However, for the
interacting case, the flow q1 will be reduced by the build-up of level in tank 2. At any time t1
following the introduction of the step input, q1 for the interacting case will be less than for the
noninteracting case with the result that h2 (or q2) will increase at a slower rate.
In general, the effect of interaction on
a system containing two first-order
lags is to change the ratio of effective
time constants in the interacting
system. In terms of the transient
response, this means that the
interacting system is more sluggish
than the noninteracting system.

Noninteracting systems for two systems in series, if the output from system 1 is not affected by
the output from system 2, the systems are said to be noninteracting.
Interacting systems the output from system 1 is affected by the output from system 2. The overall
transfer function for the process is not merely the product of the transfer functions in series.