Chapter 12

Cascade, Ratio, and

Feedforward Control
 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
Cascade, Ratio, and Feedforward
Control
• Each of these techniques offers advantages
with respect to disturbance rejection:
– Cascade reduces the effect of specific types of
disturbances.
– Ratio reduces the effect of feed flow rates
changes
– Feedforward control is a general methodology
for compensating for measured disturbances.
Compensating for Disturbances
Reduces Deviations from
Setpoint and Settling Time
6
FB-only
3
T' (K)

-3
Compensating
for disturbances
-6
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (seconds)
Level Controller on a Tank With
and Without Cascade Control
Fin
Lsp
Fout
LC LT

Fin
Lsp
Fout
LC LT
FT

FC
RSP
 Analysis of Cascade Example
• Without a cascade level controller, changes
in downstream pressure will disturb the tank
level.
• With cascade level controller, changes in
downstream pressure will be absorbed by the
flow controller before they can significantly
affect tank level because the flow controller
responds faster to this disturbance than the
tank level process.
 Key Features for Cascade
Control to be Successful

• Secondary loop should reduce the effect of

one or more disturbances.
• Secondary loop must be at least 3 times faster
than master loop.
• The CV for the secondary loop should have a
direct effect on the CV for the primary loop.
• The secondary loop should be tuned tightly.
 Cascade Reactor Temperature
Control
Feed

TC

Cooling
water
TT

Product

Feed

RSP
TT TC
Cooling
water
TT TC

Product
 Analysis of Example
• Without cascade, changes in the cooling
water temperature will create a significant
upset for the reactor temperature.
• With cascade, changes in the cooling water
temperature will be absorbed by the slave
loop before they can significantly affect the
reactor temperature.
 Multiple Cascade Example
RSP
TT TC AC

RSP

FC

FT
AT

• This approach works because the flow control

loop is much faster than the temperature control
loop which is much faster than the composition
control loop.
 Example
PT
Steam
TT

Feed

Condensate

• Draw schematic: A temperature controller on the

outlet stream is cascaded to a pressure controller
on the steam which is cascaded to a control valve
on the condensate.
 Solution

RSP
TC PC PT
Steam
TT

Feed

Condensate
 Ratio Control
• Useful when the manipulated variable scales
directly with the feed rate to the process.
• Dynamic compensation is required when the
controlled variable responds dynamically
different to feed rate changes than it does to
a changes in the manipulated variable.
 Typical Performance
Improvements using Ratio Control

w/o ratio control

Impurity Concentration

w/ ratio control

Time
Ratio Control for Wastewater
Neutralization
RSP
×
FC

FT FT
NaOH
Acid Solution
Wastewater

pHC pHT

Effluent
 Analysis of Ratio Control
Example
• The flow rate of base scales directly with
the flow rate of the acidic wastewater.
• The output of the pH controller is the ratio
of NaOH flow rate to acid wastewater flow
rate; therefore, the product of the controller
output and the measured acid wastewater
flow rate become the setpoint for the flow
controller on the NaOH addition.
 Ratio Control Applied for Vent
Composition Control

AC ×

FT AT
FC
Feed
FT Vent

Steam
Product

TT
Ratio Control Requiring
Dynamic Compensation

FT DC

Feed

× AC

RSP

FC

FT
AT
 Example
FT TT

Flue
Gas

FT
Process
Fluid
Fuel

• Draw schematic: For a control system that adjusts

the ratio of fuel flow to the flow rate of the process
fluid to control the outlet temperature of the process
fluid. Use a flow controller on the fuel.
 Solution
Ratio
× TC

FT TT

Flue
RSP Gas

FC
FT
Process
Fluid
Fuel
Feedforward and Feedback Level
Control
To Steam To Steam Users
Users
FT
LC
FF

LT LT

Make-up Make-up
Water
Water

To Steam
FT FF Users

LC +
LT

Make-up Water
 Analysis of Feedforward and
Feedback Level Control
• Feedback-only must absorb the variations in
steam usage by feedback action only.
• Feedforward-only handle variation in steam
usage but small errors in metering will
eventually empty or fill the tank.
• Combined feedforward and feedback has
best features of both controllers.
 Derivation of FF Controller
D(s)

Gff(s) Gds(s)

Gd(s)

++
Cff(s)
Ga(s) Gp(s) Y(s)

Y ( s ) = D( s) Gds ( s ) G ff ( s ) Ga ( s ) G p ( s) + D( s ) Gd ( s) = 0
Solving for G ff ( s )
− Gd ( s )
G ff ( s ) =
Gds ( s ) Ga ( s) G p ( s )
 Lead/Lag Element for
Implementing FF Control
−θ p s
Kp e
Gds ( s ) Ga ( s ) G p ( s ) =
τ ps + 1
K d e −θ d s
Gd ( s ) =
τds + 1
−θ d s −θ ff s
K d (τ p s + 1) e K ff (τ ld s + 1) e
G ff ( s ) = − −θ p s
=
K p (τ d s + 1) e (τ lg s + 1)
Lead/Lag parameters : K ff , τ ld , τ lg ,θ ff
 Effect of Lead/Lag Ratio

τ ld/τ lg = 2

τ ld/τ lg = 1
cff

τ ld/τ lg = ½

Time
 Static Feedforward Controller

G ff ( s ) = K ff
• A static feedforward controller make a correction
that is directly proportional to the disturbance
change.
• A static feedforward controller is used when the
process responds in a similar fashion to a change
in the disturbance and the manipulated variable.
 Feedforward When τp«τd
TT
Coolant
Inlet
FF FC

FT

FT
Feed Coolant
Outlet
−θ ff s
K ff e
G ff ( s ) =
τ ld s + 1
 Example of Feedforward Control
for τd<τp
Q

Ti To

To
To
10ºC 10ºC
2

Q Ti
10 kW 10ºC

0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (minutes) Time (minutes)
 Static Feedforward Results
12

8
T' (ºC)

4 6.5 ºC

-4
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time

• When the inlet temperature drops by 20ºC, Q is

immediately increased by 20 kW.
• Deviations from setpoint result from dynamic
mismatch
 Perfect Feedforward Control
30

15 FF Effect
Net result
T' (ºC)

-15 Ti effect

-30
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (minutes)

• FF correction is mirror image of disturbance effect.

• Net effect is no change in controlled variable.
Required Dynamic Compensation
20
Perfect FF
T(ºC)

10
Q=20kW

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (minutes)
• Since the Q affects the process slower than Ti ,
initially overcompensation in Q is required
followed by cutting back on Q to 20 kW.
 Results with Dynamic
Compensation
12

8 w/o DC
T' (C)

4 w/ DC
0

-4
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (minutes)
 Feedforward Control Action

w/o DC
Q

w/ DC

0 5 10 15 20
Time (minutes)
 Effect of Lead/Lag Ratio

τ ld/τ lg = 2

τ ld/τ lg = 1
cff

τ ld/τ lg = ½

Time
 Tuning a FF Controller
• Make initial estimates of lead/lag parameters based
on process knowledge.
• Under open loop conditions, adjust Kff until steady-
state deviation from setpoint is minimized.
y

Time
 Tuning a FF Controller
• Analyzing the dynamic mismatch, adjust θff.
y

Time
 Tuning a FF Controller
• Finally, adjust (τld - τlg) until approximately equal
areas above and below the setpoint result.
y

Time
Demonstration: Visual Basic
Simulator
Tuning a FF Controller
 Feedback Control
• Can effectively eliminate disturbances for
fast responding processes.
• But it waits until the disturbance upsets the
process before taking corrective action.
• Can become unstable due to nonlinearity
and disturbance upsets.
 Feedforward Control

• Compensates for d’s before process is affected

• Most effective for slow processes and for
processes with significant deadtime.
• Can improve reliability of the feedback
controller by reducing the deviation from
setpoint.
• Since it is a linear controller, its performance
will deteriorate with nonlinearity.
 Combined FF and FB Control

D(s)
Cff(s)
Gff(s)

Gd(s)

Ysp(s) +
++
Cfb(s) Y(s)
+- Gc(s) Gp(s) +
 Combined FF and FB for the
CSTR
TC

+ FF
RSP
FC TT
Feed
FT

Steam TT

Product
 Results for CSTR
6
FB-only
3
T' (K)

-3 FF-only
FF+FB
-6
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (seconds)
 Analysis of Results for CSTR

• FB-only returns to setpoint quickly but has

large deviation from setpoint.
• FF-only reduces the deviation from setpoint
but is slow to return to setpoint.
• FF+FB reduces deviation from setpoint and
provides fast return to setpoint.
 Example
Steam

TT PT

TT
Feed
Condensate

• Draw schematic: For a combined feedforward and

feedback controller in which the inlet feed temperature
is the feedforward variable and the outlet temperature
is the feedback variable. The combined controller
output is the setpoint for a steam pressure controller.
 Solution

+
RSP

TC PC Steam

TT PT
FF

TT
Feed
Condensate
 Overview
• Cascade can effectively remove certain
disturbances if the slave loop is at least 3
times faster than the master loop.
• Ratio control is effective for processes that
scale with the feed rate.
• Feedforward can be effective for measured
disturbances for slow responding processes
as long as the process nonlinearity is not too
great.