First Order Plus Dead Time Characterization: Process Step Testing

It is necessary, to be able to tune a controller in a feedback loop, to have information about the
dynamic behavior of the process we want to control. This behavior is obtained through the
mathematical equations that describe the physical laws involved in the system. These equations
stablish a cause-effect relationship, where we can distinguish a dependent (process response) and
an independent variable (manipulation) as you can see in Figure 1. The order and type of
resulting equations will depend en the physical laws between the dependent and the independent
variable.

Figure 1: Cause-effect relationship in a continuous process.

When the equations are hard to obtain in an analytical way, we can make experimental testing to
get graphical responses than then we can compare them with known responses, excited by the
same manipulation function, to determine the type and order of the system. From these
graphical methods, we can distinguish the Process Step Testing. This method consists of applying
a step function to a process and get a graphic of the transient response. Then, the transient
response can be approximated to known simple mathematical models as the First Order Plus Dead
Time (FOPDT) or the Second Order Plus Dead Time (SOPDT) as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Approximation of transient responses through FOPDT and SOPDT models.

The FOPDT is a frequently used model to characterize the transient response of a process (open
loop). The transfer function in Laplace form of a FOPDT is:

C( s) K −θs
=Gp ( s )= e
M ( s) τs+1

(Eq 1)

Where C(s) is the transient response or Process variable and M(s) is the Step Function. In a control
loop, M(s) corresponds to the output of the controller (%CO).

A FOPDT model consists of three parameters:

K = The process steady-state gain, which defines the sensitivity of the process. This is,
how much the output, C(s), changes per unit change in the input, M(s).
τ = The time constant of the process. It determines the reaction velocity of the process:
With a bigger τ, the process reacts slower and vice versa.
 θ = The dead time, is the delay from then a controller output, M(s), signal is used until
when the measured process variable, C(s), first begins to respond.

Figure 3: Transient response of a FOPDT under a step input.

The step test procedure is carried out as follows:

1. With the controller operating in “automatic” mode make sure the process variable is in
steady state.
2. Use a record device to register the behavior of the controller output, M(s), and the
Process variable, C(s).
3. Switch the controller to “manual” mode (that is, in open loop) and start recording the
controller output and the process variable.
4. Modify the controller output, M(s), by applying a step change, and wait until the response
of the system reaches its steady state value. The magnitude of the change should be
large enough for the transmitted signal to be measurable, but not so large that the
response will be distorted by the process nonlinearities.
5. Once you have obtained the data for both controller output and process variable, plot
c(t) and m(t) versus time. Then, with the plots, you can use mathematical methods to
obtain the parameters of the selected model.
6. Once you obtain your model, verify its accuracy by comparing the response with the data
recorded.

Figure 4: Superior order system response approximation with a FOPDT model.

First Order Plus Dead Time process characterizations.

In the control theory, it is called “Systems Characterizations” to the method that allow us to
obtain the parameters of a mathematical model from experimental methods. So, in the literature
you can find basically two methods: Graphic methods and statistic methods like the minimum
squares method.

For a FOPDT system, the transfer function is expresses as shown in eq 1.

Taking Figure 4 as a reference, it is explained a method to obtain the parameters of FOPDT
model considering the plot c(t) vs time of a real process open loop response.

Figure 4: Method for a FOPDT characterization.

The steady state gain is calculated as follows:

∆ Process Variable ∆ c (t)

K= =
∆Controlled Output ∆ m(t)
Eq 2

To find τ y θ you’ll need to solve the following equations:

c ( t 1 ) =0.283 ∆ c (t)

Eq 3

c ( t 1 ) =0.632 ∆ c (t)

Eq 4

τ
t 1= +θ
3
Eq 5

t 2=τ +θ

Eq 6

Second Order Plus Dead Time (SOPDT) Characterization

The SOPDT mathematical model can be written as follows:

K ωn2
G ( s )= 2 2
e−θs
s + 2ζ ωn s+ ωn

Eq 7

The model includes parameters (damping ratio) y n (natural frequency).

The performance indicators for a SOPDT model are:

ts: stabilization time, time it takes for the response to come within some prescribed
band of the final steady-state value and remain in this band. Typical band limits are +/-
5%, +/-3% or +/-1% of the total change.

4
t s=
ζ ωn
Eq 8

% Mp: overshoot, corresponds to the fraction (or percent) of the final steady-state
change by which the first peak exceeds this change.

A
%Mp= × 100
B
Eq 9

ess: steady-state error, which correspond to the deviation between the process variable
and the setpoint in a steady-state.

e ss =lim e ( t ) ; e ( t )=r ( t ) −c (t)

t →∞
Eq 10

tr: rise time, corresponds to the time it takes for the response to first reach its final
steady-state value.

t r=
π− ( 180π ° ) ⋅ β ; β=cos −1
(ζ )
ωd
Eq 11

tp: peak time, corresponds to the time it takes for the response to reach the max peak

Eq 12

Figure 5: Transient Response of a second order underdamping system.

The damping ration can be determined knowing Mp:

ζ=
√ |ln(m p)|
2
|ln(m p )| + π 2
Eq 13

The poles of the systems are:

s=σ ± jω d where :σ =−ζ∗ωn y ωd =ω n √ 1−ζ 2

Eq 14

The evaluation of the performance using the indicators showed above also allow us to obtain the
parameters of a SOPDT underdamping model.

There is a method to characterize second order systems no matter if they are underdamping,
critical underdamping or overdamping processes. This method consists of obtaining the natural
oscillation frequency and the damping factor from the plot shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 (Cecil Smith, fig. 6.7, pg. 144) allow us to calculate wn and To know these parameters
you need to look the times where the final response is about 20%(t2) and 60%(t6). We obtain the
ratio t2/t6 and obtain, according to the curve, And then from t6*Wn we calculate wn.

Figure 6: Curve to obtain ζ and ωn using t2 and t6.

Bibliography
Smith, C. A., & Corripio, A. B. (2006). Principles and practice of automatic process control.
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.