2018 4th International Conference on Control, Automation and Robotics
PLC Based Flow Control System Using a Motor Operated Valve
Mandakinee Bandyopadhyay
Department of Electrical Engineering
Asansol Engineering College
Asansol, India
e-mail: mom_saltlake@yahoo.co.in
Subrata Chatterjee
Department of Electrical Engineering
National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and
Research, Kolkata
Kolkata, India
e-mail: subrata0507@gmail.com
Abstract—The motor operated control valve as a final control
element in any process control loop of a process plant may be
controlled according to the set point needed by the process
requirement. There are various types of control techniques of a
motorized valve are presented by the different investigators. In
the present paper, a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)
based flow control scheme using a motor [PMDC] operated
valve has been described. The final calibration and
experimental results reported in the paper reveal the linearity
and reliability of the control system.
Keywords-flow control; position control; motorized valve;
PLC; control loop
I. INTRODUCTION
Though the final control element in any process plant
may be pneumatic, hydraulic or electric motor types [1, 2]
but pneumatic or hydraulic controllers are now being
replaced by microprocessor based or PC/PLC based
controllers in order to avoid the costs of the converters and
down time of the plant. Therefore, the electric motor
actuated control valves are now being used since they are
driven directly by the analog DC voltage or current signal or
digital signal from the electronic controller [1, 2, 11]. There
are different control techniques of a motorized valve such as
firing angle control of a thyristor drive unit, armature control
of DC motor [1, 2, 11], stepping motor [3, 5], linear motor
control [6], PC based control [8], etc.
Normally PI and PID control schemes are accepted in
various types of control applications [9, 10, 12]. PC Based
position control schemes have wide applications in process
plant [8]. In recent years, it is more common to integrate
control actions into PLC systems [11]. The analog I/O of a
PLC can be used to achieve PID control [12].
In the present paper, the analog I/O of a PLC has been
used to achieve the position control of a permanent magnet
DC motor actuated control valve to control the liquid flow in
a flow control system. The valve is operated by the analog
978-1-5386-6338-7/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 262
Nirupama Mandal
Department of Electronics Engineering
Indian School of Mines
Dhanbad, India
e-mail: nirupama_cal@rediffmail.com
DC output voltage signal from PLC based PID controller.
The valve position has been calibrated by using a DC voltage
signal from PLC based PID controller and finally, it is
applied to control the flow of liquid in a flow control system.
The calibration results and flow control characteristics are
reported in the paper. From these experimental studies, the
repeatability and linearity of the proposed control system are
found to be within tolerable limits.
II. METHOD OF APPROACH
The motor operated control valve consists of 12 volts, 10-
RPM PMDC motor, which drives a Teflon seated valve in a
20 mm line at a reduced speed of 3 RPM by a gearbox [Rack
and Pinion]. This valve is positioned by an analog voltage
signal in the range of 0 to +/-5 V from PLC. The motor is
rotated in both directions by using the analog signal obtained
from PLC based controller. The analog signal at the O/P of
the PLC is low [0 to +/- 5V], so separate driver circuit
schematic has been developed for direction control of the 12
volt PM DC motor.
One analog input to the PLC is the set point signal i.e. the
desired valve position according to the process variable to be
controlled. Actual valve position signal, which is obtained
from the servo potentiometer attached to the motor shaft, is
fed to the feedback analog input to the PLC. Analog output
from the PLC which is the PID controlled output, is used to
move to the desired position of the valve motor and
simultaneously the flow through the valve is measured.
In the second phase of the experimentation, the valve
position signal from servo potentiometer is disconnected and
the existing flow transmitter is connected to the PLC
feedback input to control the flow and study the static and
dynamic characteristics of the flow control system.
The designed circuit to drive and direction control of the
PMDC motor consists of an opto-isolated phototransistor and
a relay assembly. The PLC based PID controller output
provides the switching action signal to the opto-isolated
phototransistor and the motor is rotated in both directions by
alternately changing the motor coil connections by means of
relay contacts. The block diagram of the system is shown in
Fig. 1.
III. CIRCUIT ANALYSIS
The detailed schematic circuit diagram of the motor
including PLC, Driver and relay control Circuit, feedback
potentiometer and Flow control system are shown in Fig. 2.
Here PLC is acting as the main controller and its analog
output, which is the controlled variable, is in the range of 0
to +/- 5 volt DC. This controlled output cannot be used
directly to run the valve motor as it is rated 12 volt DC. So it
is fed to the motor Driver circuit which helps to run the valve
motor in both directions to move the valve actuator either
towards full opening or towards the full closing depending
on the requirement of the process. The feedback signal from
position servo potentiometer attached to the valve motor
shaft is fed to the feedback input of the PLC at the time of
calibration of the motor operated valve after scaling (0 – 5 V)
through A4 and A5 and the same feedback signal is
connected to the multimeter (0 – 1 V) which indicates the
valve position, after signal conditioning through A2 and A3.
In the second phase, the flow transmitter output is connected
to the feedback input of the PLC to control the flow of liquid
in control system.

Figure 1. Block diagram of the system.

Figure 2. Detailed circuit diagram.

263
 Thus the output signal of the PLC controller will change
the polarity depending on the magnitude of the set point and
feedback input signals. This signal will act as the control
action signal to the opto-isolated phototransistor assembly
(T1 and T2). When T1 will be ‘on’, relay RL1 will be
activated which will send the current through the motor in
one direction and when T2 will be ‘on’, relay RL3 will be
activated which will send the current through the motor in the
opposite direction. Relays RL2 and RL4 connected in series
with RL1 and RL3 are normally closed and can be activated
through two micro switches, which will operate at the
Figure 3. Ladder diagram for PID control using versa-Pro software.
Programmable Logic Controller or PLC is an industrial
computer that accepts inputs from sensors, evaluates these in
accordance with a stored program and generates outputs to
control machines and processes. As PLC can accept and
provide discrete and analog values, the analog input and
output may be current or voltage signal and PLC converts the
signal to an integer between 0 and 32768 [216 for 16 bit data
bus] and vice versa.
The ladder diagram developed for PID control using PLC
Software is shown in Fig. 3. In the diagram, each rung
consists of different functional blocks and output from each
block is stored in registers addressed as % R0000N where N
is register number. After execution of 1st rung, one analog
input (Set Point value) is entered in to the PLC processor
264
maximum and the minimum position of the valve to avoid the
damage of the valve motor system. Thus the valve motor will
rotate through the activated relays in both directions
according to the valve position requirement as per the desired
set point within the process.
IV. CONTROLLER OPERATION
PID or Three-Mode Controller [9, 10] is one of the most
powerful but complex controllers, where the operation
combines the proportional, integral and derivative modes.
through IN terminal (INPUT 2), which is an integer in
between 0 to 32786 depending on the magnitude of the
signal. This integer value is converted in to a real number for
appropriate scaling which is done by “INT TO REAL” and
“DIV REAL” function blocks. After appropriate scaling the
real value output is again converted into integer value by
“REAL TO INT” function block and stored in Register
whose address is %R00008. Similarly the measured value or
process value i.e. another analog input goes to PLC after
execution of 3rd rung and is stored in register
address %R00014. PID controlled operation is performed in
rung 2 by PID ISA function block, where set value (SP) and
process value (PV) are coming from %R00008
and %R00014 respectively. In PID ISA function block
“MAN”, “UP” and “DN” terminals are always off
(ALW_OFF) for automatic operation. Controlled variable
(CV) is stored in %R00015 that is an integer and can be
again scaled in rung 4. The content of the register %R00015
will go to the analog output terminal of PLC to be fed to the
appropriate output device.
Tuning of controller [2, 4, 7, 8, 12] is the process of
setting gains to achieve desired performance. The tuning sets
the loop gains by optimizing the response to the command.
Higher loop gains will improve command response and they
also improve the disturbance response.
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Before experimentation, as the limit switches SW1 and
SW2 are placed on the valve body, so that the motor stops at
full open and full close positions. Therefore, the valve shaft
has to move in the forward or reverse direction by the
manual push button switches F(M) and R(M). After the
perfect alignment of the valve, the linear position of the
valve shaft was indicated on a circular scale and the valve
was calibrated by using a variable DC voltage source at the
input instead of an actual signal from a controller. The
minimum and the maximum rotations of the valve shaft are
adjusted by zero and span adjustment potentiometers. Now
the controlled output signal from PLC was connected to the
valve control unit and the set point in PLC was increased in
steps and at each step the actual valve opening position and
flow of liquid through control valve was observed in both
increasing and decreasing modes. The valve characteristics
thus obtained by plotting the valve position against set point
voltage and percentage error from the linearity are shown in
Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 respectively. The error is found within +/-
0.4%.

100
Observed Actual
Observed Value [Position in %]

80

60

40

20 y = 1.0019x - 0.1905

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
-20
Set Value [Position in %]

Figure 5. The valve position characteristic.

0.3
0.2
% Error from Linearity

Figure 4. Controller tuning window.

0.1
0
In PLC based PID controller provisions are there to set
0 20 40 60 80 100
the tuning parameters such as controller gains and can be -0.1
viewed the corresponding controller output. Set point value
-0.2
(SP), Process value (PV) and controlled variable (CV); all
are clearly observable during tuning and thus gain setting is -0.3
very easier in this system. The typical controller-tuning
window for tuning of PLC based PID controller is shown in -0.4
Fig. 4. Set Value [Position in %]
From the Fig. 4, it is clear that proportional gain,
derivative gain, and integral gain can be set by the user and Figure 6. The % error from linearity (analog position control system).
variation in set point (SP), process variable (PV) and
controlled variable (CV) all will be observed from the same Finally, the PLC in PID mode has been tuned by
window. following the Ziegler-Nichols ultimate close loop method

265
and the values of P, I and D parameters are for optimum
control have been determined. With these values of P, I and
D parameters, the flow control system has been tested by
changing the set point in steps and at each step the controlled
value of liquid flow is measured. The static characteristic
graph of the control loop is drawn by plotting the measured
flow of liquid against set point as shown in Fig. 7. The
dynamic characteristic graph has also been observed by
producing the step change of the set point at a steady state
condition of the control loop and recording the measured
liquid flow at different instant with the help of the data
logger in the LABTECH NOTE BOOK PRO software. The
dynamic characteristic is shown in Fig. 8.
100
80
60
Flow in %
are found to have very good repeatability. The percentage
error from linearity as shown in Fig. 6, is also within
tolerable limits. The opto isolated phototransistor switches
used to run the valve motor is less costly than the
conventional thyristor drive units.
The controller is the PLC itself. A few key characteristics
make the PLC advantageous over other controllers. Firstly,
PLC is designed to communicate directly with the process to
be controlled and PLC recognizes these inputs and outputs as
part of its system at a fixed address. Secondly,
reprogramming is much easier with PLC based controller.
Thirdly such types of controllers are designed to operate in
demanding industrial environment such as high noise, high
vibration, high temperature and high humidity. These three
factors are largely responsible for the wide acceptance of
PLC as controller. They require no special programmer; no
air conditioned rooms and no special input output systems to
be designed.

VII. FUTURE WORK

40 Detailed comparative analysis / study of characteristics
20 based on accuracy / error / linearity / resolution /
repeatability / reliability / cost of different motors. This part
0 provides the scope of work for the future.
0 20 40 60 80 100 Long term stability, noise, drift and stability of accuracy
in the calibration (uncertainty analysis) have not been studied.
Set-point in % This part of job may be taken up in future.
There is a scope of improved software development to
Figure 7. The static characteristic of controller in PID mode provide more precise position control system for very high-
speed operation using low-level & high-level language. This
part may constitute future scope of work.
For high-speed control applications and high speed
computing DSP (digital signal processor) performance has
60 not been studied. This part provides the scope of work for the
future.
50 A programmable hardware (FPGA / ASIC) can be
configured to a specific digital circuit to perform a particular
40 task by software. Motor controller based on FPGA (field
Flow in Lit/min.

programmable gate array) hardware implementation has not

30
been studied. This part may constitute future scope of work.
REFERENCES
20
[1] B.G. Liptak (Ed), “Instrument Engineers Hand Book”, vol.11, Sec.
4.1, Pnenumatic-vs- Electronics, sec. 4.3, “Pneumatic Controllers”,
10 Chilton, Philadelphia, 1970.
[2] D. M. Considine, “Process Instruments and Control handbook”,
2nd.ed. McGraw Hill Book Company, 1974.
0
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2 [3] J. D Usry, “Stepping Motors for Valve Actuation”, Instrum. Technol.,
vol.24, no. 3, pp.-58, 1977.
Time in sec [4] M. F. Hordeski, “Adapting Electric Actuators to Digital Control,”
Instrum Technol., vol. 24, no.3, pp. –53, 1977.
[5] S. J. Baily, “Stepping Controls Mature as Digital Actuators”, Control
Figure 8. The dynamic characteristic of controller in PID mode. Eng., vol. 26, no.8, 1979.
[6] T. X. Mei and R. M. Goodall, “Position Control for a subsea pump
system driven by a linear Motor”, Control Engineering Practice, vol.3,
issue.9, pp-1209, 1995.
VI. DISCUSSIONS
[7] Shila Ming- Chang and Tseng Shy-I, “Identification and position
From the valve position characteristic and flow control of Servo pneumatic cylinder”, Control Engineering Practice,
characteristic as shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7, it is found that vol.3, issue 9, pp. –1209, 1995.
both the characteristic is quite linear. The experimental data

266
[8] S.C. Bera and J. K. Ray, “PC based position control system of a
Motorized valve in a Process Plant,” Proceedings of International
Conference C.I.I.C 2001.
[9] R. A. Wright, C. Kravaris and N. Kazantzis, “Model Based Synthesis
of nonlinear PI and PID Controllers.” AIChE journal, vol. 47, no. 8,
2001.
[10] M. Li, F. Wang and F. Gao, “PID - Based Sliding Mode Controller
for Nonlinear Processes.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. - 2001, vol. 40, no.
16, pp. 2660 - 2667.
267
[11] Ashraf Salah , EI Din Zein EI Din, “PLC Based Speed Control of DC
Motor “, Power electronics and Motion control Conference , 2006,
IPEC ’06. CES/IEEE 5th International, vol. 2,. pp. 1-6. 1-16 Aug.
2006.
[12] S. Chattopadhyay, S. Pal and S. C. Bera. “PLC Based Continuous
Voltage Control System of a DC Generator”, Proceedings of the
Conference on ‘Emerging Trends in Electrical Technology, ETET-
2006.