Exam 3 Review Sheet

Coverage

Classes 23-31 (3/15-3/15) (Class 31 will not be super new material; we’ll just be going more in
depth into stability analysis)
Handouts 23-31
Don’t just study the handouts – there is also additional stuff in the class notes/slides on Canvas

Details

7-9 PM, Thursday, 4/18

8:30 AM lecture in A108; 9:30 AM lecture in A115
No notes/book
You may bring ANY calculator – CALCULATOR ALLOWED AND NEEDED
NO CLASS ON FRIDAY, 4/19!

Going through the Handouts will be the single best way to study for the exam. Also, going through HW 5
and 6 solutions and understanding them in detail will be very beneficial. I know that (despite my
forewarnings) many of you utilize the “divide and conquer” approach with homework. This is not the best
way to learn the material in the first place, but if you did take this approach you’ve only learned 1/3 of
the material! Go back to the HW assignments and make sure you understand everything.

Anything/everything on HW 5 and 6 and in any of the above mentioned hanouts is fair game!

Some things that you should know from earlier in the semester (!):

Laplace transforms
Inverse Laplace transforms
Basic mass and energy balances, similar to what we’ve done on all homework assignments so far
this year

Class 23

Two main purposes of a feedback controller.

Direct acting vs. reverse acting controller, and what is the sign of controller gain in both of those
cases?
Know how to determine whether a controller is direct or reverse acting, similar to Problem 1 on
HW 5.
Sign of a fail-open vs. fail-close valve. When would you use one over the other?
Know the difference between open loop and closed loop configuration.
Proportional only control, and why not optimal?
Effect of increasing or decreasing gain for P-only control.
Know how to use FVT to analyze open and closed loop systems for long term behavior.
Class 24

Know how to separate (cross multiply) transfer function expressions and then convert back to
the time domain.
Know how to discretize time domain derivatives and perform finite difference approximations.
I will NOT provide the discretization equations for first and second derivatives, so you should
memorize them.

Class 25

FVT for analysis of long term behavior.

Know how to simplify transfer functions to the “𝜏𝑠 + 1” form.
What advantage/benefit does integral mode bring to the controller party?

Class 26

Don’t worry about the alternate discretization technique, it was used more as a way to modify
the simulated process to account for integral windup.
What is integral windup and how can we reduce the effects of it?
How do you incorporate anti-reset windup in programming code?

Class 27

Know the 4 typical area-based performance criteria, how they differ, and how they are
calculated.
Know how to do the ITAE performance criterion method that we did in Handout 27 (I would
provide the table of correlation parameters).
Know how to calculate ITAE in programming code.

Class 28

Know how to perform the IMC method (I would provide the table provided in Handout 28).
What are the main differences between ITAE and IMC method?
How can the aggressiveness of the IMC method be tuned/altered?
Why don’t you always want to use a controller with the optimal (smallest) ITAE?

Class 29

Know how to convert a transfer function from the Laplace domain to the frequency domain.
Know how to convert amplitude ratio and phase shift from a transfer function, given 𝜔.
Know how to create points on a Nyquist diagram.
Class 30 & 31

What does a Nyquist diagram tell you? How can you determine long term system stability from
a Nyquist diagram?
What is the sensitivity function vs. complementary sensitivity function, and what values do you
want each of them to approach in the long term?
Know how to perform advanced AR and 𝜑 calculations, similar to Handout 30 and in HW 6,
Problem 2.
What is the significance of the (-1,0) point on a Nyquist diagram and why is it to be avoided?
Exam 3 Practice Problems
1. An analysis of the fluid standpipe unit in the ChBE laboratory yields the following transfer
function relating the standpipe level, H(s) in cm, to inlet flow rate, Q in(s) in L/min:

𝐿[∆𝐻] 11.8 ∙ (1.1𝑠 + 1)𝑒 𝑐𝑚

= [=]
𝐿[∆𝑄 ] (2.4𝑠 + 1)(26𝑠 + 1) 𝐿/𝑚𝑖𝑛

Calculate tuning parameters values for a PI controller using IMC rules with a desired
closed-loop time constant of 10 sec.

2. A certain catalyst can be regenerated in a catalyst regenerator, where the temperature

must carefully be controlled. A temperature controller is used to control the flow rate of
fuel into a furnace using a fail-close valve. Should the controller be direct acting or reverse
acting and why? Full credit only awarded if you explain your answer.
3. Use the Final Value Theorem to determine the long term response (∆𝑥) for a step input
in 𝑟 (∆𝑟 = 𝓂) for the following block diagram:

4. Calculate the AR and phase shift for the following open loop transfer function if the
system is subject to a sinusoidal input at 𝜔 = 0.5 rad/sec. Present 𝜑 in degrees.

5 ∙ (2𝑠 + 1)𝑒
𝐺(𝑠) =
𝑠(3𝑠 + 1)

The critical frequency (𝜔 for which 𝜑 = −180°) is 0.456 rad/sec. Based on this, would
the closed loop transfer function be stable or not stable?

5. Discretize the following transfer function and solve explicitly for the next value of ∆𝑢 in
terms of the previous values of ∆𝑢 and ∆𝑥.

𝐿[∆𝑥] 𝐾𝑠
=
𝐿[∆𝑢] (𝜏 𝑠 + 1)(𝜏 𝑠 + 1)

6. For the following process, determine ITAE Method (see next page) PI controller
parameters optimized for a change in disturbance.
.
𝐾 =4 𝐺 (𝑠) =