Effect of Derivative Control

Some large and/or slow process does not respond well to small changes in controller
output. For example, a large liquid level process or a large thermal process (a heat exchanger)
may react very slowly to a small change in controller output. To improve response, a large
initial change in controller output may be applied. This action is the role of the derivative
mode
According to Leblanc & Coughanowr (2009), derivative control is another mode that
can be added to proportional or proportional-integral controllers. It acts upon the derivative of
the error, so it is most active when the error is changing rapidly. It serves to reduce process
oscillations.
The derivative action is initiated whenever there is a change in the rate of change of
the error (the slope of the PV). The magnitude of the derivative action is determined by the
setting of the derivative. The derivative setting is expressed in terms of minutes. In operation,
the controller first compares the current PV with the last value of the PV. If there is a change
in the slope of the PV, the controller determines what its output would be at a future point in
time (the future point in time is determined by the value of the derivative setting, in minutes).
The derivative mode immediately increases the output by that amount (Fundamentals of
Control, 2006).

This mode of control may be represented by

In this case, we have added to the proportional term another term Kc

which is proportional to the derivative of the error. The values of Kc and

D
D

d /dt,
are both

adjustable. Other terms that are used to describe the derivative action are rate control and
anticipatory control (Leblanc & Cougahanowr, 2009).
The action of this controller can be visualized by considering the response to a linear
change in error as shown in figure 9-9.

This response is obtained by introducing the linear function

(9.9) to obtain:

p(t) = AKct + AKc

+ ps

( t)

= At into Eq.

Notice that p changes suddenly by an amount AKc

as a result of the derivative

action and then changes linearly at a rate AKc. The effect of derivative action in this case is to
anticipate the linear change in error by adding output AKc

to the proportional action.

The controller is taking preemptive action to counter the anticipated change in the
error that it predicted from the slope of the error versus time curve.
To obtain the transfer function from Eq. (9.9), we introduce the deviation variable P =
p ps and then take the transform to obtain

To illustrate the effect of the derivative control, heres an example of a temperature

control system. In this example, the time scale has been lengthened to help illustrate
controller actions in a slow process. Assume a proportional band setting of 50%. There is no
reset at this time. The proportional gain of 2 acting on a 10% change in set point will result in
a change in controller output of 20%. Because temperature is a slow process the setting time
after a change in error is quite long. And the PV never becomes equal to the SP because there
is no reset.

To illustrate the effect of rate action, we will add the derivative mode with a setting of
1 minute. Notice the very large controller output at time 0. The output spike is the result of
rate action. Recall that the change in output due to rate action is a function of the speed (rate)

of change of error, which in a step is nearly infinite. The addition of rate alone will not cause
the process variable to match the set point.

Effect of Fast Rate - Let's now increase the rate setting to 10 minutes. The controller gain is
now much higher. As a result, both the IVP (controller output) and the PV are cycling. The
point here is that increasing the rate setting will not cause the PV to settle at the SP.

Need for Reset Action - It is now clear that reset must be added to bring process variable
back to set point.
References
Leblanc, Steven E. & Donald Coughanowr R. (2009). Process systems and analysis control.
New York: The McGraw-Hill Company.

Process control fundamentals. (2006). Retrieved August 5, 2014 from

http://www.pacontrol.com/download/Process%20Control%20Fundamentals.pdf