Chapter 4

Multi-Variable Control
Topics
Synthesis of Configurations for
Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output
Processes
Interaction Analysis and Decoupling
Methods
Optimal Control Approaches
1.Examples of Multivariable Control
- (1) Distillation Column
Available MVs
1. Reflux Flow
2. Distillate Flow
3. Steam: Flow to Reboiler
(Heat Duty)
4. Bottom: Flow
5. Condenser Duty
Available CVs
1. Level in Accumulator
2. Level in Reboiler
3. Overhead Composition
4. Bottom Composition
5. Pressure in the Column

Problem: How to pair variables?
Stream C
FT CT
Stream A
Stream B
1. Examples of Multivariable Control
(2) Blending or two Streams
MVs: Flow of Stream A;
Flow of Stream B.
CVs: Flow of Stream C
Composition of Stream C
Hot
Cold
LT
TT
Examples of Multivariable Control:
(3) Control of a Mixing Tank
MVs: Flow of Hot Stream CVs: Level in the tank
Flow of Cold Stream Temperature in the tank
2. Issue of Degree of Freedom (DOF)
Question: How many variables can
be measured and controlled?
Answer: The number of variables to
be controlled is related to the degree
of freedom of a system.
F=V-E
If F>0, then F variables must be
either (1) externally defined or
(2)throught a control system
To control n CVs, we need n MVs.
2. Issue of Degree of Freedom (DOF)-
Continued (The Level System)




h
F
i
F
0
h x f C F
F F
dt
dh
A
v o
o i
) ( ) 2 (
) 1 (
=
=
Equations
Variables: h, F
i
, F
o
, x

F=4-2=2
h
2. Issue of Degree of Freedom (DOF)-
Continued (The Level System)
Externally Specified: Fi
Controlled Variables: 2-1=1
Hence, we can control one variable:
(1) control flow; (2) control level
The manipulated variable is valve
position or we may choose to have
no control; externally specified x
( ) x control h =
2. Issue of Degree of Freedom (DOF)-
Continued The flash drum
Feed
Z
f
P
f
T
f
F
f
PT
h
vapor
F
v

y
i
Liquid
F
L
X
i
Steam T
s
( )
( ) ( ) T T UA T F C T F C T F C hT A C
dt
d
N i x F y F z F hx A
dt
d
F F F
dt
h A d
s L pL v pv f f pf p
i L i v fi f i
L v f
+ =
= =
=

) 3 (
,..., 1 , ) 2 (
) (
) 1 (
Equations:
2. Issue of Degree of Freedom (DOF)-
Continued The flash drum
More Equations: y
i
=K
i
x
i
(Phase
Equilibrium)
More Equations: y
i
=1; x
i
=1
Total number of Equations=2N+3
Variables: zi (N), T
f
,
f
, F
f
, P, T,y(N-
1),F
L
,x
L
(N-1),T
s
: Total 3N+8
External Specified: zi (N), T
f
,
f
, F
f
,
Total: N+1

2. Issue of Degree of Freedom (DOF)-
Continued The flash drum
DOF=3N+8-(N+1)-(2N+1)=4
There are four variables that must
be fixed by controllers or other
means.
Typically: Specify or control T, P, h,
F
f
F
f
determines the production rate
F
f
may also be externally specified

2. Issue of Degree of Freedom (DOF)-
Continued The flash drum
What are the manipulated variables?
Look for possible valve positions:
PC
.
TC
Paring : 4!=24 possibilities;
If F
f
is specified 3!=6 possibilities
LC
Practical Tips
Choose the manipulated variable
(MV) that has a fast directed effect
on the controlled variable (CV)
(Calculate or estimate steady state
gain, check for controllability)
Avoid long dead times in the loop
Reduce or avoid interaction (use
relative gain array)
3. Interaction Problem
Consider a process with two inputs and
two outputs.
Two control loops can be established.
Question: Will actions in one loop affect
the other loop?
Answer: Most often, yes. This is called
interaction
Interaction is usually decremented to
control loop performance
Approaches
Design single loop controllers and detune
them such that one loop does not
degrade another loop performance
not always possible
selection of pairing very important
Modify controlled or manipulated
variables such that interaction is reduced
Steady state interaction
Dynamic interaction
Determine interacting elements transfer
functions and try to compensate for them
Solve the multivariable control problem
(such as model predictive control MPC)
Block Diagram Analysis
) (
1
s m
1 c
G
( ) s H
11
2
y
1
y
) (
2
s m
( ) s H
21
( ) s H
12
( ) s H
22
2 c
G
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
-
2
e
1
e
sp
y
, 2
sp
y
, 1
Loop 1
Loop 2
) (
1
s m
( ) s H
11
( ) s y
2
( ) s y
1
) (
2
s m
( ) s H
21
( ) s H
12
( ) s H
22
+
+
+
+
Process
Block Diagram Analysis-
Continued (One Loop Closed)
sp
C
C
sp
C
C
y
G H
G H
y
y
G H
G H
y
1
1 11
1 21
2
1
1 11
1 11
1
1
1
+
=
+
=
Changing y
1sp
will affects y
2
Block Diagram Analysis-
Continued (Both Loops Closed)
( )
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
sp sp
sp sp
sp c sp c c c
sp c sp c c c
y s P y s P y
y s P y s P y
y G H y G H y G H y G H
y G H y G H y G H y G H
2 22 1 21 2
2 12 1 11 1
2 2 22 1 1 21 2 2 22 1 1 21
2 2 12 1 1 11 2 2 12 1 1 11
1
1
+ =
+ =
+ = + +
+ = + +
P
11
,P
12
,P
21
and P
22
have a common denominator:
( ) ( )( )
2 1 21 12 2 22 1 11
1 1
c c c c
G G H H G H G H s Q + + =
Roots of Q(s) determine stability
Measuring Interaction Brisols
Relative Gain
Process
FBC
FBC
C
1

C
2

m
1

m
2

2
1
2
2
2
1
2
1
12
1
1
1
1
11
;
closed loops other all with loop of gain
open loops other all with loop of gain
c
m
c
m
m
c
m
c
m
c
m
c
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=
=

process
m
1
m
2
y
1
y
2
process
m
1
m
2
y
1
y
2
Controller
Set
point
Measuring Interaction
Measuring Interactions Brisols
Relative Gain - Continued
If
11
is unity the other loops do not
affect loop 1 and hence there is no
interaction
If
11
is zero then m
1
cannot use to
control c
1
if
11
then other loops will
make c
1
uncontrollable with m
1
Hot
Cold
LT
TT
Examples of Multivariable Control:
(3) Control of a Mixing Tank
MVs: Flow of Hot Stream CVs: Level in the tank
Flow of Cold Stream Temperature in the tank
Relative Gain Array
c
j
i
m
j
i
ij
nn n n
n
n
n
n
m
c
m
c
c
c
c
m m m
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=
(
(
(
(

= A

2 1
2 22 21
1 12 11
2
1
2 1
(1)All rows add up to 1. All columns add up to 1.
(2)
ij
is dimensionless. can be used to find suitable
pairings of input and output
(3) If is diagonal, there is no interaction between loops
(4) Elements of significantly different from 1 indicate
problems with interaction
Derivation of
ji ij ij
ji
c
j
i
ji
c
i
j
ij
m
j
i
b k
b m
c
b
c
m
BC C K M
k
m
c
KM c
=
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
= =
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=

1
Then
Also
Then
Let
1
Choose control loop pairs such that
ij
is
Positive and as close to unity as possible.
F
A
F
B
X
A
F

CT FT
X
A F

Example: Blending Problem
Example Blending Problem -
Continued
2 1
2 1
1 1
2 2
1 1
2 2
1 2
2 2
1 2
2 2 1
2
Steady State : ,
;
;
1; 1
1 1
A
A A B
A B
A A
B
B A
m m
m m
B A
F
x F F F
F F
m F c x
m F c F
c F c F
m F m F
c c
m m
F F
m
F F C KM
m
= = +
+
| | | | | | | |
= =
| | | |
\ . \ . \ . \ .
| | | |
c c
= =
| |
c c
\ . \ .
| | | |
c c
= =
| |
c c
\ . \ .
(
(
(
= =
(
(


Example Blending Problem -
Continued
( )
( )
( )
(

= A
= = =
= = =
= = =
= = =
=
(
(
(

F F F F
F F F F
F
F
F x
F F F F b k
F F F F b k
F F F F F b k
F F F F F b k
B
F
F
F
F
F
F
K
B A
A B
B
A
A
B B
A A
A A
B B
B
A
/ /
/ /
/ / * 1
/ / * 1
/ * /
/ * /
22 22 22
12 21 21
2
21 12 12
2
11 11 11
1

If F
B
/F1, F
A
/F0 then pair F
A
x
A
; F
B
F

If F
A
/F1, F
B
/F0 then pair F
B
x
A
; F
A
F
Steady State Decoupling
In the Blending Problem:

Hence to control F, without changing x is possible
by changing ratio constant of F
A
and F
B
.
Change ratio of F
A
and F
B
while keeping F
A
+ F
B

constant
Let m
1
= F
A
+ F
B
, m
2
=F
B
/ F
A
, then F
A
=m
1
/ (1 + m
2
)
F
B
=m
1
m
2
/ (1 + m
2
)



( )
B A B A
A
A
B A
F F F F
F
x
F F F
/ 1
1
+
=
+
=
+ =
COMPUTER
X F
F
A
F
B
Dynamic Decoupling
Let C(s)=G(s)m(s)
Or c
1
(s)=g
11
(s)m
1
(s)+g
12
(s)m
2
(s)
c
2
(2)=g
21
(s)m
1
(s)+g
22
(s)m
2
(s)



One way to decouple the system is
to define new input variables
m(s)=D(s)u(s)
g
11
g
21
g
12
g
22
m
1
(s)
m
2
(s) c
2
(s)
c
1
(s)
Dynamic Decoupling-Continued
If D(s) is a matrix, then
c(s)=G(s)D(s)u(s)
If D(s) is chosen such that
G(s)D(s)=diagonal, then
u
1
(s) affects only c
1
, u
2
only affects
c
2
.
The system is called decoupled.

plant
m1
m2
y1
y2
+
- y1s
-
y2s
+
Gc1
Gc2
u1
u2
D2
+
+
D1
+
+
Dynamic Decoupling-Continued
For simplicity, we use

Then


We want g
11
D
1
+g
12
=0;g
21
+g
22
D
2
=0
Hence,D
1
=-g
12
/g
11
;D
2
=-g
21
/g
22
(

=
1
1
2
1
D
D
D
(

+ +
+ +
=
22 1 21 2 22 21
12 1 11 12 2 11
g D g D g g
g D g g D g
GD
Dynamic Decoupling-Continued




This leads to m
1
=u
1
-g
12
/g
11
u
2
;
m
2
=u
2
-g
22
/g
21
u
2
c
1
=(g
11
+D
2
g
12
)u
1
;c
2
=(g
21
D
1
+g
22
)u
2


g
11
g
21
g
12
g
22
m
1
(s)
m
2
(s) c
2
(s)
c
1
(s)
Conclusion
Multivariable control is essential in
the industrial applications
Steady state decoupling is very
useful in case of no dynamic system
such as mixing
Dynamic decoupling is very
important for high valued-added
system such as distillation systems
Homework #4 Multivariable Systems
Textbook p698
21.3, 21.4, 21.7, 21.8