Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Objectives: The present work has been carried out to prove the superiority of IMC based PID control strategy over the conventional PID, based on simulation studies and experimental validation on an annular conical tank liquid level nonlinear process. Methods/Statistical Analysis: First principles based Mathematical Model of an annular conical tank liquid level nonlinear process has been developed based on the mass balances and outlet flow hydraulic characteristics. Linearization of the nonlinear model at a specific steady-state operating point led to the theoretical development of state-space and standard first order transfer function models. Open loop and closed loop experimental studies on a computer controlled physical setup were performed to identify the parameters of a FOPDT Model with variable gain and time constant. IMC based PID controller was designed and compared to the conventional PID controller. Findings: The variation in process parameters was attributed to two factors: (a) the variation in annular cross sectional area of the conical tank at different levels, and (b) the variation in outlet flow resistance. The IMC based PID controller has been shown to exhibit superior performance in terms of quantitative performance indices such as ISE, IAE, ITAE, rise time, settling time and percentage overshoot, at four different steady-states. Application/Improvements: Study of Modelling of annular conical tank process and a systematic methodology of process system identification from experimental setup have been reported. The advantages of IMC based PID controller design over the conventional PID tuning method has been experimentally verified.

Keywords: Annular Flow Conical tank process, FOPDT model, System Identification, PID controller tuning, IMC based PID.