The first process tuned in simulation was a “generic” process, unspecific in its nature or application. Performing an open-loop test (two 10% output step-changes made in manual mode, both increasing) on this process resulted in the following behavior:
From the trend, we can see that this process is self-regulating, with multiple lags and some dead time. The reaction rate (R) is 20% over 15 minutes, or 1.333 percent per minute. Dead time (L) appears to be approximately 2 minutes. Following the Ziegler-Nichols recommendations for PID tuning based on these process characteristics (also including the 10% step-change magnitude Δm):
Applying the PID values of 4.5 (gain), 4 minutes per repeat (integral), and 1 minute (derivative) gave the following result in automatic mode (with a 10% setpoint change):
The result is reasonably good behavior with the PID values predicted by the Ziegler-Nichols open-loop equations, and would be acceptable for applications where some setpoint overshoot were tolerable.
We may tell from analyzing the phase shift between the PV and OUT waveforms that the dominant control action here is proportional: each negative peak of the PV lines up fairly close with each positive peak of the OUT, for this reverse-acting controller. If we were interested in minimizing overshoot and oscillation, the logical choice would be to reduce the gain value somewhat.
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