Feedforward and Ratio Control

In Chapter 8 is was emphasized that feedback control is an

important technique that is widely used in the process industries.
Its main advantages are as follows.
Chapter 15

1. Corrective action occurs as soon as the controlled variable

deviates from the set point, regardless of the source and type
of disturbance.
2. Feedback control requires minimal knowledge about the
process to be controlled; it particular, a mathematical model
of the process is not required, although it can be very
useful for control system design.
3. The ubiquitous PID controller is both versatile and robust. If
process conditions change, retuning the controller usually
produces satisfactory control.
1
 However, feedback control also has certain inherent
disadvantages:
1. No corrective action is taken until after a deviation in the
controlled variable occurs. Thus, perfect control, where the
controlled variable does not deviate from the set point during
disturbance or set-point changes, is theoretically impossible.
Chapter 15

2. Feedback control does not provide predictive control action

to compensate for the effects of known or measurable
disturbances.
3. It may not be satisfactory for processes with large time
constants and/or long time delays. If large and frequent
disturbances occur, the process may operate continuously in a
transient state and never attain the desired steady state.
4. In some situations, the controlled variable cannot be
measured on-line, and, consequently, feedback control is not
feasible. 2
 Introduction to Feedforward Control
The basic concept of feedforward control is to measure important
disturbance variables and take corrective action before they
upset the process. Feedforward control has several
disadvantages:
Chapter 15

1. The disturbance variables must be measured on-line. In many

applications, this is not feasible.
2. To make effective use of feedforward control, at least a crude
process model should be available. In particular, we need to
know how the controlled variable responds to changes in both
the disturbance and manipulated variables. The quality of
feedforward control depends on the accuracy of the process
model.
3. Ideal feedforward controllers that are theoretically capable of
achieving perfect control may not be physically realizable.
Fortunately, practical approximations of these ideal controllers
3
Chapter 15

Figure 15.2 The feedback control of the liquid level in a boiler

drum.
4
 • A boiler drum with a conventional feedback control system is
shown in Fig. 15.2. The level of the boiling liquid is measured
and used to adjust the feedwater flow rate.
• This control system tends to be quite sensitive to rapid changes
in the disturbance variable, steam flow rate, as a result of the
small liquid capacity of the boiler drum.
Chapter 15

• Rapid disturbance changes can occur as a result of steam

demands made by downstream processing units.

The feedforward control scheme in Fig. 15.3 can provide better

control of the liquid level. Here the steam flow rate is
measured, and the feedforward controller adjusts the feedwater
flow rate.

5
Chapter 15

Figure 15.3 The feedforward control of the liquid level in a

boiler drum.
6
 • In practical applications, feedforward control is normally used
in combination with feedback control.
• Feedforward control is used to reduce the effects of measurable
disturbances, while feedback trim compensates for
inaccuracies in the process model, measurement error, and
Chapter 15

unmeasured disturbances.

7
Chapter 15

Figure 15.4 The feedfoward-feedback control of the boiler

drum level.
8
 Ratio Control
• Ratio control is a special type of feedforward control that has
had widespread application in the process industries.
• The objective is to maintain the ratio of two process variables
as a specified value.
Chapter 15

• The two variables are usually flow rates, a manipulated

variable u, and a disturbance variable d.
• Thus, the ratio
u
R

(15-1)
d

is controlled rather than the individual variables. In

Eq. 15-1,
u and d are physical variables, not deviation 9
 Typical applications of ratio control:
1. Setting the relative amounts of components in blending
operations
2. Maintaining a stoichiometric ratio of reactants to a
reactor
Chapter 15

3. Keeping a specified reflux ratio for a distillation

column
4. Holding the fuel-air ratio to a furnace at the optimum
value.

10
Chapter 15

Figure 15.5 Ratio control, Method I.

11
 • The main advantage of Method I is that the actual ratio R is
calculated.
• A key disadvantage is that a divider element must be included
in the loop, and this element makes the process gain vary in a
nonlinear fashion. From Eq. 15-1, the process gain
Chapter 15

K   R   1 (15-2)
p 
u d d

is inversely related to the disturbance flow rate d.

• Because of this significant disadvantage, the preferred scheme
for implementing ratio control is Method II, which is shown
in Fig. 15.6.

12
Chapter 15

Figure 15.6 Ratio control, Method II

13
 • Regardless of how ratio control is implemented, the process
variables must be scaled appropriately.
• For example, in Method II the gain setting for the ratio station
Kd must take into account the spans of the two flow
transmitters.
Chapter 15

• Thus, the correct gain for the ratio station is

Sd
K R (15-3)
R d
Su
where Rd is the desired ratio, Su and Sd are the spans of the
flow transmitters for the manipulated and disturbance streams,
respectively.

14
 Example 15.1
A ratio control scheme is to be used to maintain a stoichoimetric
ratio of H2 and N2 as the feed to an ammonia synthesis reactor.
Individual flow controllers will be used for both the H2 and N2
streams. Using the information given below, do the following:
Chapter 15

a) Draw a schematic diagram for the ratio control scheme.

b) Specify the appropriate gain for the ratio station, KR.

15
 Available Information
i. The electronic flow transmitters have built-in square root
extractors. The spans of the flow transmitters are 30 L/min for
H2 and 15 L/min for N2.
ii. The control valves have pneumatic actuators.
Chapter 15

iii. Each required current-to-pressure (I/P) transducer has a gain

of 0.75 psi/mA.
iv. The ratio station is an electronic instrument with 4-20 mA
input and output signals.

Solution
The stoichiometric equation for the ammonia synthesis
reaction is

3H2  N2 K 2NH3
16
 In order to introduce the feed mixture in stoichiometric
proportions, the ratio of the molar flow rates (H2/N2) should be
3:1. For the sake of simplicity, we assume that the ratio of the
molar flow rates is equal to the ratio of the volumetric flow rates.
But in general, the volumetric flow rates also depend on the
temperature and pressure of each stream (cf., the ideal gas law).
Chapter 15

a) The schematic diagram for the ammonia synthesis reaction is

shown in Fig. 15.7. The H2 flow rate is considered to be the
disturbance variable, although this choice is arbitary because
both the H2 and N2 flow rates are controlled. Note that the ratio
station is merely a device with an adjustable gain. The input
signal to the ratio station is dm, the measured H2 flow rate. Its
output signal usp serves as the set point for the N2 flow control
loop. It is calculated as usp = KRdm.

17
Chapter 15

Figure 15.7 Ratio control scheme for an ammonia synthesis

reactor of Example 15.1
18
 b) From the stoichiometric equation, it follows that the desired
ratio is Rd = u/d = 1/3. Substitution into Equation 15-3 gives:

K R   1   30 L / min  
 3  15 L / min
2  
3
Chapter 15

Feedforward Controller Design Based on

Steady-State Models
• A useful interpretation of feedforward control is that it
continually attempts to balance the material or energy that must
be delivered to the process against the demands of the load.
• For example, the level control system in Fig. 15.3 adjusts the
feedwater flow so that it balances the steam demand.
• Thus, it is natural to base the feedforward control calculations
on material and energy balances.
19
Chapter 15

Figure 15.8 A simple schematic diagram of a distillation

column.
20
 • To illustrate the design procedure, consider the distillation
column shown in Fig. 15.8 which is used to separate a binary
mixture.
• In Fig. 15.8, the symbols B, D, and F denote molar flow rates,
whereas x, y, and z are the mole fractions of the more volatile
component.
Chapter 15

• The objective is to control the distillation composition, y,

despite measurable disturbances in feed flow rate F and feed
composition z, by adjusting distillate flow rate, D.
• It is assumed that measurements of x and y are not available.

The steady-state mass balances for the distillation column can be

written as
FDB (15-4)
Fz  Dy  Bx (15-5)
21
 Solving (15-4) for D and substituting into (15-5) gives

D Fz (15-6)

x y  we replace these variables by

Because x and y are not measured,
their set points to yield the xfeedforward control law:
Chapter 15

D  F z  xsp  (15-
7) ysp  xsp

22
 Blending System
• Consider the blending system and feedforward controller shown
in Fig. 15.9.
• We wish to design a feedforward control scheme to maintain
exit composition x at a constant set point xsp, despite
Chapter 15

disturbances in inlet composition, x1.

• Suppose that inlet flow rate w1 and the composition of the other
inlet stream, x2, are constant.
• It is assumed that x1 is measured but x is not.

23
Chapter 15

Figure 15.9 Feedforward control of exit composition in the

blending system.
24
 The starting point for the feedforward controller design is the
steady-state mass and component balances,
w  w1  w2 (15-8)

wx  w1 x1  w2 x2 (15-9)
where the bar over the variable denotes a steady-state value.
Chapter 15

Substituting Eq. 15-8 into 15-9 and solving for w2 gives:

w1 (x  (15-10)
w2  x2 
x1 ) x
In order to derive a feedforward control law, we
replace x
w x  x (t)
by xsp, w2 (t)  1  sp 1  (15-
and w2 and x1 , by11) x2 respectively:
w2(t) and x1(t),
xsp
Note that this feedforward control law is based on the physical
variables rather than on the deviation variables.
25
 • The feedforward control law in Eq. 15-11 is not in the final
form required for actual implementation because it ignores
two important instrumentation considerations:
• First, the actual value of x1 is not available but its measured
value, x1m, is.
Chapter 15

• Second, the controller output signal is p rather than inlet flow

rate, w2.
• Thus, the feedforward control law should be expressed in
terms of x1m and p, rather than x1 and w2.
• Consequently, a more realistic feedforward control law should
incorporate the appropriate steady-state instrument relations
for the w2 flow transmitter and the control valve. (See text.)

26
 Feedforward Controller Design Based on
Dynamic Models
In this section, we consider the design of feedforward control
systems based on dynamic, rather than steady-state, process
models.
Chapter 15

• As a starting point for our discussion, consider the block

diagram shown in Fig. 15.11.
• This diagram is similar to Fig. 11.8 for feedback control but
an additional signal path through Gt and Gf has been added.

27
Chapter 15

Figure 15.11 A block diagram of a feedforward-feedback control

system.
28
 The closed-loop transfer function for disturbance changes is:
 Gt G f GvGp
Y s Gd (15-20)
D  1 G G G G
c v p m

Ideally, we would like

s the control system to produce perfect
control where the controlled variable remains exactly at the set
Chapter 15

point despite arbitrary changes in the disturbance variable, D.

Thus, if the set point is constant (Ysp(s) = 0), we want Y(s) = 0,
even though D(s)
G
G f  d (15-21)
GGt vG
p
• Figure 15.11 and Eq. 15-21 provide a useful interpretation of the
ideal feedforward controller. Figure 15.11 indicates that a
disturbance has two effects.
• It upsets the process via the disturbance transfer function, Gd;
however, a corrective action is generated via the path
G tGfGvGp.
through 29
 • Ideally, the corrective action compensates exactly for the upset
so that signals Yd and Yu cancel each other and Y(s) = 0.

Example 15.2
Suppose that
Kp
Chapter 15

Kd
Gd  , Gp  (15-22)
τd s τ s
1
p 1
Then from (15-22), the ideal feedforward controller is
 Kd
Gf     τ p s 1 (15-23)
 K K K   τ s 1
t v p   d

 unitwith a gain given by

This controller is a lead-lag
Kf = -Kd/KtKvKp. The dynamic response characteristics of lead-
lag units were considered in Example 6.1 of Chapter 6.

30
 Example 15.3
Now consider
K K p e θs
Gd d , Gp  (15-24)
τd s τps
1 1
Chapter 15

From (15-21),
 K
Gf  d   τ p s 1  (15-25)
 K K K   τ s 1
t v  d
p θs
e
 
Because the term eθs is a negative time delay, implying a
predictive element, the ideal feedforward controller in (15-25)
is physically unrealizable. However, we can approximate it by
omitting the eθs term and increasing the value of the lead
time constant from τ p to τ p  θ .
31
 Example 15.4
Finally, if
Kd Kp
Gd  , Gp  (15-26)
d s
1 2 p1
s 1  s
 p
Chapter 15

then the ideal feedforward controller,

 K 1
G f    d  τ p1s 1τ p 2 s 1 (15-27)
 K K K
 t v p τ d s 1
is physically unrealizable because the numerator is a higher
order polynomial in s than the denominator. Again, we could
approximate this controller by a physically realizable one such
as a lead-lag unit, where the lead time constant is the sum of
the two time constants, τ p1  τ p 2 .

32
 Stability Considerations
• To analyze the stability of the closed-loop system in Fig. 15.11,
we consider the closed-loop transfer function in Eq. 15-20.
• Setting the denominator equal to zero gives the characteristic
equation,
Chapter 15

1 GcGvGpGm  0

(15-28)

• In Chapter 11 it was shown that the roots of the characteristic

equation completely determine the stability of the closed-loop
system.
• Because Gf does not appear in the characteristic equation, the
feedforward controller has no effect on the stability of the
feedback control system.
33
 Lead-Lag Units
• The three examples in the previous section have demonstrated
that lead-lag units can provide reasonable approximations to
ideal feedforward controllers.
• Thus, if the feedforward controller consists of a lead-lag unit
Chapter 15

with gain Kf, we can write

U s  K f τ1s  1
 (15-
G f s   D s
29) τ2 s 1

Example 15.5
Consider the blending system of Section 15.3 and Fig. 15.9. A
feedforward-feedback control system is to be designed to reduce
the effect of disturbances in feed composition, x1, on the
controlled variable, produce composition, x. Inlet flow rate, w2,
can be manipulated. (See text.) 34
 Configurations for Feedforward-Feedback
Control
• In a typical control configuration, the outputs of the feedforward and
feedback controllers are added together, and the sum is sent as the
signal to the final control element.
Chapter 15

• Another useful configuration for feedforward-feedback control is to

have the feedback controller output serve as the set point for the
feedforward controller.

35
Chapter 15

Figure 15.14 Feedforward-feedback control of exit composition in

the blending system.
36
Chapter 15

Figure 15.15 The open-

loop responses to step
changes in u and d.

37
 Tuning Feedforward Controllers
Feedforward controllers, like feedback controllers, usually
require tuning after installation in a plant.
Step 1. Adjust Kf.
Chapter 15

• The effort required to tune a controller is greatly reduced if good

initial estimates of the controller parameters are available.
• An initial estimate of Kf can be obtained from a steady-state
model of the process or steady-state data.
• For example, suppose that the open-loop responses to step
changes in d and u are available, as shown in Fig. 15.15.
• After Kp and Kd have been determined, the feedforward
controller gain can be calculated from the steady-state version
of Eq. 15-22: K
K f  d (15-40)
K t K vK
38
 • To tune the controller gain, Kf is set equal to an initial value, and
a small step change (3 to 5%) in the disturbance variable d is
introduced, if this is feasible.
• If an offset results, then Kf is adjusted until the offset is
eliminated.
Chapter 15

• While K is being tuned, τ and τ 2 should be set equal to

f 1

their minimum values, ideally zero.

Step 2. Determine initial values for τ1 and τ 2 .

• Theoretical values for τ1 and τ 2 can be calculated if a

dynamic model of the process is available, as shown in
Example 15.2.
• Alternatively, initial estimates can be determined from open-
loop response data. 39
 Kp Kd
(15-41)
G s  τ p s , G s  τ s
p d

 1
d
 1
where τ p and τd can be calculated as shown in Fig. 15.16.
• A comparison of Eqs. 15-24 and 5-30 leads to the following
Chapter 15

expression for τ1 and τ2 :

τ1  τ p (15-42)
τ2  τd (15-43)

• These values can then be used as initial estimates for the fine
tuning of τ1 and τ 2 in Step 3.
• If neither a process model nor experimental data are
available, the relations τ1 / τ 2  2 or τ1 / τ2  0.5 may be
used, depending on whether the controlled variable responds
faster to the disturbance variable or to the manipulated 40
 • In view of Eq. 15-58τ, 1 should be set equal to the estimated
dominant process time constant.

Step 3. Fine tune τ1 and τ2 .

• The final step is to use a trial-and-error procedure to fine
tune τ1
Chapter 15

andτ 2 by making small step changes in d.

• The desired step response consists of small deviations in the
controlled variable with equal areas above and below the
set point, as shown in Fig. 15.17.
• For simple process models, it can be proved theoretically that
equal areas above and below the set point imply that the
difference, τ1  τ 2 , is correct (Exercise 15.8).
• In subsequent tuning to reduce the size of the areas, τ1 and
τ2
should be adjusted so that τ1  τ 2 remains constant. 41
Chapter 15

Figure 15.16 The desired response for a well-tuned feedforward

controller. (Note approximately equal areas above and below the
set point.)
42
 • As a hypothetical illustration of this trial-and-error tuning
procedure, consider the set of responses shown in Fig. 15.17 for
positive step changes in disturbance variable d.
• It is assumed that Kp > 0, Kd < 0, and controller gain Kf has
already been adjusted so that offset is eliminated.
Chapter 15

43
Chapter 15

Figure 15.17 An example of feedforward controller tuning.

44