Fully Automatic and Auto-Adaptive Online PID Tuning and Optimization Technology Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Algorithm

Modern plants are increasingly efficient and more complex. Due to global competition, tighter government regulations, pollutions laws and the need to operate more efficiently, there is more heat and mass integration, more recycle streams, more sensors, more control valves, final control elements, more nonlinearities, more complexities, changes in process, market and economic conditions and finally – more unknowns. There are more PID control loops now in a plant than before.  The newer and more efficient plants lead to more complex PID loop process dynamics, more interactions and more nonlinearities increasing the challenge for PID tuning and creating more chances for PID loop to become oscillatory or unstable.

In manufacturing processes, the dynamic models, or process characteristics can change for various known and unknown reasons.  These unpredictable changes pose challenges for auto-tuning of PID control loops. If an auto-tuner misses a rare or abnormal situation and is unable to process it correctly, the PID control loop could become unstable or too sluggish and in either cases cause operating problems leading to process upsets, shutdowns or even undesirable or hazardous operating conditions.

Control instability (often called hunting or ringing) can start anytime. PID control loop oscillations can be a control engineer’s, a chemical plant operator’s or a manager’s worst nightmare. Sometimes a PID control loop is stable for long periods of time but then can become unstable due to changes in one of many characteristics. Oscillations could severely impact the ability to run the plant efficiently and could lead to process upsets and even shutdowns causing big monetary losses. Or a control loop can become sluggish, also impacting the control quality. Control engineers have long and often been afraid of using PID control loop auto-tuning in chemical plants because of the chance of unpredictable or potentially undesirable or erroneous tuning calculations.

PiControl Solution LLC is pleased to announce the release of SuperTune – fully automatic PID control loop auto-tuning product. SuperTune is AI-based software (artificial intelligence based PID autotuning software). SuperTune is the latest breakthrough in online PID auto-tuning technology across the globe.

SuperTune is an amazing new PID auto-tuning software that works reliably for fast and slow processes and outperforms existing technologies and algorithms. SuperTune works 24/7/365 and needs no human intervention, it does not need any step tests, and can be applied to fast millisecond dynamics to slow processes settling in several hours. SuperTune can work with severe nonlinearities, discrete events, noisy data and many more challenges that make other competitor products to fail or render unusable.

Industrial processes can be super-fast to fast to slow to very slow.  Settling time is typically defined as the time needed for the process variable (PV), the controlled variable (abbreviated often as CV) to settle after a change in the manipulated variable (MV). In various equipment, industrial and manufacturing processes, settling times can vary from a few milliseconds to several hours. A super-fast process settles in a few seconds or even milliseconds. A fast process settles in a few tens of seconds. Slow processes take several minutes to settle. Very slow processes can take several hours or even days to settle. SuperTune can be applied to super-fast processes like in rotating machinery control systems like turbines and compressors where the settling times are under a second. SuperTune can also be applied to very slow processes like those controlling online analysis using GC (gas chromatograph) or some other online measurements in distillation columns or other equipment, where the settling times can be several hours or even days.

Some processes are zero-order transfer function types, also called integrating processes or ramp type processes. These processes never settle and their dynamic models are characterized by pure dead time (time dead or process dead time) and a ramp rate. SuperTune can successfully and reliably tune both settling types of processes (first-order, second-order or higher orders), or ramp or integrating type processes (zero-order) or can also be applied to open-loop unstable transfer functions (as seen in exothermic reactions seen on polymer processes).

Many of the other existing PID auto-tuning inject a few too many intrusive steps on the control valve or final control element in manual mode, or on the setpoint in auto mode. Some of the existing technologies require the operator to push a button and then auto-tuning software does its steps and bumps and then the operator turns the button off and auto-tuning is disabled. In stark contrast, PiControl’s SuperTune is completely automated. There is no need of any operator intervention, there are no intrusive step tests on anything. SuperTune just reads the data, watches everything, monitors and learns and then optimizes the loop tuning parameters.

If a PID control loop becomes unstable or oscillatory, then SuperTune auto-tuning algorithm will kill oscillations and instability immediately.  It will reliably make the controller aggressive and stronger when there is weak control action. If there are some normal and typical plant setpoints changes or output changes, then SuperTune PID automatic auto-tuner will capture that information and use it for estimating new and improved parameters.  If there is no process excitation, meaning no setpoint changes or output changes, then this is also OK, SuperTune does not need and does not depend on any changes to setpoint or output.  SuperTune provides automatic auto tuning and unlike other products, SuperTune does not need any step tests at all.  In fact, SuperTune can work on any process without any step tests ever. SuperTune automatically learns and improves the PID tuning and all the captured changes in PID tuning parameters are automatically saved internally.

SuperTune algorithm is a breakthrough in PID auto-tuning technology. SuperTune algorithm is extremely fast and consumes very low CPU. SuperTune generates various error codes, messages and criteria calculations useful for understanding what is going on and showing a history of what happened and the basis for the control action produced.  No need for complex math, no need for intrusive step tests, SuperTune brings you new, modern breakthrough technology, allowing PID auto-tuning in a manner most thought was not possible with existing algorithms and known technologies.