IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0853832
(2010-08-10)
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등록번호 |
US-8594813
(2013-11-26)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Cheng, George Shu-Xing
- Mulkey, Steven L.
- Wang, Qiang
- Chow, Andrew J.
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출원인 / 주소 |
- General Cybernation Group, Inc.
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대리인 / 주소 |
Stout, Uxa, Buyan & Mullins, LLP
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
1 인용 특허 :
10 |
초록
▼
A method and apparatus for intelligently controlling continuous process variables. A Dream Controller comprises an Intelligent Engine mechanism and a number of Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controllers, each of which is suitable to control a process with specific behaviors. The Intelligent Engine can au
A method and apparatus for intelligently controlling continuous process variables. A Dream Controller comprises an Intelligent Engine mechanism and a number of Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controllers, each of which is suitable to control a process with specific behaviors. The Intelligent Engine can automatically select the appropriate MFA controller and its parameters so that the Dream Controller can be easily used by people with limited control experience and those who do not have the time to commission, tune, and maintain automatic controllers.
대표청구항
▼
1. In a control system using Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controllers to control process variables of a physical process, a method of automatically selecting and configuring an available MFA controller appropriate for a given process based on an input of known characteristics and behaviors of the proce
1. In a control system using Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controllers to control process variables of a physical process, a method of automatically selecting and configuring an available MFA controller appropriate for a given process based on an input of known characteristics and behaviors of the process, comprising: a) qualifying the process as meeting basic controllability conditions based upon the input of known characteristics and behaviors of the process;b) inputting a process type as the type of process to be controlled; andc) following said inputting of the process type, the control system automatically selecting an appropriate MFA controller to control the process and automatically configuring parameters of the automatically-selected MFA controller. 2. The method of claim 1, said process qualification further comprising: i) inputting whether or not the process is open-loop stable, controllable and either direct-acting or reverse-acting, but not a reactor process, a run-away process, nor a multivariable process;ii) if the criteria of i) are satisfied, proceeding with said process type inputting; andiii) if the criteria of i) are not satisfied, advising the user to use a special MFA controller. 3. The method of claim 1, said process type inputting further comprising: i) inputting whether the process variable to be controlled is flow, pressure, temperature, level, pH or other;ii) if the process variable is neither flow, pressure, temperature, level nor pH, advising the user to use a special MFA controller, andiii) if the process variable is flow, pressure, temperature, level or pH, inputting the range and engineering unit of the process variable; inputting whether the process is direct-acting or reverse-acting; and configuring the selected MFA controller with a predetermined configuration mechanism appropriate for the inputted process variable type. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein if the process variable is flow, the method further comprising: iv) inputting whether the flow process is linear or nonlinear;v) if the flow process is linear, selecting a SISO MFA controller, and setting controller gain Kc=1.5 and time constant Tc=8 seconds; andvi) if the flow process is nonlinear, selecting a Nonlinear MFA controller, advising the user to enter the Linearity Factor in an integer value between 0 to 10, and setting controller gain Kc=1.5 and time constant Tc=8 seconds. 5. The method of claim 3, wherein if the process variable is pressure, the method further comprising: iv) inputting whether the pressure process has a large time delay or requires feedforward control;v) if the pressure process has a large time delay, advising the user to use an Anti-delay MFA controller;vi) if the pressure process requires feedforward control, advising the user to use a Feedforward MFA controller;vii) inputting whether the pressure process is nonlinear, and if it is, selecting a Nonlinear MFA controller, advising the user to enter the Linearity Factor in an integer value between 0 to 10, and setting controller gain Kc=1.5 and time constant Tc=8 seconds; andviii) if the pressure process is linear, inputting whether the process is open-loop oscillating; if it is not, selecting a SISO MFA controller, otherwise selecting a Flex-Phase MFA controller and setting the Anti-overshoot constant Ks=0.2; and in both cases setting controller gain Kc=1.5 and time constant Tc=8 seconds. 6. The method of claim 3, wherein if the process variable is temperature, the method further comprising: iv) inputting whether or not the temperature process is a single-input-multiple-output (SIMO), a multiple-input-single-output (MISO) or a run-away process;v) if the temperature process is SIMO, MISO or run-away, advising the user to use a special MFA controller;vi) if the temperature process is neither SIMO, MISO nor run-away, inputting whether the temperature process is linear; andvii) if the temperature process is linear, selecting a SISO MFA controller; if the temperature process is nonlinear, selecting a Nonlinear MFA controller and advising the user to enter the Linearity Factor in an integer value between 0 to 10; in both cases, setting time constant Tc in accordance with an inputted process speed classification, and setting controller gain Kc=2. 7. The method of claim 6, in which said inputted process speed. classification is substantially in accordance with the following table: Process SpeedTime Constant Tc in SecondsClassificationVery Fast6Fast20Medium60Slow200Very Slow600SpecifyUser Entered Value wherein User Entered Value is the estimated process time constant in seconds entered by the user. 8. The method of claim 3, wherein if the process variable is level, the method further comprising: iv) inputting whether or not the level process is a boiler steam drum level, and if it is, advising the user to use the 3-element MFA control solution;v) if the level process is not a boiler steam drum level, selecting a SISO MFA controller and inputting whether or not the level process is self-regulating; andvi) if the level process is self-regulating, setting controller gain Kc=2 and time constant Tc=50 seconds; otherwise, setting controller gain Kc=10 and time constant Tc=300 seconds. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: vii) if level limit protection is desired, enabling robust MFA control, entering desired level upper bound and level lower bound, and setting the upper and lower gain ratios to 3. 10. The method of claim 3, wherein if the process variable is pH, the method further comprising: iv) inputting whether the pH process has a large time delay; if it does not, selecting an MFA pH controller; otherwise, selecting an Anti-delay MFA pH controller and entering the minimum and maximum delay time of the process; andv) in either case, inputting the relative strength of the acid and base relating to the pH process, and configuring the MFA with a corresponding predetermined controller parameter configuration. 11. The method of claim 10, in which said predetermined controller parameter configuration is substantially in accordance with the following table: Input of pH ProcessMFA pH Controller ParametersRelative StrengthStrong-acid-strong-baseBreak A = 11, Break B = 3, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.001, Tc = 10 sec.Strong-acid-weak-baseBreak A = 8, Break B = 3, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.003, Tc = 10 sec.Weak-acid-strong-baseBreak A = 11, Break B = 6, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.003, Tc = 10 sec.Weak-acid-weak-baseBreak A = 8, Break B = 6, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.01, Tc = 20 sec.UncertainBreak A = 9, Break B = 5, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.001, Tc = 10 sec. wherein Break A is Titration Break Point A, Break B is Titration Break Point B, Kc1 is Flat Gain, Kc2 is Steep Gain, and Tc is Time Constant. 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: d) displaying the selection and configuration of the selected MFA controller;e) verifying the correctness of the MFA controller selection and configuration;f) verifying all control loop signals including setpoint (SP), process variable (PV) controller output (OP), output tracking variable (OTV), and auto/manual mode; andg) advising user of the readiness of the MFA control system for launch. 13. A method of configuring a control system to control a flow process using Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controllers, comprising: a) inputting whether the flow process is linear or nonlinear;b) if the flow process is linear, selecting a SISO MFA controller, and setting controller gain Kc=1.5 and time constant Tc=8 seconds; andc) if the flow process is nonlinear, selecting a Nonlinear MFA controller, advising the user to enter the Linearity Factor in an integer value between 0 to 10, and setting controller gain Kc=1.5 and time constant Tc=8 seconds wherein the control system is configured to control the flow process based upon the setting of the controller gain and time constant. 14. A method of configuring a control system to control a pressure process using Model-Free Adaptive (MWA) controllers, comprising: a) inputting whether the pressure process has a large time delay or requires feedforward control;b) if the pressure process has a large time delay, advising the user to use an Anti-delay MFA controller;c) if the pressure process requires feedforward control, advising the user to use a Feedforward MFA controller;d) inputting whether the pressure process is nonlinear, and if it is, selecting a Nonlinear MFA controller, advising the user to enter the Linearity Factor in an integer value between 0 to 10, and setting controller gain Kc=1.5 and time constant Tc=8 seconds; ande) if the pressure process is linear, inputting whether the process is open-loop oscillating; if it is not, selecting a SISO MFA controller, otherwise selecting a Flex-Phase MFA controller and setting the Anti-overshoot constant Ks=0.2; and in both cases setting controller gain Kc=1.5 and time constant Tc=8 seconds wherein the control system is configured based upon the setting of the two or more of controller gain, the time constant and Anti-overshoot constant. 15. A method of configuring a control system to control a temperature process using Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controllers, comprising: a) inputting whether or not the temperature process is a single-input-multiple-output (SIMO), a multiple-input-single-output (MISO) or a run-away process;b) if the temperature process is SIMO, MISO or run-away, advising the user to use a special MFA controller;c) if the temperature process is neither SIMO, MISO nor run-away, inputting whether the temperature process is linear; andd) if the temperature process is linear, selecting a SISO MFA controller; if the temperature process is nonlinear, selecting a Nonlinear MFA controller and advising the user to enter the Linearity Factor in an integer value between 0 to 10; in both cases, setting time constant Tc in accordance with an inputted process speed classification, and setting controller gain Kc=2 wherein the control system is configured to control the temperature process based upon the setting of the controller gain and time constant. 16. The method of claim 15, in which said inputted process speed classification is substantially in accordance with the following table: Process SpeedTime Constant Tc in SecondsClassificationVery Fast6Fast20Medium60Slow200Very Slow600SpecifyUser Entered Value wherein User Entered Value is the estimated process time constant in seconds entered by the user. 17. A method of configuring a control system to control a level process using Model-Free Adaptive (UFA) controllers, comprising: a) inputting whether or not the level process is a boiler steam drum level, and if it is, advising the user to use the 3-element MFA control solution;b) if the level process is not a boiler steam drum level, selecting a SISO MFA controller and inputting whether or not the level process is self-regulating; andc) if the level process is self-regulating, setting controller gain Kc=2 and time constant Tc=50 seconds; otherwise, setting controller gain Kc=10 and, wherein the control system is configured to control the level process based upon the setting of the controller gain and time constant. 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: d) if level limit protection is desired, enabling robust MFA control, entering desired level upper bound and level lower bound, and setting the upper and lower gain ratios to 3. 19. A method of configuring a control system to control a pH process using Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controllers, comprising: a) inputting whether the pH process has a large time delay; if it does not, selecting an MFA pH controller to control the pH process; otherwise, selecting an Anti-delay MFA pH controller to control the pH process; and entering the minimum and maximum delay time of the process; andb) in either case, inputting the relative strength of the acid and base relating to the pH process, and configuring the MFA with a corresponding predetermined controller parameter configuration. 20. The method of claim 19, in which said predetermined controller parameter configuration is substantially in accordance with the following table: Input of pH ProcessMFA pH Controller ParametersRelative StrengthStrong-acid-strong-baseBreak A = 11, Break B = 3, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.001, Tc = 10 sec.Strong-acid-weak-baseBreak A = 8, Break B = 3, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.003, Tc = 10 sec.Weak-acid-strong-baseBreak A = 11, Break B = 6, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.003, Tc = 10 sec.Weak-acid-weak-baseBreak A = 8, Break B = 6, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.01, Tc = 20 sec.UncertainBreak A = 9, Break B = 5, Kc1 = 1,Kc2 = 0.001, Tc = 10 sec. wherein Break A is Titration Break Point A, Break B is Titration Break Point B, Kc1 is Flat Gain, Kc2 is Steep Gain, and Tc is Time Constant.
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