Enhanced cascade control for a class of integrating processes with time delay

Unlike self-regulating processes, cascade control strategies for control of integrating processes with time delay are limited. A novel series cascade control structure to enhance the closed loop performance is proposed for integrating and time delay processes. The proposed controller structure has only two controllers and a setpoint filter. The inner loop controller is designed based on IMC approach and the primary setpoint filter is based on optimal performance index. The primary load disturbance rejection controller, a PID controller in series with a lead/lag compensator, is designed on the basis of the desired closed-loop complementary sensitivity function. The robustness analysis is carried out using Kharitonov's theorem. Simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method by showing satisfactory nominal and robust performances.