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In the process of constructing a gas-phase reactor for our research at Rice University, we have everything in place to control temperature except the MISSING LINK. The reactor is wrapped in heat tape, which is wired to a solid state relay (can only take on/off signals). Our DCS system has a digital output board to send the on/off signal to the SSR.
Our DCS reads a thermocouple, performs a PID control calculation, calculates a new output value (analog signal). The MISSING LINK is an algorithm to convert the PID output to a digital signal.
This is nearly identical to using an air conditioner to control the temperature in your house... essentially converting a desired temperature to a square wave to turn the AC on/off. However in our case, our time constants are much shorter and we can't allow much over/undershoot.
Any suggestions or leads you can offer will be greatly appreciated!
Our DCS reads a thermocouple, performs a PID control calculation, calculates a new output value (analog signal). The MISSING LINK is an algorithm to convert the PID output to a digital signal.
This is nearly identical to using an air conditioner to control the temperature in your house... essentially converting a desired temperature to a square wave to turn the AC on/off. However in our case, our time constants are much shorter and we can't allow much over/undershoot.
Any suggestions or leads you can offer will be greatly appreciated!