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Chemical Engineering vocabulary · Process Control and Instrumentation

Feedback control

Meaning in chemical engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In chemical engineering, feedback control means: A control method that measures the process variable, compares it with the setpoint and adjusts the output, usually a valve, to correct the difference.

In Turkish: geri beslemeli kontrol, kapalı çevrim kontrol

How it is used

The basic idea behind almost every control loop in a plant. Engineers compare feedback control with feedforward control, which acts on a measured disturbance before it affects the process. Also called closed-loop control.

Example sentences

  1. Feedback control alone reacts too late to feed changes, so we added a feedforward signal.

  2. The tank level is held by simple feedback control on the outlet valve.

Common collocations

  • feedback control loop
  • feedback and feedforward control
  • closed-loop control
  • negative feedback
  • PID controllerThe most common type of process controller. It sets its output from three terms: proportional (the present error), integral (past error) and derivative (how fast the error is changing).
  • control loopA set of parts that work together to hold one process variable at its setpoint: a sensor and transmitter, a controller and a final element such as a control valve.
  • setpointThe target value that a controller tries to hold, such as a temperature of 85 °C or a tank level of 60%.
  • control valveAn automatic valve that opens and closes in small steps on a signal from a controller, so that flow, pressure, level or temperature stays at the setpoint.

More terms: Process Control and Instrumentation

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