Decentralized Fuzzy-PID Based Control Model for a Multivariable Liquid Level System

Multivariable liquid level control is essential in process industries to ensure quality of the product and safety of the equipment. However, the significant problems of the control system include excessive time consumption and percentage overshoot, which result from ineffective performance of the tuning methods of the PID controllers used for the system. In this paper, fuzzy logic was used to tune the PID parameters to control a four-coupled-tank system in which liquid level in tanks 1 and 2 were controlled. Mass Balance equation was employed to generate the transfer function matrix for the system, while a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) file is created and embedded in fuzzy logic controller blocks, making tuning rules for the PID. Matlab R2009b simulation of the system model shows that the rise time (RT), settling time (ST), peak value (PV) and percentage overshoot (PO) for the developed DF-PID controller were 1.48 s, 4.75 s, 15 cm and 0% respectively for tank-1; and 0.86 s, 2.62 s, 10 cm and 0% respectively for tank-2, which are the smallest and best values when compared with other PID tuning methods namely: Ziegler-Nichols, Cohen-Coon and Chien-Hrones-Reswick PID tuning methods.