Fractional-order integral and derivative controller for temperature profile tracking

This paper establishes a new strategy to tune a fractional order integral and derivative (ID) controller satisfying gain and phase margins based on Bode's ideal transfer function as a reference model, for a temperature profile tracking. A systematic analysis resulting in a non-linear equation relating user-defined gain and phase margins to the fractional order controller is derived. The closed-loop system designed has a feature of robustness to gain variations with step responses exhibiting a nearly iso-damping property. This paper aims to apply the analytical tuning procedure to control the heat flow systems at selected points in Quanser experimental platform. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to examine performances of two different fractional order controllers in temperature profile tracking. From experimental comparisons with the traditional PI/PID controller based on Ziegler-Nichols' tuning method, it will be shown that the proposed methodologies are specifically beneficial in controlling temperature in time-delay heat flow systems.