A PLC-Based PI and Pi-Fuzzy Logic Controller for an Industrial Fan System

This paper presents the design, implementation and analysis of a Pi-type fuzzy logic controller (PIFLC). The proposed controller was designed using a very simple control rule-base, with the error and change of error as inputs. The purpose of this controller was to provide stability when sudden changes happened in the reference air flow of an industrial fan system. The proposed scheme was tested and implemented in a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). This scheme was also simulated in Matlab®. Performance comparison between the conventional Pi-type and the PIFLC was carried out in terms of the responses due to sudden changes in air flow reference. An analysis from the point of view of energy efficiency was also performed. Results show the powerful industrial application of this control method which searches for intelligent and dedicated automation. The PIFLC performs very well in this case.