Design and evaluation of a pid temperature control system on the PCT-M4 model

Abstract

PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controllers are the gold standard in industrial control, accounting for over 90% of applications due to their simple structure and ease of adjustment, thus widely used in temperature control systems. Based on this, this paper presents the design and evaluation of a PID temperature control system on a PCT-M4 experimental model for training and research in automatic control. Comparative experiments between P, PI, PD, and PID modes were conducted under the same operating conditions. The results show that the optimal PID controller combined with an anti-windup mechanism achieved superior performance with short settling time, small overshoot, and near-zero steady-state error. Quantitative evaluation using IAE, ISE, and ITAE indices confirms that the optimal PID configuration provides high control quality and good noise immunity, suitable for the large inertial characteristics of the PCT-M4 temperature system. This research contributes to the development of a standardized set of experiments, improving the effectiveness of teaching practical temperature control in electrical and automation engineering training at Quang Ninh University of Industry.