Patent ID: 7395125

Claim:
A method for controlling a component of a technical plant by a proportional-plus-integral (PI) controller that has control parameters including a control ratio indicative of a proportional gain and an integral-action time, comprising; defining a value of the integral-action time; defining an initial value of the control ratio; defining a set value of a control quantity of the component; inputting into the controller the value of the integral-action time, the initial value of the control ratio and the set value of the control quantity; determining the actual value of a controlled variable during operation of the technical plant; adapting the value of the control ratio relative to a time response of the actual value until the actual value of the controlled variable remains within a tolerance band relative to the set value during operation of the technical plant; and reducing the value of the control ratio if the time response of the actual value has a dwell time during which the actual value of the controlled variable varies within the tolerance band, said dwell time being smaller than a first defined time period during operation of the technical plant, wherein a duration of the dwell time relative to a duration of the first defined time period is selected to determine a sufficiently fast rate of change of the controlled variable relative to a time constant of the component, and wherein the reduction of the value of the control ratio is configured to reduce the rate of change of the controlled variable.