What is a common application for PID controllers in industrial settings?

PID controllers are widely utilized in industrial settings for a variety of control applications, including temperature, pressure, and flow control. These controllers are fundamental components in process control systems due to their ability to maintain desired output levels by adjusting inputs based on proportional, integral, and derivative responses to process variable changes.

In temperature control, PID controllers adjust the heating or cooling elements to ensure that a process temperature stays within specified limits or follows a setpoint accurately. For pressure control, they regulate pressure levels in tanks or pipes by finely tuning the control valves to maintain safety and operational efficiency. Similarly, in flow control systems, PID controllers manage the flow rates of fluids to ensure processes run smoothly without overflows or shortages.

Given this versatility and effectiveness across these critical areas of industrial control, the most comprehensive answer is that PID controllers are indeed common in all of these applications. This highlights their fundamental role in ensuring stable and efficient operations across many different types of industrial processes.