Globally stable control systems for processes with input multiplicities

A nonlinear process with input multiplicity has two or more input values for a given output at the steady state, and the process steady state gain changes its sign as the operating point changes. A control system with integral action will be unstable when both signs of the process gain and the controller integral gain are different, and its stability region will be limited to the boundary where the process steady state gain is zero. Unlike processes with output multiplicities, feedback controllers cannot be used to correct the sign changes of process gain. To remove such stability limitation, a simple control system with parallel compensator is proposed. The parallel compensator can be easily designed based on the process steady state gain information and tuned in the field. Using the two time scale method, the stability of proposed control systems for processes with input multiplicities can be checked.     

循环流化床中颗粒振荡循环现象的实验研究

颗粒的循环特性是循环流化床研究的重点及热点之一,在建立颗粒循环时,颗粒循环由非稳态向稳态过渡。本文在循环流化床实验装置中,采用摄像法和压力检测法研究了不稳定颗粒循环条件下颗粒流动结构和各段压降的变化情况。首次发现了不稳定颗粒循环状态下的颗粒振荡循环现象及其具有的两个特征:下降段、提升段气固流动结构呈周期性变化;下降段压降p_d和提升段压降p_r周期性波动且p_d>p_r和p_dr交替出现。进一步对颗粒振荡循环过程进行受力分析,建立了颗粒振荡周期的计算公式。研究还发现在颗粒藏量一定的条件下,循环气流量或颗粒循环段阀门开度大于某一临界值时才能诱发颗粒振荡循环;颗粒振荡循环周期随着循环气流量的增大而增大,与阀门开度无关。研究结果为动态颗粒循环建立过程的研究奠定了基础,有助于快速地建立颗粒的稳定循环。     

Measurements of dynamic behavior of a multistage flash water desalination system

This study focuses on measuring the process dynamics for the multistage flash desalination process (MSF) in an industrial unit with a capacity of 4546 m³/d. This is a novel addition to the literature because previous studies are limited to theoretical analysis of process dynamics or controller tuning, as well as conceptual design of conventional or advanced control systems. The measurements evaluate the performance of seven control loops, which include the pressure, temperature, and flow rate of the heating steam; the pressure of the vacuum ejector; and flow rates of the brine recycle, make-up seawater, and cooling seawater. All measurements start from steady-state conditions. The system is then set on manual where all control units are disengaged. Subsequently, only one control valve is adjusted by ± 15% of its steady-state setting. A total of 14 experiments were performed involving simultaneous measurements of the system variables. Measurements showed non-linear behavior where increasing or decreasing the valve settings did not provide similar trends. Analysis of results shows that one of the most sensitive variables is the distillate level in the last stage: the distillate trays either were flooded or became dry. The brine level in the last flashing stage was also found to be sensitive to valve settings where level increase resulted in higher product salinity. The results and analysis presented provide a better understanding in system fault analysis which could be caused by improper operating conditions. These data are essential to propose, design, and evaluate advanced/comprehensive control systems for the MSF process.     

Nitrate control strategies in an activated sludge wastewater treatment process

We studied nitrate control strategies in an activated sludge wastewater treatment process (WWTP) based on the activated sludge model. Two control strategies, back propagation for proportional-integral-derivative (BP-PID) and adaptive-network based fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS), are applied in the WWTP. The simulation results show that the simple local constant setpoint control has poor control effects on the nitrate concentration control. However, the ANFIS (4*1) controller, which considers not only the local constant setpoint control of the nitrate concentration, but also three important indices in the effluent—ammonia concentration, total suspended sludge concentration and total nitrogen concentration—demonstrates good control performance. The results also prove that ANFIS (4*1) controller has better control performance than that of the controllers PI, BP-PID and ANFIS (2*1), and that the ANFIS (4*1) controller is effective in improving the effluent quality and maintaining the stability of the effluent quality.     

STAGED COMBUSTOR CONTROL USING ARTIFICIALNEURAL NETWORK-BASED PROCESS MODELS

Process controllers using trained, feed-forward, multi-layer-perceptron (FMLP) neural networks as complex process models have been successfully demonstrated for the active, on-line control of selected species emitted from a two-stage combustion reactor. In the first case, as compared to a proportional-integral-derivative controller, faster control of exhaust oxygen content with nearly no offset was achieved using a proportional controller with a variable bias value as determined by an FMLP. In the second case, effective and rapid control of exhaust nitrogen oxide, after a separate feed stream disturbance and a set point change, was achieved using a controller comprised of two clusters of FMLP neural networks. The first cluster identified the process disturbance and adjusted the manipulated variable. The second cluster served as a Smith time-delay compensator. All the FMLP networks used were trained off-line using steady-state data obtained from both experiments and from direct combustor simulations based on detailed chemical reactions.     

自来水厂待滤水浊度的智能控制研究

水厂加药絮凝过程是一个大惯性、大时滞、非线性和时变的难控过程,常规的控制系统难以取得理想的控制效果。而无模型自适应控制器具有良好的输出跟踪性能,有很强的自适应能力和鲁棒性。能有效地控制复杂过程。将无模型自适应控制器（MFA）应用到广东省佛山市某水厂的中试装置的加药絮凝过程的自动控制系统中,进行了大量的控制实验。实验结果表明MFA控制系统可以有效克服流量波动以及原水浊度变化对出水浊度的影响,取得了良好的控制效果。     

An experimental study of the control of condensate subcooling in a vertical condenser

Temperature control of subcooled reflux in a distillation column was studied experimentally using coolant flow rate as the manipulative variable. Methanol vapor was condensed and subcooled at one atmosphere in a vertical heat exchanger with 210 copper tubes (0.77 cm I.D., 91.5 cm long). Cooling water flowed countercurrently through the shell side (20.6 cm I.D.). A proportional-integral feedback controller provided good temperature control at normal design throughputs. But dynamic control performance deteriorated at low throughputs (or large areas). Thus the normal conservative design practice of providing excess area in this type of condenser leads to poorer temperature control.     

Control of pure time delay processes

The general problem of controlling a physical process with predominant time delay is analysed. An effective method of controlling such a process is proposed and successfully applied. The control scheme consists of a two-loop configuration: a fast auxiliary loop consisting of a proportional controller and a simple lag element, and a main (process) loop provided with another proportional controller operating on the process. While the auxiliary loop output acts as common feedback to both the controllers, the process output adjusts the set point of the auxiliary controller. Disturbances entering the process, for which compensation is desired, are transmitted to the auxiliary loop where a corrective action is generated even before an error appears in the controlled variable. Digital simulation study reveals that, by suitable choice of the compensator parameters, this control arrangement results in remarkably superior performance compared to other known methods of dead time control. The technique is applied to a real process having a dead time of 2·7 min to demonstrate its easy implementability and to confirm its superiority over existing control schemes.     

全通径偏心半球阀在水厂的应用及成效

送水泵房作为将清水加压输送至给水管网的构筑物,其出水水流具有高流速、高压力等特点。送水泵房水泵机组根据水厂调度需要,需经常进行启停水泵操作,因此,送水泵房止回阀需具有防水锤功能稳定、水损小、密封性好、密封副不易磨损、操控简易等特点。现状各水厂送水泵房止回阀多选用多功能水泵控制阀、液控双速闸阀。多功能水泵控制阀存在水损大、缓闭功能易受膜片老化受损影响等缺点;而液控双速闸阀组成结构复杂,阀门老化后存在启闭不到位、密封不严实、维护工作多等缺点。针对传统止回阀在应用过程中的不足,某水厂在进行送水泵房止回阀更换时,选用全通径偏心半球阀替代传统止回阀,全通径偏心半球阀由阀体及液控驱动系统两部分组成,通过液压驱动油缸动作,控制阀门启闭。通过设置液控驱动系统的动作模式,可分快速和慢速两阶段启闭阀门,实现缓闭、止回等多种功能,而全通径偏心半球阀的偏心结构设置,以及阀座、密封副的优化设计,使其在使用过程中更加稳定。与多功能水泵控制阀与双速闸阀相比,全通径偏心半球阀具有更安全、更可靠、更经济、更智能的特点,应用于泵后止回时更具优势。该水厂在使用全通径偏心半球阀后,阀前压力降低4.33%,水头损失降低90.8...     

CONSISTENCY PRINCIPLES FOR STABILITY IN DECENTRALIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS

The Niederlinski Index (NI) is generalized to systematically address closed loop stability from steady state information of both the process and the controller. A series of stability conditions, referred to as 'consistency principles for stability', which allows for joint consideration of controller design and variable pairing, are established. It is shown that systems paired on negative NI can still be stabilized by properly setting directions of individual controllers, and that positive NI is not only desirable to facilitate controller tuning and failure tolerance, but is also always achievable for any decentralized control system.     

自适应模糊滑模控制在化工过程中的应用

为有效处理多变量、非线性及非最小相位系统的复杂化工过程,提出了一种新型的自适应模糊滑模控制,该方法针对滑模控制鲁棒性好但存在抖振的问题,采用模糊控制柔化控制信号,而与滑模控制的结合可以充分利用系统信息,简化模糊控制;在此基础上提出一种新的自适应调整比例因子来进行模糊变论域,柔化了控制信号并减小了滑模控制器输出的抖振。并给出模糊滑模控制的算法和稳定性分析,得到简化后的通用模糊规则库,可通过比例因子在线调节输入量的论域,使构成的控制系统具有很强的鲁棒性、较好的自适应能力和较高的控制精度。最后对于非线性单输入单输出(SISO)和多输入多输出(MIMO)化工模型进行仿真研究,结果表明即使工况点发生大的变化或受到较大干扰时,仍具有良好的抗扰动能力和很强的鲁棒性。     

基于ANFIS与多模型的一类非线性系统的自适应控制方法

针对一类不确定的离散时间零动态不稳定非线性系统,提出了一种基于自适应神经模糊推理系统(ANFIS)与多模型的非线性自适应控制方法。该方法由线性鲁棒自适应控制器,基于ANFIS的非线性自适应控制器以及切换机制组成。线性控制器用来保证闭环系统输入输出信号有界,非线性控制器用来改善系统性能。切换机制通过对上述两种控制器的切换,保证闭环系统输入输出有界的同时,改善系统性能。在采用ANFIS作为系统未建模动态补偿器时,首先用一个连续、单调、可逆的一一映射把可能无界的未建模动态的定义域转化成一个有界闭集,保证了ANFIS的万能逼近特性成立的前提条件。而且,ANFIS能减小BP神经网络收敛速度慢和容易陷入局部极小的问题,改善了控制效果。建立了保证系统稳定性的引理,并给出了闭环系统的稳定性和收敛性分析。通过仿真比较,说明了所提方法的有效性。     

Optimal control and operation of drum granulation processes

Process optimisation and optimal control of batch and continuous drum granulation processes are studied in this paper. The main focus of the current research has been: (i) construction of optimisation and control relevant, population balance models through the incorporation of moisture content, drum rotation rate and bed depth into the coalescence kernels; (ii) investigation of optimal operational conditions using constrained optimisation techniques; (iii) development of optimal control algorithms based on discretized population balance equations; and (iv) comprehensive simulation studies on optimal control of both batch and continuous granulation processes. The objective of steady state optimisation is to minimise the recycle rate with minimum cost for continuous processes. It has been identified that the drum rotation-rate, bed depth (material charge), and moisture content of solids are practical decision (design) parameters for system optimisation. The objective for the optimal control of batch granulation processes is to maximize the mass of product-sized particles with minimum time and binder consumption. The objective for the optimal control of the continuous process is to drive the process from one steady state to another in a minimum time with minimum binder consumption, which is also known as the state-driving problem. It has been known for some time that the binder spray-rate is the most effective control (manipulative) variable. Although other possible manipulative variables, such as feed flow-rate and additional powder flow-rate have been investigated in the complete research project, only the single input problem with the binder spray rate as the manipulative variable is addressed in the paper to demonstrate the methodology. It can be shown from simulation results that the proposed models are suitable for control and optimisation studies, and the optimisation algorithms connected with either steady state or dynamic models are successful for the determination of optimal operational conditions and dynamic trajectories with good convergence properties.     

A study on the adaptive predictive control method for multivariable bilinear processes

A predictive control method for multivariable bilinear processes is derived based on ARMA model. To identify bilinear process models, we use simple equation error method extended to multivariable system. We can obtain the adaptive predictive controller for multivariable bilinear processes by incorporation of the identification algorithm. Offset compensator is provided to correct for the effects of unmeasured disturbances and model inaccuracies. A filter with a singled parameter is used to correct for the effects of an incorrect model. Results of simulation on multivariable bilinear processes show that the proposed control method has satisfactory performance.     

Intelligent decoupling PID control for the forced-circulation evaporation system

The control objective of the forced-circulation evaporation process of alumina production is not only to avoid large fluctuations of the level, but also to ensure the product density to track its setpoint quickly. Due to the existence of strong coupling between the level loop and the product density loop, and high nonlinearities in the process, the conventional control strategy cannot achieve satisfactory control performance, and thus the production demand cannot bemet. In this paper, an intelligent decoupling PID controller including conventional PID controllers, a decoupling compensator and a neural feedforward compensator is proposed. The parameters of such controller are determined by generalized predictive control law. Real-time experiment results show that the proposed method can decouple the loops effectively and thus improve the evaporation efficiency.     

无模型自适应控制器在自来水厂加药凝絮过程的控制研究

针对净水工艺中混凝投药控制存在的实际问题,以待滤水浊度为被控对象,采用无模型自适应控制技术（MFA）并设计前馈一反馈复合控制系统来实施控制。该控制系统克服了混凝投药过程的大时滞、大惯性,具有较好的稳定性和鲁棒性。广东省佛山沙口水厂中试基地的控制试验研究表明,该解决方案可行,控制效果良好,有较明显的应用价值。     

基于变结构扩张状态观测器的状态PI控制器

传统的状态PI控制器只适用于单输入单输出（SISO）线性系统。针对这一不足,将“变结构扩张状态控制器”技术应用到状态PI控制器中,使改进后的控制器适用于非线性系统控制。同时发挥了变结构控制理论的优势,既保留了原控制器的优点又减少了可调参数。仿真结果验证了新状态PI控制器具有良好的稳定性和鲁棒性。     

SYNTHESIS OF TWO-POINT LINEAR CONTROLLERS FOR BINARY DISTILLATION COLUMNS

The two-point composition control problem of binary distillation columns is addressed. First, the exact model-based inventory control problem is studied, yielding the underlying solvability conditions with physical meaning, the limiting behavior attainable with any controller, and its equivalence with nonlinear geometric and MPC controllers. This control behavior is recovered via a measurement-driven linear controller made of a pair of decoupled PI loops and a static interaction compensator. A closed-loop dynamics study formally shows the recovery feature and provides stability conditions coupled with conventional-like tuning rules. The controller implementation needs only four static parameters that have direct physical meaning and can be estimated from plant data and/or simulation packages. The proposed technique is tested with two representative examples in the presence of actuator errors, measurement delays, and load disturbances, matching or improving the behavior obtained with previous schemes.     

APPLICATION OF FUZZY ADAPTIVE CONTROLLER IN NONLINEAR PROCESS CONTROL

In general, physical processes are usually nonlinear and control system design based on the linearization technique cannot control the process well for a wide range of operation. Use of the variable transformation method may not always solve the problem. In this paper, a fuzzy adaptive controller is proposed to control the nonlinear process. The CSTR control problem has also been considered. The results are compared with the method of nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) with constrained and unconstrained control variables. A fuzzy model-following control system scheme is also proposed. The results show that the proposed controller is a feasible control structure for a nonlinear or parameter-variations process control.     

核电站蒸发器水位的二自由度模型驱动控制

针对核电站蒸发器水位被控对象的非自平衡、非线性等特性,传统PID控制难以获得期望的控制要求,设计了二自由度模型驱动PID(TDF MD PID)串级控制系统,并加入前馈控制,以克服蒸汽流量的影响。该方法通过PD反馈补偿器改善蒸发器水位对象的开环不稳定特性,使其达到稳定,然后进行控制。仿真结果表明,与传统串级PID相比,TDF MD PID结构简单,参数易于整定,具有快速的跟踪能力和很强的鲁棒性,有效地提高了系统的控制性能。