Optimal Control of the Primary Drying Stage of Freeze Drying of Solutions in Vials Using Variational Calculus

The problem of operating freeze drying of pharmaceutical products in vials placed in trays of a freeze dryer to remove free water (in frozen state) at a minimum time was formulated as an optimal control problem. Two different types of freeze dryer designs were considered. In type I freeze dryer design, upper and lower plate temperatures were controlled together, while in type II freeze dryer design, upper and lower plate temperatures were controlled independently. The heat input to the material being dried and the drying chamber pressure were considered as control variables. Constraints were placed on the system state variables by the melting and scorch temperatures during primary drying stage. Necessary conditions of optimality for the primary drying stage of freeze drying process in vials are derived and presented. Furthermore, an approach for constructing the optimal control policies that would minimize the drying time for the primary drying stage was given. In order to analyze optimal control policy for the primary drying stage of the freeze-drying process in vials, a rigorous multi-dimensional unsteady state mathematical model was used. The theoretical approach presented in this work was applied in the freeze drying of skim milk. Significant reductions in the drying times of primary drying stage of freeze drying process in vials were obtained, as compared to the drying times obtained from conventional operational policies.     

层状催化剂颗粒的优化设计——双组分等温平行反应体系

针对双组分等温平行反应体系,分析讨论了以提高催化剂活性和选择性为目标时催化剂活性组分的最优分布形式(为δ-函数分布),并给出了确定这种反应体系的催化剂的最佳活性层位置的计算方法。结果表明:以提高选择性为目标的最佳活性层位置比以提高活性为目标的要更靠近催化剂核心,实用的最优位置应介于二者之间。最后,本文还研究了反应动力学级数、本性选择性以及内扩散模数(Thiele 模数)等因素对最佳活性层位置的影响。     

Optimal Control of Solar Sludge Dryers

Optimal control (OC) methodology is used to develop a control policy for a batch-operated solar sludge dryer with ventilation as the dominant control. Batch performance criteria and instantaneous optimization criteria are developed for two economic environments: quota limited and capital limited. The general formulation, as well as simplifications resulting from the multiplicative form of the evaporation (drying) rate model, are presented. The multiplicative form results in a single constant number, called here “control intensity,” which is used to guide the on-line control decisions. These decisions turn out to be independent of the dry solids content (DSC) of the sludge. Further simplification, by assuming a strictly constant weather, is used to demonstrate the general effects of the economic and physical (weather) environment on the solution.

The OC approach is used to address, via simulation under realistic weather conditions, several design, operation, and pricing problems. In particular, the following have been considered: sizing of the ventilation fans, determination of a fair fee for sludge disposal, finding the best final DSC, and evaluating the effect of the price of electricity. Regarding the particular location represented by the data, it has been shown that the installed capacity of the ventilation fans should be increased and that there seems to be sufficient economic incentive for solar drying.     

转轮体铸造工艺的优化设计

本文重点总结了水轮机的重要部件转轮体常发生的主要铸造质量问题,分析了产生缩孔缩松、裂纹、尺寸超差等质量问题的主要直接原因,并提出了铸造工艺优化设计方案。     

污水处理厂污泥厌氧消化优化设计与运行探讨

对国内典型的污水处理厂污泥厌氧消化系统进行调研发现,厌氧消化系统的运行管理尚存在诸多问题。在总结白龙港污水处理厂污泥厌氧消化调试与运行管理经验的基础上,针对厌氧消化工艺存在的普遍性问题,提出了厌氧消化系统设计和运行管理方面的建议,以促进工艺设计优化,提高运行管理水平。     

Suppressing intersample behavior in iterative learning control

Iterative Learning Control (ILC) is a control strategy to improve the performance of digital batch repetitive processes. Due to its digital implementation, discrete time ILC approaches do not guarantee good intersample behavior. In fact, common discrete time ILC approaches may deteriorate the intersample behavior, thereby reducing the performance of the sampled-data system. In this paper, a generally applicable multirate ILC approach is presented that enables to balance the at-sample performance and the intersample behavior. Furthermore, key theoretical issues regarding multirate systems are addressed, including the time-varying nature of the multirate ILC setup. The proposed multirate ILC approach is shown to outperform discrete time ILC in realistic simulation examples.     

A general formulation of monotonically convergent algorithms in the control of quantum dynamics beyond the linear dipole interaction

This paper presents a general method to formulate monotonically convergent algorithms for identifying optimal control fields to manipulate quantum dynamics phenomena beyond the linear dipole interaction. The method, facilitated by a field-dependent dipole moment operator, is based on an integral equation of the first kind arising from the Heisenberg equation of motion for tracking a time-dependent, dynamical invariant observable associated with a reference control field.     

Analytical benchmarks for topological optimization IV: square-shaped line support

Michell’s problem of optimizing truss topology for stress or compliance constraints under a single load condition is solved analytically for plane trusses having a square-shaped line support. Geometrical characteristics of the Hencky nets giving the truss layout are expressed in terms of Lommel functions. Analytically derived truss volumes for the above problem are compared with those of trusses supported along circles of equivalent area. Some general implications of the results are also discussed.     

Optimal Control of Two-Stage Discrete Event Systems with Real-Time Constraints

We consider discrete event systems (DES) involving tasks with real-time constraints and seek to control processing times so as to minimize a cost function subject to each task meeting its own constraint. When tasks are processed over a single stage, it has been shown that there are structural properties of the optimal sample path that lead to very efficient solutions of such problems. When tasks are processed over multiple stages and are subject to end-to-end real-time constraints, these properties no longer hold and no obvious extensions are known. We consider a two-stage problem with homogeneous cost functions over all tasks at each stage and derive several new optimality properties. These properties lead to the idea of introducing “virtual” deadlines at the first stage, thus partially decoupling the stages so that the known efficient solutions for single-stage problems can be used. We prove that the solution obtained by an iterative virtual deadline algorithm (VDA) converges to the global optimal solution of the two-stage problem and illustrate the efficiency of the VDA through numerical examples.