Model Predictive Control (MPC) has recently found wide acceptance in the process industry, but existing design and implementation methods are restricted to linear process models. A chemical process, however, involves ...Model Predictive Control (MPC) has recently found wide acceptance in the process industry, but existing design and implementation methods are restricted to linear process models. A chemical process, however, involves severe nonlinearity which cannot be ignored in practice. This paper aims to solve this nonlinear control problem by extending MPC to accommodate nonlinear models. It develops an analytical framework for nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). It also offers a third-order Volterra series based nonparametric nonlinear modelling technique for NMPC design, which relieves practising engineers from the need for deriving a physical-principles based model first. An on-line realisation technique for implementing NMPC is then developed and applied to a Mitsubishi Chemicals polymerisation reaction process. Results show that this nonlinear MPC technique is feasible and very effective. It considerably outperforms linear and low-order Volterra model based methods. The advantages of the developed approach lie not only in control performance superior to existing NMPC methods, but also in eliminating the need for converting an analytical model and then convert it to a Volterra model obtainable only up to the second order. Keywords Model predictive control - Volterra series - process control - nonlinear control Yun Li is a senior lecturer at University of Glasgow, UK, where has taught and researched in evolutionary computation and control engineering since 1991. He worked in the UK National Engineering Laboratory and Industrial Systems and Control Ltd, Glasgow in 1989 and 1990. In 1998, he established the IEEE CACSD Evolutionary Computation Working Group and the European Network of Excellence in Evolutionary Computing (EvoNet) Workgroup on Systems, Control, and Drives. In summer 2002, he served as a visiting professor to Kumamoto University, Japan. He is also a visiting professor at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. His research interests are in parallel processing, design automation and discovery of engineering systems using evolutionary learning and intelligent search techniques. Applications include control, system modelling and prediction, circuit design, microwave engineering, and operations management. He has advised 12 Ph.D.s in evolutionary computation and has 140 publications.Hiroshi Kashiwagi received B.E, M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in measurement and control engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1962, 1964 and 1967 respectively. In 1967 he became an Associate Professor and in 1976 a Professor at Kumamoto University. From 1973 to 1974, he served as a visiting Associate Professor at Purdue University, Indiana, USA. From 1990 to 1994, he was the Director at Computer Center of Kumamoto University. He has also served as a member of Board of Trustees of Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE), Japan, Chairman of Kyushu Branch of SICE and General Chair of many international conferences held in Japan, Korea, Chin and India. In 1994, he was awarded SICE Fellow for his contributions to the field of measurement and control engineering through his various academic activities. He also received the Gold Medal Prize at ICAUTO’95 held in India. In 1997, he received the “Best Book Award” from SICE for his new book entitled “M-sequence and its application” written in Japanese and published in 1996 by Shoukoudou Publishing Co. in Japan. In 1999, he received the “Best Paper Award” from SICE for his paper “M-transform and its application to system identification”. His research interests include signal processing and applications, especially pseudorandom sequence and its applications to measurement and control engineering.展开更多
文摘Model Predictive Control (MPC) has recently found wide acceptance in the process industry, but existing design and implementation methods are restricted to linear process models. A chemical process, however, involves severe nonlinearity which cannot be ignored in practice. This paper aims to solve this nonlinear control problem by extending MPC to accommodate nonlinear models. It develops an analytical framework for nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). It also offers a third-order Volterra series based nonparametric nonlinear modelling technique for NMPC design, which relieves practising engineers from the need for deriving a physical-principles based model first. An on-line realisation technique for implementing NMPC is then developed and applied to a Mitsubishi Chemicals polymerisation reaction process. Results show that this nonlinear MPC technique is feasible and very effective. It considerably outperforms linear and low-order Volterra model based methods. The advantages of the developed approach lie not only in control performance superior to existing NMPC methods, but also in eliminating the need for converting an analytical model and then convert it to a Volterra model obtainable only up to the second order. Keywords Model predictive control - Volterra series - process control - nonlinear control Yun Li is a senior lecturer at University of Glasgow, UK, where has taught and researched in evolutionary computation and control engineering since 1991. He worked in the UK National Engineering Laboratory and Industrial Systems and Control Ltd, Glasgow in 1989 and 1990. In 1998, he established the IEEE CACSD Evolutionary Computation Working Group and the European Network of Excellence in Evolutionary Computing (EvoNet) Workgroup on Systems, Control, and Drives. In summer 2002, he served as a visiting professor to Kumamoto University, Japan. He is also a visiting professor at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. His research interests are in parallel processing, design automation and discovery of engineering systems using evolutionary learning and intelligent search techniques. Applications include control, system modelling and prediction, circuit design, microwave engineering, and operations management. He has advised 12 Ph.D.s in evolutionary computation and has 140 publications.Hiroshi Kashiwagi received B.E, M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in measurement and control engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1962, 1964 and 1967 respectively. In 1967 he became an Associate Professor and in 1976 a Professor at Kumamoto University. From 1973 to 1974, he served as a visiting Associate Professor at Purdue University, Indiana, USA. From 1990 to 1994, he was the Director at Computer Center of Kumamoto University. He has also served as a member of Board of Trustees of Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE), Japan, Chairman of Kyushu Branch of SICE and General Chair of many international conferences held in Japan, Korea, Chin and India. In 1994, he was awarded SICE Fellow for his contributions to the field of measurement and control engineering through his various academic activities. He also received the Gold Medal Prize at ICAUTO’95 held in India. In 1997, he received the “Best Book Award” from SICE for his new book entitled “M-sequence and its application” written in Japanese and published in 1996 by Shoukoudou Publishing Co. in Japan. In 1999, he received the “Best Paper Award” from SICE for his paper “M-transform and its application to system identification”. His research interests include signal processing and applications, especially pseudorandom sequence and its applications to measurement and control engineering.
