Dynamic matrix control of a pilot distillation column

Abstract

We install ka pilot-scale distillation column facility and associated computer control system which can be used for advanced process control studies. In this study, we control the distillation column using two types of control schemes-PI control as decentralized control scheme and DMC(Dynamic Matrix Control) as centralized control scheme. As a result, DMC shows a good performance compared to conventional PI controller. We perform a sensitivity analysis of tuning parameters of DMC and propose a tuning guideline for DMC. And, We demonstrate that DMC implementation with personal computers is feasible for small scale processing plants.