Constrained Model Predictive Control of Steam Pressure and Water Level in a Drum Boiler

Abstract—Drum boilers consume is one of the most important equipment of the thermal power plants in many countries and a major utility system in industry. Significant reduction of boiler cost operation can be gained through improvements in efficiency. Constraints are an important challenge in boiler drum systems to have safety and efficient operation. In achieving such a goal, design an appropriate controller for boiler system is selected that can consider constraints of process. Predictive control is a highly efficient and strong method to control multivariable processes and an attractive alternative to the classical control methods, due to its fast dynamic response, simple concept, and ability to include constraints in the design of a controller. In this paper, constrained predictive control algorithm is presented for Multi Input-Multi Output drum boiler systems considering outputs limitations. Simulation results demonstrate the satisfactory performance and effectiveness of this method and compatibility with practical implementation in boiler.