Identification and self-tuning predictive control of heat exchanger

Heat exchange belongs to the class of basic thermal processes which occur in a range of industrial technologies, particularly in the energetic, chemical, polymer and rubber industry. The process of heat exchange is often implemented by through-flow heat exchangers. It is apparent that for an exact theoretical description of dynamics of heat exchange processes it is necessary to use partial differential equations. Heat exchange is namely a process with distributed parameters. It is also necessary to take into account its nonlinear and stochastic character. In spite of these facts, most of thermal equipment is controlled by digital modifications of PID controllers at present. This paper deals with identification of a dynamic behavior of a through-flow heat exchanger and a design of an self-tuning predictive controller for its control. The designed controller was verified by a real-time control of experimental laboratory heat exchanger.